June 12, 2025 • 48 mins
The first offseason program under new Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson and his staff is officially over. Shaw Local's Michal Dwojak and Joe Aguilar break down what we learned and what to expect before training camp starts in July.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello, and welcome to the Shaw Local Bears Insider Podcast.
I am Michael Dwojack here, joined by the Northwest Harold's
Joe Aguilar.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
It's been a.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
While and we're back end.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
We're gonna break down some spring football.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
So we're gonna go over some things that kind of
happened over the past probably five or six weeks. A
lot of different fun things happen. We learned a lot
of different things, you know, Joe, it's the Ota schedule,
the mini camp schedule. We're still trying to figure things
out with you know, Ben Jonson and his coaching staff
and how they like to do stuff.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
You know, what the Bears have on the roster, and
you know, obviously, you know, the pads aren't done.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
You're not gonna get a full full scale battle here
or anything like that. Obviously, they're just learning a lot
of different things. But I feel like this time of
year is really interesting because, you know, we're getting to
know Ben Johnson a little bit more, how he likes
to do things, you know, his personal and all that
sort of stuff. And I feel like, you know, sure,
(01:03):
maybe we didn't learn a lot about you know, is
Caleb William's gonna throw for four.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Thousand yards any of that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
But I do think that we've learned a lot about
how intense this coaching staff is going to be, how
they're going to teach the details, and that was the
biggest thing for me, at least, where it seems like
this team is very or this this coaching staff is
very determined to break down the details and make sure
that everyone knows what is expected out of them.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Yeah, a lot of attention to detail, and maybe some
of the guys aren't used to it quite frankly, we'll see,
but I think this is one way for sure you
find out who's coachable and who's in right off the bat,
and then you kind of weed it out. But because
not everyone's gonna be bought in, you know, there's probably
gonna be some people are a little skeptical, or people have
to change some habits that that weren't good habits, and
(01:52):
we'll find out. But this is why you go through
all this in March and April and May, and you're
trying to figure it out, not March, but you know,
after the draft and everything, So that's that's why you
try to figure it out. And you still got time,
and but you know, it's our job as media and
as fans and anyone who watches football to overanalyze and
(02:13):
overreact on one play after day one. But there's still
a lot of time to go before camp opens and
then certainly the season.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
It seemed like the main word I feel like that
from you know, mini camp and OTAs was that details right,
Like literally, I feel like every I feel like everyone
was like obligated.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
I don't know if they were actually.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
But it seemed like everyone was like getting paid by
the by how many times they said details in the
press conference, like every player talked about it, the coach
has talked about it. And I think, you know, I
think the biggest thing you can take from from this
you know, spring period is everyone knows what the expectations are.
(02:56):
And I think that, you know, last year, you heard
a lot about, you know, account of you know, we
don't know what we're kind of supposed to.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Be doing and that sort of stuff.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
And I think the biggest thing you kind of saw
out of all of this was man like, everyone should
know what's going on and everyone should know what's expected,
because it doesn't seem like Ben Johnson or any of
his coaches, you know, I you know, watching practices. I
feel like a lot of people are talking about you know,
Ben Johnson, he's on players, Dennis Allen is on players.
(03:24):
Eric the Enemy is on players. Like the coaches are
on these players, and you know, they're not doing it
in like a disrespectful manner, like they're not like chewing
them out or anything, but like if they're making a mistake,
like they're gonna let them know about it, and they're
trying to teach them and make sure that they're doing
the better. And it's it's honestly just very different from
maybe what we saw in the past regime in the
past few years here.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Yeah, and that's the proverbial tough love, right, but I
think they have to be careful. I'm sure they know
this a lot better than I do that. You know,
tough love doesn't work for everybody. You know, some guys
need it, some guys need a pat on the back.
So they have to figure that out too as coaches,
because we've heard, like even Eric Biennaby like why Sindy
(04:05):
ever gotten a head coaching job? Maybe he's too tough
and maybe that us would play after a while. And again,
so they have to figure that out too, because all
the f bombs and this is the detail you get.
I mean, they're right, but some guys are gonna react
favor positively to that. So but we trust at this
point that they'll figure it out. And again we've still
(04:27):
got some time.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Yeah, and it seems like this, you know, obviously this
time of year is like just learning, right Like you're
not gonna you're not creating, you know, schemes or like
game plans for like the Packers or anything like that.
This time is just like try to learn about each other.
And that obviously is like you like you mentioned like
some things might work, is whatever you do with DJ
Moore might not work with Roma Doon the right if
your Antoine Randalla and he talked about that, how you
(04:51):
know you might have to treat him a little bit
different than Luther burn the third. Like everyone is different,
everyone like is going to be treated probably in a
different way, and coaches are learning that right now. But yeah,
I would agree that, you know, it's a lot of
learning right now, and it's a lot of figuring out
what works and what doesn't. And uh, that pretty much
was the spring spring here. If you're joining us on YouTube.
(05:12):
Thanks so much for joining us. I see a lot
of guys are the chat chaading it up. If you
have any questions, obviously, feel free to comment comment in there.
We'll talk about a lot of different things in this
week's podcast, Joe, I want to start things off with
the quarterback, right Obviously, that's how the NFL works, That's
how everything kind of goes into if everyone cares about
(05:33):
the quarterback, no matter what team you are in the NFL.
And I obviously want to talk about the kleb development
and all that kind of stuff. But we we haven't
talked since obviously that those excerpts came out from thee
Seth wicker Sham.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Obviously his book is.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Going to be coming out in in September. Obviously we
learned about, you know, all the you know, the trying
to figure out different ways maybe not to get to
the Bears, and you know, Caleb addressed it, and I
thought he handled it in a really well way. I
think he was you know, he didn't wait for questions
about it. He's opening statement during OTAs was talking about
(06:09):
like this is the situation, this is what actually happened,
this is what isn't happening, and you know, I'm here
now and I'm like committed to winning with this team.
Like he talked about how, yes, he liked Kevin O'Connor
a lot when he met with the Vikings, but that
was his first meeting, and then when he came to
the Bears, he told his family, Okay, I'm going to
turn this place around, Like I'm committed to this.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Joe, obviously I'm not.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
I think this has been very funny for me because
I feel like everyone is like saying, this isn't a
story or it is a story, and like, I'm not
trying to drag this on, but Joe was just what
were your thoughts about it and how did you feel
like Caleb kind of handled the whole situation.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Yeah, I agree with you, Michael. I thought he handled
it well. Was it a story? Yeah, was a story?
I mean, and he had to know that when he
spoke on the record with Seth Bickersham, who wrote the
book on the quarterbacks, that this was going to become
public at some point. So I thought he addressed it
and yeah, let's move on. And quite frankly, look, I mean,
(07:06):
you know the people who've covered this football team for
a long time, either as in media or or in
a larger base, the fan base. They know the situation
here a quarterback like this was not an attractive destination
a year ago, and it hasn't been for a long
time for a quarterback. So if he had any reservations,
who doesn't understand that. I mean, and then you come
(07:27):
here to a situation where you had a coach who
was really on the hot seat, and we kind of
figured that. You know a lot of people thought he
matti erflush had been fired after the season before that,
so you know, I didn't think it was anything revealing.
I mean, a kid's got a whole future at stake,
and he's gonna, you know, analyze things as anyone would
when he when he's in the position that he was,
(07:49):
And look, was the dad two hands on? Sure he was,
and you know parents could be guilty of that, But
I thought Caleb did the right thing. Look, he wants
to be great. We've known that since before the Beers
drafted him. He has gone on records saying that. And
we know if you win in Chicago, especially being a
Bears football player, where you whether you're the quarterback or
(08:09):
the punter or the equipment manager. You're gonna be a
hero here and you're never gonna have to pay for
another meal in your life as long as you live.
So look, it's like any athlete Chicago, whether you play
for the Cubs, you played for the White Sox, the Blackhawks,
you know what winning it does for you, how it
cements You're not on your legacy, but you're just you're
(08:30):
you're standing in this great city. So I didn't have
a problem with what Caleb said. I'm glad. If you
didn't address it right off the bat to the media,
that would have been a problem. But he did, and
good for him.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Yeah, I think maybe some people gave him a hard
time because he didn't he talked to us, you know,
the second week of OTAs and not the first week
of OTAs. I think the only thing that really did
was just kind of drag out the story, right like
if he talked about it the first week, we would
have addressed it and just kind of moved on like
we did when he did talk about it.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
But yeah, I agree with you.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
I think he handled it well and I think you know,
I agree with you, and I think a lot of
fans have this point. If you're fighting for your career
and a lot of these rookie quarterbacks only have like
one opportunity, right, Like a lot of times, if your
first team doesn't work for you, like your career is
kind of sunk. Obviously, Sam Darnold has kind of come back.
Gino Smith has kind of come back. But it's really
(09:21):
hard to do if your first team doesn't really develop
you the right way. So, I mean, I don't blame
Caleb for being like, listen, like this team has never
developed a quarterback.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Why. I'm like, I'm.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Nervous about my career and my future and that sort
of stuff. So yeah, I think he handled it well.
I think it was it was a story, but he
addressed it and we can move on now. Obviously he's
committed to moving forward and obviously learning Ben Johnson's offense,
and that was the biggest thing that we for him
over the spring.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
You know, I see this a lot.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
You know, there's a lot of breakdowns of like how
to sow and so quarterback do an otac He went
five of seven and seven on seven, he went you know,
six in six at ten on eleven and eleven. I
think it's really hard to kind of break down what
is truly happening with these seven on sevens and eleven
on elevens, Because first of all, the quarterback isn't being
pressured at all, one has no one has pads on.
(10:14):
And the second thing is like, I mean, these these
players are learning a completely new offensive system. Like they
didn't truly start going into things until the second day
of mini camp, so it's kind of hard to you know,
get into the well, Caleb looked great here, Caleb looked
look bad there. Like, Caleb looked like a quarterback who's
(10:34):
learning a new system quite honestly from for four weeks
what like, for the practices that we were able to see,
he made some mistakes, he threw some interceptions, he threw
some nice passes. But I think the biggest thing was
for me is watching how Caleb and Ben Johnson were
developing and how they're kind of building together and and
like there were times where Ben Johnson would stop a
(10:55):
play because someone wasn't set up in the right play.
There was a there were some times were you know,
Ben Johnson would say, yeah, Caleb was slow on that.
He was he needed to be quicker on that. And
I think that's the biggest thing where it seems like
Caleb and Ben Johnson are right now developing. They're kind
of figuring each other out. And the biggest thing for
me right now is this coaching staff is figuring out
(11:17):
what Caleb Cannon can't do, and now they're going to
take that information over the next month and then they're
going to create a playbook that is going to be like,
all right, Caleb can roll off when he has pressure,
and he'll be able to find so and so here
if he needs to make a like second play. Caleb
can't do this right now, Maybe we can work that
in a little bit later in the year. I think
that's the biggest thing right now, where this coaching staff
(11:38):
is learning what Caleb Cannon can't do and they're going
to create an offensive playbook that obviously plays into his straints.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Yeah, I agree, and I think you know again, look,
I get a reporters like yourself or at Hallis all
watching them on the field and going through drills, and
you have to report them like Tremaine Edmunds intercepted Caleb
out a pass that was underthrown. You put that in
your notebook and then you know, you go on the
radio and you and you want, and you report that too.
(12:07):
I get it, but it's like over analyzing a veteran
pictures for two innings in the spring training game. You know,
it's like the guy's may be working on something, he's
figuring it out. And and Caleb situation Like you said, Michael,
I mean, they're they're learning each other. And just because
he underthrew a pass or overthrew a pass or or
didn't do the right thing doesn't mean it's gonna happen
(12:28):
on Monday Night against the Vikings. Win it when it
all matters again. So look, it's what is it? Is
it June? Now? Finally we still got another month and
change to go before they open, so there's time. I
just I mean, there's so much pressure on this kid,
and you know, maybe he won't be good this year,
but my goodness, it's way too early. I mean, ESPN,
(12:51):
I look, and I get it too. They've gotta have
something to talk about. You know, there's like this, there's
more pressure on Caleb Williams than any quarterback in the
NFL this year. Like can we slow down and pump
the brakes a little bit? I mean, my goodness, I mean,
what the kid went through last year. And I'm not
saying he wasn't at fault for a lot of the
things that happened. Some of a lot of the sacks
man out all of them. Certainly some of the sacks
(13:11):
are the overthrows of the deep balls weren't always great.
We know what his flaws were. That doesn't mean it
doesn't mean he had a bad season. But my gush,
he had how many coaches uh too, and the coordinators
getting fired and the team was bad around him. So
all said and done, I don't think he had a
bad season. I thought it was it was good. Wasn't great.
(13:32):
Of course, it wasn't great, But I thought he had
a good season. And there's still a lot there to
work with, and with everything they've done in the off
season or the era is pointing up. Doesn't mean it's
gonna you know, they're gonna, they're gonna make the playoffs.
But I just think we need to pump the brakes
a little. We're evaluating for better or words, and to me,
it seems like there's a lot of worse because people
(13:53):
are already uh ready to just chomping at the bit
to call this kid a bust.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Yeah, I would agree that I think the biggest thing
we heard this from Ben Johnson. I think it was
on Tuesday and the last ota before they broke. Maybe
maybe it was at the end of the week. I'm
mixing on my practices. But the biggest thing that you know,
I think Ben Johnson has kind of said about Caleb
was like, listen, we threw a lot at him. We
(14:19):
threw long play calling, we threw out different plays at
the at the line of scrimmage, we threw out like it. Basically,
they threw everything at Caleb and they wanted to see
what he could do. And I one of the things I,
at least for now, want to give Ben Johnson credit
for is he's honest, right, Like he's not going to,
you know, throw anyone under the boat. He's not going
(14:39):
like under the bus. He's not like going to you know,
personally go after players. But he will be honest and say, like,
you know, there's some things that Caleb did well, and
there's some things that Caleb didn't do well, like he's
not try trying to play key to the quarterback. But
I think the biggest thing we kind of saw was
and the biggest thing that you know, Ben Johnson kind
of talked about is like Caleb is getting better in
(15:01):
all facets and I think that's the biggest thing, right
Is he perfect?
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Are they game one ready? No?
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Far from it, Like you know, Ben Johnson said, they
are not ready for prime time, but they are getting there.
And I think that's the biggest thing right now where
you're seeing those incremental improvements right now in the spring,
like you kind of want to see sure it's going
to reach another level in training camp whence the pads
come on and you kind of get closer and you
really need to start figuring things out.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
But it really seems like the duo.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
The obviously the most important duo for this organization right now,
Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams. They're figuring each other out,
and it seems like for now Caleb is taking the
steps that he needs to in order to kind of
prepare himself for the beginning of training camp.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
No question. So yeah, but it is the most important
relationship in the building there right because they've got to
figure it out. And I will say this about Ben Johnson,
he's been you know, since we really knew nothing about
him other than what we read or saw from Afar
he's been very candid, and and you know, it's still
the honeymoon, it's still summer, so you know, the you know,
(16:04):
the real pressure hasn't begun by any means. But I
think he's been very candid. I think someone asked him,
maybe it was you, Michael, who asked, you know, who's
been like a couple of names who've been the biggest
surprises or and he mentioned names. I don't know if
Maddie Refluse and I'm not picking on Mattie Refluse or
another coach would really necessarily mention guys by name, but
he did. I think he brought up Dominque Robinson as
(16:26):
a positive and maybe brought up somebody else, But I
thought that was nice. And it seems like he's been
very candid with the media, you know, and instead of
just being everything, you know, close to the best.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Sure, and you know, obviously it's easy to be candid
in May as opposed to, you know, after a loss,
you know, on the last second field goal or something
like that. But I agree he's been candidate. You know,
you mentioned that obviously, that qu that question happened on
Wednesday at Mini camp, and I thought it was interesting
ben Jhonson. Instead of just like being like, oh, so
and so or whatever, he asked like, hey, can I
get back, like ask me that question tomorrow and I'll
(16:59):
think of it. And then the next day he like
came out with four players, And I think that, you know, sure,
that's little. Does that mean that you're gonna win games in.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
In the fall?
Speaker 1 (17:07):
No, Like, obviously you know that doesn't mean that you're
going to be a fantastic coach. But I do think
that it tells you a little bit about him that
he does care, that he's not trying to be a
coach who's like the media is our enemy. I'm not
going to get anything out there, like what Like, I
think it tells you the kind of relationship that you're
going to have. And obviously, you know, like you said,
it's the honeymoon period. So it's all good vibes.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
For right now. We talked about Kleb, and I.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Want to move on to probably one of the I'm
going to put this together in a couple of weeks
talking about like the biggest position battles heading into training camp,
and obviously the biggest one right now is the left
tackle spot. Braxton Jones has still not been out there.
He is still recovering from a late season ankle injury.
I think the expectation is the last time Ben Ben
(17:54):
hasn't been asked about it, probably since like the owner's meetings.
But I think the expectation is for Bands and Jones
to be ready for training camp. But Ozzi Trapillo, their
second round pick, and Kianamagaja, their third round pick, have
been splitting time. Every time we saw them at practice.
It was literally, you know, one day it was Karan,
one day it was Ozzy, and they just switched off
(18:15):
with the first team, and you know, Ben Johnson said,
you know, you're not gonna learn much like these guys
don't have the pads on. You're not You're not gonna
get too much. Sure, you can look at the footwork,
you can look at that, at that kind of stuff,
but they mostly split split positions. But I'm the reason
I'm talking about this. I'm curious to know Joe. I
(18:37):
think the assumption is that Braxton will probably get the
first team reps once he gets there, because obviously he's
a starter, he's been there and done that. But it
seems like this is going to be a full on competition,
and I'm really interested to see does Braxton Jones like
hold on and like keep his position, or does you know,
Ozzy kind of impress and does he kind of go
(18:58):
out there, does Kuran kind of rebound with the full
off season and then the ability to be healthy.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Like I think.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Obviously like this is probably like the most important position
battle that we're going to be watching for all a
training camp.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Yeah. No, And I think it's just a great opportunity
for both Ozzy and and Karan because you know, if
Braxton Jones was healthy right now, if the the ankle
injury never would have happened, he's probably getting he's getting
first team reps. But this is their opportunity that the
Bears coaches and Ben Johnson to take a full hard
look at Ozzie and Karan and see where they stand.
(19:33):
And you know, even if you know Braxing Jones does
come back and he's healthy and he's back to his
old form, was the old form good enough? So They've
got an opportunity here, a great opportunity maybe serendipitously, I guess,
in a way to see what they have in the
second round pick and then last year's third round pick
in Kuran so uh his battle game on. I think
they're open to him breath, why not? And let's see.
(19:56):
Maybe they're looking at Ozzie saying, you know, he's close
and we can live with it, or they're thinking he's
not close. Braxon right now, Braxton is healthy, is the
better football player. But that's a great opportunity for for
the coaches and for the two left tackles that are
that that we've seen there in camp with with Ozzie
Uh and Karan.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yeah, Rick asked earlier the podcast, Ozzie is our l
t Yes or no? It's way too early to tell
you that. I I would be lying to you, Rick
if I told you that I know one way or another.
I can tell you that everyone is going to get
a fair shot, and that's going to be the biggest
thing I think. You know, Ben Johnson just wants to
see and obviously the whole coaching stead wants to see
(20:38):
what they have at that position. And you know Ken Ozzie,
like Ozzy is a smart kid, Karan is a smart
kid like Obviously you know, they both went to good
colleges and that doesn't mean that they're going to be
great football players. But it seems that they like have
picked up the offense, They're learning what they're supposed to do,
and I think it's just going to be a full
fledged conversation or a conversation about what they're who's going
(21:00):
to go out there. And I know Braxton Jones, you know,
he he he did not have the great best year
last year.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
There are a lot of times he was bull rushed.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
There are a lot of times that you know, defense
defenders were able to kind of get around him. But
from what we heard from Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson
over the offseason, they still seem to believe in him.
And obviously a lot of that stuff was said before
they got Ozzy. But I do think that, you know,
does Braxton Jones benefit from having Joe Toney next to him?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Like, does he.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Benefit from having the interior of the offensive line being
really stout and maybe they can let you know, him
make some more mistakes, or maybe he's not going to
face as much pressure as he would have otherwise. I
think I think there are a lot of factors into this,
and I don't think it's as simple as saying as
Ozzy's it and or Braxton is it, or even Karan
(21:48):
is it. I think it's going to be a full
fledged open conversation or you know, competition, And I quite
honestly think all three guys have a really good opportunity
at it. And if they don't, you know, Darnell right
is an opportunity, you know. You know, Ben Jonson said,
you know, he was asked, you know, is Darnell right?
You know said and right tackle? And he said, for
the time being, yeah, that's the plan, but like we
(22:10):
have the right to change that. So it really seems
like they're doing like a full fledge like whoever is
going to be able to protect Caleb. That's where we're
putting out there. It doesn't matter if you're for your VET,
you're a rookie or a second year player, we had
your rated high low, whatever. It's very clear that they're
going to look at all their options at the left
tackle position and they're just going to let the guys
(22:31):
battle it out.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
I think that's the way to do it here, right.
I mean, they don't care what you've done in the past.
They've seen film on Braction, but I'm always curious, like
this is tough for Braction because everyone knows he's got
to get stronger. His base has to get stronger. But
with this injury, like, how much has he been able
to work on that? I don't I don't know the
extent to that. I mean, if your if your ankle
is rehabbing, I don't know how much work you can
(22:58):
do on your lower body to strengthen conditioning coach. I've
never played offensive tackle, but I just wonder how much
he's able to get better, because I mean, to me,
it's always interesting, especially in football, how much better assuming
you're a young player, you get better from season one
to season two or season two to season three. What
are you doing in the off season to get better?
(23:20):
Whatever you need to work and whether it's it's physical strength,
you got to you gotta watch more film depending on
your position, So what are you doing to get better
in the off season? For Braxton, he probably has an opportunity.
Hasn't had that opportunity, uh to work on his lower
base unless I'm wrong, and I you know, I certainly
could be wrong. Uh So that's the key. But you know,
(23:42):
at least they have film one, they know what is
capable of. You know, they probably think, you know, unless
you're a Hall of Fame player. You can upgrade every position.
Everything is on the table, and I like that the
staft has coming here without any preconceived you know, notions
that you know, you know, you're our guy, and you know,
I don't think he Williams job is in jeopardy. You know,
(24:03):
certain guys like that. But it's it's a good good again,
a good opportunity to to see what you got and
uh and go from there.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Yeah, Ben Ben Johnson obviously said like there's no depth
chart in the spring. Obviously, you know you you could
say that obviously we know that Joe Toney is going
to be playing left guard. You know, Jonah Jackson is
going to be your right guard, and Drew Dollmond's going
to be your center. But I agree with your point
about Braxton, where I feel like a lot of his
issues were obviously his feats, right, like his ability to
(24:32):
kind of keep up and you know, the strength that
he had in his lower body, and obviously that's hard
to work on when you can't work it out. So
that will be an interesting point of you know, how
much development was he able to do during the time
when he was gone, And I think that'll be a big,
big thing for us to watch once we you know,
kind of get started to hear a training camp in
front and see, you know, where is he at at
(24:54):
the starting training camp? Is he going to be limited?
Is he going to be a full go? So those
are will be some interesting things to watch. Since we're
talking about injuries, here are guys who are injured a
little bit. The Bears have not had their first you know,
their top two picks in this year's drafts participate. Obviously,
we knew that about Coaston Lovelin. He's recovering from a
shoulder surgery. On Tuesday, he talked to the media. He
(25:16):
said that he's pretty close. He needs to just work
on a little bit more strength and mobility on that shoulder.
But he's been running routes, he's been catching balls like,
he's been doing that sort of stuff. He just can't
participate with the team right now. He said that he'll
be good to go on Tuesday. And Luther Burden obviously
hasn't been He has not come back since he got
(25:37):
injured at the end of rookie mini camp. And you know, Joe,
the first thing is, obviously this is not ideal. You
don't want your top two picks to not be out there,
and Ben Johnson talked about how like any player, let
alone a rookie, loses a lot by not being out there.
It's not even like the coaches trusting you. It's like
the teammates trusting you and that sort of stuff. And
(25:59):
you know, I I think the you know, I saw
someone ask earlier. I can't remember if it was Rick
or it was CJ asking how long before Bear's Twitter
turns on Luther Burden.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
It's an interesting.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Question because I saw that PFF report out there that
you know, obviously I think it was thirty second round
picks haven't signed their contract yet. Is Luthor being you know,
is his agent telling him, hey, like, maybe don't go
out there, like obviously you're injured and you don't have
a contract.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
I that speculation.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
I don't want to feed into that, But I think
the biggest thing you can take from all of this
right now is your top two picks are losing valuable
time right now and development time, and it'll be interesting
to see how much that kind of puts them back
at the start of training camp.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
Well, with Coleston Lovelin, first of all, I mean they
knew he had the offseason surgery on the shoulder, so
they knew he wasn't going to be ready and the
start of camp, so it's important. But then you're saying,
you know, we're willing to wait for him, so but look,
he can't you know, you know, you know he can't.
(27:12):
We can't be waiting until like week seven or week
eight before he starts to make some significant contributions. You
got to go now, you got to win now. So
they knew that, so they must think, you know what
he's you know, we're okay with them missing subs, you know,
as long as they're they're getting their wraps and they're
they're learning the playbook. You know what the guy can
(27:33):
do physically. I don't think he needs to see much
of that. But if he's not ready to come August,
if he's any setback at all, now that's an issue
because I think that's that is going to sent him back.
And then with Luther Burden, I don't know, and do
we even know an official reason why he he's been out?
Is it it gotsh issue? Okay, it's soft tissue, because
that's worrisome, right, I mean, those can linger for a
(27:56):
long time, and you gotta be really careful. Uh, they
do have some depth now wide receiver. So it's not
like we need him day one. I mean the second
round pick, you better hope he can contributes. But yeah,
and again again we we overreact everything. And it's a
great response about how long until bears Twitter turns on
(28:17):
Luther Burden. That's a good question. It's a fair question
because that's the way it works, and when everything today
in sports right with the social media. But a little bit,
but again I keep saying it's June, what's the June twelfth, twelfth,
let's those breaks again. But we'll see. But they need
(28:42):
both those guys. But with Loveland, they knew. It wasn't like,
you know, this was a revelation, not like the Kevin
White thing. I know you weren't around here, but that
was a wreck. The kid could never get out of
the field and surprisingly stayed in the league a long time.
I don't know, you might still have you on an
NFL roster. Amazingly it's Kevin White, but you know, so
(29:02):
we'll see.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
I think the biggest thing is and I understand there's
a lot of there's a lot of talk obviously with
you know, Shamar Stewart right now with the Bengals and
he's holding out and he's leaving and obviously he wants
to get his contract.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
And you know, the Bengals aren't the Bears.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Those are two different opts, like the I don't think
from what I understand, the Bears are trying to pull
one on anyone or anything like that. But I also like,
am I kind of understand? Like, yeah, it's valuable time
that you're missing, but it is June, like ben Jhonson
like when he was asked, is Luther gonna be there
for training camp or be ready for day one? And
(29:38):
ben Jonson was like, yeah, he's gonna He's gonna be there,
and like it's not like Luthor Burden isn't at the
facilities like everyone was at like ben Jonson said, everyone
was at the facilities.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
For mandatory mini camp.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
There were no holdouts, No one was you know, not
there or anything like that. And if I'm the Bears,
or even if I'm Luthor Burden, like do I want
a soft tissue issue to become a problem for me
in training camp if I can just rest it now?
And like you got six weeks before training camp, Like yeah,
I know, it doesn't look great, and yeah, I know
you're obviously losing a lot of valuable reps and that
(30:10):
sort of stuff, But I think it's much more valuable
for him to be ready for training camp at full speed,
no soft tissue issues, then fighting through it for a
mini camp or an OTA. Like, I think the training
camp and being ready for the season is much more
important than just showing up for an OT or a
mini camp and then you reaggravate something and this becomes
(30:30):
a lingering thing instead of just being like, all right,
we capped it, it's good, it's healed. Let's right, let's
get ready to go at the end of July.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
No, totally, I mean, and that that's the right the
right approaches like it's not let's not panic, and yeah,
let's let's see where we're at. Are where we're at
in another you know, six seven weeks.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
Another offensive talking point.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
I kind of wanted to talk about a couple of
things that we wanted to talk about before we say goodbye. Obviously,
the running back room is one of the biggest things
that we're kind of looking for. It's been it was
the big draft. Are they gonna draft? When are they
not obviously they took Kyle mcnung guy. There were thoughts,
you know, are they gonna get Nick Chubb? Are they
going to get JK Robin Dobbins And obviously both of
(31:16):
those guys didn't go there.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
And Joe, I think from what we've.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
Kind of seen and what we've kind of heard, you
mentioned the question about Ben Johnson being asked, you know
who impressed you and over the spring, and one of
the four players that he mentioned was Kyle mcnung guy,
like he liked the way he looks, he liked the
way that he's learning.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
In the classroom.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
And based on the what we've heard and what we've
kind of seen, I think it would be fair to say,
and you know, they can high a sign a veteran
on the minimum, maybe over the next week's or I
had to start a training camp. But I think from
what I'm seeing and hearing right now, I think my
interpretation is that the Bears are going to keep the
(31:57):
running back room that they have and they're just to
let them go. Whether it's DeAndre Swift kind of taking
a step this year, whether it's Kyle mcnungui being another
seventh rounder from Rutgers making a big impression, Like it
seems from what I hear right now, I think that
the Bears are comfortable with what they have in their
running back room and they're just going to see what
(32:18):
they have in the a training camp and see who's
going to be able to maybe impressed there.
Speaker 3 (32:24):
Yeah. I mean, it would have been nice to have
Ashton genty sure, but you know that that was gonna happen.
The Raiders took him. I think we'll look back when
we look back at the Bears twenty twenty five season.
I don't think one of the top two or three
reasons if they have failure, they'll all have failure to
what de grief. It's bad failure again like we've seen
(32:44):
the last few years, it's one of the top reasons
will be the running back position really let us down.
I mean, I think it's nice if you had, you know,
a Saquon Barkley or something like that, but you don't.
You addressed a lot of things. You can't address everything.
Deres Swift will not go down in history as one
of the worst players running backs in the history of
They're franchise. He won't. He's a good player. Is he
(33:06):
a great player? No? But we've seen what we can
do when he's got space, and in theory again with
the improved offensive line, he should have more space up
the middle. So you know, I don't I don't think
it's a major issue. I still would list probably five
or six other things that are more of an issue
than running back. And as far as Kyle Mnung guy
(33:27):
or whether throw Shawn Johnson, you just need that second
guy to be a complimentary guy, right because DeAndre is
going to be the main guy coming out of the backfield.
So if Manung guy can give you a spark, whether
it's in some short yarded situations or third down plays, wonderful.
But that's all you really need for the guy. No
expects Kyle Manung Guy to come in and rush for
twelve hundred yards and sir, plant DeAndre Swifts that I'm
(33:50):
one running back on the team.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
I was going to ask you that because I was
curious just based on you know it again with the
preface that it's me in June. Obviously they United State
be full blocking or not seeing full pressure, all that
sort of stuff.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
But do you think there's a.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
World where Kyle macnonguy could potentially jump up there and
you know, middle of the season, maybe starts getting those
you know, snaps over over DeAndre Swift. Like, do you
think that there's any credence to it at this point
or do you think, like listen, like maybe we're making
too much of a comparison to Pacheco obviously in Kansas
City because he's a seventh rounder or out of Rutgers.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
But I'm just curious to know, like, do.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
You are what are your expectations at this point for
what Kyle mcnonguy can add to this running back room.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
Yeah, I mean the comparison to Pacheco, I think's little fair.
Pacheco's fast and dirty. You know, you got that burst
guy using a burner. He's not gonna break one off
for seventy yards from what I understand, and you've seen
him out there. But he's an intriguing player. But again,
if you're counting on a seventh round pick, and I
know it's a deep running back, you know draft, uh
(34:56):
so maybe in another year, maybe he would have been
a fourth round or maybe a fifth rounder, right, But
I don't know if you're relying on a seventh round pick,
I think whatever you get out of him is icing
on the cake. I mean, that's just gravy. To me,
he'd be a heck of a nice story, and I'm
sure he'll and I wouldn't be surprised if he had,
if he had some flash moments, you know, during the
(35:17):
course of the seas exact. I do think he'll get
some action. But then what does that mean for Rochean Johnson?
Is Rochean now like you know, you're tossing him to
the side. Now, it was only what this was drafted
two years ago, right, part of that twenty twenty three group.
So I don't know if they you know, Rochean had
some moments last year, especially on the goal line, but
you know, I think they could. That's to me, it's
(35:39):
almost like is that the question is if Mangata be
gonna be the number two running back and not Rochean.
So I guess maybe that's something to watch going forward.
Speaker 2 (35:48):
Yeah, I think it'll be interesting.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
I think the biggest thing we've learned about the NFL
is you don't need to be a first or second
round pick running back to make an impact. Obviously, last
year you saw Bucky Irving, you know, from from area. Obviously,
what he was able to do with with the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers. I think if you're able to block, I
think that's the biggest thing. And I think, you know,
DeAndre Swift will obviously benefit from that, Roshan Johnson will
(36:10):
benefit from that. But I I think at this point
right now, I think Kyle mnunguy could make an impact,
and I I I am confident in his ability and
what he's going to be able to do. Again, I
have the right to take that back when if I
see something in training camp and all that sort of stuff,
But I I I think that Kyle mcnunguy could potentially
(36:31):
make a bigger impact than maybe we thought he could
when they got him in the seventh round. I see
a lot of different guys are coming in there. I
see Roberts back. Hey, Robert, great to see you.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
Swift is gonna ball out this year? I think I
think he'll do. I think that'll be really interesting.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
Doctor Earl is in the chat. We got King BUCA World.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Guys.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
We've got a few more minutes left on the live stream,
so if you have any more questions, we're happy to
answer them or kind of talk about it. I think
Rick asked early when is the first day of training camp.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
The Bears haven't officially.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
Announced that yet, but my interpretation is it's probably gonna
be the sometime in the second to last week of July.
That's kind of been what they've been doing recently. I think,
you know, we'll have six weeks a little bit off
of here before we kind of before we kind of
get things going here. But this is the most interesting
time of the year because I think this six weeks
(37:27):
is literally the only time in the calendar year where
the NFL isn't the number one topic. Right, Like even
during the off season, we're talking about free agency, coaching, hirings,
GM hirings, drafting, combined owners meetings, rules changes, all this
different stuff. Like the NFL has mastered the off season
so well where we're constantly talking about it like no
(37:47):
other sports.
Speaker 2 (37:48):
But I think this six weeks is the only six
weeks when we.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
Don't talk about football, And we were kind of like,
all right, as long as no one gets arrested, no
one gets in trouble, Like, no one is going to
be talking about the NFL for the six weeks.
Speaker 3 (38:01):
Yeah, but you'll find something to write about. Michael Oh.
I have to sure Sean you have to write, and
that's the tough that's the tough part of being the
beat writer. What are we writing about on July eighth
for July ninth? And that's that's hard. But you're right,
and so let's just enjoy summer a little bit. Right,
it's finally being consistently warm, as I say, that will
probably forty degrees next week in Chicago. But you know,
(38:24):
let's enjoy summer and then before you know it. But
I mean, who isn't excited to see what this Ben
Johnson offense is going to look like? I mean, we
all are. I mean, in a way, I want the
season open to be to be this weekend. But then again,
I want to enjoy summer a little bit too, don't you.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
Yeah, I would be nice to enjoy summer at least
a little bit. It's funny because I feel like we
like love football. Obviously we're all ready for it, but
it would be nice to just enjoy the summer a
little bit, enjoy the warm weather before things get pretty
pretty cold out theres Fort Chicago Style is asking the
number one question that this pod cast cares about.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
How did Tyler Scott do on the field? As you know.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
This is the Tyler Scott fan podcast. Here a lot
of supporters, supporters of Tyler Scott on this podcast.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
He is still on the team. Joe, I, I I
will say Tyler's I I I I.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
Will say I don't think Tyler Scott has made himself noticeable.
I don't think he's made whether that's good or bad.
I think for right now, he's just kind of there.
And I I don't you know, I think you know, I,
I think he's just kind of there. He's he's a
special teamer at this point. Maybe he'll get you a
couple of balls, but there there hasn't really been too
(39:39):
many opportunities for him right now.
Speaker 2 (39:41):
I do think that.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
One of the bigger things that I've kind of noticed
over the over you know, over this over the spring period,
is that Caleb is going to rely on that number
three receiver, whoever that is, whether it's Olamade, whether it's uh,
you know know other guys, whether it is going.
Speaker 2 (40:01):
To be Luther Burned. The third, that third third.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
Wide receiver is going to be important for Caleb, especially
if Rome and DJ kind of takes some time to
get open. So that is going to be something to
kind of look forward here, But Joey, we've got it.
We'll do a few more minutes here if we get
any more last questions. But I am curious to see.
I'm going to do a series over the next month,
you know, top position battles. Who has the most approved,
(40:27):
most under kind of looked player? And I'm curious, like who?
I think we both agree that the left tackle is
probably your top position battle, right, Like, I think that's
obviously the most important.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
I am curious.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
You know, we'll get more into the training camp previeuws
stuff in a month here, But who do you feel
like over this next couple of months has the most
approved on the Bears. Is it Caleb Williams to show
that he is a franchise quarterback that everyone expects him.
Is it a Dj Moore or Roma Dunes a Montest sweat?
Like there are a lot of guys who have a
lot of to prove after five and twelve season last year.
Speaker 2 (41:01):
But I'm curious to know.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
Like some food for thought over the next month as
we kind of think goodbye for the next month, But
who do you think has a lot to prove once
training camp gets started here at the end of July.
Speaker 3 (41:13):
That's a great question. So it's not Zach Pickens. Is
that you're telling me. I was gonna ask you who's
gonna get cut first, Tyler Scott or Zach Pickets.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
I am not getting into the business of cutting people
out here, Joe, it's only June.
Speaker 3 (41:29):
That's a great question, though, like who has the most
to prove? You hate to take the obvious answer because
it's the quarterback. But again, even if he has, but
you know how he overreacted, especially to the quarterback. So
if he's just if he just does what he does
last year, Caleb, that's not good enough. We can all
agree on that. I expect him to be better, expect
(41:50):
Roman Donday's numbers to be better. Who has the most
approved though it's counter fair to the rookies because it's
year one and when we haven't even seen Loveling and
Pads yet, or you know, you know, because of the shoulder. Defensively,
this is kind of a it's a random thought here.
I need to see more from Tremaine Edward Edmunds. I
(42:11):
don't think he had a great year last season. He
did pick off Kayleb Williams, you know, in that little
scrimmage there so thumbs up right away to Tremaine. He
I think he's got to show more and the defensive front,
I mean really doesn't matter in a way who starts
because they're gonna rotate so many guys in, but certain
guys have to, you know, deliver, and i Odeanbo, I think,
(42:34):
is a name that you know, they're all talking about
the potential and he was getting to the quarterback, but
he wasn't getting a lot of sacks well, and then
then he can get the other, you know, proven pass
rusher to complement Montest Sweat, who also is another name
to think about because he didn't have a great twenty
twenty four either. But we got to see production from
Odeanbo this season, not like you know, in camp necessarily,
(42:57):
but when it starts to matter, is he going to
be the guy? Is he the good the perfect compliment
or is he just a guy who's just gonna be
a mid a mid player and he's good, he's ever
gonna be great and you know he's you know, ten years,
you'll forget that he was on the team. Is he
gonna be that guy or is he gonna make an impact?
So they they paid a lot of money, they kind
of made him the top defensive priority, right, unless I'm
(43:19):
missing somebody as far as their their off season signings.
So I think he's a guy who we need to
see production and not just potential, because we all know
in any sport, production is what our potential is what
gets coaches fired, right, I.
Speaker 1 (43:32):
Would definitely agree with that, and Rick, thank you Rick
for bringing this up. I can reletely forgot about this.
Uh how how does Brisker look and can he handle?
How can he make it a full season that we taught.
We did get a chance to talk to Jaquon Brisker
for the first time since he had his concussion situation
that kind of kept him out the last twelve weeks.
He said he feels good. He obviously called it a
(43:57):
very dark time, obviously a tough situation. He talked about
how he retrained his uh he retrained his brain a
little bit, which I was kind of like, what do
you mean, how do you retrain your brain? But he
saw this doctor at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
and I forget the exact name of what type of
concussion was. It's escaping my mind right now, but he
(44:19):
had a certain type of concussion, and the doctor kind
of taught him like, hey, like you can retrain your
brain from this concussion, like like by doing side to
side movements, training your eyes, catching a tennis ball. And
Jaquan really dedicated himself his off season to doing that
and he's getting back there. And you know, he was
asked whether he thought about retiring. He said no, that
was never a thought. He said, is he going to
(44:41):
change the way he plays football?
Speaker 2 (44:44):
He said no.
Speaker 1 (44:44):
And you know, obviously they didn't have the pads on it,
but Jakwan Brisker made himself known during these practices, the
seven on sevens, whether it was his play or whether
it's his mouth. Obviously likes to talk a lot on
the field and kind of gets that defense going. But
it's great to teja Kwon Brisker back out there. It's
great to see that he's healthy and that he's going
to go a full way. And Brisker let us know
(45:05):
that he's not changing who he is as a player
and he is going to play the same style of
football that he that kind of made him a really
elite player when he's out there.
Speaker 3 (45:15):
Yeah, I mean, you can't take the football player out
of the football player, right, I mean, and Jaikwan is
at his best when he when he's coming downhill at
the line of scrimmage and being a physical player. I mean,
he has to be that player, otherwise why are you
on the team. I don't know how productive he can be.
So he's going to have to play the way he's
always played. And if he gets concussed again in week two,
(45:39):
when he's out for the year again, you knew this
was a potential scenario. That's why I really wanted to
see them draft a safety high. They know better, right,
they should know better than me. I hope they're right,
And I hope he's fine because you know, Michael, you
know better than me. He's he's a very likable player,
I understand. You know, his teammates like him, fans love him.
I love John Brisker. I mean, he's got Pro Bowl potential,
(46:02):
but he's got to be on the field to do that.
And it's too bad because he can be a dynamic player.
But if this concussions, things crops up again or he
gets another one. The whole thing about retraining your brain
thing that's fascinating to me. But I know, if if
you bang hands with another guy who's going really fast
and was really big. You can forget about training your
(46:23):
brain things. It's gonna hurt. It's probably gonna be bad.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
Yeah, And obviously, once you have one concussion, you're much
more susceptible to having more concussions in the future. King
Booka asked hope he wears the Guardian cap. He did,
He has been wearing them at practices. Obviously a lot
of guys who have had previous concussions before wear the
Guardian caps. Obviously you can wear those in games now.
And I would assume he didn't talk about it, he
(46:47):
didn't bring it up, but I would assume he would
wear them in games. If you could do anything to
kind of help protect yourself, I think I think a
player would do that. All right, we're gonna get out
of here, guys, We've got We had a good conver
station today. Thank you to everyone who joined our live stream.
It was great to hear from all.
Speaker 2 (47:04):
Of you guys.
Speaker 1 (47:04):
It was great to get all your comments and your questions.
Speaker 2 (47:08):
Appreciate you guys joining us.
Speaker 1 (47:10):
If you're listening to our podcast, make sure you're checking
out keeping up with us. We like to do these
live streams and if you want to join the conversation,
check out when we're going to be doing these live
and you can get your question answered or be part
of the conversation as well. Obviously, like I said, we've
got roughly six weeks now until the training camp is
(47:32):
going to be starting. We'll probably start talking to you
folks like the week before training camp kind of get
get you ready, get us back into Bears mode. But
Joe and I are going to enjoy the summer at
least a little bit fear for a couple of weeks for.
Speaker 2 (47:45):
The next month.
Speaker 1 (47:47):
Maybe we'll come back if there is like any stadium
news obviously, that could be the only I think that's
the biggest way the Bears will probably.
Speaker 2 (47:54):
Make news over the next month.
Speaker 1 (47:56):
Maybe they want to put out that stadium news before
training camp gets started to get everyone excited for the season.
But we're gonna take the next month off, but then
we're gonna be ready to go once training games start,
and we're hoping that you guys will join us once
we kind of get back into the swing of things
here at the end of July. But thanks so much
for joining us this week, folks. I hope you guys
have a good kind of rest of your summer, and
(48:18):
we will talk to you folks down the road.
Speaker 2 (48:21):
See you
Hello, and welcome to the Shaw Local Bears Insider Podcast.
I am Michael Dwojack here, joined by the Northwest Harold's
Joe Aguilar.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
It's been a.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
While and we're back end.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
We're gonna break down some spring football.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
So we're gonna go over some things that kind of
happened over the past probably five or six weeks. A
lot of different fun things happen. We learned a lot
of different things, you know, Joe, it's the Ota schedule,
the mini camp schedule. We're still trying to figure things
out with you know, Ben Jonson and his coaching staff
and how they like to do stuff.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
You know, what the Bears have on the roster, and
you know, obviously, you know, the pads aren't done.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
You're not gonna get a full full scale battle here
or anything like that. Obviously, they're just learning a lot
of different things. But I feel like this time of
year is really interesting because, you know, we're getting to
know Ben Johnson a little bit more, how he likes
to do things, you know, his personal and all that
sort of stuff. And I feel like, you know, sure,
(01:03):
maybe we didn't learn a lot about you know, is
Caleb William's gonna throw for four.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Thousand yards any of that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
But I do think that we've learned a lot about
how intense this coaching staff is going to be, how
they're going to teach the details, and that was the
biggest thing for me, at least, where it seems like
this team is very or this this coaching staff is
very determined to break down the details and make sure
that everyone knows what is expected out of them.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Yeah, a lot of attention to detail, and maybe some
of the guys aren't used to it quite frankly, we'll see,
but I think this is one way for sure you
find out who's coachable and who's in right off the bat,
and then you kind of weed it out. But because
not everyone's gonna be bought in, you know, there's probably
gonna be some people are a little skeptical, or people have
to change some habits that that weren't good habits, and
(01:52):
we'll find out. But this is why you go through
all this in March and April and May, and you're
trying to figure it out, not March, but you know,
after the draft and everything, So that's that's why you
try to figure it out. And you still got time,
and but you know, it's our job as media and
as fans and anyone who watches football to overanalyze and
(02:13):
overreact on one play after day one. But there's still
a lot of time to go before camp opens and
then certainly the season.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
It seemed like the main word I feel like that
from you know, mini camp and OTAs was that details right,
Like literally, I feel like every I feel like everyone
was like obligated.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
I don't know if they were actually.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
But it seemed like everyone was like getting paid by
the by how many times they said details in the
press conference, like every player talked about it, the coach
has talked about it. And I think, you know, I
think the biggest thing you can take from from this
you know, spring period is everyone knows what the expectations are.
(02:56):
And I think that, you know, last year, you heard
a lot about, you know, account of you know, we
don't know what we're kind of supposed to.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Be doing and that sort of stuff.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
And I think the biggest thing you kind of saw
out of all of this was man like, everyone should
know what's going on and everyone should know what's expected,
because it doesn't seem like Ben Johnson or any of
his coaches, you know, I you know, watching practices. I
feel like a lot of people are talking about you know,
Ben Johnson, he's on players, Dennis Allen is on players.
(03:24):
Eric the Enemy is on players. Like the coaches are
on these players, and you know, they're not doing it
in like a disrespectful manner, like they're not like chewing
them out or anything, but like if they're making a mistake,
like they're gonna let them know about it, and they're
trying to teach them and make sure that they're doing
the better. And it's it's honestly just very different from
maybe what we saw in the past regime in the
past few years here.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Yeah, and that's the proverbial tough love, right, but I
think they have to be careful. I'm sure they know
this a lot better than I do that. You know,
tough love doesn't work for everybody. You know, some guys
need it, some guys need a pat on the back.
So they have to figure that out too as coaches,
because we've heard, like even Eric Biennaby like why Sindy
(04:05):
ever gotten a head coaching job? Maybe he's too tough
and maybe that us would play after a while. And again,
so they have to figure that out too, because all
the f bombs and this is the detail you get.
I mean, they're right, but some guys are gonna react
favor positively to that. So but we trust at this
point that they'll figure it out. And again we've still
(04:27):
got some time.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Yeah, and it seems like this, you know, obviously this
time of year is like just learning, right Like you're
not gonna you're not creating, you know, schemes or like
game plans for like the Packers or anything like that.
This time is just like try to learn about each other.
And that obviously is like you like you mentioned like
some things might work, is whatever you do with DJ
Moore might not work with Roma Doon the right if
your Antoine Randalla and he talked about that, how you
(04:51):
know you might have to treat him a little bit
different than Luther burn the third. Like everyone is different,
everyone like is going to be treated probably in a
different way, and coaches are learning that right now. But yeah,
I would agree that, you know, it's a lot of
learning right now, and it's a lot of figuring out
what works and what doesn't. And uh, that pretty much
was the spring spring here. If you're joining us on YouTube.
(05:12):
Thanks so much for joining us. I see a lot
of guys are the chat chaading it up. If you
have any questions, obviously, feel free to comment comment in there.
We'll talk about a lot of different things in this
week's podcast, Joe, I want to start things off with
the quarterback, right Obviously, that's how the NFL works, That's
how everything kind of goes into if everyone cares about
(05:33):
the quarterback, no matter what team you are in the NFL.
And I obviously want to talk about the kleb development
and all that kind of stuff. But we we haven't
talked since obviously that those excerpts came out from thee
Seth wicker Sham.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Obviously his book is.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Going to be coming out in in September. Obviously we
learned about, you know, all the you know, the trying
to figure out different ways maybe not to get to
the Bears, and you know, Caleb addressed it, and I
thought he handled it in a really well way. I
think he was you know, he didn't wait for questions
about it. He's opening statement during OTAs was talking about
(06:09):
like this is the situation, this is what actually happened,
this is what isn't happening, and you know, I'm here
now and I'm like committed to winning with this team.
Like he talked about how, yes, he liked Kevin O'Connor
a lot when he met with the Vikings, but that
was his first meeting, and then when he came to
the Bears, he told his family, Okay, I'm going to
turn this place around, Like I'm committed to this.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Joe, obviously I'm not.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
I think this has been very funny for me because
I feel like everyone is like saying, this isn't a
story or it is a story, and like, I'm not
trying to drag this on, but Joe was just what
were your thoughts about it and how did you feel
like Caleb kind of handled the whole situation.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Yeah, I agree with you, Michael. I thought he handled
it well. Was it a story? Yeah, was a story?
I mean, and he had to know that when he
spoke on the record with Seth Bickersham, who wrote the
book on the quarterbacks, that this was going to become
public at some point. So I thought he addressed it
and yeah, let's move on. And quite frankly, look, I mean,
(07:06):
you know the people who've covered this football team for
a long time, either as in media or or in
a larger base, the fan base. They know the situation
here a quarterback like this was not an attractive destination
a year ago, and it hasn't been for a long
time for a quarterback. So if he had any reservations,
who doesn't understand that. I mean, and then you come
(07:27):
here to a situation where you had a coach who
was really on the hot seat, and we kind of
figured that. You know a lot of people thought he
matti erflush had been fired after the season before that,
so you know, I didn't think it was anything revealing.
I mean, a kid's got a whole future at stake,
and he's gonna, you know, analyze things as anyone would
when he when he's in the position that he was,
(07:49):
And look, was the dad two hands on? Sure he was,
and you know parents could be guilty of that, But
I thought Caleb did the right thing. Look, he wants
to be great. We've known that since before the Beers
drafted him. He has gone on records saying that. And
we know if you win in Chicago, especially being a
Bears football player, where you whether you're the quarterback or
(08:09):
the punter or the equipment manager. You're gonna be a
hero here and you're never gonna have to pay for
another meal in your life as long as you live.
So look, it's like any athlete Chicago, whether you play
for the Cubs, you played for the White Sox, the Blackhawks,
you know what winning it does for you, how it
cements You're not on your legacy, but you're just you're
(08:30):
you're standing in this great city. So I didn't have
a problem with what Caleb said. I'm glad. If you
didn't address it right off the bat to the media,
that would have been a problem. But he did, and
good for him.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Yeah, I think maybe some people gave him a hard
time because he didn't he talked to us, you know,
the second week of OTAs and not the first week
of OTAs. I think the only thing that really did
was just kind of drag out the story, right like
if he talked about it the first week, we would
have addressed it and just kind of moved on like
we did when he did talk about it.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
But yeah, I agree with you.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
I think he handled it well and I think you know,
I agree with you, and I think a lot of
fans have this point. If you're fighting for your career
and a lot of these rookie quarterbacks only have like
one opportunity, right, Like a lot of times, if your
first team doesn't work for you, like your career is
kind of sunk. Obviously, Sam Darnold has kind of come back.
Gino Smith has kind of come back. But it's really
(09:21):
hard to do if your first team doesn't really develop
you the right way. So, I mean, I don't blame
Caleb for being like, listen, like this team has never
developed a quarterback.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Why. I'm like, I'm.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Nervous about my career and my future and that sort
of stuff. So yeah, I think he handled it well.
I think it was it was a story, but he
addressed it and we can move on now. Obviously he's
committed to moving forward and obviously learning Ben Johnson's offense,
and that was the biggest thing that we for him
over the spring.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
You know, I see this a lot.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
You know, there's a lot of breakdowns of like how
to sow and so quarterback do an otac He went
five of seven and seven on seven, he went you know,
six in six at ten on eleven and eleven. I
think it's really hard to kind of break down what
is truly happening with these seven on sevens and eleven
on elevens, Because first of all, the quarterback isn't being
pressured at all, one has no one has pads on.
(10:14):
And the second thing is like, I mean, these these
players are learning a completely new offensive system. Like they
didn't truly start going into things until the second day
of mini camp, so it's kind of hard to you know,
get into the well, Caleb looked great here, Caleb looked
look bad there. Like, Caleb looked like a quarterback who's
(10:34):
learning a new system quite honestly from for four weeks
what like, for the practices that we were able to see,
he made some mistakes, he threw some interceptions, he threw
some nice passes. But I think the biggest thing was
for me is watching how Caleb and Ben Johnson were
developing and how they're kind of building together and and
like there were times where Ben Johnson would stop a
(10:55):
play because someone wasn't set up in the right play.
There was a there were some times were you know,
Ben Johnson would say, yeah, Caleb was slow on that.
He was he needed to be quicker on that. And
I think that's the biggest thing where it seems like
Caleb and Ben Johnson are right now developing. They're kind
of figuring each other out. And the biggest thing for
me right now is this coaching staff is figuring out
(11:17):
what Caleb Cannon can't do, and now they're going to
take that information over the next month and then they're
going to create a playbook that is going to be like,
all right, Caleb can roll off when he has pressure,
and he'll be able to find so and so here
if he needs to make a like second play. Caleb
can't do this right now, Maybe we can work that
in a little bit later in the year. I think
that's the biggest thing right now, where this coaching staff
(11:38):
is learning what Caleb Cannon can't do and they're going
to create an offensive playbook that obviously plays into his straints.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Yeah, I agree, and I think you know again, look,
I get a reporters like yourself or at Hallis all
watching them on the field and going through drills, and
you have to report them like Tremaine Edmunds intercepted Caleb
out a pass that was underthrown. You put that in
your notebook and then you know, you go on the
radio and you and you want, and you report that too.
(12:07):
I get it, but it's like over analyzing a veteran
pictures for two innings in the spring training game. You know,
it's like the guy's may be working on something, he's
figuring it out. And and Caleb situation Like you said, Michael,
I mean, they're they're learning each other. And just because
he underthrew a pass or overthrew a pass or or
didn't do the right thing doesn't mean it's gonna happen
(12:28):
on Monday Night against the Vikings. Win it when it
all matters again. So look, it's what is it? Is
it June? Now? Finally we still got another month and
change to go before they open, so there's time. I
just I mean, there's so much pressure on this kid,
and you know, maybe he won't be good this year,
but my goodness, it's way too early. I mean, ESPN,
(12:51):
I look, and I get it too. They've gotta have
something to talk about. You know, there's like this, there's
more pressure on Caleb Williams than any quarterback in the
NFL this year. Like can we slow down and pump
the brakes a little bit? I mean, my goodness, I mean,
what the kid went through last year. And I'm not
saying he wasn't at fault for a lot of the
things that happened. Some of a lot of the sacks
man out all of them. Certainly some of the sacks
(13:11):
are the overthrows of the deep balls weren't always great.
We know what his flaws were. That doesn't mean it
doesn't mean he had a bad season. But my gush,
he had how many coaches uh too, and the coordinators
getting fired and the team was bad around him. So
all said and done, I don't think he had a
bad season. I thought it was it was good. Wasn't great.
(13:32):
Of course, it wasn't great, But I thought he had
a good season. And there's still a lot there to
work with, and with everything they've done in the off
season or the era is pointing up. Doesn't mean it's
gonna you know, they're gonna, they're gonna make the playoffs.
But I just think we need to pump the brakes
a little. We're evaluating for better or words, and to me,
it seems like there's a lot of worse because people
(13:53):
are already uh ready to just chomping at the bit
to call this kid a bust.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Yeah, I would agree that I think the biggest thing
we heard this from Ben Johnson. I think it was
on Tuesday and the last ota before they broke. Maybe
maybe it was at the end of the week. I'm
mixing on my practices. But the biggest thing that you know,
I think Ben Johnson has kind of said about Caleb
was like, listen, we threw a lot at him. We
(14:19):
threw long play calling, we threw out different plays at
the at the line of scrimmage, we threw out like it. Basically,
they threw everything at Caleb and they wanted to see
what he could do. And I one of the things I,
at least for now, want to give Ben Johnson credit
for is he's honest, right, Like he's not going to,
you know, throw anyone under the boat. He's not going
(14:39):
like under the bus. He's not like going to you know,
personally go after players. But he will be honest and say, like,
you know, there's some things that Caleb did well, and
there's some things that Caleb didn't do well, like he's
not try trying to play key to the quarterback. But
I think the biggest thing we kind of saw was
and the biggest thing that you know, Ben Johnson kind
of talked about is like Caleb is getting better in
(15:01):
all facets and I think that's the biggest thing, right
Is he perfect?
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Are they game one ready? No?
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Far from it, Like you know, Ben Johnson said, they
are not ready for prime time, but they are getting there.
And I think that's the biggest thing right now where
you're seeing those incremental improvements right now in the spring,
like you kind of want to see sure it's going
to reach another level in training camp whence the pads
come on and you kind of get closer and you
really need to start figuring things out.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
But it really seems like the duo.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
The obviously the most important duo for this organization right now,
Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams. They're figuring each other out,
and it seems like for now Caleb is taking the
steps that he needs to in order to kind of
prepare himself for the beginning of training camp.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
No question. So yeah, but it is the most important
relationship in the building there right because they've got to
figure it out. And I will say this about Ben Johnson,
he's been you know, since we really knew nothing about
him other than what we read or saw from Afar
he's been very candid, and and you know, it's still
the honeymoon, it's still summer, so you know, the you know,
(16:04):
the real pressure hasn't begun by any means. But I
think he's been very candid. I think someone asked him,
maybe it was you, Michael, who asked, you know, who's
been like a couple of names who've been the biggest
surprises or and he mentioned names. I don't know if
Maddie Refluse and I'm not picking on Mattie Refluse or
another coach would really necessarily mention guys by name, but
he did. I think he brought up Dominque Robinson as
(16:26):
a positive and maybe brought up somebody else, But I
thought that was nice. And it seems like he's been
very candid with the media, you know, and instead of
just being everything, you know, close to the best.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Sure, and you know, obviously it's easy to be candid
in May as opposed to, you know, after a loss,
you know, on the last second field goal or something
like that. But I agree he's been candidate. You know,
you mentioned that obviously, that qu that question happened on
Wednesday at Mini camp, and I thought it was interesting
ben Jhonson. Instead of just like being like, oh, so
and so or whatever, he asked like, hey, can I
get back, like ask me that question tomorrow and I'll
(16:59):
think of it. And then the next day he like
came out with four players, And I think that, you know, sure,
that's little. Does that mean that you're gonna win games in.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
In the fall?
Speaker 1 (17:07):
No, Like, obviously you know that doesn't mean that you're
going to be a fantastic coach. But I do think
that it tells you a little bit about him that
he does care, that he's not trying to be a
coach who's like the media is our enemy. I'm not
going to get anything out there, like what Like, I
think it tells you the kind of relationship that you're
going to have. And obviously, you know, like you said,
it's the honeymoon period. So it's all good vibes.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
For right now. We talked about Kleb, and I.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Want to move on to probably one of the I'm
going to put this together in a couple of weeks
talking about like the biggest position battles heading into training camp,
and obviously the biggest one right now is the left
tackle spot. Braxton Jones has still not been out there.
He is still recovering from a late season ankle injury.
I think the expectation is the last time Ben Ben
(17:54):
hasn't been asked about it, probably since like the owner's meetings.
But I think the expectation is for Bands and Jones
to be ready for training camp. But Ozzi Trapillo, their
second round pick, and Kianamagaja, their third round pick, have
been splitting time. Every time we saw them at practice.
It was literally, you know, one day it was Karan,
one day it was Ozzy, and they just switched off
(18:15):
with the first team, and you know, Ben Johnson said,
you know, you're not gonna learn much like these guys
don't have the pads on. You're not You're not gonna
get too much. Sure, you can look at the footwork,
you can look at that, at that kind of stuff,
but they mostly split split positions. But I'm the reason
I'm talking about this. I'm curious to know Joe. I
(18:37):
think the assumption is that Braxton will probably get the
first team reps once he gets there, because obviously he's
a starter, he's been there and done that. But it
seems like this is going to be a full on competition,
and I'm really interested to see does Braxton Jones like
hold on and like keep his position, or does you know,
Ozzy kind of impress and does he kind of go
(18:58):
out there, does Kuran kind of rebound with the full
off season and then the ability to be healthy.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Like I think.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Obviously like this is probably like the most important position
battle that we're going to be watching for all a
training camp.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Yeah. No, And I think it's just a great opportunity
for both Ozzy and and Karan because you know, if
Braxton Jones was healthy right now, if the the ankle
injury never would have happened, he's probably getting he's getting
first team reps. But this is their opportunity that the
Bears coaches and Ben Johnson to take a full hard
look at Ozzie and Karan and see where they stand.
(19:33):
And you know, even if you know Braxing Jones does
come back and he's healthy and he's back to his
old form, was the old form good enough? So They've
got an opportunity here, a great opportunity maybe serendipitously, I guess,
in a way to see what they have in the
second round pick and then last year's third round pick
in Kuran so uh his battle game on. I think
they're open to him breath, why not? And let's see.
(19:56):
Maybe they're looking at Ozzie saying, you know, he's close
and we can live with it, or they're thinking he's
not close. Braxon right now, Braxton is healthy, is the
better football player. But that's a great opportunity for for
the coaches and for the two left tackles that are
that that we've seen there in camp with with Ozzie
Uh and Karan.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yeah, Rick asked earlier the podcast, Ozzie is our l
t Yes or no? It's way too early to tell
you that. I I would be lying to you, Rick
if I told you that I know one way or another.
I can tell you that everyone is going to get
a fair shot, and that's going to be the biggest
thing I think. You know, Ben Johnson just wants to
see and obviously the whole coaching stead wants to see
(20:38):
what they have at that position. And you know Ken Ozzie,
like Ozzy is a smart kid, Karan is a smart
kid like Obviously you know, they both went to good
colleges and that doesn't mean that they're going to be
great football players. But it seems that they like have
picked up the offense, They're learning what they're supposed to do,
and I think it's just going to be a full
fledged conversation or a conversation about what they're who's going
(21:00):
to go out there. And I know Braxton Jones, you know,
he he he did not have the great best year
last year.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
There are a lot of times he was bull rushed.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
There are a lot of times that you know, defense
defenders were able to kind of get around him. But
from what we heard from Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson
over the offseason, they still seem to believe in him.
And obviously a lot of that stuff was said before
they got Ozzy. But I do think that, you know,
does Braxton Jones benefit from having Joe Toney next to him?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Like, does he.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Benefit from having the interior of the offensive line being
really stout and maybe they can let you know, him
make some more mistakes, or maybe he's not going to
face as much pressure as he would have otherwise. I
think I think there are a lot of factors into this,
and I don't think it's as simple as saying as
Ozzy's it and or Braxton is it, or even Karan
(21:48):
is it. I think it's going to be a full
fledged open conversation or you know, competition, And I quite
honestly think all three guys have a really good opportunity
at it. And if they don't, you know, Darnell right
is an opportunity, you know. You know, Ben Jonson said,
you know, he was asked, you know, is Darnell right?
You know said and right tackle? And he said, for
the time being, yeah, that's the plan, but like we
(22:10):
have the right to change that. So it really seems
like they're doing like a full fledge like whoever is
going to be able to protect Caleb. That's where we're
putting out there. It doesn't matter if you're for your VET,
you're a rookie or a second year player, we had
your rated high low, whatever. It's very clear that they're
going to look at all their options at the left
tackle position and they're just going to let the guys
(22:31):
battle it out.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
I think that's the way to do it here, right.
I mean, they don't care what you've done in the past.
They've seen film on Braction, but I'm always curious, like
this is tough for Braction because everyone knows he's got
to get stronger. His base has to get stronger. But
with this injury, like, how much has he been able
to work on that? I don't I don't know the
extent to that. I mean, if your if your ankle
is rehabbing, I don't know how much work you can
(22:58):
do on your lower body to strengthen conditioning coach. I've
never played offensive tackle, but I just wonder how much
he's able to get better, because I mean, to me,
it's always interesting, especially in football, how much better assuming
you're a young player, you get better from season one
to season two or season two to season three. What
are you doing in the off season to get better?
(23:20):
Whatever you need to work and whether it's it's physical strength,
you got to you gotta watch more film depending on
your position, So what are you doing to get better
in the off season? For Braxton, he probably has an opportunity.
Hasn't had that opportunity, uh to work on his lower
base unless I'm wrong, and I you know, I certainly
could be wrong. Uh So that's the key. But you know,
(23:42):
at least they have film one, they know what is
capable of. You know, they probably think, you know, unless
you're a Hall of Fame player. You can upgrade every position.
Everything is on the table, and I like that the
staft has coming here without any preconceived you know, notions
that you know, you know, you're our guy, and you know,
I don't think he Williams job is in jeopardy. You know,
(24:03):
certain guys like that. But it's it's a good good again,
a good opportunity to to see what you got and
uh and go from there.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Yeah, Ben Ben Johnson obviously said like there's no depth
chart in the spring. Obviously, you know you you could
say that obviously we know that Joe Toney is going
to be playing left guard. You know, Jonah Jackson is
going to be your right guard, and Drew Dollmond's going
to be your center. But I agree with your point
about Braxton, where I feel like a lot of his
issues were obviously his feats, right, like his ability to
(24:32):
kind of keep up and you know, the strength that
he had in his lower body, and obviously that's hard
to work on when you can't work it out. So
that will be an interesting point of you know, how
much development was he able to do during the time
when he was gone, And I think that'll be a big,
big thing for us to watch once we you know,
kind of get started to hear a training camp in
front and see, you know, where is he at at
(24:54):
the starting training camp? Is he going to be limited?
Is he going to be a full go? So those
are will be some interesting things to watch. Since we're
talking about injuries, here are guys who are injured a
little bit. The Bears have not had their first you know,
their top two picks in this year's drafts participate. Obviously,
we knew that about Coaston Lovelin. He's recovering from a
shoulder surgery. On Tuesday, he talked to the media. He
(25:16):
said that he's pretty close. He needs to just work
on a little bit more strength and mobility on that shoulder.
But he's been running routes, he's been catching balls like,
he's been doing that sort of stuff. He just can't
participate with the team right now. He said that he'll
be good to go on Tuesday. And Luther Burden obviously
hasn't been He has not come back since he got
(25:37):
injured at the end of rookie mini camp. And you know, Joe,
the first thing is, obviously this is not ideal. You
don't want your top two picks to not be out there,
and Ben Johnson talked about how like any player, let
alone a rookie, loses a lot by not being out there.
It's not even like the coaches trusting you. It's like
the teammates trusting you and that sort of stuff. And
(25:59):
you know, I I think the you know, I saw
someone ask earlier. I can't remember if it was Rick
or it was CJ asking how long before Bear's Twitter
turns on Luther Burden.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
It's an interesting.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Question because I saw that PFF report out there that
you know, obviously I think it was thirty second round
picks haven't signed their contract yet. Is Luthor being you know,
is his agent telling him, hey, like, maybe don't go
out there, like obviously you're injured and you don't have
a contract.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
I that speculation.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
I don't want to feed into that, But I think
the biggest thing you can take from all of this
right now is your top two picks are losing valuable
time right now and development time, and it'll be interesting
to see how much that kind of puts them back
at the start of training camp.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
Well, with Coleston Lovelin, first of all, I mean they
knew he had the offseason surgery on the shoulder, so
they knew he wasn't going to be ready and the
start of camp, so it's important. But then you're saying,
you know, we're willing to wait for him, so but look,
he can't you know, you know, you know he can't.
(27:12):
We can't be waiting until like week seven or week
eight before he starts to make some significant contributions. You
got to go now, you got to win now. So
they knew that, so they must think, you know what
he's you know, we're okay with them missing subs, you know,
as long as they're they're getting their wraps and they're
they're learning the playbook. You know what the guy can
(27:33):
do physically. I don't think he needs to see much
of that. But if he's not ready to come August,
if he's any setback at all, now that's an issue
because I think that's that is going to sent him back.
And then with Luther Burden, I don't know, and do
we even know an official reason why he he's been out?
Is it it gotsh issue? Okay, it's soft tissue, because
that's worrisome, right, I mean, those can linger for a
(27:56):
long time, and you gotta be really careful. Uh, they
do have some depth now wide receiver. So it's not
like we need him day one. I mean the second
round pick, you better hope he can contributes. But yeah,
and again again we we overreact everything. And it's a
great response about how long until bears Twitter turns on
(28:17):
Luther Burden. That's a good question. It's a fair question
because that's the way it works, and when everything today
in sports right with the social media. But a little bit,
but again I keep saying it's June, what's the June twelfth, twelfth,
let's those breaks again. But we'll see. But they need
(28:42):
both those guys. But with Loveland, they knew. It wasn't like,
you know, this was a revelation, not like the Kevin
White thing. I know you weren't around here, but that
was a wreck. The kid could never get out of
the field and surprisingly stayed in the league a long time.
I don't know, you might still have you on an
NFL roster. Amazingly it's Kevin White, but you know, so
(29:02):
we'll see.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
I think the biggest thing is and I understand there's
a lot of there's a lot of talk obviously with
you know, Shamar Stewart right now with the Bengals and
he's holding out and he's leaving and obviously he wants
to get his contract.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
And you know, the Bengals aren't the Bears.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Those are two different opts, like the I don't think
from what I understand, the Bears are trying to pull
one on anyone or anything like that. But I also like,
am I kind of understand? Like, yeah, it's valuable time
that you're missing, but it is June, like ben Jhonson
like when he was asked, is Luther gonna be there
for training camp or be ready for day one? And
(29:38):
ben Jonson was like, yeah, he's gonna He's gonna be there,
and like it's not like Luthor Burden isn't at the
facilities like everyone was at like ben Jonson said, everyone
was at the facilities.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
For mandatory mini camp.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
There were no holdouts, No one was you know, not
there or anything like that. And if I'm the Bears,
or even if I'm Luthor Burden, like do I want
a soft tissue issue to become a problem for me
in training camp if I can just rest it now?
And like you got six weeks before training camp, Like yeah,
I know, it doesn't look great, and yeah, I know
you're obviously losing a lot of valuable reps and that
(30:10):
sort of stuff, But I think it's much more valuable
for him to be ready for training camp at full speed,
no soft tissue issues, then fighting through it for a
mini camp or an OTA. Like, I think the training
camp and being ready for the season is much more
important than just showing up for an OT or a
mini camp and then you reaggravate something and this becomes
(30:30):
a lingering thing instead of just being like, all right,
we capped it, it's good, it's healed. Let's right, let's
get ready to go at the end of July.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
No, totally, I mean, and that that's the right the
right approaches like it's not let's not panic, and yeah,
let's let's see where we're at. Are where we're at
in another you know, six seven weeks.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
Another offensive talking point.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
I kind of wanted to talk about a couple of
things that we wanted to talk about before we say goodbye. Obviously,
the running back room is one of the biggest things
that we're kind of looking for. It's been it was
the big draft. Are they gonna draft? When are they
not obviously they took Kyle mcnung guy. There were thoughts,
you know, are they gonna get Nick Chubb? Are they
going to get JK Robin Dobbins And obviously both of
(31:16):
those guys didn't go there.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
And Joe, I think from what we've.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
Kind of seen and what we've kind of heard, you
mentioned the question about Ben Johnson being asked, you know
who impressed you and over the spring, and one of
the four players that he mentioned was Kyle mcnung guy,
like he liked the way he looks, he liked the
way that he's learning.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
In the classroom.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
And based on the what we've heard and what we've
kind of seen, I think it would be fair to say,
and you know, they can high a sign a veteran
on the minimum, maybe over the next week's or I
had to start a training camp. But I think from
what I'm seeing and hearing right now, I think my
interpretation is that the Bears are going to keep the
(31:57):
running back room that they have and they're just to
let them go. Whether it's DeAndre Swift kind of taking
a step this year, whether it's Kyle mcnungui being another
seventh rounder from Rutgers making a big impression, Like it
seems from what I hear right now, I think that
the Bears are comfortable with what they have in their
running back room and they're just going to see what
(32:18):
they have in the a training camp and see who's
going to be able to maybe impressed there.
Speaker 3 (32:24):
Yeah. I mean, it would have been nice to have
Ashton genty sure, but you know that that was gonna happen.
The Raiders took him. I think we'll look back when
we look back at the Bears twenty twenty five season.
I don't think one of the top two or three
reasons if they have failure, they'll all have failure to
what de grief. It's bad failure again like we've seen
(32:44):
the last few years, it's one of the top reasons
will be the running back position really let us down.
I mean, I think it's nice if you had, you know,
a Saquon Barkley or something like that, but you don't.
You addressed a lot of things. You can't address everything.
Deres Swift will not go down in history as one
of the worst players running backs in the history of
They're franchise. He won't. He's a good player. Is he
(33:06):
a great player? No? But we've seen what we can
do when he's got space, and in theory again with
the improved offensive line, he should have more space up
the middle. So you know, I don't I don't think
it's a major issue. I still would list probably five
or six other things that are more of an issue
than running back. And as far as Kyle Mnung guy
(33:27):
or whether throw Shawn Johnson, you just need that second
guy to be a complimentary guy, right because DeAndre is
going to be the main guy coming out of the backfield.
So if Manung guy can give you a spark, whether
it's in some short yarded situations or third down plays, wonderful.
But that's all you really need for the guy. No
expects Kyle Manung Guy to come in and rush for
twelve hundred yards and sir, plant DeAndre Swifts that I'm
(33:50):
one running back on the team.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
I was going to ask you that because I was
curious just based on you know it again with the
preface that it's me in June. Obviously they United State
be full blocking or not seeing full pressure, all that
sort of stuff.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
But do you think there's a.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
World where Kyle macnonguy could potentially jump up there and
you know, middle of the season, maybe starts getting those
you know, snaps over over DeAndre Swift. Like, do you
think that there's any credence to it at this point
or do you think, like listen, like maybe we're making
too much of a comparison to Pacheco obviously in Kansas
City because he's a seventh rounder or out of Rutgers.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
But I'm just curious to know, like, do.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
You are what are your expectations at this point for
what Kyle mcnonguy can add to this running back room.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
Yeah, I mean the comparison to Pacheco, I think's little fair.
Pacheco's fast and dirty. You know, you got that burst
guy using a burner. He's not gonna break one off
for seventy yards from what I understand, and you've seen
him out there. But he's an intriguing player. But again,
if you're counting on a seventh round pick, and I
know it's a deep running back, you know draft, uh
(34:56):
so maybe in another year, maybe he would have been
a fourth round or maybe a fifth rounder, right, But
I don't know if you're relying on a seventh round pick,
I think whatever you get out of him is icing
on the cake. I mean, that's just gravy. To me,
he'd be a heck of a nice story, and I'm
sure he'll and I wouldn't be surprised if he had,
if he had some flash moments, you know, during the
(35:17):
course of the seas exact. I do think he'll get
some action. But then what does that mean for Rochean Johnson?
Is Rochean now like you know, you're tossing him to
the side. Now, it was only what this was drafted
two years ago, right, part of that twenty twenty three group.
So I don't know if they you know, Rochean had
some moments last year, especially on the goal line, but
you know, I think they could. That's to me, it's
(35:39):
almost like is that the question is if Mangata be
gonna be the number two running back and not Rochean.
So I guess maybe that's something to watch going forward.
Speaker 2 (35:48):
Yeah, I think it'll be interesting.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
I think the biggest thing we've learned about the NFL
is you don't need to be a first or second
round pick running back to make an impact. Obviously, last
year you saw Bucky Irving, you know, from from area. Obviously,
what he was able to do with with the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers. I think if you're able to block, I
think that's the biggest thing. And I think, you know,
DeAndre Swift will obviously benefit from that, Roshan Johnson will
(36:10):
benefit from that. But I I think at this point
right now, I think Kyle mnunguy could make an impact,
and I I I am confident in his ability and
what he's going to be able to do. Again, I
have the right to take that back when if I
see something in training camp and all that sort of stuff,
But I I I think that Kyle mcnunguy could potentially
(36:31):
make a bigger impact than maybe we thought he could
when they got him in the seventh round. I see
a lot of different guys are coming in there. I
see Roberts back. Hey, Robert, great to see you.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
Swift is gonna ball out this year? I think I
think he'll do. I think that'll be really interesting.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
Doctor Earl is in the chat. We got King BUCA World.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Guys.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
We've got a few more minutes left on the live stream,
so if you have any more questions, we're happy to
answer them or kind of talk about it. I think
Rick asked early when is the first day of training camp.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
The Bears haven't officially.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
Announced that yet, but my interpretation is it's probably gonna
be the sometime in the second to last week of July.
That's kind of been what they've been doing recently. I think,
you know, we'll have six weeks a little bit off
of here before we kind of before we kind of
get things going here. But this is the most interesting
time of the year because I think this six weeks
(37:27):
is literally the only time in the calendar year where
the NFL isn't the number one topic. Right, Like even
during the off season, we're talking about free agency, coaching, hirings,
GM hirings, drafting, combined owners meetings, rules changes, all this
different stuff. Like the NFL has mastered the off season
so well where we're constantly talking about it like no
(37:47):
other sports.
Speaker 2 (37:48):
But I think this six weeks is the only six
weeks when we.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
Don't talk about football, And we were kind of like,
all right, as long as no one gets arrested, no
one gets in trouble, Like, no one is going to
be talking about the NFL for the six weeks.
Speaker 3 (38:01):
Yeah, but you'll find something to write about. Michael Oh.
I have to sure Sean you have to write, and
that's the tough that's the tough part of being the
beat writer. What are we writing about on July eighth
for July ninth? And that's that's hard. But you're right,
and so let's just enjoy summer a little bit. Right,
it's finally being consistently warm, as I say, that will
probably forty degrees next week in Chicago. But you know,
(38:24):
let's enjoy summer and then before you know it. But
I mean, who isn't excited to see what this Ben
Johnson offense is going to look like? I mean, we
all are. I mean, in a way, I want the
season open to be to be this weekend. But then again,
I want to enjoy summer a little bit too, don't you.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
Yeah, I would be nice to enjoy summer at least
a little bit. It's funny because I feel like we
like love football. Obviously we're all ready for it, but
it would be nice to just enjoy the summer a
little bit, enjoy the warm weather before things get pretty
pretty cold out theres Fort Chicago Style is asking the
number one question that this pod cast cares about.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
How did Tyler Scott do on the field? As you know.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
This is the Tyler Scott fan podcast. Here a lot
of supporters, supporters of Tyler Scott on this podcast.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
He is still on the team. Joe, I, I I
will say Tyler's I I I I.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
Will say I don't think Tyler Scott has made himself noticeable.
I don't think he's made whether that's good or bad.
I think for right now, he's just kind of there.
And I I don't you know, I think you know, I,
I think he's just kind of there. He's he's a
special teamer at this point. Maybe he'll get you a
couple of balls, but there there hasn't really been too
(39:39):
many opportunities for him right now.
Speaker 2 (39:41):
I do think that.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
One of the bigger things that I've kind of noticed
over the over you know, over this over the spring period,
is that Caleb is going to rely on that number
three receiver, whoever that is, whether it's Olamade, whether it's uh,
you know know other guys, whether it is going.
Speaker 2 (40:01):
To be Luther Burned. The third, that third third.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
Wide receiver is going to be important for Caleb, especially
if Rome and DJ kind of takes some time to
get open. So that is going to be something to
kind of look forward here, But Joey, we've got it.
We'll do a few more minutes here if we get
any more last questions. But I am curious to see.
I'm going to do a series over the next month,
you know, top position battles. Who has the most approved,
(40:27):
most under kind of looked player? And I'm curious, like who?
I think we both agree that the left tackle is
probably your top position battle, right, Like, I think that's
obviously the most important.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
I am curious.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
You know, we'll get more into the training camp previeuws
stuff in a month here, But who do you feel
like over this next couple of months has the most
approved on the Bears. Is it Caleb Williams to show
that he is a franchise quarterback that everyone expects him.
Is it a Dj Moore or Roma Dunes a Montest sweat?
Like there are a lot of guys who have a
lot of to prove after five and twelve season last year.
Speaker 2 (41:01):
But I'm curious to know.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
Like some food for thought over the next month as
we kind of think goodbye for the next month, But
who do you think has a lot to prove once
training camp gets started here at the end of July.
Speaker 3 (41:13):
That's a great question. So it's not Zach Pickens. Is
that you're telling me. I was gonna ask you who's
gonna get cut first, Tyler Scott or Zach Pickets.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
I am not getting into the business of cutting people
out here, Joe, it's only June.
Speaker 3 (41:29):
That's a great question, though, like who has the most
to prove? You hate to take the obvious answer because
it's the quarterback. But again, even if he has, but
you know how he overreacted, especially to the quarterback. So
if he's just if he just does what he does
last year, Caleb, that's not good enough. We can all
agree on that. I expect him to be better, expect
(41:50):
Roman Donday's numbers to be better. Who has the most
approved though it's counter fair to the rookies because it's
year one and when we haven't even seen Loveling and
Pads yet, or you know, you know, because of the shoulder. Defensively,
this is kind of a it's a random thought here.
I need to see more from Tremaine Edward Edmunds. I
(42:11):
don't think he had a great year last season. He
did pick off Kayleb Williams, you know, in that little
scrimmage there so thumbs up right away to Tremaine. He
I think he's got to show more and the defensive front,
I mean really doesn't matter in a way who starts
because they're gonna rotate so many guys in, but certain
guys have to, you know, deliver, and i Odeanbo, I think,
(42:34):
is a name that you know, they're all talking about
the potential and he was getting to the quarterback, but
he wasn't getting a lot of sacks well, and then
then he can get the other, you know, proven pass
rusher to complement Montest Sweat, who also is another name
to think about because he didn't have a great twenty
twenty four either. But we got to see production from
Odeanbo this season, not like you know, in camp necessarily,
(42:57):
but when it starts to matter, is he going to
be the guy? Is he the good the perfect compliment
or is he just a guy who's just gonna be
a mid a mid player and he's good, he's ever
gonna be great and you know he's you know, ten years,
you'll forget that he was on the team. Is he
gonna be that guy or is he gonna make an impact?
So they they paid a lot of money, they kind
of made him the top defensive priority, right, unless I'm
(43:19):
missing somebody as far as their their off season signings.
So I think he's a guy who we need to
see production and not just potential, because we all know
in any sport, production is what our potential is what
gets coaches fired, right, I.
Speaker 1 (43:32):
Would definitely agree with that, and Rick, thank you Rick
for bringing this up. I can reletely forgot about this.
Uh how how does Brisker look and can he handle?
How can he make it a full season that we taught.
We did get a chance to talk to Jaquon Brisker
for the first time since he had his concussion situation
that kind of kept him out the last twelve weeks.
He said he feels good. He obviously called it a
(43:57):
very dark time, obviously a tough situation. He talked about
how he retrained his uh he retrained his brain a
little bit, which I was kind of like, what do
you mean, how do you retrain your brain? But he
saw this doctor at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
and I forget the exact name of what type of
concussion was. It's escaping my mind right now, but he
(44:19):
had a certain type of concussion, and the doctor kind
of taught him like, hey, like you can retrain your
brain from this concussion, like like by doing side to
side movements, training your eyes, catching a tennis ball. And
Jaquan really dedicated himself his off season to doing that
and he's getting back there. And you know, he was
asked whether he thought about retiring. He said no, that
was never a thought. He said, is he going to
(44:41):
change the way he plays football?
Speaker 2 (44:44):
He said no.
Speaker 1 (44:44):
And you know, obviously they didn't have the pads on it,
but Jakwan Brisker made himself known during these practices, the
seven on sevens, whether it was his play or whether
it's his mouth. Obviously likes to talk a lot on
the field and kind of gets that defense going. But
it's great to teja Kwon Brisker back out there. It's
great to see that he's healthy and that he's going
to go a full way. And Brisker let us know
(45:05):
that he's not changing who he is as a player
and he is going to play the same style of
football that he that kind of made him a really
elite player when he's out there.
Speaker 3 (45:15):
Yeah, I mean, you can't take the football player out
of the football player, right, I mean, and Jaikwan is
at his best when he when he's coming downhill at
the line of scrimmage and being a physical player. I mean,
he has to be that player, otherwise why are you
on the team. I don't know how productive he can be.
So he's going to have to play the way he's
always played. And if he gets concussed again in week two,
(45:39):
when he's out for the year again, you knew this
was a potential scenario. That's why I really wanted to
see them draft a safety high. They know better, right,
they should know better than me. I hope they're right,
And I hope he's fine because you know, Michael, you
know better than me. He's he's a very likable player,
I understand. You know, his teammates like him, fans love him.
I love John Brisker. I mean, he's got Pro Bowl potential,
(46:02):
but he's got to be on the field to do that.
And it's too bad because he can be a dynamic player.
But if this concussions, things crops up again or he
gets another one. The whole thing about retraining your brain
thing that's fascinating to me. But I know, if if
you bang hands with another guy who's going really fast
and was really big. You can forget about training your
(46:23):
brain things. It's gonna hurt. It's probably gonna be bad.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
Yeah, And obviously, once you have one concussion, you're much
more susceptible to having more concussions in the future. King
Booka asked hope he wears the Guardian cap. He did,
He has been wearing them at practices. Obviously a lot
of guys who have had previous concussions before wear the
Guardian caps. Obviously you can wear those in games now.
And I would assume he didn't talk about it, he
(46:47):
didn't bring it up, but I would assume he would
wear them in games. If you could do anything to
kind of help protect yourself, I think I think a
player would do that. All right, we're gonna get out
of here, guys, We've got We had a good conver
station today. Thank you to everyone who joined our live stream.
It was great to hear from all.
Speaker 2 (47:04):
Of you guys.
Speaker 1 (47:04):
It was great to get all your comments and your questions.
Speaker 2 (47:08):
Appreciate you guys joining us.
Speaker 1 (47:10):
If you're listening to our podcast, make sure you're checking
out keeping up with us. We like to do these
live streams and if you want to join the conversation,
check out when we're going to be doing these live
and you can get your question answered or be part
of the conversation as well. Obviously, like I said, we've
got roughly six weeks now until the training camp is
(47:32):
going to be starting. We'll probably start talking to you
folks like the week before training camp kind of get
get you ready, get us back into Bears mode. But
Joe and I are going to enjoy the summer at
least a little bit fear for a couple of weeks for.
Speaker 2 (47:45):
The next month.
Speaker 1 (47:47):
Maybe we'll come back if there is like any stadium
news obviously, that could be the only I think that's
the biggest way the Bears will probably.
Speaker 2 (47:54):
Make news over the next month.
Speaker 1 (47:56):
Maybe they want to put out that stadium news before
training camp gets started to get everyone excited for the season.
But we're gonna take the next month off, but then
we're gonna be ready to go once training games start,
and we're hoping that you guys will join us once
we kind of get back into the swing of things
here at the end of July. But thanks so much
for joining us this week, folks. I hope you guys
have a good kind of rest of your summer, and
(48:18):
we will talk to you folks down the road.
Speaker 2 (48:21):
See you
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