October 30, 2025 • 7 mins
Courtney Cronin covers the Chicago Bears for ESPN. She joined us to talk about the Bears since they, you know, play the Bengals on Sunday.
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Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Follow on X: @MoEgger
Instagram too: @MoEgger
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Football Queen Minnatti, brought to you in part
by Hostman Law and by Skyline Chile on ESPN fifteen
thirty Cincinnati Bengals, My.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Apologies, Bengals and Bears on Sunday. You just heard the
guy with the deep voice. We're at the Holy Grail
Sunday morning, starting at nine am. Courtney Cronin, who is
like the hardest working person at ESPN. I hear in
the mornings before our pregame show on Sundays on Best
on Best Week Ever, and then I look up and
she's She's doing live hits from where the Bears are playing.
(00:33):
She's on Clinton and Friends. She obviously covers the Chicago
Bears for ESPN. She's the pride of Indiana University and
kind enough to talk Bengals Bears with us for a
few minutes. Courtney, It's good to have you. Good afternoon.
How are you.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
I'm great? How are you doing doing well?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I'm sitting there on Sunday morning, thinking, man, the Bengals
are going to beat the Jets, and Chicago's going to
beat Baltimore, and it's going to become a two team
race in the AFC North. Obviously, neither of those things happened.
What went wrong against not Lamar Jacks and the Ravens
last Sunday for the Bears.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Yeah, they kept committing these like horrible penalties and they
were flagged eleven times last week.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
So when you get in the red zone, your tight end.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
False starts, it's third and five and Caleb Williams takes
a sack, the left tackle gets beat off the edge.
Like you're not going to come away with many points
in the circumstances, and like they.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Were moving the ball well in the first quarter.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
Like they had more first downs, more plays than Baltimore
had combined.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
I think Baltimore in three plays.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
Yet they were in a situation where they just cannot
come away from the red zone with anything more than
a field goal.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
They were one of three last week, and I think
that killed them.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
That's killed them against you know, good teams this year,
it's killed them against some not so good teams. And
that's become a problem here. That has been an alarming
trend that they're trying to fix. And you know, it
boils down to a lot of different things. Red zone
efficiency isn't just get down there and score, It's how
are you doing it, and when you're putting yourself behind
the chains because of false starts. And I hate using
(02:01):
the same cliche phrasing, but they use that they use
here that everybody's not on the same page. Like I
don't know how you fix it, Like you're nine weeks
into this thing. Like the fact that you've been using
the same excuses since training camp is kind of ridiculous,
And at some point it becomes indicative of how it's
coached and who these players are.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Man, it sounds un awful, like like you're talking about
our team Courtney. Yeah, uh so you have red zone issues.
They're amplified when you have injuries at the wide receiver spot.
Who's Caleb Williams going to be thrown to on Sunday?
Speaker 4 (02:35):
So Dj Moore, Roma June Day and Alamide's a Kias
were practicing today. They were limited, but that's a good
sign because they were without four receivers yesterday, Like it
was a real thin group and I don't think that
that is going to be the case on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Dj Moore doesn't miss games.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
You remember he had a groin injury against Washington, was
in the hospital for a night and ended up playing
against the Saints the following you know, six days late.
So that guy is an iron man Roman Dunes. They
haven't missed time for an injury. And I know he's
only played you know, what is it like twenty four twenty.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Two games in his career so far. But he'll you know,
he's gonna play this weekend. I have no doubt about that.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Polkomet comes back, so you get another tight end back
in the mix. Somebody who missed his first game since
he was drafted by the Bears in twenty twenties that
it was really weird watching a game on TV last
week when he had not The last time he watched
a Bears game on TV was when he was still
a student at Notre Dame. So that's that's a good
sign for the offense that health is trending in the
(03:36):
right direction.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
They frankly don't.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Have that many problems health wise on offense. It's defense,
given why they just signed CJ. Gardner Johnson, where they're
they're pretty sin right now at the cornerback position. But
Tyree Stevenson will be coming back this week. He was
a full participant in practice and with with Gardner Johnson
feeling that nickel role.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
I anticipate he will be playing this weekend.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
That way.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Courtney Cronin is with us from ESPN covering the Chicago Bears.
How would you encapsulate Caleb Williams season? So far?
Speaker 4 (04:07):
It's been up and down, which I know is is
not a great way to describe it.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
But there have been good moments.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
I know that nationally people want to look at this
and think, God, he's not Jayden Daniels, He's not Drake
May he's terrible, He's not Boneicks. It's taken a long time,
and I don't need to go down the hindsight game
of like would they have done it differently, would they've
chosen somebody differently?
Speaker 3 (04:29):
This is the quarterbacks they have in the quarterback that
they're going to try to make it work with.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
There have been moments where you have seen Caleb put
it together and put down some you know, touchdowns, you know,
put some together some touchdown drives that have looked impressive.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Has he done it against the best defenses?
Speaker 4 (04:46):
Not really, but like the Raiders win. He got them
in position there at the end of the game, they
were able to walk it off with a blocked field goal.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
He got them in position to walk it away with
a madefield goal. The following game against.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
The Washington Commanders, they haven't put teams away yet. That's
what you need to see the next step of Caleb
Williams growth.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
Can this team.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
Outside of that Dallas game against that defense which looks
like the Bengals defense right now? Can you do it
against a good, respectable defense where you leave nothing in
doubt and you win the game because of Williams, not
in spite of him.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Well, he's not going to get that opportunity against the
Cincinnati defense on Sunday Courtney. As you will know, where
has Ben Johnson put his fingerprints on this organization.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
I think there's been.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
A culture shift here that's kind of like the easy
thing to say, where there is an accountability factor like
I thought, you know, Ben kind of throwing his hands
up last week about the penalties, being like, look like
we're coaching it a certain way. I'm putting it on
the players now like they're months into this thing. You
go back to the first practice where he's throwing the
first team offense off the field during a day where
(05:51):
they weren't even in pads at training camp because they
couldn't get lined up properly. Like that's the intensity that
he brings to practice, and I know that that's continued on.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Players have ass score.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
So the accountability factors there, the professionalism factors there, and
I mean I even say that with accountability, it goes
back to him too. Like the issue last year with
the coaching staff with Matt Eberflus is that when there
were mistakes, the coaching staff tried to talk their way
out of having to take accountability of it.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Ben Johnson last week.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
That I didn't like the call that I had and
the QB sneak was a bad call at the goal
line because they didn't have any timeouts left and they've
wasted time off the cloth. He's taken blame for not
getting the run game going. You know, he takes it
very personally because he spends more time there than he
does with a passing game. But there's just a lot
here that feels a little different, like there's an adult
in the room when it comes to Ben Johnson and
(06:41):
what his coaching staff has has brought in. But I
think from that too, you've seen creativity and checked into
this offense. It's just can they do it? On a
more consistent level, because we have been told they used
tight ends a lot in Ben Johnson's offense. I haven't
seen that you drafted a guy tenth overall in Poston
Lovelin like look at Tyler Warrens stats, look at Colston
Lovelin's big difference, and I just think that that's a
(07:04):
growing You know, that's Ben Johnson learning as a play
caller and as a head coach.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
You're responsible for more than just the offense.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
So it's making sure you can manage all of those
things and still inject the creativity that you saw, you know,
routinely over four quarters of a game with much different
personnel in some areas, but also being able to get
more out of guys that might be lesser personnel. And
you know, he's he's been a big proponent of this
run game. He feels that these guys are the ones
that he can work with. It's not Tamer Gibbs, it's
(07:32):
not David Montgomery. But they did have two games back
to back where they ran the ball effectively, and I
think it's it's been showing that he can make it
work with who they have to work with right now,
and not making excuses of I'm going to force them
to learn my offense and trying to work things around
to make it easier for certain players.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Yeah, well said Courtney. Awesome stuff. No, you have a
lot going on. I do appreciate the time.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Thank you so much, No problem, thanks a mout. Take care,
This is Football Queen Minnatti, brought to you in part
by Hostman Law and by Skyline Chile on ESPN fifteen
thirty Cincinnati Bengals, My.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Apologies, Bengals and Bears on Sunday. You just heard the
guy with the deep voice. We're at the Holy Grail
Sunday morning, starting at nine am. Courtney Cronin, who is
like the hardest working person at ESPN. I hear in
the mornings before our pregame show on Sundays on Best
on Best Week Ever, and then I look up and
she's She's doing live hits from where the Bears are playing.
(00:33):
She's on Clinton and Friends. She obviously covers the Chicago
Bears for ESPN. She's the pride of Indiana University and
kind enough to talk Bengals Bears with us for a
few minutes. Courtney, It's good to have you. Good afternoon.
How are you.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
I'm great? How are you doing doing well?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I'm sitting there on Sunday morning, thinking, man, the Bengals
are going to beat the Jets, and Chicago's going to
beat Baltimore, and it's going to become a two team
race in the AFC North. Obviously, neither of those things happened.
What went wrong against not Lamar Jacks and the Ravens
last Sunday for the Bears.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Yeah, they kept committing these like horrible penalties and they
were flagged eleven times last week.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
So when you get in the red zone, your tight end.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
False starts, it's third and five and Caleb Williams takes
a sack, the left tackle gets beat off the edge.
Like you're not going to come away with many points
in the circumstances, and like they.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Were moving the ball well in the first quarter.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
Like they had more first downs, more plays than Baltimore
had combined.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
I think Baltimore in three plays.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
Yet they were in a situation where they just cannot
come away from the red zone with anything more than
a field goal.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
They were one of three last week, and I think
that killed them.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
That's killed them against you know, good teams this year,
it's killed them against some not so good teams. And
that's become a problem here. That has been an alarming
trend that they're trying to fix. And you know, it
boils down to a lot of different things. Red zone
efficiency isn't just get down there and score, It's how
are you doing it, and when you're putting yourself behind
the chains because of false starts. And I hate using
(02:01):
the same cliche phrasing, but they use that they use
here that everybody's not on the same page. Like I
don't know how you fix it, Like you're nine weeks
into this thing. Like the fact that you've been using
the same excuses since training camp is kind of ridiculous,
And at some point it becomes indicative of how it's
coached and who these players are.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Man, it sounds un awful, like like you're talking about
our team Courtney. Yeah, uh so you have red zone issues.
They're amplified when you have injuries at the wide receiver spot.
Who's Caleb Williams going to be thrown to on Sunday?
Speaker 4 (02:35):
So Dj Moore, Roma June Day and Alamide's a Kias
were practicing today. They were limited, but that's a good
sign because they were without four receivers yesterday, Like it
was a real thin group and I don't think that
that is going to be the case on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Dj Moore doesn't miss games.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
You remember he had a groin injury against Washington, was
in the hospital for a night and ended up playing
against the Saints the following you know, six days late.
So that guy is an iron man Roman Dunes. They
haven't missed time for an injury. And I know he's
only played you know, what is it like twenty four twenty.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Two games in his career so far. But he'll you know,
he's gonna play this weekend. I have no doubt about that.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Polkomet comes back, so you get another tight end back
in the mix. Somebody who missed his first game since
he was drafted by the Bears in twenty twenties that
it was really weird watching a game on TV last
week when he had not The last time he watched
a Bears game on TV was when he was still
a student at Notre Dame. So that's that's a good
sign for the offense that health is trending in the
(03:36):
right direction.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
They frankly don't.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Have that many problems health wise on offense. It's defense,
given why they just signed CJ. Gardner Johnson, where they're
they're pretty sin right now at the cornerback position. But
Tyree Stevenson will be coming back this week. He was
a full participant in practice and with with Gardner Johnson
feeling that nickel role.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
I anticipate he will be playing this weekend.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
That way.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Courtney Cronin is with us from ESPN covering the Chicago Bears.
How would you encapsulate Caleb Williams season? So far?
Speaker 4 (04:07):
It's been up and down, which I know is is
not a great way to describe it.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
But there have been good moments.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
I know that nationally people want to look at this
and think, God, he's not Jayden Daniels, He's not Drake
May he's terrible, He's not Boneicks. It's taken a long time,
and I don't need to go down the hindsight game
of like would they have done it differently, would they've
chosen somebody differently?
Speaker 3 (04:29):
This is the quarterbacks they have in the quarterback that
they're going to try to make it work with.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
There have been moments where you have seen Caleb put
it together and put down some you know, touchdowns, you know,
put some together some touchdown drives that have looked impressive.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Has he done it against the best defenses?
Speaker 4 (04:46):
Not really, but like the Raiders win. He got them
in position there at the end of the game, they
were able to walk it off with a blocked field goal.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
He got them in position to walk it away with
a madefield goal. The following game against.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
The Washington Commanders, they haven't put teams away yet. That's
what you need to see the next step of Caleb
Williams growth.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
Can this team.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
Outside of that Dallas game against that defense which looks
like the Bengals defense right now? Can you do it
against a good, respectable defense where you leave nothing in
doubt and you win the game because of Williams, not
in spite of him.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Well, he's not going to get that opportunity against the
Cincinnati defense on Sunday Courtney. As you will know, where
has Ben Johnson put his fingerprints on this organization.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
I think there's been.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
A culture shift here that's kind of like the easy
thing to say, where there is an accountability factor like
I thought, you know, Ben kind of throwing his hands
up last week about the penalties, being like, look like
we're coaching it a certain way. I'm putting it on
the players now like they're months into this thing. You
go back to the first practice where he's throwing the
first team offense off the field during a day where
(05:51):
they weren't even in pads at training camp because they
couldn't get lined up properly. Like that's the intensity that
he brings to practice, and I know that that's continued on.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Players have ass score.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
So the accountability factors there, the professionalism factors there, and
I mean I even say that with accountability, it goes
back to him too. Like the issue last year with
the coaching staff with Matt Eberflus is that when there
were mistakes, the coaching staff tried to talk their way
out of having to take accountability of it.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Ben Johnson last week.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
That I didn't like the call that I had and
the QB sneak was a bad call at the goal
line because they didn't have any timeouts left and they've
wasted time off the cloth. He's taken blame for not
getting the run game going. You know, he takes it
very personally because he spends more time there than he
does with a passing game. But there's just a lot
here that feels a little different, like there's an adult
in the room when it comes to Ben Johnson and
(06:41):
what his coaching staff has has brought in. But I
think from that too, you've seen creativity and checked into
this offense. It's just can they do it? On a
more consistent level, because we have been told they used
tight ends a lot in Ben Johnson's offense. I haven't
seen that you drafted a guy tenth overall in Poston
Lovelin like look at Tyler Warrens stats, look at Colston
Lovelin's big difference, and I just think that that's a
(07:04):
growing You know, that's Ben Johnson learning as a play
caller and as a head coach.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
You're responsible for more than just the offense.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
So it's making sure you can manage all of those
things and still inject the creativity that you saw, you know,
routinely over four quarters of a game with much different
personnel in some areas, but also being able to get
more out of guys that might be lesser personnel. And
you know, he's he's been a big proponent of this
run game. He feels that these guys are the ones
that he can work with. It's not Tamer Gibbs, it's
(07:32):
not David Montgomery. But they did have two games back
to back where they ran the ball effectively, and I
think it's it's been showing that he can make it
work with who they have to work with right now,
and not making excuses of I'm going to force them
to learn my offense and trying to work things around
to make it easier for certain players.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Yeah, well said Courtney. Awesome stuff. No, you have a
lot going on. I do appreciate the time.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Thank you so much, No problem, thanks a mout. Take care,
Mo Egger News
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