May 14, 2025 • 42 mins
Join Jeff Joniak and Tom Thayer as they break down their observations from rookie minicamp. Plus, get insights from quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett and defensive line coach Jeremy Garrett as they share their early impressions of working with the team.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Cut over that DJ Moore and zone touchdown touchdown pairs.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I am Jeff Joniac.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
Glitz is not.
Speaker 4 (00:08):
Donnie go Cart.
Speaker 5 (00:11):
What was like playing for Coche Good.
Speaker 6 (00:14):
I don't want to answer any questions like that.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Pressure coming is a big trouble Donnie Goes Mottest Sweat.
Speaker 6 (00:25):
Bears, et cetera.
Speaker 7 (00:26):
Brought to you by Miller Light with the voices of
the Bears, Jeff Joniac and Tom Thayer.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Exciting times for Bears fans.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Schedule release on Wednesday of this week and fans out
of their collective minds, Oh my gosh, it's as big
as anything he does. And we get our first look
at the new Bears coaching staff on the grass, coaching
up the rookies over the weekend try out guys as well.
We had another successful Bear's care gala, and we're cooking
right now with Tom Thayer, the Super Bowl winning Bears guard.
(00:55):
I'm Jeff Joniac. We're brought to you by Miller Lights.
This is episode on the Bears et cetera. A podcast
tomes so much to discuss.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I wish you were.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Here because I think I got to kick out of
the coaches on the grass just listening to them coach,
a little bit of fire, a lot of instruction, a
lot of motivation, not letting anything slight is promised, I
can tell you that.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
And the result it was a fun watch.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
I mean, it's just shorts and guys running around doing
techniques and fundamentals, but I enjoyed it.
Speaker 6 (01:24):
Well.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
For me, it's a little different because I had a.
Speaker 6 (01:27):
Chance to listen to a lot of it.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
And when you kind of shut your eyes and you're
not paying attention to any one person, you're kind of
paying attention to the sympathy of voices that surround all
of the practice fields and whether they're yelling encouragement or
correction or whatever they're talking about according to the position
and the guys are coaching. I think that's the neat
(01:50):
process and the beginning for me is kind of listening
and getting to know those new voices with your eyes closed.
So in four or five months and we're listening to
those guys make in game corrections or corrections during the
course of the week, he kind of familiar with that
is and what they're saying and what they're trying to
encourage and accomplish.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
I hear some of my takeaways from from my eyes.
Ozzie Trippelo is a huge man. Let me just tell
you that right now. He is a big guy, and
it's not just linear.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
He is built.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
He is broad chested, big armed dude and just a
large human being. Luther Burden the Third has got burst
to him, man, he's got burst and finished to his game.
Did make a heck of a catch, banged up on it,
but he was right back out there on Saturday. And
Kyle Manungai he's gonna be fun to watch as well.
He may be short in stature, but he's a plowhorse man.
(02:44):
He looks good. And Zay Frazier the Corner thinly built,
but he can move those long arms make an impact.
So some very interesting stuff, and then we'll get into
the coaching of Antoine Randall.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
L Boy, he's got a big voice.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Eric Bana me, you're not walking back to the huddle, Tom,
you gotta hear about it.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
No, it was fun.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Jeemy the Enemy is one of the guys that you
close your eyes and you kind of get to know
already because his approach to coaching is a little bit
more old school, where he's not gonna coddle you and
tell you how.
Speaker 6 (03:19):
Great you are.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
He's going to tell you what you screwed up, what
not to do, and for God's sakes, don't touch the
cone's yeah, when someone kicked the cone in there.
Speaker 6 (03:29):
And so I.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Like, you talk about Antoine Randall l and you talk
about beenemy, you talk about Al Harris and these guys.
It's kind of neat to listen to, you know, the
help that they're going to give these young players to
come in here and compete the best against the veterans.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
And over the course of this podcast, we'll hear from
defensive line coach Jeremy Garrett to sit down with him.
From a couple of weeks ago, he worked with Miles
Garrett with the Cleveland Brown so he's been in the
college game. And then j T Barrett, just getting his
feet wet as an NFL coach, came over from Detroit
with the Bears head coach Ben Johnson, so has some
interesting comments what he had as well, just from his
(04:10):
perspective not that far removed from being a college player.
But also let's talk about the schedule. We know a
couple of things at the taping of this podcast. One
is the Bears are gonna host Green Bay Week sixteen
at Soldier Field on Fox.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
So that's big.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
By the way, tickets will go on sale through Ticketmaster,
the official ticket partner of the Bears, here on Wednesday.
But for this game, you can already start buying those tickets.
It breaks a you know, it's been two years since
no primetime game used to be an annual thing. You're
going to play the Packers in primetime, so this could
be either three thirty or six thirty. So that's primetime
enough for me, and it'll be interesting late in the
(04:46):
season Tom, and.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Then the Black Friday Game.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
About that, the Black Friday Game, Tom, the Bears are
going in primetime with the Black Friday Game. That also
means the possibility when the schedule comes out that the
Bears could also play on Christmas Day because that happened
and the teams who played on Black Friday they played
on Christmas Day.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Right, Well, you're going to have to do a lot
of your shopping online, yeah, because I know Big Friday
is a huge day for you to hit all the
malls and pick up stuffs for Caitlin and Kelly, but
this year you might have to do it.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
At halftime at Philadelphia, we'll go shop in the morning
je steaks only.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Yeah, so how do you feel about those two?
Speaker 3 (05:28):
You know, I want to see the whole schedule because
just talking about two games out of seventeen is just
a little underwhelming. But when you put all seventeen together,
where when, how conditions heat, cold, all that kind of stuff,
it'll be fun to see because you know, they kind
of leak a couple of games. And I look at
the Minnesota Vikings. How they have two international games back
(05:51):
to back, one doublin Ireland and one in England. So
you know, the schedule is the great unknown nowadays. Jam
before when we start this thing, you know there is
gonna be sixteen games played home and away. Now you
have no idea where you're gonna play, what country you're
gonna play, or when you're gonna play.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
That's funny.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Yeah, we got to talk to our guy Pete Bursich
because that was on my list of things to talk
about later in the show. But let's talk about it
right now. Because they're the only team in the division
that's playing an international game. There are thirteen overall teams
gonna have an international game this year out of the
thirty two, and that's gonna be an annual thing and
it's going to increase. It's gonna increase. So that's the future.
(06:32):
But what is it ten days abroad? Okay, what is
the challenge of that. You're gonna play obviously close proximity.
You're gonna play, you know, in London, but also in Dublin.
But then you don't have to play at Pittsburgh where
you've never beaten the Steelers in Heinz Field. You don't
have to play to Cleveland where they've won once since
(06:54):
nineteen eighty nine. Those are irrelevant statistics, I know. But
it's just good for conversation if nothing else. But ten
days away yet, Now that's.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
I like to say, that's real money, Tom, that's real money.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
But you know, there's so many other considerations that you
have to take into an effect. You know, Now, are
you gonna leave your family home for ten days or are
you gonna bring your family with you for ten days?
Speaker 6 (07:16):
You know, And there's a lot of young guys in
the NFL.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
That are married and guys that are newlyweds, So there's
a lot of decisions that you have to that have
to be made, similar to like a baseball team that
goes on a ten day road trip or a basketball team.
So these guys, they have a lot of friends in
other professional sports, and maybe you should take some advice
from those guys about how they go about business on
(07:41):
those long extended trips.
Speaker 6 (07:42):
We've never been on one.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Our longest trip is probably going to the Super Bowl
for five or six days, and that's for one game.
But when you're talking about going from Ireland to England
and everything else in between, it's gonna be it's gonna
be trying.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Of course Jacksonville has done that, but this is something
brand new for Minnesota. Okay, let's get into some things
here as we get you set for some of the
sounds of the week last week with the Rookies. This
podcast brought to you by the official beer partner of
your Chicago Bears.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Tastes like Miller Time Chicago.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Go to Miller Lite dot com slash Bears Pod to
find delivery options near you. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Ninety six calories and three point two carbs per twelve ounces.
All right, let's start with Holston Lovelin Tom transitioning right
now from that injury where he had to have surgery
in January, so his return to full activity won't be
(08:39):
until some point during training camp. So he likes to
describe it he's stacking bricks right now. But let's listen
in on his early feedback of Ben Johnson.
Speaker 8 (08:49):
Yeah, I'm a big fan. I love like this spirit
is energy. He's super like determined, he's ready to go.
He's ready to take this thing to the top. And
he's no nice guy. He's gonna I see him getting
getting on butt and you know, getting on people's butts
and but fired up to like super excited. I'm loving
how he coaches' so early and I'm excited to play
(09:10):
for him.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
He's gonna be a topic.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Let's every time there's a practice, the media will ask
a question about Ben Johnson to a player, maybe something
they heard, something they saw how he goes about it,
because there's so there is more intrigue about Ben Johnson
than any Bears coach we've ever been around since Dicka
my opinion, because they're watching him because he has that
(09:33):
reputation of excellence that he brings to from Detroit and
he's already laid it out. This is how we're gonna
do it, no nonsense, We're not letting a mistake go unnoticed.
Blah blah blah. I think it's fascinating this conversation. Everybody's
getting asked the same question about Ben Johnson.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
But it's almost like you have a scientist. Okay, So
we saw him in the lab in Detroit and what
he did with the personnel, what he did with the
guy like Jared Goff, bringing in Jamar Gibbs, and how that.
Speaker 6 (09:59):
Offense, and it's kind of exploded up there.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Now this lab that he's in, this new lab in
Chicago is completely different. The quarterbacks aren't the same, the
running backs are different. The personnel on the exterior of
the offense and the tight end position in the offensive line,
they are a lot different from the formula, the formula
that he perfected in Detroit. So now what is the
formula for the Chicago Bears personnel? And I don't think
(10:25):
that's ever going to stop. That's going to be Ben
Johnson's entire career here in Chicago. He's going to take
what's offered to him, take him in the lab, and
figure out what is the most effective way to put
these guys in the most threatening position against their opponent
that he can do.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
I appreciated what he had to say when his only
day at the podium for the rookie Minti Caamp talked
about finding that sweet spot and coaching their different personality
styles are going to come out for all the coaches,
including himself, in scenarios and situations.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
And then this to me is the most important learn
what the.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Guys need to be pushed, because sometimes they do may
not be may may not be feeling it one day,
working through an injury or having a bad practice. What
how far can you take a guy what they need?
How you figure out what they need to be pushed?
Speaker 4 (11:12):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
I like that thought me too.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
I think that's kind of an evaluation that goes, you know, understated,
because sometimes these coaches are the guy, the guys that
get to see these guys at their worst moments. So
when you show up at the facility at six o'clock
in the morning, are you awaken ready to go? Are
you needed to be woken up and told what you're
going to do and try to get your energy up
(11:36):
and all those types of things from the players that
have a I mean, the coaches that have a lot
of experience, they know exactly how to push those buttons.
And then you talk about some of the young guys,
a JT. Barrett stuff. You know, how do they, you know,
put together their formula of inspiration to some of these
young guys. And so I think, not only Ben Johnson,
(11:57):
but every one of these coaches, it's going to be
fun to want watch how they push their players buttons.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
All right, here's Luther Burden, the third drafted number thirty nine.
He said it. It was the quote of the week.
It's gonna stay with him forever. Everybody who passed up
on me has got to pay. He believes in himself.
He feels he should have been drafted much higher. But
this part of his conversation is that he's gelling with
Antoine Randall, l his receivers coach.
Speaker 9 (12:24):
I feel like he's going to bring the best out
of me. You know, I've seen his past history.
Speaker 10 (12:28):
You know, he's a guy who's you know, been in
my shoes, so he knows what to expect in you know,
different ways how to handle it.
Speaker 9 (12:36):
So I'm grateful, you know, to have a great coach
like him.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
On the on the practice field, Burden getting a lot
of attention from Anton Randall l but he was coaching
everybody up the same way. He's just full of energy
exactly the way we've described him.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Yeah, and I love it here and I'd love to
see it because these guys need to be inspired coming
out of college and into their first NFL action, and
you gotta, like we're just talking about the last been
pushing their buttons.
Speaker 6 (13:01):
You got to get the best out of them.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
You got to make sure that they work play in
and play out, and that they work harder on Sunday.
So I think that this is kind of probably the
perfect player coach combination because you need a young guy
like Burn that needs inspiration for an experienced guy like
Antoine Randall.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
El and Antoine wenderbl can still spend it. He throws
a nice pass, Tommy, he really puts some heat on
that missile.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
He can he can with it.
Speaker 6 (13:27):
Those guys, you know, they don't lose that. They're they're
always They're always.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Going to have that so hey, and you know, he
can probably help in some of the drills when you
need a couple of extra balls flying exactly.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Reuben Hippolyte, the second self described bumpy first day. I
guess Dennis Allen told me, you needed a better day
the next day, and he appreciated that. But they're really
what draws them to this player is the speed and
you can see it on.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
The hook four four to two.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
That's the ability to be a coverage weapon. But overall,
he describes his journey here to the NFL how he
was overlooked many times in his life.
Speaker 11 (14:04):
Misery loves company. There's a lot of people that don't
know what I had to go through to get this opportunity.
You just look at my story, just not going into
the Combine, not going to the Senior Bowl, Trim Bowl
had a Hula Bowl, which you know, I give a
lot of you know, credit to Nick Logan for trusting
me for to play in that game. But just that
and then I called the NFS twice to see if
(14:26):
I had a Combine invite. They said no, So going
through that and then just you know, going through training
the whole Combine season and just you know, chopping wood,
carry water, you know, going through it every day, and
then having my opportunity, I want my one opportunity at
Pro Day doing that and then I went on like
fifteen visits, took like thirty flights in two weeks, just
(14:47):
back and back and forth across the country, you know, doing.
Speaker 9 (14:51):
My meetings and stuff with like that.
Speaker 11 (14:52):
So you know, all that is just a combination of
you know, me getting his opportunity now.
Speaker 9 (14:57):
Definitely don't take it for granted.
Speaker 11 (14:58):
Very grateful for you know, everybody upstairs for believing in
me and in my ability.
Speaker 9 (15:04):
Now it's time for me to put together.
Speaker 11 (15:05):
I just love my story for anyone who's you know
out there who thinks that they need you know, you know,
things like the combine and invite singer boy invited, you
know that, who thinks that they need that to get drafted?
Speaker 9 (15:17):
You don't. You just got to put your best foot forward.
Speaker 11 (15:20):
You gotta run fast and uh, he's got to be
your best self every day.
Speaker 9 (15:25):
And I feel like I'm showing that.
Speaker 11 (15:26):
I got a lot of messages, a lot of love,
a lot of hate too, but that's what comes with it,
so I'm all for it.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
The essence of that was the surprise that he was
a fourth ron or others had him as undrafted. Uh,
just draft analysts, you know, the the crowd that does
that work. During this entire offseason, he wasn't buying any
of it, and I'm glad talking about putting a chip
on another shoulder.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
There you go, listen.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
I I love his reaction to how the draft went down,
and his dissatisfaction with his evaluation or non invite to
the combine. All those types of things that are going
to stay in the back of his head are going
to be fuel for the fire.
Speaker 6 (16:03):
You think of what happened with TJ.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
Edwards throughout his career after being undrafted free agent and
now he's one of the best interior linebackers in the NFL.
I think that kind of fuel is, you know, is
really important for any of these guys, and Hippolyte is
one of the guys that I think he's going to
be inspired by it.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
All right, Assie Tripillo, what a what a nice guy,
you know.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
I introduced him to Tommy Wattle in the hallway because
played with his dad and got a big charge out
of that. I stopped him in the in the lunch room,
I said, hey, I got one more nugget for you.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
I don't know if you know.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Who this person is, but a gentleman by the name
of Jim Finks, a general manager in the Pro Football
Hall of Fame, had a big hand and putting together
that starting offensive line for the nineteen eighty five world
champion Chicago Bears and was a big line of scrimmage guy.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
He's in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Just so you know, he drafted your dad in New
Orleans and that's a great nugget. He was like, man,
thank you so much for tell me. That's a cool story.
I think it's a cool story. And it's interesting that
he is a Bear. That and Jim Finks so popular
in this organization. And I know you respected Jim Finks
as well.
Speaker 6 (17:12):
Oh heck yeah. And you know I knew his dad.
I knew who his dad was.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
You know, I knew a lot about him from his
college background and stuff.
Speaker 6 (17:19):
And so Trapillo has.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Got an opportunity to keep that name alive and flourish
even farther in the NFL. So he's definitely a guy
I think all Bears fans will pull for. But he's
also in the midst of a job interview that could
be some of the more difficult times over the next
five or six months in his life. When you're trying
to go from right tackle to left tackle or maybe
(17:42):
even on inside in the guard, then you're going to
have an extreme upgrade and talent every single snap that
you have in the NFL. I'm super excited for the kid,
and I hope he has a long, double digit career.
Speaker 6 (17:54):
And you know that smile stays on his face.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Here's Trapillo on getting his first snaps at left tackle
throughout the course of mini camp.
Speaker 12 (18:01):
Throughout college, I knew that I wanted to play in
the NFL, so doing so you have to be versatile.
That's the quickest way to get on the field. So
you know, after practice, even though I was the right
tackle the last two years in college, working left, making
sure that it's it's still smooth, still feels good. Especially
after the season. You know, I was working more left
than right just because catching out for lost time. So
it felt good today.
Speaker 9 (18:21):
Did you have a non football checklist?
Speaker 12 (18:25):
I mean yeah, you could say similar, similar like showing
who I am as a person along the staff, all
the great people around the staff here. So I think
that sort of coincides in a way with who I
am as a football player.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Well, you know, some guys have to learn how to
be a pro. Some guys are just a pro. They're
just a pro. Asi Trapello is a pro because, as
he indicated, working at left tackle after practices at Boston College,
thinking big right, thinking long term what that means, maybe
an injury on his own team, or maybe the NFL
is going to look at me. I have to play
both sides. Way to go Ozie Tripillo Right.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Listen, man, But you know they're saying in the NFL
is the more you can do. There is very few
guys out there unless you're a bona fide left tackle
and that's what you played your whole career, and you
know that's what you're walking in the NFL to do.
Speaker 6 (19:09):
You know, there's a few of those guys.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
That's the first thing an offensive line coach wants to do.
Feed you as much information and as much as many
stances as you can possibly get into on the offensive
line and see where you fit the best.
Speaker 6 (19:22):
And the most confident.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Okay, Tommy, a couple more guys here. Kylem anung guy,
the running back out of Rutgers. Here's a clip from
him on dropping into the seventh round.
Speaker 10 (19:32):
You know, I'm concern myself with who went before me
and all those things that drafts over with to my
rare view for me, but definitely something I'll take with
me in some fuel chip on my shoulder. But that's
kind of been my whole career and my path to
getting here. And you know, the things that allowed me
to excel in college, I got to figure that out
at this level first, and then, you know, use those
things to my advantage and then I expect to see
(19:52):
the same results.
Speaker 9 (19:53):
What are those things?
Speaker 10 (19:55):
You know, the little things, little details, you know, just
being a professional sport and with grown men. At the
end of the day, everyone's talented, everyone's got the certain
things that are necessary to be a football player. It's
a little details that makes the great guys great, you know,
that allows them to see the results they see. So
I got to figure out what those things are for me.
You know, I've got a little idea, but now now
that I'm here, I get to kind of fine tune
(20:16):
those things and figure it out and then apply it
to my game.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
You have a great saying when something is brought to
your attention that aggravates you a little bit, you say,
don't care.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
He does not care where he was drafted. It matters not.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
And that's the proper way to look at it, because
once you are on the field, now it's your ballgame.
You show what you got, You're gonna get evaluated from
a completely different set of eyes. This is a different system,
different scheme. You got your chance, you run with it.
And I like that he's looking forward in that backwards
tom oh me too.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
I really enjoy this young running back. I enjoy everything
he said. I like the things that you see on
tape and what Eric the enemy needs out of them,
and what Ben Johnson is gonna use him.
Speaker 6 (21:02):
For this offense.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
So I think he increases the competition in the backfield,
and uh, you know, I I think he's got a
bright future ahead.
Speaker 6 (21:10):
Of him in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
We're brought to you by PNC Official Bank of the Bears,
Za Frasier, the rookie cornerback out of Texas San Antonio.
And we brought this up many times, the coaching work
of Al Harris and watching Al Harris just strut around
on that field with a resume of importance as a player.
I think it hasn't gone unnoticed by anybody, including these guys.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Fraser, I'm being coached by Harris Man.
Speaker 7 (21:33):
Coach Man helped me for sure getting my stands higher,
not being too low when I'm perst Man and stuff
like that. So being coached by him is really a
blessing for he gonna coach me every day, even coaching
Harris and I got here and right now, so you
know this bit having him right there just it just
motivates everybody, and it just you know, elevation our game
(21:53):
as well.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Tommy made a terrific play at one point breaking up
a pass and that was his mo. He gets to
the football, he's like a man. He had six interceptions,
but a lot of pass breakups in college.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
You know one thing about Frasier, I always say I
believe that the cornerback position is the second most difficult
position in the NFL. And so if you take a
guy that has the template that can be successful, and
then everything matches his feet, matches with his length, his
you know, as he matures, he gets bigger and stronger,
and then you have the mind to pick from Al
(22:24):
Harris that can probably help expedite the way you should
be thinking about the offenses that you're facing, the receivers
that you're facing, the different types of routes they can run.
I think Fraser has probably been picked in the perfect
place with the perfect coach.
Speaker 6 (22:38):
And really can utilize that length and size of his.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
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the official physical therapy partner of the Chicago Bears. Let's
get into the defensive side of the ball. Defensive line
(23:03):
coach Jeremy Garrett, coach with Jacksonville last year as a
D line coach, has worked at Liberty College, Auburn, the
high school level with the Browns a few years ago,
working with Miles Garrett. He's got a lot of excitement
about what's ahead, making that transition from college to pro
and what that means.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
The essence of our conversation.
Speaker 13 (23:22):
How is that transition from college.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
To PROFI It's been good.
Speaker 14 (23:26):
You know, I was with the Browns in twenty twenty,
so it got some NFL you know experience, and some
Midwest experience, so kind of used to the cold a
little bit, but you know, you get to this level,
you know, football is football, just as minus the recruiting
and all the home visits and things like that. So
it's been good man, you know, come from Jacksonville and
(23:48):
now you know with another NFL team, it's it's been good.
Speaker 13 (23:51):
Does it feel like you have a lot more runway
when you don't have to worry about those other things
in college?
Speaker 4 (23:57):
Yeah? I think it is. As a coaches, definitely.
Speaker 14 (24:01):
I think the biggest thing, like you're gonna spend the
hours in football, You're gonna grinding football.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
You know, all of that doesn't change.
Speaker 14 (24:08):
I think the biggest thing is you know, when you're off,
when you're on summer vacation, like you're actually off and
you're with your family and you can give them all
your attention and it's not you know, you got to
answer the phone for every recruit that's calling. So that's
the biggest difference. I enjoyed recruiting, but it is nice
to be with your family and not have to interrupt
that time.
Speaker 13 (24:28):
All right, So what do you think of your guys
so far?
Speaker 14 (24:32):
Like the group, Man really really excited about everybody as
a whole. You know, I spent some time with those guys,
been meeting with them.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
We got some talent.
Speaker 14 (24:41):
We got some work to do, and I'm just excited
to get on the field, man, and work with them
and coach and do what we love to do on
the grass.
Speaker 13 (24:49):
Can you kind of explain to us, because we haven't
seen him from the inside, only the outside. Look at it,
Gray Jarrett's energy, enthusiasm, juice.
Speaker 14 (24:59):
I mean, he's a leader. I mean you could feel it.
He's one of the guys you walk in the room.
He has a presence about himself and he is, you know,
very detailed. You know, he takes notes as if it's
the first time he heard anything, So you can see
the leadership in him. I know he's doing great in
(25:20):
with those weight room guys at this time. But you know,
I think he's the type of guy. I mean, he's
a captain, he's a he's a veteran, he's tough, he
works hard, he has the right mentality.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
Uh, he's an unselfish player.
Speaker 14 (25:35):
I think anytime you get a guy like that and
you add that to your defensive line, you know, along
with the talent we had in place, man, I think
it's it's exciting, uh to have that type of guy
join us.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
I was excited with him as a veteran in.
Speaker 11 (25:48):
Your Billings, how can they help the younger guys come in.
Speaker 14 (25:53):
I think just just uh, the biggest thing with new
guys coming in is how to be a pro. And
so those guys Billings he sweat all those guys can
just reiterate, you know, the coaching points like here's here's
a note taking process, here's how you handle yourself as
a pro, here's how to get rid of the distractions
if there are some. But just to be a pro
(26:15):
and have longevity in this league, I think is important.
And I think those guys have proven they've done that
can be an example for those young guys coming in.
We won't have a depth charte or anything like that. Man,
it's going out. Let's coach, let's play football, let's get better.
Let's work on our fundamentals and technique. Let's work on
our effort and toughness and all those type things, and
then everything else will work out exactly how.
Speaker 13 (26:37):
It should in terms of what they're being asked to
do this year versus whatever you don't you know last year,
doesn't matter previously or matter. Yep, the style that Dennis
wants when you snapped the ball boot.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
Right, yep, yep.
Speaker 14 (26:49):
So you know, really looking forward, you know, first of all,
we want to see a tough, a tough group, a
tough defense in general, and we all know it starts
up front, so mentally tough, physically tough. We want to
see relentless pursuit, all right, and we want to strike
blocks like we.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
Want to attack up front.
Speaker 14 (27:07):
We want to knock guys back, and so that's kind
of mentality style that we want to be with. You know,
we want to disrupt the timing of the running back
and the quarterback, and so that's that's really our goal
and what we strive to do and what we want
to put on tape.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
I hear a lot of great things about this coach
also being a excellent teacher and a fiery guy, very
nice guy. But he's got a lot of work on
his hands because there's a lot of clay to mold
on that defensive line, a lot of different personalities, body types, talent,
everything that Dennis Allen is trying to get accomplished about.
(27:45):
These guys coming off the ball hard and just banging
into that guy across the line of scrimmage and them
being disruptive and penetrating.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
I like that Garrett recently had college experience because he
kind of understands the young buying of defensive linemen that
are coming up through the ranks out of college and
then coming to make the pro game. Then he also
understands the professional guys because he's been around the game
for a while now. And so I think when you
take the combination of your past experiences as a position coach,
(28:13):
you know how it fits according to every one of
their personalities, you know how to get the best out
of them. So I'm excited for the group of guys
that Garrett gets to work with, and I'm excited that
he's getting to work with Dennis Allen. And Dennis Allen
has already said what he wants out of his defensive line,
and I think that you can take their traits and
their abilities and coach every one of their responsibilities accordingly
(28:36):
and get the best out of this group and make
the most competition to see who wins jobs at the
end of camp.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
Yeah, you know, if you just go on last year
and the projection anyway, you had eight guys that are
coming back as starters, right, so the defensive improvement that
will come, it'll be the other supplements added from what
you've put in here in the offseason. Certainly the names
are familiar now with dioa Edengbo and Shamar Turner and
of course Great Jarrett in terms of how they come
together will be the key, and that will come from
(29:04):
how their coach, what they're being asked to do, hopefully
playing on the lead more than they have had the
chance to, which will make a big difference, I know
in your opinion, and how Grady Jarrett opens things up.
I think these are things we'll be looking at from
a defensive perspective. All the attention remains on the offense
even today. I look, and you know Pro Football Focus
(29:25):
has a big rundown on all the offensive improvements of
the Bear. Let's talk about defensive improvement and how guys
like Montese Sweat and Javon Dexter Senior and Tremaine and
TJ and Jalen Johnson and Tyreek Kyler Gordon and Brisker
all have to rise as well.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
You know one thing that the h coach is really
said throughout your interviews with me, I know there's no
depth chart, and I like that though Jeff and I
want them to keep saying that until they get into
training camp in pads a couple of weeks, evaluate one
on ones of every different segment that you're looking at.
You look how they fit in according to the mental
(30:01):
side of the game. And then maybe the first time
a depth chart comes out, there's gonna be guys that
walk into that locker room and they look at that
first depth chart and they're gonna go what where. You know,
there's gonna be a lot of those question marks. And
I remember the first away game when I was at
Notre Dame. I ran to the locker room to look
to see if I made the traveling team. That's all
(30:22):
I wanted to do, and when I saw my name
on the traveling team, it gave me a shot of
adrenaline and a boost. Go game, Okay, that first obstacle.
Speaker 6 (30:30):
You know you made it. Let's let's see what's next.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
And so it's the same thing with your if you're
in a professional level. Let me look at that first
depth chart. Where am I? Okay, what do I need
to do to climb up that depth chart or what
else can I do to improve my opportunities?
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Did you have the same euphoric rush when you ran
to the scores on the outside of your teacher's office
after a big test and you have passed your map final.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Remember remember those days in college.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Yeah, I didn't run with the same excitement. That was
more earn. I probably had more confidence in my football
ability than my schooling.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Yeah, the kids today they get you know, it's how
digital we had to run.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
We had you had to sit there and you had
to look for your for your.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
Test score on a on a piece of paper outside
the office.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
It was talk about a stomach ache tom for both
of us. I'm sure again. We're brought to you by
PNC Official Bank of the Bears. A note on Dennis
Allen on Shamar Turner. By the way, and since we
had Turner's interview last week, I didn't run any soundbites
throwing from the podium, but I love this quote and
he's he's a Texan. Dennis sounds a Texan. So put
(31:36):
it all into perspective. I think we'll have to put
the saddle.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
On him and break them a little bit.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
But we'd rather have to pull the reins back rather
than have to whip him to get him to go.
I love that quote about Shamar Turner and that's that's
an ode to his aggressive play.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
He drew some flags in college. You won't be able
to do that in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
But he's gonna play with a lot of fire, and
they don't want to take that away from him.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
Oh no, You never want to just go urage a
guy from playing full speed all the time, whether he
does it in practice or games. But you want to
take that full speed attitude and be able to connect
it to fundamentals and techniques and al sudden turn this,
like you said, this wild horse into something that's rideable
(32:19):
and the usable, and take his traits and turning turn
them into assets.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Start them out at defensive tackle, working both three technique
and nose tackle, and they see versatility in him, but
one step at a time.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
That's kind of the approach with j. T. Barrett.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
I sat down with him when all the coaches who
were available a few weeks ago, asked him if he
drove right in when when getting to teaching Caleb Williams
and the rest of the quarterbacks.
Speaker 5 (32:42):
I wouldn't say just dive in. I think it's a process,
and so we're trying to take the necessary steps in
order to make sure that we're going about things in
the right way as coaching staff to make sure that
guys are prepared and so when you get to OTA's
and training camp that we're all on the same page.
So it's just a day by day process.
Speaker 13 (32:58):
What do you think of the entirety of the staff
because the experience levels from a veterans sixty nine year
old defensive coach to the different types of influences offensively
and is it been a fun process to hear everybody's thoughts.
Speaker 5 (33:13):
No doubt, Being that there's a lot of experience, there's
a lot, you know, a lot of things people have
done in their past. There's a lot of ways to
do with one thing. So with that, it's been cool
to hear the unique different ways some my you know
coaches have a play scheme up and play whatever it is,
So I think that's been cool.
Speaker 15 (33:30):
In your approach as a coach, do you coach the
way you liked to be coached or do you have
a different way about you now from a player perspective
to a coach person.
Speaker 5 (33:42):
I would say that I'll probably take an approach that
how I would like to be coach. As a player,
I knew I wanted to be coach hard. I knew
I wanted to, you know, I don't know I wanted to.
I was getting better each and every day, right, So
with that, I feel like I do take that same
(34:04):
approach and making sure that you know, at the end
of the day, we're at least getting better in some.
Speaker 4 (34:08):
Area each and every day.
Speaker 5 (34:09):
From a quarterback perspective, so I'll say, yeah.
Speaker 13 (34:11):
It's interesting to hear all the coaches because they all
are saying, we say, coach hard, We're gonna coach guys hard.
I mean, it's it's it's it's refreshing to hear.
Speaker 5 (34:20):
It's a tough, tough business, but there's we've got a
lot of responsibility. We've got to be accounta roof making
sure that we know our job, know what to do,
and it's not easy.
Speaker 4 (34:31):
But at the end of the day, it's profession football league.
Speaker 5 (34:33):
So yeah, that's okay, thank you.
Speaker 10 (34:38):
When that was.
Speaker 3 (34:39):
Higher, he said that he want the assistant coaches to
be ready to grind late.
Speaker 6 (34:43):
Nights, especially on the office.
Speaker 3 (34:44):
Try to call it like can you give us a
little insight or what you like? Pretend to weekly works
like fornder doctor.
Speaker 5 (34:52):
Well, yeah, just that a lot of late nights So
it's interesting, you know, because my family they would, you know,
try to come see me up in Detroit during the
season and they were like, oh, you're always at work,
and it's like, yeah, guys, it's my job and it's
really important. So yeah, I'm at work, you know, nineteen
hours the other day, Like this is what it is.
(35:13):
But no, it just comes with it.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
So some really good answers from j T.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Barrett finding his voice as well as a coach, the
former Ohio State quarterback.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Very serious guy, very serious guy.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
And I think being not so far removed from college
is another advantage in working with these young quarterbacks like
Caleb Williams and Tyson Bagent and you got the veteran
case Keenum Austin Reid also on this roster.
Speaker 3 (35:35):
Yeah, you know, I think it's an exciting opportunity for J. T.
Barrett because he's what the Chicago Bears, a new coaching
staff and a new head coach from the ground floor.
And if you start seeing the emergence of Caleb, there's
gonna be a lot of conversation of what where can
J T. Barrett go in terms of his coaching and
his coaching success.
Speaker 6 (35:55):
But I'm glad.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
Right now, he's only focused on the Bears quarterback room.
He's not trying to think too far ahead or even behind,
but he's just trying to get every one of these
quarterbacks an equal opportunity to succeed.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
Did you hear the Declan Doyle interview at the podium
during Mini caamp I said, Caleb came in on a Saturday,
went through his own walkthrough by himself in the paytent center.
Just he's driven to show that he's got to handle
on this for his teammates and for his own future
and for this team's future. I thought that was a good,
good anecdote, good story, you know.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
I think from the moment Caleb was drafted, he's always
been a really wise young man up at the podium,
but he also knows what's at stake here because now
this is the third program in three years. In the
difficulty of mastering the terminology that he has to learn
that it's not an easy process. So the more time,
whether you're by yourself, you're with your teammates, or you're
(36:53):
with the maybe you know what, one guy from your team,
there's a lot that you can learn that's going to
help you moving forward.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
New Chicago United Airlines getting brand new planes with all
the bills and whistles like Bluetooth connectivity screens at every
seat in room for everyone's roller bag. United proud to
fly the Chicago Bears and you too mentioned Bears Care.
Another big night. Thank you to everyone who attended and
contributed to cancer and ovarian cancer research Breston Ovarian Cancer Research.
(37:21):
Another big, big night in terms of those contributions and
the live auction.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
And you know, some of the.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
Players there included Roma Dounza, who he must have taken
about a thousand pictures. People really are attracted to Rome's
personality and he was He was so generous.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
With his time over the guy.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
I have to mention that, and same with other players
and some of the guys that have been there many times,
like your teammates Stan Hampton and Gary Fencik and Charles Panett.
Tillman was there, Jerry Azuma, Anthony Adams, those those folks,
so DJ Moore. So it was a very very fun
night went smoothly and a big night for cancer research
for sure.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
Well that's awesome, you know, listen, man, that events meant.
Speaker 6 (38:03):
A lot to every single Chicago Bear player.
Speaker 3 (38:05):
Who's walked into that event and they know that how
it's helped people that are in such a position of
need at that time. And the whole Chicago Bear staff
has always done a great job of putting it together.
Speaker 6 (38:19):
And you running the live auction.
Speaker 3 (38:22):
I know that is not easy, but it's it's super
beneficial to the people that that it helps.
Speaker 1 (38:29):
I'll tell you what makes it easy when you have
President and CEO Kevin Warren grabbing the microphone to give
it himpassion plea and explain just how we are all interconnected. Unfortunately,
in the cancer world, there's not a person that we
know has not been impacted by someone they know that
has been afflicted with cancer of any type, all of us.
(38:53):
But you know, he helped me out a little bit
on some of the some of the items, and he
is just and he is the he's the best speaker
and motivator I've ever seen at the microphone.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
So he did a heck of a job. So I
appreciate that as well.
Speaker 1 (39:07):
Hey, Tommy so OTLs will be starting May twentieth. There'll
be three on field days that week, four days the
following week, then a mandatory midi camp June third through
the fifth, and then the rookies got to come back
for one more week, but that'll be it for the
offseason until training camp starts.
Speaker 2 (39:24):
We don't have the exact date just yet.
Speaker 1 (39:25):
That'll come rolling out once the schedule is released on Wednesday.
Speaker 2 (39:29):
But you know you'll be back in.
Speaker 1 (39:31):
Town and enjoying that process. And I'll tell you, the
excitement is bubbling up.
Speaker 9 (39:35):
Man.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
It's just seeing the guys on the grass again.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
A lot of smiles on a lot of faces, just
because everybody wants to rinse the bad taste out right
and start over here and get it right and have
a great, great.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
Twenty twenty five season. And I know you feel the
same way.
Speaker 3 (39:52):
Yeah. Hey, it's going to be one of the most
competitive divisions in the history of the NFC North in
the NFL, and I think every time you have a conversation,
whether they're having a conversation in Green Bay, in Detroit, Minnesota,
or Chicago, the conversation.
Speaker 6 (40:07):
All revolves around the division.
Speaker 3 (40:10):
It's something that you know, the Bears are in the
process of improvement, coaching players and everything, and you know,
I'm excited to see where this is going to go.
Speaker 1 (40:20):
Hey, Bears Fan Steinhoffels is a proud partner of the
Chicago Bears are now open in Orland Park. Steinhoffels is
Chicago Land's furniture and mattress leader, with the largest selection
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One last thing, your dear friend and a guy that
has because of you, have had a few conversations with
(40:42):
the enjoyed Chris Berman.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
I got to give him a shout out.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
The Berminator gets to stay with ESPN through its fiftieth
anniversary and first Super Bowl. He got a contract extension.
He's seventy, right, he's going to be seventy yep, just.
Speaker 6 (40:57):
What seventy just turned seventy the other day.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
An amazing career and I'm glad they still believe in
Berman and he delivers every time he takes the mic,
and you tell him congratulations from me as well. I
think that's huge, especially you know he's all abau ball.
He's all about football, of course, and he's really carved
out that niche and really been a big presence in
(41:20):
terms of the National Football League in that regard. Certainly
his work at the Hall of fame also underscores that.
But he's been around such a long time, and they'll
get to be, you know, part of the first Super
Bowl at ESPN when they do air that.
Speaker 3 (41:33):
Well, you know, I did get a thank you message
for him while we are doing this podcast, and I
talked to him a couple weeks ago and he said,
and he will be and I don't think there will
ever be another fifty year employee of ESPN, and that
was his goal. He wanted to stay with ESPN and
to get to that fifty year anniversary. Super happy for him,
(41:57):
Congratulations to him. And you know, I think the first
time that he gets to be a part of a
Super Bowl on ESPN, it's just gonna be an awesome
opportunity for him.
Speaker 6 (42:07):
So yeah, I appreciate Burman as well.
Speaker 1 (42:09):
Yeah, I'm sure I'm sure he's tickled, no doubt about it.
All Right, that'll do it for us for Tom there,
I'm Jeff Joniyak.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
Thanks for listening to everybody.
Speaker 1 (42:16):
Please subscribe now in the Chicago Bears official app, Apple, Spotify, YouTube,
or wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 2 (42:21):
Spear down, everybody,
Cut over that DJ Moore and zone touchdown touchdown pairs.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I am Jeff Joniac.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
Glitz is not.
Speaker 4 (00:08):
Donnie go Cart.
Speaker 5 (00:11):
What was like playing for Coche Good.
Speaker 6 (00:14):
I don't want to answer any questions like that.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Pressure coming is a big trouble Donnie Goes Mottest Sweat.
Speaker 6 (00:25):
Bears, et cetera.
Speaker 7 (00:26):
Brought to you by Miller Light with the voices of
the Bears, Jeff Joniac and Tom Thayer.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Exciting times for Bears fans.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Schedule release on Wednesday of this week and fans out
of their collective minds, Oh my gosh, it's as big
as anything he does. And we get our first look
at the new Bears coaching staff on the grass, coaching
up the rookies over the weekend try out guys as well.
We had another successful Bear's care gala, and we're cooking
right now with Tom Thayer, the Super Bowl winning Bears guard.
(00:55):
I'm Jeff Joniac. We're brought to you by Miller Lights.
This is episode on the Bears et cetera. A podcast
tomes so much to discuss.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I wish you were.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Here because I think I got to kick out of
the coaches on the grass just listening to them coach,
a little bit of fire, a lot of instruction, a
lot of motivation, not letting anything slight is promised, I
can tell you that.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
And the result it was a fun watch.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
I mean, it's just shorts and guys running around doing
techniques and fundamentals, but I enjoyed it.
Speaker 6 (01:24):
Well.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
For me, it's a little different because I had a.
Speaker 6 (01:27):
Chance to listen to a lot of it.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
And when you kind of shut your eyes and you're
not paying attention to any one person, you're kind of
paying attention to the sympathy of voices that surround all
of the practice fields and whether they're yelling encouragement or
correction or whatever they're talking about according to the position
and the guys are coaching. I think that's the neat
(01:50):
process and the beginning for me is kind of listening
and getting to know those new voices with your eyes closed.
So in four or five months and we're listening to
those guys make in game corrections or corrections during the
course of the week, he kind of familiar with that
is and what they're saying and what they're trying to
encourage and accomplish.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
I hear some of my takeaways from from my eyes.
Ozzie Trippelo is a huge man. Let me just tell
you that right now. He is a big guy, and
it's not just linear.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
He is built.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
He is broad chested, big armed dude and just a
large human being. Luther Burden the Third has got burst
to him, man, he's got burst and finished to his game.
Did make a heck of a catch, banged up on it,
but he was right back out there on Saturday. And
Kyle Manungai he's gonna be fun to watch as well.
He may be short in stature, but he's a plowhorse man.
(02:44):
He looks good. And Zay Frazier the Corner thinly built,
but he can move those long arms make an impact.
So some very interesting stuff, and then we'll get into
the coaching of Antoine Randall.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
L Boy, he's got a big voice.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Eric Bana me, you're not walking back to the huddle, Tom,
you gotta hear about it.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
No, it was fun.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Jeemy the Enemy is one of the guys that you
close your eyes and you kind of get to know
already because his approach to coaching is a little bit
more old school, where he's not gonna coddle you and
tell you how.
Speaker 6 (03:19):
Great you are.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
He's going to tell you what you screwed up, what
not to do, and for God's sakes, don't touch the
cone's yeah, when someone kicked the cone in there.
Speaker 6 (03:29):
And so I.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Like, you talk about Antoine Randall l and you talk
about beenemy, you talk about Al Harris and these guys.
It's kind of neat to listen to, you know, the
help that they're going to give these young players to
come in here and compete the best against the veterans.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
And over the course of this podcast, we'll hear from
defensive line coach Jeremy Garrett to sit down with him.
From a couple of weeks ago, he worked with Miles
Garrett with the Cleveland Brown so he's been in the
college game. And then j T Barrett, just getting his
feet wet as an NFL coach, came over from Detroit
with the Bears head coach Ben Johnson, so has some
interesting comments what he had as well, just from his
(04:10):
perspective not that far removed from being a college player.
But also let's talk about the schedule. We know a
couple of things at the taping of this podcast. One
is the Bears are gonna host Green Bay Week sixteen
at Soldier Field on Fox.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
So that's big.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
By the way, tickets will go on sale through Ticketmaster,
the official ticket partner of the Bears, here on Wednesday.
But for this game, you can already start buying those tickets.
It breaks a you know, it's been two years since
no primetime game used to be an annual thing. You're
going to play the Packers in primetime, so this could
be either three thirty or six thirty. So that's primetime
enough for me, and it'll be interesting late in the
(04:46):
season Tom, and.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Then the Black Friday Game.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
About that, the Black Friday Game, Tom, the Bears are
going in primetime with the Black Friday Game. That also
means the possibility when the schedule comes out that the
Bears could also play on Christmas Day because that happened
and the teams who played on Black Friday they played
on Christmas Day.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Right, Well, you're going to have to do a lot
of your shopping online, yeah, because I know Big Friday
is a huge day for you to hit all the
malls and pick up stuffs for Caitlin and Kelly, but
this year you might have to do it.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
At halftime at Philadelphia, we'll go shop in the morning
je steaks only.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Yeah, so how do you feel about those two?
Speaker 3 (05:28):
You know, I want to see the whole schedule because
just talking about two games out of seventeen is just
a little underwhelming. But when you put all seventeen together,
where when, how conditions heat, cold, all that kind of stuff,
it'll be fun to see because you know, they kind
of leak a couple of games. And I look at
the Minnesota Vikings. How they have two international games back
(05:51):
to back, one doublin Ireland and one in England. So
you know, the schedule is the great unknown nowadays. Jam
before when we start this thing, you know there is
gonna be sixteen games played home and away. Now you
have no idea where you're gonna play, what country you're
gonna play, or when you're gonna play.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
That's funny.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Yeah, we got to talk to our guy Pete Bursich
because that was on my list of things to talk
about later in the show. But let's talk about it
right now. Because they're the only team in the division
that's playing an international game. There are thirteen overall teams
gonna have an international game this year out of the
thirty two, and that's gonna be an annual thing and
it's going to increase. It's gonna increase. So that's the future.
(06:32):
But what is it ten days abroad? Okay, what is
the challenge of that. You're gonna play obviously close proximity.
You're gonna play, you know, in London, but also in Dublin.
But then you don't have to play at Pittsburgh where
you've never beaten the Steelers in Heinz Field. You don't
have to play to Cleveland where they've won once since
(06:54):
nineteen eighty nine. Those are irrelevant statistics, I know. But
it's just good for conversation if nothing else. But ten
days away yet, Now that's.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
I like to say, that's real money, Tom, that's real money.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
But you know, there's so many other considerations that you
have to take into an effect. You know, Now, are
you gonna leave your family home for ten days or are
you gonna bring your family with you for ten days?
Speaker 6 (07:16):
You know, And there's a lot of young guys in
the NFL.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
That are married and guys that are newlyweds, So there's
a lot of decisions that you have to that have
to be made, similar to like a baseball team that
goes on a ten day road trip or a basketball team.
So these guys, they have a lot of friends in
other professional sports, and maybe you should take some advice
from those guys about how they go about business on
(07:41):
those long extended trips.
Speaker 6 (07:42):
We've never been on one.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Our longest trip is probably going to the Super Bowl
for five or six days, and that's for one game.
But when you're talking about going from Ireland to England
and everything else in between, it's gonna be it's gonna
be trying.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Of course Jacksonville has done that, but this is something
brand new for Minnesota. Okay, let's get into some things
here as we get you set for some of the
sounds of the week last week with the Rookies. This
podcast brought to you by the official beer partner of
your Chicago Bears.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Tastes like Miller Time Chicago.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Go to Miller Lite dot com slash Bears Pod to
find delivery options near you. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Ninety six calories and three point two carbs per twelve ounces.
All right, let's start with Holston Lovelin Tom transitioning right
now from that injury where he had to have surgery
in January, so his return to full activity won't be
(08:39):
until some point during training camp. So he likes to
describe it he's stacking bricks right now. But let's listen
in on his early feedback of Ben Johnson.
Speaker 8 (08:49):
Yeah, I'm a big fan. I love like this spirit
is energy. He's super like determined, he's ready to go.
He's ready to take this thing to the top. And
he's no nice guy. He's gonna I see him getting
getting on butt and you know, getting on people's butts
and but fired up to like super excited. I'm loving
how he coaches' so early and I'm excited to play
(09:10):
for him.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
He's gonna be a topic.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Let's every time there's a practice, the media will ask
a question about Ben Johnson to a player, maybe something
they heard, something they saw how he goes about it,
because there's so there is more intrigue about Ben Johnson
than any Bears coach we've ever been around since Dicka
my opinion, because they're watching him because he has that
(09:33):
reputation of excellence that he brings to from Detroit and
he's already laid it out. This is how we're gonna
do it, no nonsense, We're not letting a mistake go unnoticed.
Blah blah blah. I think it's fascinating this conversation. Everybody's
getting asked the same question about Ben Johnson.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
But it's almost like you have a scientist. Okay, So
we saw him in the lab in Detroit and what
he did with the personnel, what he did with the
guy like Jared Goff, bringing in Jamar Gibbs, and how that.
Speaker 6 (09:59):
Offense, and it's kind of exploded up there.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Now this lab that he's in, this new lab in
Chicago is completely different. The quarterbacks aren't the same, the
running backs are different. The personnel on the exterior of
the offense and the tight end position in the offensive line,
they are a lot different from the formula, the formula
that he perfected in Detroit. So now what is the
formula for the Chicago Bears personnel? And I don't think
(10:25):
that's ever going to stop. That's going to be Ben
Johnson's entire career here in Chicago. He's going to take
what's offered to him, take him in the lab, and
figure out what is the most effective way to put
these guys in the most threatening position against their opponent
that he can do.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
I appreciated what he had to say when his only
day at the podium for the rookie Minti Caamp talked
about finding that sweet spot and coaching their different personality
styles are going to come out for all the coaches,
including himself, in scenarios and situations.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
And then this to me is the most important learn
what the.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Guys need to be pushed, because sometimes they do may
not be may may not be feeling it one day,
working through an injury or having a bad practice. What
how far can you take a guy what they need?
How you figure out what they need to be pushed?
Speaker 4 (11:12):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
I like that thought me too.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
I think that's kind of an evaluation that goes, you know, understated,
because sometimes these coaches are the guy, the guys that
get to see these guys at their worst moments. So
when you show up at the facility at six o'clock
in the morning, are you awaken ready to go? Are
you needed to be woken up and told what you're
going to do and try to get your energy up
(11:36):
and all those types of things from the players that
have a I mean, the coaches that have a lot
of experience, they know exactly how to push those buttons.
And then you talk about some of the young guys,
a JT. Barrett stuff. You know, how do they, you know,
put together their formula of inspiration to some of these
young guys. And so I think, not only Ben Johnson,
(11:57):
but every one of these coaches, it's going to be
fun to want watch how they push their players buttons.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
All right, here's Luther Burden, the third drafted number thirty nine.
He said it. It was the quote of the week.
It's gonna stay with him forever. Everybody who passed up
on me has got to pay. He believes in himself.
He feels he should have been drafted much higher. But
this part of his conversation is that he's gelling with
Antoine Randall, l his receivers coach.
Speaker 9 (12:24):
I feel like he's going to bring the best out
of me. You know, I've seen his past history.
Speaker 10 (12:28):
You know, he's a guy who's you know, been in
my shoes, so he knows what to expect in you know,
different ways how to handle it.
Speaker 9 (12:36):
So I'm grateful, you know, to have a great coach
like him.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
On the on the practice field, Burden getting a lot
of attention from Anton Randall l but he was coaching
everybody up the same way. He's just full of energy
exactly the way we've described him.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Yeah, and I love it here and I'd love to
see it because these guys need to be inspired coming
out of college and into their first NFL action, and
you gotta, like we're just talking about the last been
pushing their buttons.
Speaker 6 (13:01):
You got to get the best out of them.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
You got to make sure that they work play in
and play out, and that they work harder on Sunday.
So I think that this is kind of probably the
perfect player coach combination because you need a young guy
like Burn that needs inspiration for an experienced guy like
Antoine Randall.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
El and Antoine wenderbl can still spend it. He throws
a nice pass, Tommy, he really puts some heat on
that missile.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
He can he can with it.
Speaker 6 (13:27):
Those guys, you know, they don't lose that. They're they're
always They're always.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Going to have that so hey, and you know, he
can probably help in some of the drills when you
need a couple of extra balls flying exactly.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Reuben Hippolyte, the second self described bumpy first day. I
guess Dennis Allen told me, you needed a better day
the next day, and he appreciated that. But they're really
what draws them to this player is the speed and
you can see it on.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
The hook four four to two.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
That's the ability to be a coverage weapon. But overall,
he describes his journey here to the NFL how he
was overlooked many times in his life.
Speaker 11 (14:04):
Misery loves company. There's a lot of people that don't
know what I had to go through to get this opportunity.
You just look at my story, just not going into
the Combine, not going to the Senior Bowl, Trim Bowl
had a Hula Bowl, which you know, I give a
lot of you know, credit to Nick Logan for trusting
me for to play in that game. But just that
and then I called the NFS twice to see if
(14:26):
I had a Combine invite. They said no, So going
through that and then just you know, going through training
the whole Combine season and just you know, chopping wood,
carry water, you know, going through it every day, and
then having my opportunity, I want my one opportunity at
Pro Day doing that and then I went on like
fifteen visits, took like thirty flights in two weeks, just
(14:47):
back and back and forth across the country, you know, doing.
Speaker 9 (14:51):
My meetings and stuff with like that.
Speaker 11 (14:52):
So you know, all that is just a combination of
you know, me getting his opportunity now.
Speaker 9 (14:57):
Definitely don't take it for granted.
Speaker 11 (14:58):
Very grateful for you know, everybody upstairs for believing in
me and in my ability.
Speaker 9 (15:04):
Now it's time for me to put together.
Speaker 11 (15:05):
I just love my story for anyone who's you know
out there who thinks that they need you know, you know,
things like the combine and invite singer boy invited, you
know that, who thinks that they need that to get drafted?
Speaker 9 (15:17):
You don't. You just got to put your best foot forward.
Speaker 11 (15:20):
You gotta run fast and uh, he's got to be
your best self every day.
Speaker 9 (15:25):
And I feel like I'm showing that.
Speaker 11 (15:26):
I got a lot of messages, a lot of love,
a lot of hate too, but that's what comes with it,
so I'm all for it.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
The essence of that was the surprise that he was
a fourth ron or others had him as undrafted. Uh,
just draft analysts, you know, the the crowd that does
that work. During this entire offseason, he wasn't buying any
of it, and I'm glad talking about putting a chip
on another shoulder.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
There you go, listen.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
I I love his reaction to how the draft went down,
and his dissatisfaction with his evaluation or non invite to
the combine. All those types of things that are going
to stay in the back of his head are going
to be fuel for the fire.
Speaker 6 (16:03):
You think of what happened with TJ.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
Edwards throughout his career after being undrafted free agent and
now he's one of the best interior linebackers in the NFL.
I think that kind of fuel is, you know, is
really important for any of these guys, and Hippolyte is
one of the guys that I think he's going to
be inspired by it.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
All right, Assie Tripillo, what a what a nice guy,
you know.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
I introduced him to Tommy Wattle in the hallway because
played with his dad and got a big charge out
of that. I stopped him in the in the lunch room,
I said, hey, I got one more nugget for you.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
I don't know if you know.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Who this person is, but a gentleman by the name
of Jim Finks, a general manager in the Pro Football
Hall of Fame, had a big hand and putting together
that starting offensive line for the nineteen eighty five world
champion Chicago Bears and was a big line of scrimmage guy.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
He's in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Just so you know, he drafted your dad in New
Orleans and that's a great nugget. He was like, man,
thank you so much for tell me. That's a cool story.
I think it's a cool story. And it's interesting that
he is a Bear. That and Jim Finks so popular
in this organization. And I know you respected Jim Finks
as well.
Speaker 6 (17:12):
Oh heck yeah. And you know I knew his dad.
I knew who his dad was.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
You know, I knew a lot about him from his
college background and stuff.
Speaker 6 (17:19):
And so Trapillo has.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Got an opportunity to keep that name alive and flourish
even farther in the NFL. So he's definitely a guy
I think all Bears fans will pull for. But he's
also in the midst of a job interview that could
be some of the more difficult times over the next
five or six months in his life. When you're trying
to go from right tackle to left tackle or maybe
(17:42):
even on inside in the guard, then you're going to
have an extreme upgrade and talent every single snap that
you have in the NFL. I'm super excited for the kid,
and I hope he has a long, double digit career.
Speaker 6 (17:54):
And you know that smile stays on his face.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Here's Trapillo on getting his first snaps at left tackle
throughout the course of mini camp.
Speaker 12 (18:01):
Throughout college, I knew that I wanted to play in
the NFL, so doing so you have to be versatile.
That's the quickest way to get on the field. So
you know, after practice, even though I was the right
tackle the last two years in college, working left, making
sure that it's it's still smooth, still feels good. Especially
after the season. You know, I was working more left
than right just because catching out for lost time. So
it felt good today.
Speaker 9 (18:21):
Did you have a non football checklist?
Speaker 12 (18:25):
I mean yeah, you could say similar, similar like showing
who I am as a person along the staff, all
the great people around the staff here. So I think
that sort of coincides in a way with who I
am as a football player.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Well, you know, some guys have to learn how to
be a pro. Some guys are just a pro. They're
just a pro. Asi Trapello is a pro because, as
he indicated, working at left tackle after practices at Boston College,
thinking big right, thinking long term what that means, maybe
an injury on his own team, or maybe the NFL
is going to look at me. I have to play
both sides. Way to go Ozie Tripillo Right.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Listen, man, But you know they're saying in the NFL
is the more you can do. There is very few
guys out there unless you're a bona fide left tackle
and that's what you played your whole career, and you
know that's what you're walking in the NFL to do.
Speaker 6 (19:09):
You know, there's a few of those guys.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
That's the first thing an offensive line coach wants to do.
Feed you as much information and as much as many
stances as you can possibly get into on the offensive
line and see where you fit the best.
Speaker 6 (19:22):
And the most confident.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Okay, Tommy, a couple more guys here. Kylem anung guy,
the running back out of Rutgers. Here's a clip from
him on dropping into the seventh round.
Speaker 10 (19:32):
You know, I'm concern myself with who went before me
and all those things that drafts over with to my
rare view for me, but definitely something I'll take with
me in some fuel chip on my shoulder. But that's
kind of been my whole career and my path to
getting here. And you know, the things that allowed me
to excel in college, I got to figure that out
at this level first, and then, you know, use those
things to my advantage and then I expect to see
(19:52):
the same results.
Speaker 9 (19:53):
What are those things?
Speaker 10 (19:55):
You know, the little things, little details, you know, just
being a professional sport and with grown men. At the
end of the day, everyone's talented, everyone's got the certain
things that are necessary to be a football player. It's
a little details that makes the great guys great, you know,
that allows them to see the results they see. So
I got to figure out what those things are for me.
You know, I've got a little idea, but now now
that I'm here, I get to kind of fine tune
(20:16):
those things and figure it out and then apply it
to my game.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
You have a great saying when something is brought to
your attention that aggravates you a little bit, you say,
don't care.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
He does not care where he was drafted. It matters not.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
And that's the proper way to look at it, because
once you are on the field, now it's your ballgame.
You show what you got, You're gonna get evaluated from
a completely different set of eyes. This is a different system,
different scheme. You got your chance, you run with it.
And I like that he's looking forward in that backwards
tom oh me too.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
I really enjoy this young running back. I enjoy everything
he said. I like the things that you see on
tape and what Eric the enemy needs out of them,
and what Ben Johnson is gonna use him.
Speaker 6 (21:02):
For this offense.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
So I think he increases the competition in the backfield,
and uh, you know, I I think he's got a
bright future ahead.
Speaker 6 (21:10):
Of him in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
We're brought to you by PNC Official Bank of the Bears,
Za Frasier, the rookie cornerback out of Texas San Antonio.
And we brought this up many times, the coaching work
of Al Harris and watching Al Harris just strut around
on that field with a resume of importance as a player.
I think it hasn't gone unnoticed by anybody, including these guys.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Fraser, I'm being coached by Harris Man.
Speaker 7 (21:33):
Coach Man helped me for sure getting my stands higher,
not being too low when I'm perst Man and stuff
like that. So being coached by him is really a
blessing for he gonna coach me every day, even coaching
Harris and I got here and right now, so you
know this bit having him right there just it just
motivates everybody, and it just you know, elevation our game
(21:53):
as well.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Tommy made a terrific play at one point breaking up
a pass and that was his mo. He gets to
the football, he's like a man. He had six interceptions,
but a lot of pass breakups in college.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
You know one thing about Frasier, I always say I
believe that the cornerback position is the second most difficult
position in the NFL. And so if you take a
guy that has the template that can be successful, and
then everything matches his feet, matches with his length, his
you know, as he matures, he gets bigger and stronger,
and then you have the mind to pick from Al
(22:24):
Harris that can probably help expedite the way you should
be thinking about the offenses that you're facing, the receivers
that you're facing, the different types of routes they can run.
I think Fraser has probably been picked in the perfect
place with the perfect coach.
Speaker 6 (22:38):
And really can utilize that length and size of his.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
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the official physical therapy partner of the Chicago Bears. Let's
get into the defensive side of the ball. Defensive line
(23:03):
coach Jeremy Garrett, coach with Jacksonville last year as a
D line coach, has worked at Liberty College, Auburn, the
high school level with the Browns a few years ago,
working with Miles Garrett. He's got a lot of excitement
about what's ahead, making that transition from college to pro
and what that means.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
The essence of our conversation.
Speaker 13 (23:22):
How is that transition from college.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
To PROFI It's been good.
Speaker 14 (23:26):
You know, I was with the Browns in twenty twenty,
so it got some NFL you know experience, and some
Midwest experience, so kind of used to the cold a
little bit, but you know, you get to this level,
you know, football is football, just as minus the recruiting
and all the home visits and things like that. So
it's been good man, you know, come from Jacksonville and
(23:48):
now you know with another NFL team, it's it's been good.
Speaker 13 (23:51):
Does it feel like you have a lot more runway
when you don't have to worry about those other things
in college?
Speaker 4 (23:57):
Yeah? I think it is. As a coaches, definitely.
Speaker 14 (24:01):
I think the biggest thing, like you're gonna spend the
hours in football, You're gonna grinding football.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
You know, all of that doesn't change.
Speaker 14 (24:08):
I think the biggest thing is you know, when you're off,
when you're on summer vacation, like you're actually off and
you're with your family and you can give them all
your attention and it's not you know, you got to
answer the phone for every recruit that's calling. So that's
the biggest difference. I enjoyed recruiting, but it is nice
to be with your family and not have to interrupt
that time.
Speaker 13 (24:28):
All right, So what do you think of your guys
so far?
Speaker 14 (24:32):
Like the group, Man really really excited about everybody as
a whole. You know, I spent some time with those guys,
been meeting with them.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
We got some talent.
Speaker 14 (24:41):
We got some work to do, and I'm just excited
to get on the field, man, and work with them
and coach and do what we love to do on
the grass.
Speaker 13 (24:49):
Can you kind of explain to us, because we haven't
seen him from the inside, only the outside. Look at it,
Gray Jarrett's energy, enthusiasm, juice.
Speaker 14 (24:59):
I mean, he's a leader. I mean you could feel it.
He's one of the guys you walk in the room.
He has a presence about himself and he is, you know,
very detailed. You know, he takes notes as if it's
the first time he heard anything, So you can see
the leadership in him. I know he's doing great in
(25:20):
with those weight room guys at this time. But you know,
I think he's the type of guy. I mean, he's
a captain, he's a he's a veteran, he's tough, he
works hard, he has the right mentality.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
Uh, he's an unselfish player.
Speaker 14 (25:35):
I think anytime you get a guy like that and
you add that to your defensive line, you know, along
with the talent we had in place, man, I think
it's it's exciting, uh to have that type of guy
join us.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
I was excited with him as a veteran in.
Speaker 11 (25:48):
Your Billings, how can they help the younger guys come in.
Speaker 14 (25:53):
I think just just uh, the biggest thing with new
guys coming in is how to be a pro. And
so those guys Billings he sweat all those guys can
just reiterate, you know, the coaching points like here's here's
a note taking process, here's how you handle yourself as
a pro, here's how to get rid of the distractions
if there are some. But just to be a pro
(26:15):
and have longevity in this league, I think is important.
And I think those guys have proven they've done that
can be an example for those young guys coming in.
We won't have a depth charte or anything like that. Man,
it's going out. Let's coach, let's play football, let's get better.
Let's work on our fundamentals and technique. Let's work on
our effort and toughness and all those type things, and
then everything else will work out exactly how.
Speaker 13 (26:37):
It should in terms of what they're being asked to
do this year versus whatever you don't you know last year,
doesn't matter previously or matter. Yep, the style that Dennis
wants when you snapped the ball boot.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
Right, yep, yep.
Speaker 14 (26:49):
So you know, really looking forward, you know, first of all,
we want to see a tough, a tough group, a
tough defense in general, and we all know it starts
up front, so mentally tough, physically tough. We want to
see relentless pursuit, all right, and we want to strike
blocks like we.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
Want to attack up front.
Speaker 14 (27:07):
We want to knock guys back, and so that's kind
of mentality style that we want to be with. You know,
we want to disrupt the timing of the running back
and the quarterback, and so that's that's really our goal
and what we strive to do and what we want
to put on tape.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
I hear a lot of great things about this coach
also being a excellent teacher and a fiery guy, very
nice guy. But he's got a lot of work on
his hands because there's a lot of clay to mold
on that defensive line, a lot of different personalities, body types, talent,
everything that Dennis Allen is trying to get accomplished about.
(27:45):
These guys coming off the ball hard and just banging
into that guy across the line of scrimmage and them
being disruptive and penetrating.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
I like that Garrett recently had college experience because he
kind of understands the young buying of defensive linemen that
are coming up through the ranks out of college and
then coming to make the pro game. Then he also
understands the professional guys because he's been around the game
for a while now. And so I think when you
take the combination of your past experiences as a position coach,
(28:13):
you know how it fits according to every one of
their personalities, you know how to get the best out
of them. So I'm excited for the group of guys
that Garrett gets to work with, and I'm excited that
he's getting to work with Dennis Allen. And Dennis Allen
has already said what he wants out of his defensive line,
and I think that you can take their traits and
their abilities and coach every one of their responsibilities accordingly
(28:36):
and get the best out of this group and make
the most competition to see who wins jobs at the
end of camp.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
Yeah, you know, if you just go on last year
and the projection anyway, you had eight guys that are
coming back as starters, right, so the defensive improvement that
will come, it'll be the other supplements added from what
you've put in here in the offseason. Certainly the names
are familiar now with dioa Edengbo and Shamar Turner and
of course Great Jarrett in terms of how they come
together will be the key, and that will come from
(29:04):
how their coach, what they're being asked to do, hopefully
playing on the lead more than they have had the
chance to, which will make a big difference, I know
in your opinion, and how Grady Jarrett opens things up.
I think these are things we'll be looking at from
a defensive perspective. All the attention remains on the offense
even today. I look, and you know Pro Football Focus
(29:25):
has a big rundown on all the offensive improvements of
the Bear. Let's talk about defensive improvement and how guys
like Montese Sweat and Javon Dexter Senior and Tremaine and
TJ and Jalen Johnson and Tyreek Kyler Gordon and Brisker
all have to rise as well.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
You know one thing that the h coach is really
said throughout your interviews with me, I know there's no
depth chart, and I like that though Jeff and I
want them to keep saying that until they get into
training camp in pads a couple of weeks, evaluate one
on ones of every different segment that you're looking at.
You look how they fit in according to the mental
(30:01):
side of the game. And then maybe the first time
a depth chart comes out, there's gonna be guys that
walk into that locker room and they look at that
first depth chart and they're gonna go what where. You know,
there's gonna be a lot of those question marks. And
I remember the first away game when I was at
Notre Dame. I ran to the locker room to look
to see if I made the traveling team. That's all
(30:22):
I wanted to do, and when I saw my name
on the traveling team, it gave me a shot of
adrenaline and a boost. Go game, Okay, that first obstacle.
Speaker 6 (30:30):
You know you made it. Let's let's see what's next.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
And so it's the same thing with your if you're
in a professional level. Let me look at that first
depth chart. Where am I? Okay, what do I need
to do to climb up that depth chart or what
else can I do to improve my opportunities?
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Did you have the same euphoric rush when you ran
to the scores on the outside of your teacher's office
after a big test and you have passed your map final.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Remember remember those days in college.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Yeah, I didn't run with the same excitement. That was
more earn. I probably had more confidence in my football
ability than my schooling.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Yeah, the kids today they get you know, it's how
digital we had to run.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
We had you had to sit there and you had
to look for your for your.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
Test score on a on a piece of paper outside
the office.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
It was talk about a stomach ache tom for both
of us. I'm sure again. We're brought to you by
PNC Official Bank of the Bears. A note on Dennis
Allen on Shamar Turner. By the way, and since we
had Turner's interview last week, I didn't run any soundbites
throwing from the podium, but I love this quote and
he's he's a Texan. Dennis sounds a Texan. So put
(31:36):
it all into perspective. I think we'll have to put
the saddle.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
On him and break them a little bit.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
But we'd rather have to pull the reins back rather
than have to whip him to get him to go.
I love that quote about Shamar Turner and that's that's
an ode to his aggressive play.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
He drew some flags in college. You won't be able
to do that in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
But he's gonna play with a lot of fire, and
they don't want to take that away from him.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
Oh no, You never want to just go urage a
guy from playing full speed all the time, whether he
does it in practice or games. But you want to
take that full speed attitude and be able to connect
it to fundamentals and techniques and al sudden turn this,
like you said, this wild horse into something that's rideable
(32:19):
and the usable, and take his traits and turning turn
them into assets.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Start them out at defensive tackle, working both three technique
and nose tackle, and they see versatility in him, but
one step at a time.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
That's kind of the approach with j. T. Barrett.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
I sat down with him when all the coaches who
were available a few weeks ago, asked him if he
drove right in when when getting to teaching Caleb Williams
and the rest of the quarterbacks.
Speaker 5 (32:42):
I wouldn't say just dive in. I think it's a process,
and so we're trying to take the necessary steps in
order to make sure that we're going about things in
the right way as coaching staff to make sure that
guys are prepared and so when you get to OTA's
and training camp that we're all on the same page.
So it's just a day by day process.
Speaker 13 (32:58):
What do you think of the entirety of the staff
because the experience levels from a veterans sixty nine year
old defensive coach to the different types of influences offensively
and is it been a fun process to hear everybody's thoughts.
Speaker 5 (33:13):
No doubt, Being that there's a lot of experience, there's
a lot, you know, a lot of things people have
done in their past. There's a lot of ways to
do with one thing. So with that, it's been cool
to hear the unique different ways some my you know
coaches have a play scheme up and play whatever it is,
So I think that's been cool.
Speaker 15 (33:30):
In your approach as a coach, do you coach the
way you liked to be coached or do you have
a different way about you now from a player perspective
to a coach person.
Speaker 5 (33:42):
I would say that I'll probably take an approach that
how I would like to be coach. As a player,
I knew I wanted to be coach hard. I knew
I wanted to, you know, I don't know I wanted to.
I was getting better each and every day, right, So
with that, I feel like I do take that same
(34:04):
approach and making sure that you know, at the end
of the day, we're at least getting better in some.
Speaker 4 (34:08):
Area each and every day.
Speaker 5 (34:09):
From a quarterback perspective, so I'll say, yeah.
Speaker 13 (34:11):
It's interesting to hear all the coaches because they all
are saying, we say, coach hard, We're gonna coach guys hard.
I mean, it's it's it's it's refreshing to hear.
Speaker 5 (34:20):
It's a tough, tough business, but there's we've got a
lot of responsibility. We've got to be accounta roof making
sure that we know our job, know what to do,
and it's not easy.
Speaker 4 (34:31):
But at the end of the day, it's profession football league.
Speaker 5 (34:33):
So yeah, that's okay, thank you.
Speaker 10 (34:38):
When that was.
Speaker 3 (34:39):
Higher, he said that he want the assistant coaches to
be ready to grind late.
Speaker 6 (34:43):
Nights, especially on the office.
Speaker 3 (34:44):
Try to call it like can you give us a
little insight or what you like? Pretend to weekly works
like fornder doctor.
Speaker 5 (34:52):
Well, yeah, just that a lot of late nights So
it's interesting, you know, because my family they would, you know,
try to come see me up in Detroit during the
season and they were like, oh, you're always at work,
and it's like, yeah, guys, it's my job and it's
really important. So yeah, I'm at work, you know, nineteen
hours the other day, Like this is what it is.
(35:13):
But no, it just comes with it.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
So some really good answers from j T.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Barrett finding his voice as well as a coach, the
former Ohio State quarterback.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Very serious guy, very serious guy.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
And I think being not so far removed from college
is another advantage in working with these young quarterbacks like
Caleb Williams and Tyson Bagent and you got the veteran
case Keenum Austin Reid also on this roster.
Speaker 3 (35:35):
Yeah, you know, I think it's an exciting opportunity for J. T.
Barrett because he's what the Chicago Bears, a new coaching
staff and a new head coach from the ground floor.
And if you start seeing the emergence of Caleb, there's
gonna be a lot of conversation of what where can
J T. Barrett go in terms of his coaching and
his coaching success.
Speaker 6 (35:55):
But I'm glad.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
Right now, he's only focused on the Bears quarterback room.
He's not trying to think too far ahead or even behind,
but he's just trying to get every one of these
quarterbacks an equal opportunity to succeed.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
Did you hear the Declan Doyle interview at the podium
during Mini caamp I said, Caleb came in on a Saturday,
went through his own walkthrough by himself in the paytent center.
Just he's driven to show that he's got to handle
on this for his teammates and for his own future
and for this team's future. I thought that was a good,
good anecdote, good story, you know.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
I think from the moment Caleb was drafted, he's always
been a really wise young man up at the podium,
but he also knows what's at stake here because now
this is the third program in three years. In the
difficulty of mastering the terminology that he has to learn
that it's not an easy process. So the more time,
whether you're by yourself, you're with your teammates, or you're
(36:53):
with the maybe you know what, one guy from your team,
there's a lot that you can learn that's going to
help you moving forward.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
New Chicago United Airlines getting brand new planes with all
the bills and whistles like Bluetooth connectivity screens at every
seat in room for everyone's roller bag. United proud to
fly the Chicago Bears and you too mentioned Bears Care.
Another big night. Thank you to everyone who attended and
contributed to cancer and ovarian cancer research Breston Ovarian Cancer Research.
(37:21):
Another big, big night in terms of those contributions and
the live auction.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
And you know, some of the.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
Players there included Roma Dounza, who he must have taken
about a thousand pictures. People really are attracted to Rome's
personality and he was He was so generous.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
With his time over the guy.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
I have to mention that, and same with other players
and some of the guys that have been there many times,
like your teammates Stan Hampton and Gary Fencik and Charles Panett.
Tillman was there, Jerry Azuma, Anthony Adams, those those folks,
so DJ Moore. So it was a very very fun
night went smoothly and a big night for cancer research
for sure.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
Well that's awesome, you know, listen, man, that events meant.
Speaker 6 (38:03):
A lot to every single Chicago Bear player.
Speaker 3 (38:05):
Who's walked into that event and they know that how
it's helped people that are in such a position of
need at that time. And the whole Chicago Bear staff
has always done a great job of putting it together.
Speaker 6 (38:19):
And you running the live auction.
Speaker 3 (38:22):
I know that is not easy, but it's it's super
beneficial to the people that that it helps.
Speaker 1 (38:29):
I'll tell you what makes it easy when you have
President and CEO Kevin Warren grabbing the microphone to give
it himpassion plea and explain just how we are all interconnected. Unfortunately,
in the cancer world, there's not a person that we
know has not been impacted by someone they know that
has been afflicted with cancer of any type, all of us.
(38:53):
But you know, he helped me out a little bit
on some of the some of the items, and he
is just and he is the he's the best speaker
and motivator I've ever seen at the microphone.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
So he did a heck of a job. So I
appreciate that as well.
Speaker 1 (39:07):
Hey, Tommy so OTLs will be starting May twentieth. There'll
be three on field days that week, four days the
following week, then a mandatory midi camp June third through
the fifth, and then the rookies got to come back
for one more week, but that'll be it for the
offseason until training camp starts.
Speaker 2 (39:24):
We don't have the exact date just yet.
Speaker 1 (39:25):
That'll come rolling out once the schedule is released on Wednesday.
Speaker 2 (39:29):
But you know you'll be back in.
Speaker 1 (39:31):
Town and enjoying that process. And I'll tell you, the
excitement is bubbling up.
Speaker 9 (39:35):
Man.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
It's just seeing the guys on the grass again.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
A lot of smiles on a lot of faces, just
because everybody wants to rinse the bad taste out right
and start over here and get it right and have
a great, great.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
Twenty twenty five season. And I know you feel the
same way.
Speaker 3 (39:52):
Yeah. Hey, it's going to be one of the most
competitive divisions in the history of the NFC North in
the NFL, and I think every time you have a conversation,
whether they're having a conversation in Green Bay, in Detroit, Minnesota,
or Chicago, the conversation.
Speaker 6 (40:07):
All revolves around the division.
Speaker 3 (40:10):
It's something that you know, the Bears are in the
process of improvement, coaching players and everything, and you know,
I'm excited to see where this is going to go.
Speaker 1 (40:20):
Hey, Bears Fan Steinhoffels is a proud partner of the
Chicago Bears are now open in Orland Park. Steinhoffels is
Chicago Land's furniture and mattress leader, with the largest selection
to fit every style and budget, and as one hundred
percent employee owned shopping store and online at Steinhoffels dot Com.
One last thing, your dear friend and a guy that
has because of you, have had a few conversations with
(40:42):
the enjoyed Chris Berman.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
I got to give him a shout out.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
The Berminator gets to stay with ESPN through its fiftieth
anniversary and first Super Bowl. He got a contract extension.
He's seventy, right, he's going to be seventy yep, just.
Speaker 6 (40:57):
What seventy just turned seventy the other day.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
An amazing career and I'm glad they still believe in
Berman and he delivers every time he takes the mic,
and you tell him congratulations from me as well. I
think that's huge, especially you know he's all abau ball.
He's all about football, of course, and he's really carved
out that niche and really been a big presence in
(41:20):
terms of the National Football League in that regard. Certainly
his work at the Hall of fame also underscores that.
But he's been around such a long time, and they'll
get to be, you know, part of the first Super
Bowl at ESPN when they do air that.
Speaker 3 (41:33):
Well, you know, I did get a thank you message
for him while we are doing this podcast, and I
talked to him a couple weeks ago and he said,
and he will be and I don't think there will
ever be another fifty year employee of ESPN, and that
was his goal. He wanted to stay with ESPN and
to get to that fifty year anniversary. Super happy for him,
(41:57):
Congratulations to him. And you know, I think the first
time that he gets to be a part of a
Super Bowl on ESPN, it's just gonna be an awesome
opportunity for him.
Speaker 6 (42:07):
So yeah, I appreciate Burman as well.
Speaker 1 (42:09):
Yeah, I'm sure I'm sure he's tickled, no doubt about it.
All Right, that'll do it for us for Tom there,
I'm Jeff Joniyak.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
Thanks for listening to everybody.
Speaker 1 (42:16):
Please subscribe now in the Chicago Bears official app, Apple, Spotify, YouTube,
or wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 2 (42:21):
Spear down, everybody,
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