August 13, 2025 • 48 mins
The Chicago Bears continued their preseason by hosting a joint practice and their preseason opener against the Miami Dolphins this past week. Shaw Local's Michal Dwojak and Joe Aguilar break it all down.
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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 latest episode of the Bears
Insider podcast from Shaw Local. I'm Shaw Local Chicago Bears
be reporter Michael Duo. Jack joined here with the Northwest
Heralds Joe Aguilar. We're recording this on Tuesday and off
day for the Bears. I know it's been a little
bit of it's been a while since we talked to you, folks,
(00:21):
but we wanted to get caught up here a little bit.
We have a lot to talk about. Thank you to
everyone who is joining us on the live stream this morning.
If you obviously didn't take a listen on the live stream,
thank you for listening to the podcast. A lot to
talk about here as we're kind of regrouping here a
little bit. Joe, A lot of stuff has happened.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
But how are you doing? How are things going?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
I'm good.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
It's football season, Goo go time, right even for high
school football. All the high school sports started up on Monday,
and we got our first look at the Bears and
can't wait until Monday night three weeks ago, three weeks
away or a month away, whatever it is now for
that game it started for real.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Yeah, I feel like we're kind of at that point
right where we're kind of like, all right, like when
is when does the season start?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Like, obviously there's.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Still a lot of stuff to work on for the
team here in the preseason, but it's kind of like, well,
you know, I feel like you get your first dose
of like football in that first preseason game, and then
after like a quarter you're just kind of like, ah, Okay,
well maybe we want maybe we want the real thing.
But yeah, I mean, it's there's a lot of exciting
stuff going on, a lot of interesting things to going
(01:34):
for talk about, and we learned a lot from the
Bears both to joint practice against the Dolphins on Friday
and also their preseason opener against the Dolphins on Sunday.
The major storyline, obviously was that Caleb Williams and a
lot of the starters, the majority of the starters, didn't
play in Sunday's game preseason game number one. Now, Ben
(01:57):
Johnson hasn't said anything about, you know, looking ahead, whether
you know who's going to be playing a game two,
are they going to do game three, and that sort
of stuff. But Joe, what was your initial reaction when
Ben announced on Friday that you know, they were mostly
going to focus on those joint practices. They joint practice
on Friday, and then a lot of the starters aren't
(02:18):
going to play on Sunday.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
Yeah, I was fuller of disappointed. I still I think,
like all Bears fans and all NFL fans want to
see Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson together.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
I know it's one preseason game.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
Even if you would have played one series or two,
I would hope you would have gotten two. You know,
I want to see it, and probably, like a lot
of young guys, whether it's high school or college or pro,
you need reps. You need reps, you need reps. I
don't know how much value you can put into a
preseason game. Last year the Bears were what undefeated in
the preseason. Then we know how the regular season wound up.
(02:53):
But I was disappointed because I just I just want
to see how it looks, even if it was just
done down. Vinilla plays for two series, but you want
to see him again. Like things we've talked about Michael
since they started camp, you know, breaking the huddle, clean,
no false starts, all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Guys in the right place.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
And then see some of the many targets top targets
they have.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Get the football, and we didn't see any of that.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
So but you know, it's again we're we're in the
same spot we were since they hired Ben Johnson. We
you have to trust in Ben Johnson that he knows
what he's doing. He has a game plan not only
for each game as far as the x's and o's,
but as far as you know, just handling his personnel,
including the quarterback.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Yeah, I guess, you know, if you paid attention to
what Ben Johnson you know, told us over the offseason
and heading into the training camp, is kind of probably
is in the surprise. Like he emphasized the importance of
those joint practices, like he said that he puts a
lot into them. Obviously, Dan Campbell Detroit did the same thing.
You know, Jared GoF didn't played two much with the
Lions during the preseason. So you know, I guess if
(04:04):
you're looking back at the history, it shouldn't be that
big of a surprise. I mean, it's very clear that
Ben Johnson and Ryan Poles and the coaching staff are
going to face a lot of emphasis into that into
those joint practices that they're gonna have with the Dolphins
and the Bills, And you know.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
I agree with you.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
I think, you know, it's kind of a cost effect thing,
right where it's like, well, is it worth the risk
of Caleb getting injured or a starter getting injured.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
In this preseason game?
Speaker 1 (04:30):
And I can follow that logic a little bit, but
I also think that there's a value. Like Ben Johnson said, like,
it's different when you're going against live bullets, right, Like,
it's definitely different in game action, warming up, going through
the preseas, going through the pregame stuff, you know, actually
taking a snap and handing it off, even if you
did three straight runs to start the game and you
just did that, I think there's a credit. There's something
(04:52):
too going through that process, right, just going through the
process of getting the play calling from Ben Jhonson, you know,
in a headset as opposed to of the walkie talking.
I think there's something too going up to the line
of scrimmage, dealing with the crowd at Soldier Field, and I.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Think there's a lot too that.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Then I don't think Caleb and the starters needed to play,
you know, the first half, even the entire first quarter.
I think there's just something that take from from going
out there going through a building, up a routine. So
when you do go out there from Monday Night football
against the Vikings to start the season, like, you're not
gonna be shocked because it's going to be in the
tense environment.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Fans are gonna be.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Juiced on on Monday night football. You're going against a
division rival to start off the year. As to Ben
Johnson era, fans are hyped for a new era Fars football,
and they're gonna there's it's going to be loud in
that building.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Even if it's not supposed to be loud on offense.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Right, So you know, we'll see where this thing goes,
you know, against the Bills and the Chiefs. But yeah,
I I I don't think it's gonna make or break
your season. I don't think you're gonna gonna win or
lose a game this year because you didn't play in
the first preseason game.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
But I do I do think that there's something to
take from that.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Yeah, No, I agree, I agree.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
I think you know, hopefully we see him Sunday night
a soldier field against Buffalo, because I mean we won't
find out until what Friday, like who's playing, not only
kyleab but the other starters who sat, including you know,
Roma Doonday and those guys.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
But it was good to see, like, you know, Coaston Lovelin.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
I know he was I don't know if he how
many series he had, how many snaps he had, but
you know, caught a pass and he was out there
and it's always just fun to see where's football right
after a long layoff.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yeah, I was encouraging, Uh, we'll just touch on the
game a little bit here. We don't need to spend
too much time on it. But there, Yeah, Coaston Lovelin
got in the drive.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
He started off there, he caught a pass for like
eight yards and then his day was done. Luther Burning
got involved there. Klem a young guy rushed for thirty yards.
I think it was five carries or six carries, and
he was averaging five five yards of carry. He looked,
he looked as advertised. I don't think Holmnung guy is
going to impress you with his breakaway speed by any means,
(07:06):
but I think he is going he's going to fight
for yards. He's going to you know, pick up a
lot of yard to dive forward to pick up an
extra yard. Right, He's a tough runner, and you finally
got a chance to kind of see that in life
game action on Sunday, so that was encouraging. Obviously, Austin
Booker stole the show. He had three sacks, got a
strip sack in there as well.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
So impressive stuff from him. Noah Sewell looked good on
that first drive.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
He had a forced fumble and then he came up
with a four big fourth fourth down stop on at.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
The goal line.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
So you know, you got some good performances, right, and
you saw some good things, and I think those are
things that you're kind of encouraged by with the context
of knowing, you know, what the game was on Sunday.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Yeah, Austin Booker is a guy. Remember it last year
in the preseason he flashed and people excited and and
then regular season came around. He really didn't get a
lot of snaps, had one and a half sacks in
limited game action.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
But he's a guy.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
You know, year two, excuse me, you want to see
him make a make a step. We don't want to see,
you know, you know, like guys in the past. If
the Bears, you know, d tackles, dns flash into preseason,
then regular season comes around and they don't do much.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
But you know, for Booker, a guy who correct me
if you're.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
Wrong, they moved up right to get back into the
fifth round and take him a year ago, and he
looks the part right six six.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
He's huge, you.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
Know, he's fast, you know, high motor, high motor guy.
But he should take a next step this year. So
when we're still looking for that other pass rusher and
then a new system with Dennis Allen where they're gonna
be blitzing more, I'd like to see him take another step.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Certainly that was encouraging.
Speaker 4 (08:49):
I know it was preseason and it was against Miami's
backups or you know, their their second string guys for
the most part too, but I still like, look, I'm
not I'm not a scout. I don't, I don't you know,
watch hours of film. But he certainly looks good on
on film. I look good on my TV on Sunday afternoon.
(09:10):
Let's put it that way. And the numbers were there
to support it. So I'd like to see him taking
next step. Can he be that, you know that compliment
to Montese sweat that we were hoping for all last
season and the offseason we'll see what Odegbo does. But
uh but certainly that was encouraging and I want to
see more Austin Booker.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Let's see if he can do it again.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Yeah, that's definitely uh A.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
You know last year, you know when they brought him Booker,
you know, they traded back for him in the fifth round.
You know, it was kind of viewed as a developmental
piece guy, right, like, not someone who's gonna make an
impact right away. And you know, he shined a little
bit in the in the preseason last year, like you said, Joe,
but you know kind of tailed off, you know, kind
of got used to the NFL schedule. You know, maybe
(09:54):
he needed to put on some more weight. Obviously he
was he was a he was a link. He's a
lanky guy, right, so he uh needed to put on
some way. He told us after a Sunday's game that
he did put on a little way feels a little
bit better. So it'll be that's definitely something to watch
on because listen, you're gonna you want Montest sweat and
you want Dioa Dingbo obviously to be your key pass rushers, right,
(10:16):
but you're gonna need reinforcements you're they're gonna be going
in waves. The same thing with the interior of the
defensive line. Dennis Alan likes to move a dango around two,
So maybe sometimes you'll have a situation where you have O'dangbo,
Montes Sweat, and Austin Booker out there at the same time,
or you might You know, that's the thing about Dennis Alle,
and he's gonna switch things up a lot on that
(10:37):
defensive front. So it'll be interesting to watch how that
kind of happens. But yeah, an encouraging sign from Odangbo
or not from Dingo for Booker to kind of start
things off, and it'll be interesting to see if he's
able to kind of continue that moving forward. But let's
focus more on what the Bears were kind of more
focused on, and thatwas Friday's joint practice against the Dolphins.
First chance for the Bears to go again on someone
(11:00):
other than their own teammate, which players always love to do.
And let's start with what kind of stole the show
on Friday, and that was the defense. The defense just
looked electric right from the start. That secondary looks really
good even without Jalen Johnson, without Kyler Gordon, who was
out there, not out there with.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
An injury on Friday.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Listen, Jakwon Brisker, He's just continuously around the ball at
this point. He doesn't look hesington at all after missing
the last twelve games of last year.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
You know, Kevin Byron looks really good out there.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Terrell Smith obviously fighting for some reps at the quarterback spot.
He got some good hits out there. Na Sean Wright
continues to have a really good camp, and you saw
the the past rush kind of come alive there. Obviously
you're not going to hit the quarterback, you're not going
after them in these joint practices. But listen, the Bears
defense came out with an intensity that you know, Ben
(11:58):
Johnson kind of challenged him before practice and said, you know, listen,
if you're going to prove something like, this is the
day to do it, Like you want to show that
you want to be part of this roster, you want
us starting snaps, this is the day to do it
against the Dolphins. And that's exactly what happened for that
defense where man, they just they just look electric. They
just look like a defense that you know is going
(12:20):
to be physical, is going to get after players and
is going to leave their mark, and you know, it's
one joint practice. It's a couple of weeks into the season.
I understand that I'm not here to proclaim that they're
going to be a top five defense based on what
we've seen two weeks in, but I think you have
to be really encouraged about what this defense looks like,
especially with how they ended the year last year.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
I lost you there, Michael. We seem to have this
connection like once a show where the audio keeps fluttering
on me. Can you hear me?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Okay, yeah, I got you. Can you?
Speaker 1 (12:54):
I was just talking about the defense and how electric
they've been, and you know how how big of a
response it kind of been like been for them since,
you know, after they kind of ended the year not
on a good note last year.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Yeah, I love Can you hear me?
Speaker 2 (13:09):
I can't? Can you hear me?
Speaker 3 (13:15):
All right?
Speaker 2 (13:15):
It seems like Joe's dealing.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
With I'm gonna I'll talk. I'm not sure if I can.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
If you can hear me, seems like Joe's dealing with
some uh, with some internet issues. But yeah, like I
would like I was saying earlier, I think you know
you're just seeing this defense and I wrote about this
on Friday, just how much the defense is matching the
intensity of Ben Johnson. And I think you're seeing a
lot of that with the way they you know, they play.
(13:43):
They're really going after players, and you know, I think
it kind of caught the Dolphins off guard a little bit.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
I saw some you know, I'm not that.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
The reporters kind of reflect what what the what the
players are thinking, but even the reporters were kind of
caught off guard with just how well that defense was
able to just speech physical and there are no cheap shots.
There was nothing outrageous or anything like that. But I
just think that you're just seeing a defense that, you know,
Dennis Allen is a competitive guy. Ben Johnson is a
(14:10):
competitive guy. You're seeing it from the players, especially defensively.
So fair Montes Sweat, you know, has needed a good
rebound camp after kind of a down year battling injuries.
He looks good, like he looks like he's getting after guys,
he's creating pressure, and he's just doing a lot of
things that you want him to do as your top
(14:31):
paid pass rusher. So Joe, like I was kind of
talking with the folks here, this defense is. You know,
I understand that it's early. I understand that it's a
joint practice and you're going against the Bears offense who's
learning a completely new offense. And maybe it doesn't look
like it's best right now, but I think that this
has to be a really promising start for a defense
(14:51):
that really needs to.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Rebound after a down end to last season.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
Yeah, and we hear so often in this league that
coaching really does matter in the National Football League. I
just refused the Bears talent last year the year before
that was that.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Horrible, like top five bad in the league. I just
refuse it. I just think, you know they had I
hate the criticis.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
You know, there will come a point where we stopped
criticizing Matt Eberflus and Shane Waldron and all those guys.
But let's face it. I mean, it's it's been bad
the last two years. Do you I think the burst
of had a playoff team last year the year before, No,
but they could be.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
I think they could have been better. But what they
were clearly so, I think. And even though we don't
want to.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
Read too much into the preseason game against Miami, were
there any moments Michael where you thought, well, here we
go again with this coaching staff.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
They don't know what they're doing.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
I didn't see any of that from offensively at the
end of the first half when they squeezed not a
field goal there, you know, just that that time management,
even at the end of the game in a tie
game the Bears are looking to go ahead or they
you know, they didn't execute with Austin Reid. Okay, nothing
to not to be concerned about, but they still let
other timeouts.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
You know, they look like a well coached team.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Defensively too, they looked like they had packages when you know,
Miami was you know, in third and long situations and
and and they were like game on the line moments
in this preseason game. The Bears looked like the coaches
knew what they were doing. And we talked about all
the individual performances, you know, especially on the defensive side
of the ball with Hooker and Sewell and and guys
(16:30):
like that, and offensively with Manungai and you know, Beigent
did pretty well actually in the first half. But to me,
the biggest takeaway probably was the Bears look like they
have competent coaches and I don't think I do think
of all things that does matter.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
And getting back to the.
Speaker 4 (16:48):
The scrimmage with the with the Dolphins, uh what two
days earlier, same thing, I mean, least, you know, I mean,
let's look, I mean, like, let's face it, football is
an emotional game.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
It's like hockey.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
You know, you have to bring it on every shift,
on every down, and it does have rewards. So I'd
rather see the Bears being physical, even if it's it's
always gonna be borderline chip, be physical, clean. I mean,
that's the game. So it was good to see at
least they had the intensity and they were fired up,
and you have to be because sometimes you know that
(17:20):
might you know that that makes a difference in football games.
And so I was really encouraged with that instead of like,
well the Bears really laid an egg against the Dolphins
on Friday in that scrimmage and they looked uninspired. Now
they look like they're ready to go. And again we
almost have to preface every sentence we say here, every
paragraph with it's only the preseason. But but that said,
(17:44):
I was encouraged.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Yeah, and I think a lot of Bears fans are
going to be encouraged. And I think that's a good point.
I'm glad you brought that up. I think, you know,
as a reporter, maybe I've kind of gotten used to
this at this point. You know, obviously with the off
season practices and the and the training camp stuff, like
I kind of used to that intensity and kind of whatever.
Just that's kind of been the biggest thing that this
coaching staff is brought in. But I do think fans
are going to see that intensity in games and practices
(18:08):
right like this is this is a coaching staff that
has a lot of experience, even though Ben Johnson is
the first time head coach. Like you know, I'm glad
that you brought up that end of half situation where
I clearly last year that was not a thing that
was going to happen. There is a lot of scenarios
last year where Maddy Refluce and that coaching staff just
(18:30):
didn't put those situations. But you saw the Bears, you know,
took over the ball, they got a turnover on fourth
down and they took over with six seconds left. Tyson
Bagent fines Luther Burden for a quick pass, and Luther
Burden knows to go out of bounds as quick as
possible picks up thirteen yards, you have a second left
before the end of the half, and then you know,
(18:50):
Cairo Santos ends up hitting a I think, what was
it a fifty six or fifty seven yard field goal
to get three points on the board, right like that
is that that did not happen last year, And I
and I think that is something that you take from
that preseason game where you're kind of like, all right,
it doesn't matter if the Bears win, loser, tie against
the Dolphins or any of these other preseason games. No,
(19:10):
it doesn't matter, or I guess it doesn't count, like
Ben Jonson like to say, but it does matter where
that is a situation where.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
You woul did not see the Bears do that last year.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
And I think that's what Bears fans are going to
see this year that it's just.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Going to look better.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
And you know what, operational wise, is Caleb William's gonna
throw fifty yard bombs against the Vikings.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
I'm not promising you that at all.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
It's going to take time for that stuff to kind
of happen here under a new coaching staff and a
new offense. But from right now, you know, one game
in three two and a half weeks in the training camp,
things are so meticulous to the details, and fans are
going to see that, and you're not going to see
what You're not going to see what happened against Detroit
last year. You're not going to see what happened on
(19:55):
the last minute hail mary where you give up thirteen
yards to set up that hail mary on the play before.
And then Maddy Eberflu says it's not important, like, you're
going to see a detail oriented coaching staff, and I
think that's gonna be come Like, I'm glad you mentioned that, Joe,
because that comes across pretty click quickly, even in a
preseason game like Sunday.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
Yeah, and let's face it, of all, the most scrutinized
individual on the Bears last year besides the quarterback, was
the coaching staff and Matt Eberflu. So you hope Caleb's
gonna be better. He'll be better. I mean, come on,
he'll be better this year.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
I'm pretty confident of that.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
I'm not saying they're gonna win twelve games, although I
think I did prick them for twelve wins when we
did our little mock two months ago. But I just
think coaching will show up, and not only with Ben Johnson,
with Dennis Allen and.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
The assistant coaches too. You know you've written about it
a lot.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
We've talked about it a little bit about the assistant coach.
I just think they've got confident guys coaching, and I
am confident that will translate to victories.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Yeah, I think that matters, right like that that a
lot of a lot of those You know, the Bears
were a five win team. They easily could have won
seven or eight games if the coaching was a little
bit better. But sticking with uh, we'll get back to
that joint practice. Mister Shorty asked who was your game
VFP things for joining us. Mister Shorty, I think Austin
Booker probably was your m v P right, just the
(21:23):
way that he looked we talked about a little bit
earlier in the podcast in livestream.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Yeah, he looked good.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
But getting back to that joint practice, like I said, uh,
the defense looked good offensively, I think you just kind
of saw what you've been seeing for the past couple
of weeks with Caleb Williams in the first team offense.
There was good and bad right. There was good. There
was some impressive throws. He fit in a beautiful pass
(21:49):
over to Olamadi's a chaus and he fit that in perfectly.
He hit uh Tyson Bage and hit Coaston Loveland with
a nice past during seven on sevens. But then in
the red zone defense or in the red zone toward
the end of the towards the end of practice, you know,
there are a couple of penalties there, and there's a
delay of game, and there's just there's just you know,
(22:11):
I think the problem. You know, the biggest thing that
Bears have talked about with Kayleb Williams development so far
has been the processing, right that's you know, the pre
snap process of getting the call, going up to the
line of scrimmage, telling everyone seeing what the defense is
giving him, that that that is what they're really honing
in on right now. And I'll give you that. It
does look better than it did at the beginning of camp,
but there's still a lot of mistakes. And even yesterday
(22:33):
on Monday, a practice where none of the players who
played on Sunday, or very few of them practice on Monday,
so it was just the starters essentially playing against the
starters and it kind of a loose practice. It wasn't
padded by any means. But there is miscommunication, right. There
is a delay of game, there were drop balls, there
(22:53):
were guys not running the right way or not communicating
with Caleb Williams. And I think that, you know, is
that reason to you know, sound the alarms. You know,
two and a half weeks in. I'm not gonna go
that crazy, But it's stuff that we're still seeing, right,
It's still stuff that we're seeing. There's miscommunication. The installs
are done. The Bears went through twelve practices of installs,
(23:15):
so now they're working on honing in on what Caleb
does well and you know, incorporating the more into its offense.
So you would think that would look a little bit
better here. Obviously, I'm not gonna take a lot from
Monday's practice, but I do think that if you're a
Bears fan, if you're winning house Caleb Williams looking so far,
A lot of the answer I give is he looks
(23:36):
like a quarterback who's learning a completely new system and
learning how to rework as fundamentals. There's good and there's bad,
and I think you're just looking for that progress and
I'm really interested to see how that kind of looks
this week as he prepares for the Bills.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
Yeah, and he's also going up against Dennis Allen's defense,
which would think is you know, the Bears is gonna
be better primarily because it hit, not necessarily because the
offseason act positions Zichodengbo and you know, Grady Jarrett, those
guys and hopefully you know Billings is healthy and Jakwan
Brisker is healthy.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
So I mean that's that's a good defense too.
Speaker 4 (24:10):
And you know, I hate to go back to the
eighty five Bears, that's my first eighty five Bears reference,
but where the offense and defense got after each other
so much they just made each other better. So you know,
I still look at the Kleb situation, Michael, there's so
many weapons on this offense now. And we've already seen
Luther Burden flash, We've seen Loveland flash, we've seen a
(24:32):
Doomsday flash. We know what Dj Moore can do. I
just think there's so many weapons on this team now
that even if it's not the most perfectly executed play,
if you can get the ball in the hands of
those guys, good things are going to happen. Maybe DJ
Moore doesn't have to catch seven passes a game, or
it's like, oh, we have no one else to get
(24:53):
the ball to. Now there's just so many guys, and
there's there's so much potential for a big plays with
the receip including.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
The tight ends that they have on this roster. I
just I just don't see how this is. This is
gonna be a bad offense.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
I mean, there are a lot of other teams in
this league if you look at the rosters, that have
a lot less talent at the receiver position. So if
Caleb just is good, it doesn't have to be great.
I think it was just okay to good. The numbers
are gonna look really good and the points on the
scoreboard will be there because there's so many guys who
can make a difference on and sometimes, as you know,
(25:29):
every coach will tell you right after a loss, well
I know it's just one or two plays that were
the difference, yes, And now they've got just more guys
who can be that one difference in a game that
can I mean, you know so many of these games
in the NFL right there, they're typically one, one or
two possession games and so now you have so many
guys there. I've been burned a lot as a Bears fan.
(25:52):
I'm at a Bears for a long long time. But
I am encouraged. And I'm almost pitching myself because I'm thinking, really,
you're encouraged, Joe. I mean you're used to being disappointed,
But I am optimistic. Not not like on a scale
of ten to ten out of ten, but more so
than normal.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Yeah, I'm sure, mister Shorty brings up a good point too, Like,
I'm actually impressed with how much the offensive players have digested.
I mean, there's a lot, there's a lot to learn
in this offense. This is not an easy offense by
any means. No NFL offense is obviously easy, but listen,
this is a This is an intricate offense that is
important with the details, and it takes time to learn this.
(26:35):
It takes any player roughly a year or two to
learn a complete to be fully comfortable with an offense. Right,
So I'm not I'm not really surprised that that we're
not seeing it consistently, right. I think the biggest thing
that right now, that if you're close to being any
sort of concerned, is just a miscommunication and the and
and the in the false starts. I think that's the
(26:58):
biggest thing right now, whether it's a false starts to
the delay of games, the miscommunication, I think that's really
something that really needs to stop, if if, if we
really want to see progress here. But yeah, I would agree,
it's a lot and that's important context to kind of.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Keep up with.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
We've got probably i'd probably say ten or fifteen minutes
left on the podcast. We'll talk a little bit about
what we were looking for with the Bells bills, but
the left tackle competition, obviously that's the biggest competition for
this team.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
Joe.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
You obviously got a chance to watch the game on Sunday.
I truly wasn't impressed or daunted by either player at
Braxton Jones or Rozzie Tripilo on on Sunday. Obviously a
lot maybe was made a little bit about that final
play Braxton Jones had where I forget who was on
the Dolphins, but the Dolphins a rusher got past Braxton
(27:52):
Jones and almost a Tyson Beja before Beijing found Maurice
Alexander for a touchdown. Deucklan Doyle said on Monday that
was a snapcount thing. But yeah, and you know, talking
with Declan on Monday, he said that there's some separation
in the competition, but he said that the competition is
wide open, and he also said that there listen, there's
(28:13):
a lot to learn from Sunday, and it's very clear
to me that neither player is making an impression, right.
I don't think you watch Sunday's game. I don't think
you watch Friday's practice. You even watch training camp and
you're like, Boom, Braxton is the guy. Boom, Ozzy is
the guy. I think you're just kind of left with.
(28:36):
Maybe they'll continue to impress us as maybe there's more
development to come with. I mean, there's important context, right,
Braxton Jones is coming back from an ankle injury. He's
still developing, Like obviously he's only been back for a
couple of weeks now, Ozzi Trapillo is learning a newer
position and in that in the NFL, Right, Like, there's
important context here. But I just think that two and
a half weeks into this thing, I don't think we're
(28:58):
closer to knowing who the starting left tag is at
this point.
Speaker 4 (29:02):
Yeah, Well, to me, it's it's really all about Braxton
Joanes health. I mean if he's if he's healthy and
he can get back to what he was before, you're
okay there.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
I mean, he's not going to be an All Pro
left tackle. He's not.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
I don't know how much better he can get at
this point in his career.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
You just want him to be You can be serviceable
and play left tackle. That works.
Speaker 4 (29:24):
Just don't get your quarterback killed. I mean, there are
a lot of guys who played, you know, a long
time in the league and were serviceable to good players.
I mean, Charles Leto played a long time here. I mean,
I think he did go to one Pro Bowl as
like the tenth Althar Knit kind of thing one year,
but you know, he.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
Played a long time in the league.
Speaker 4 (29:40):
I'm actually surprised he's not on a roster yet unless
he's not healthy.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
But that's another story.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
But my point is, you know, with Braxton Jones, you
know what you have.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
So if he's healthy, I get.
Speaker 4 (29:51):
I just don't like having a rookie no offense to
Ozzie Trapillo start opening opening night. I just think that's
a big ask and uh, let him be that swing
guy for now less Brax and Jones isn't ready, so
you know, you know, look, Ozid Grapillo, I know was
second round pick, but it wasn't like he was a
top five pick in the draft. I mean, it wasn't
(30:14):
like he's not like this is panay Sewell, who were
you know who was a top five pick in the draft.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Uh, pretty certain, But then the word the.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
Expectations were there, and even sometimes those guys take a year,
you know, to get acclimated to the NFL and playing
against men when they're you know, twenty one, twenty two
years old.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
So we'll see again.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
We got but three weeks that I say, opening over,
the opening night, you have the Bills, the Chiefs off week,
you're bye week, and then then ready to tee it
up for real. So you got some time here. Just
be serviceable. You don't have to have it all pro
at left tackle, as nice as it would be. But
it's to me, it's keeping those interior guys, all of
(30:56):
those guys healthy. Uh Touney didn't play, Noah Noah Jackson
didn't play. Those guys are key. Drew Dolman, to me,
that's where it's really key. And we know what Darren
no right is Darneld Wright's a good football player. I'm
really not concerned about him either. You know, is he
gonna be an All Pro guy?
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Could be?
Speaker 4 (31:12):
Yeah, you hope he would be after they picked him,
what tenth in the draft a couple of years ago.
But you got to keep those interior guys healthy and
they got to be good. We know how good tune
he is so left tackle, just don't mess it up, right,
Just don't get the quarterback killed. You don't have to
be pancaking guys on every run play.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Just just be good enough.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
Yeah, I would agree. I think you need it. You
need it.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
You just wanted to be serviceable right like you don't.
And I think that's the biggest I think the biggest
thing with this competition is is obviously Braxton Jones has
one year left on his contract, and are you going
to pay a high salary for a guy who's average?
Speaker 2 (31:51):
Right?
Speaker 1 (31:51):
So I think that's the biggest thing that the Bears
are trying to figure out right now, is what do
we have in Braxton Jones? And is Ozzie tripple Up
potentially the answer? And you know that can all be
see look different at the beginning, that could look different
at you know, later in the year.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
Then will we kind of start things off.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Maybe you start off with Braxton Jones and Nausie gradually
kind of gets better, gets his feet under him.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
And he learns what what you know, he kind of
takes over the job.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
But you know, I think the biggest thing is, like
both both Declan Doyle and Ben Johnson have said that
they would like this to be done. You know, if
they're not in a rush, They're not going to rush
the decision, but they would like this to be done
as quickly as possible because you need that cohesion, right,
you need you need Joe too, need to know who
is going who's going to be his left tackle consistently,
(32:36):
and they're going I think this is an important week
that where they're going to find things out. You know,
Declan Doyle quote him yesterday, he said, the tape doesn't lie.
It will become clear and clear as time goes on
that one of those guys is going to separate themselves
and the eyes of the decision makers, of Ben Johnson,
of our front office, our on line coaches, myself, but
incorporate evaluation. Thus far, we still have a lot of
(32:57):
football left to play. So listen, I I think you know,
I feel bad for Karan. Obviously, he's been injured. He
missed last week. He was back in limited fashion on Monday.
I think at this point it's the Braxton Jones Zuzzie
Triplo conversation just because of the injury that Karan kind
of had to deal with. But this is an important
(33:19):
week for them, and I think they're gonna get it.
They're gonna get a good chance to prove themselves, whether
I think for both Friday and Sunday against the Bills.
I think it's an important test for them because eventually
you do need to make the decision, and whether that's
going to be Braxton, who kind of gives you some experience,
or whether it's gonna be you're just going with the
rookie and you're gonna you're gonna live and die with
the rookie. You're gonna understand that he's gonna make some
(33:40):
mistakes here and there.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
But if you're.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
Willing to live with that, I think you are fine
with that as long as you just come up with
a decision here.
Speaker 4 (33:48):
Yeah, I mean, I'm sure they know which way they're trending, uh,
and they're not gonna share that with with the media
and the public. You know, why would you? You know,
they'll make a decision when I feel like they have
to make a decision, like, okay, it's go time, it's
close enough, we're naming Ozzie, or we we'll see enough
Bracks and we think the ankle is good and he
can hold it down and then then you go forward.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
But you know, again, injuries always happen.
Speaker 4 (34:11):
Are all five of those projected starters, whether it's bras
and Jones or Ozzie Trapillo at left tackle, or are
are all five of those guys gonna play seventeen games?
Speaker 1 (34:20):
No, there's no chance, No, it would it would be.
I'm not wishing injuries on anyone, obviously, No, But the NFL,
it's the yeah, like you need. Ben Johnson has said
you need seven eight nine offensive lineman to be ready
to play at any time because you never know when
your number is gonna be called, and that that's that's
exactly what you need. So yeah, I would agree with you.
(34:41):
Karan doesn't get the job, he can still be a
very important swing tackle who needs to come in a
certain times. Bras and Jones and Ozzie Trapillo same thing.
So I I would agree with you. I I think
I I I I I think you know you got
to make the decision, but you're not going to fully
rely on one person.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Rick Chiming in good see a Rick.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
That's the reason Ben will not be afraid to start
Ozzie is because he has Tuny next to him that.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
Could play a factor in it.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
I don't I don't fully disagree with that assessment. I
think whoever you haven't left tackle is gonna benefit from
Joe Toney, Drew Dollman being in the interior. Jonah Jackson,
I think that definitely benefits and that that could potentially
be the reason why you put Braxton Jones in there.
Maybe if you're Ben Johnson, you're like, I don't want
to put a rookie in there for Game one.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
I want to.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
See what Braxton Jones can do when he's healthier and
with a much improved interior line. Right, Like, obviously you're
only as good as your teammates are at some point,
especially the offensive line, So maybe that does just get
Braxton Jones an opportunity to kind of be like, all right, Braxton,
we gotta see what you can do here, and if
it doesn't look good, you go.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
To the rookie.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
You know, sometime during the bye week, all right, Joe,
We've got Wednesday, the Bears going to be practicing against themselves,
same with Thursday. Friday is to joint practice against the Bills,
and then they play the Bills on Sunday night at seven.
I don't know who's scheduled a Sunday night seven o'clock
(36:11):
preseason game, but whatever. But I think you took a
lot from that practice against the Dolphins, Joe. I think
Friday's practice is.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
Going to be huge on a lot of different things.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
You're going against a team that is potentially not potentially,
they're a Super Bowl contender. Sure, and I think both
you know, both teams are going to treat Friday's practice,
I would assume as a really good moment to kind
of see where you are at this point. I think
the Bears have a big test to see where they
are against the Super Bowl contender. Are they going to
(36:45):
be able to pressure Josh Allen? Are they going to
be able to stop that offense. I'm really excited to
watch this defense go against that Bills offense. And for
the offense, obviously, you know, is Caleb is that offense
making progress.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
I know that.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
The the Bills defense probably isn't as good as it's
been in the last couple of years, but it's not
anything bad by any means. So what does Caleb Williams
look like? Is he able to do well in seven
on sevens? What does the eleven on to eleven look like?
How does Braxton Jones or Jossy Tripple look against this,
you know, defensive front from the Bills. I think Friday
(37:19):
is going to be huge, and I think you take
a lot from that practice on Friday in evaluating what
this Bears team is a couple of weeks before the
season starts.
Speaker 4 (37:29):
Yeah, I'm sure they'll look at that as a challenge too.
Like you said, this is one of the top teams
in the entire league. So there's an opportunity there to
again to ratch up the intensity because that's what's good.
You're gonna need that for all seventeen games, So another
opportunity there, And to me again, just stay healthy. Let's
let's not do stupid things. I mean, and we know
(37:49):
injuries happen on non contact place too, but come out
of it healthy and come out of it bringing the
same intention as you did against Miami last Friday, and
that'll be good.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
You don't want to see them to get riddled.
Speaker 4 (38:02):
But it is important for Caleb too, right because you need,
uh these kind of reps and you need to execute
and and to get a little as we get closer
to week one here. So it'll be fun and probably
it's probably gonna be more entertaining than the game Sunday night,
the actual game Sunday.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
Night, I would agree.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
I think these joint practices are just that's just just
the way of the NFL at this point. I think
a lot of these coaching staffs, they can control the
elements their quarterback doesn't get hit, they can work on
a lot of different things. They can agree with the
opposing coaches on what they're going to do. I think
they take a lot from these and I think, yeah,
I think you took a lot from Miami, and I
think you're going to take a lot from this Buffalo
(38:43):
Bills one. And I agree, uh, you know, with Caleb,
I think I'm looking at what does the process look
like and is the able you know, one of the
bigger things de glan Doyle talked about on Monday is
a big step in Caleb's development is going to be
how does the process what opposing defenses are doing. He
got used to Dennis Allen's defense, right, so he maybe
could tell, oh, I know this one, I know that
(39:05):
I need to go this way for the first time.
Against Miami, he went against the defense that throws a
lot of different fronts at you. So he's going to
get the same thing with the Bills. Where is he
seeing what the defense is putting out there? And is
he making the smart play hitting the wide receiver open
here in the end zone or when he's making his move,
or is he settling and scrambling like he has done
(39:26):
in the past. So I think that's honestly the biggest
thing that I'm looking for on Friday and even maybe Sunday.
How is Caleb processing what he's seeing and is he
processing the right way or is he making mistakes and
still scrambling like he has you know for most of
his career.
Speaker 4 (39:42):
Yeah, it would just be nice to see some like
easy throws, easy ten yard games. We see it every
Sunday in the National Football League, and guys who are
backup quarterbacks, guys who are not big name receivers, and
you know, it's first and ten and there's a guy
wide open on you know, on a seam round out
and it's it's a seventeen yard pickup.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
It's like, why don't the Bears have these easy like these?
Speaker 4 (40:05):
And not every play is easy, but gosh, the Bears,
it seemed like they're they're last in the league.
Speaker 3 (40:11):
Everywhere.
Speaker 4 (40:11):
Every pass has got to be thrown precisely, you know
where it's supposed to go. Every guy's got to run
the perfect route, Like it shouldn't have to be that hard.
Speaker 3 (40:20):
It wasn't that didn't look that hard for the Lions
last year. Jared Goff.
Speaker 4 (40:23):
I mean, he's a good quarterback, but you know he's
he's not Dan Marino in his prime.
Speaker 3 (40:28):
But there are a lot of easy throws.
Speaker 4 (40:30):
Can they just get enough these easy throws so Caleb
doesn't have to be you know, Dan Marino on every
single time, every single time he drops back to pass.
So I hope there are enough of those plays and
then when they are the tight ones, then you you know,
that's that's why he is the first pick in the draft.
You hope that he could he makes throws, so we
know he can make those crazy throws, great throws downfield
(40:53):
over the middle. But can can he you know, every
every play doesn't have to be it shouldn't have to
be where he's got to recognize what the defenses is
doing and what the what, what the coverage is and
and then make the perfect throw. Like it shouldn't be
that stressful. Because when I see NFL games on Sunday,
I see other teams not every throw Patrick Mahomes makes,
(41:15):
it's like a Hall of Fame caliber throw. He's got
some easy throws, you know. And again with the weapons
they have, you think guys are getting more open. I
mean a lot of games when I covered the Bears
in the pass sometimes like you know, I was covering
when when when Mitch was the quarterback and uh that
kind of kind of.
Speaker 3 (41:32):
Pre COVID right before COVID. So that was Mitch.
Speaker 4 (41:36):
But you look, you look down, feel like no one's open.
So Mitch got the criticism, deserved a lot of it,
but a lot of times guys weren't open. With this
group of receivers, I gotta believe guys are going to
be open. I mean with with you know, we mentioned
the names, so many times guys will be open and
you're not gonna have to make you shouldn't have to
be having to make the perfect throw every single time, all.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
Right, Joe?
Speaker 1 (41:59):
Before we say goodbye, I want to get your opinion.
Does dude, does Caleb and the starters? Do you want
to see them play on Sunday? How much do you
want to see them play? Like regardless, Like if I
told you that Friday's joint practice was perfect, you saw
exactly what you needed from the defense. You saw exactly
what you needed from the offense. Caleb had a great day.
(42:20):
Are you do you still want to see this team
practice on or you know, play at least a little
bit on Sunday?
Speaker 2 (42:25):
Or are you comfortable with?
Speaker 1 (42:27):
Okay, Friday was good, I don't really need to see
it on Sunday too.
Speaker 4 (42:31):
No, I'd want to see it Sunday and not just
one series. I mean again, you only have one more
tune up after this one, So no, I'd like to
see at least a quarter.
Speaker 3 (42:43):
Because it I think it's a game.
Speaker 4 (42:47):
I meant the uniform on like you said, Michael, it's
different from just having the practice jersey on and running
a few plays. I want to see it. I want
to see the starters, including the receive for at least
a quarter you.
Speaker 1 (43:04):
Yeah, I would like to see them play, regardless of
what happens on Friday. Obviously, injuries or something like that,
like don't play them obviously that that that goes without saying,
like you're not trying to prolong any injuries, But I
would like to see them play. I don't have a
specific number in mind, maybe more than a drive, just
to kind of get into the groove of things. If
you play a first a whole quarter, cool, If you
(43:27):
play a whole.
Speaker 2 (43:27):
First half, great cool.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
I'm not I don't have a specific snap count that
I'm looking for because I know that you can get
a lot more on Friday's practice than in a game
on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
But I do agree. You want to go through the process.
Speaker 1 (43:40):
Of getting ready, getting live action, going through the process
of getting Ben calling the offense in your head and
your helmet, and I think all that matters.
Speaker 2 (43:51):
Rick says starters have to play.
Speaker 1 (43:54):
Uh, mister uh says that what Rick said, Rick is
going as far as saying, I'll be limited if the
starters don't play.
Speaker 2 (44:03):
I think that's fair, right.
Speaker 1 (44:04):
I think you want to see them play, and you
want to see them go through the motions, and I
think the biggest thing is you don't want to go
out there on Monday night against the Vikings to start
the year, and there are issues Caleb isn't used to this,
or they were kind of surprised by this. Like you,
I think you obviously want to prepare this team as
(44:25):
much as possible, and I think Ben Johnson has shown
that he's going to do that. He values the details,
he values how important everything is to making this.
Speaker 2 (44:33):
Whole operation work.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
So I wouldn't be surprised he plays on Sunday, goes
through the motions, gets a driver too. When things look good,
things look bad.
Speaker 2 (44:43):
Ho hum.
Speaker 1 (44:44):
I'm am not going to take too much from it,
but I think you go through the process and he's
going to go out there and play a little bit,
and you know, life goes on and we'll talk about
it next week.
Speaker 4 (44:56):
Yeah, get a first down on the first drive? Please
get a first down? Uh. You know you mentioned the
two and we all saw it and you wrote about it.
I mean first two drives with with Bagent against Miami
looked like the twenty four Bears looked like the twenty
three Bears.
Speaker 3 (45:11):
Does that matter in a way?
Speaker 4 (45:13):
I do, Michael, because they were they had to be
the worst team in the NFL last year.
Speaker 3 (45:18):
In the first quarter offensively, right, there's stuck.
Speaker 4 (45:21):
It was three and out, three and out, and before
you know it, you're done ten nothing at the end
of the first quarter. So and you know this fan base,
I'm telling you you Monday night with the Vikings, it's
it's not gonna be ah.
Speaker 3 (45:34):
Let's be patient. It's the first year.
Speaker 4 (45:36):
And you know by week five those stocks showing signs
of improvement. They go three and out opening night. You've
seen it. I've seen it. Everyone watching has seen it.
This fan the boot Birds, they're gonna.
Speaker 3 (45:49):
Start coming out early. This is an impatient fan base.
Speaker 4 (45:53):
We got all the weapons, we got the coach everybody wanted,
we got the number one overall pick from the year before.
It's got us start happening. And I know it's a marathon,
it's not a sprint all that, but they've got to
start making it happen. And again, you got Minnesota, you
got Detroit. You know they're not gonna be favored neither game.
(46:14):
You start going too.
Speaker 3 (46:16):
Can you imagine it's the city's gonna.
Speaker 2 (46:18):
Be like you know, and you know that Brian Flores
isn't gonna exploding.
Speaker 4 (46:23):
Again all of a sudden, it's gonna be this, Oh
my gosh, here we go again.
Speaker 3 (46:26):
Get a first down and then go from there.
Speaker 1 (46:30):
Yeah, and you know that Brian Flores isn't gonna take
it easy on Ben Johnson in week one. He's gonna
he's gonna go after him pretty quickly. That's the Vikings
obviously defensive coordinator. But we will get into more week
one break breakdown obviously once we're a little bit closer
to the season. But that's everything that we got for
this week's episode live stream. Thanks so much to everyone
who joined us. If you join us on the live stream,
(46:50):
thank you for all your comments. It was great to
I'm here for you folks and see you guys chime in,
and if you're listening to the podcast, thank you as
always for listening to the podcast. If you want to
join us in our live stream, just look at our
social media. We usually we try to post at least
twenty four hours.
Speaker 2 (47:06):
Before we're going to do a live stream.
Speaker 1 (47:07):
It's a little bit hard with the training camp schedule
fluctuates here and there, but Joe and I will try
to do at least one if not two podcasts per
week just during training camp as we kind of get
you ready for the regular season. So make sure you
are checking us out and checking out our social media
when we're going to be doing our next podcast before
we do our regular you know, Monday Friday routine during
(47:30):
the regular season, So make sure you check out all
of Joe Aguilar's work over at the Northwest Hero. Like
Joe mentioned earlier in the stream football season, high school
football season is back and he's got you covered. Make
sure you're checking out all his work there, and as always,
make sure you're checking out all of my work with
Bears Insider. We've got you covered every day of training camp, games,
(47:52):
all that sort of stuff, so make sure you are
checking out all our work there.
Speaker 2 (47:55):
So thanks so much for joining us this week, folks,
and we will talk to you folks down the road.
Hello, and welcome to the latest episode of the Bears
Insider podcast from Shaw Local. I'm Shaw Local Chicago Bears
be reporter Michael Duo. Jack joined here with the Northwest
Heralds Joe Aguilar. We're recording this on Tuesday and off
day for the Bears. I know it's been a little
bit of it's been a while since we talked to you, folks,
(00:21):
but we wanted to get caught up here a little bit.
We have a lot to talk about. Thank you to
everyone who is joining us on the live stream this morning.
If you obviously didn't take a listen on the live stream,
thank you for listening to the podcast. A lot to
talk about here as we're kind of regrouping here a
little bit. Joe, A lot of stuff has happened.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
But how are you doing? How are things going?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
I'm good.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
It's football season, Goo go time, right even for high
school football. All the high school sports started up on Monday,
and we got our first look at the Bears and
can't wait until Monday night three weeks ago, three weeks
away or a month away, whatever it is now for
that game it started for real.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Yeah, I feel like we're kind of at that point
right where we're kind of like, all right, like when
is when does the season start?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Like, obviously there's.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Still a lot of stuff to work on for the
team here in the preseason, but it's kind of like, well,
you know, I feel like you get your first dose
of like football in that first preseason game, and then
after like a quarter you're just kind of like, ah, Okay,
well maybe we want maybe we want the real thing.
But yeah, I mean, it's there's a lot of exciting
stuff going on, a lot of interesting things to going
(01:34):
for talk about, and we learned a lot from the
Bears both to joint practice against the Dolphins on Friday
and also their preseason opener against the Dolphins on Sunday.
The major storyline, obviously was that Caleb Williams and a
lot of the starters, the majority of the starters, didn't
play in Sunday's game preseason game number one. Now, Ben
(01:57):
Johnson hasn't said anything about, you know, looking ahead, whether
you know who's going to be playing a game two,
are they going to do game three, and that sort
of stuff. But Joe, what was your initial reaction when
Ben announced on Friday that you know, they were mostly
going to focus on those joint practices. They joint practice
on Friday, and then a lot of the starters aren't
(02:18):
going to play on Sunday.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
Yeah, I was fuller of disappointed. I still I think,
like all Bears fans and all NFL fans want to
see Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson together.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
I know it's one preseason game.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
Even if you would have played one series or two,
I would hope you would have gotten two. You know,
I want to see it, and probably, like a lot
of young guys, whether it's high school or college or pro,
you need reps. You need reps, you need reps. I
don't know how much value you can put into a
preseason game. Last year the Bears were what undefeated in
the preseason. Then we know how the regular season wound up.
(02:53):
But I was disappointed because I just I just want
to see how it looks, even if it was just
done down. Vinilla plays for two series, but you want
to see him again. Like things we've talked about Michael
since they started camp, you know, breaking the huddle, clean,
no false starts, all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Guys in the right place.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
And then see some of the many targets top targets
they have.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Get the football, and we didn't see any of that.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
So but you know, it's again we're we're in the
same spot we were since they hired Ben Johnson. We
you have to trust in Ben Johnson that he knows
what he's doing. He has a game plan not only
for each game as far as the x's and o's,
but as far as you know, just handling his personnel,
including the quarterback.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Yeah, I guess, you know, if you paid attention to
what Ben Johnson you know, told us over the offseason
and heading into the training camp, is kind of probably
is in the surprise. Like he emphasized the importance of
those joint practices, like he said that he puts a
lot into them. Obviously, Dan Campbell Detroit did the same thing.
You know, Jared GoF didn't played two much with the
Lions during the preseason. So you know, I guess if
(04:04):
you're looking back at the history, it shouldn't be that
big of a surprise. I mean, it's very clear that
Ben Johnson and Ryan Poles and the coaching staff are
going to face a lot of emphasis into that into
those joint practices that they're gonna have with the Dolphins
and the Bills, And you know.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
I agree with you.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
I think, you know, it's kind of a cost effect thing,
right where it's like, well, is it worth the risk
of Caleb getting injured or a starter getting injured.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
In this preseason game?
Speaker 1 (04:30):
And I can follow that logic a little bit, but
I also think that there's a value. Like Ben Johnson said, like,
it's different when you're going against live bullets, right, Like,
it's definitely different in game action, warming up, going through
the preseas, going through the pregame stuff, you know, actually
taking a snap and handing it off, even if you
did three straight runs to start the game and you
just did that, I think there's a credit. There's something
(04:52):
too going through that process, right, just going through the
process of getting the play calling from Ben Jhonson, you know,
in a headset as opposed to of the walkie talking.
I think there's something too going up to the line
of scrimmage, dealing with the crowd at Soldier Field, and I.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Think there's a lot too that.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Then I don't think Caleb and the starters needed to play,
you know, the first half, even the entire first quarter.
I think there's just something that take from from going
out there going through a building, up a routine. So
when you do go out there from Monday Night football
against the Vikings to start the season, like, you're not
gonna be shocked because it's going to be in the
tense environment.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Fans are gonna be.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Juiced on on Monday night football. You're going against a
division rival to start off the year. As to Ben
Johnson era, fans are hyped for a new era Fars football,
and they're gonna there's it's going to be loud in
that building.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Even if it's not supposed to be loud on offense.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Right, So you know, we'll see where this thing goes,
you know, against the Bills and the Chiefs. But yeah,
I I I don't think it's gonna make or break
your season. I don't think you're gonna gonna win or
lose a game this year because you didn't play in
the first preseason game.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
But I do I do think that there's something to
take from that.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Yeah, No, I agree, I agree.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
I think you know, hopefully we see him Sunday night
a soldier field against Buffalo, because I mean we won't
find out until what Friday, like who's playing, not only
kyleab but the other starters who sat, including you know,
Roma Doonday and those guys.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
But it was good to see, like, you know, Coaston Lovelin.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
I know he was I don't know if he how
many series he had, how many snaps he had, but
you know, caught a pass and he was out there
and it's always just fun to see where's football right
after a long layoff.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yeah, I was encouraging, Uh, we'll just touch on the
game a little bit here. We don't need to spend
too much time on it. But there, Yeah, Coaston Lovelin
got in the drive.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
He started off there, he caught a pass for like
eight yards and then his day was done. Luther Burning
got involved there. Klem a young guy rushed for thirty yards.
I think it was five carries or six carries, and
he was averaging five five yards of carry. He looked,
he looked as advertised. I don't think Holmnung guy is
going to impress you with his breakaway speed by any means,
(07:06):
but I think he is going he's going to fight
for yards. He's going to you know, pick up a
lot of yard to dive forward to pick up an
extra yard. Right, He's a tough runner, and you finally
got a chance to kind of see that in life
game action on Sunday, so that was encouraging. Obviously, Austin
Booker stole the show. He had three sacks, got a
strip sack in there as well.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
So impressive stuff from him. Noah Sewell looked good on
that first drive.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
He had a forced fumble and then he came up
with a four big fourth fourth down stop on at.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
The goal line.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
So you know, you got some good performances, right, and
you saw some good things, and I think those are
things that you're kind of encouraged by with the context
of knowing, you know, what the game was on Sunday.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Yeah, Austin Booker is a guy. Remember it last year
in the preseason he flashed and people excited and and
then regular season came around. He really didn't get a
lot of snaps, had one and a half sacks in
limited game action.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
But he's a guy.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
You know, year two, excuse me, you want to see
him make a make a step. We don't want to see,
you know, you know, like guys in the past. If
the Bears, you know, d tackles, dns flash into preseason,
then regular season comes around and they don't do much.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
But you know, for Booker, a guy who correct me
if you're.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
Wrong, they moved up right to get back into the
fifth round and take him a year ago, and he
looks the part right six six.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
He's huge, you.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
Know, he's fast, you know, high motor, high motor guy.
But he should take a next step this year. So
when we're still looking for that other pass rusher and
then a new system with Dennis Allen where they're gonna
be blitzing more, I'd like to see him take another step.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Certainly that was encouraging.
Speaker 4 (08:49):
I know it was preseason and it was against Miami's
backups or you know, their their second string guys for
the most part too, but I still like, look, I'm
not I'm not a scout. I don't, I don't you know,
watch hours of film. But he certainly looks good on
on film. I look good on my TV on Sunday afternoon.
(09:10):
Let's put it that way. And the numbers were there
to support it. So I'd like to see him taking
next step. Can he be that, you know that compliment
to Montese sweat that we were hoping for all last
season and the offseason we'll see what Odegbo does. But
uh but certainly that was encouraging and I want to
see more Austin Booker.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Let's see if he can do it again.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Yeah, that's definitely uh A.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
You know last year, you know when they brought him Booker,
you know, they traded back for him in the fifth round.
You know, it was kind of viewed as a developmental
piece guy, right, like, not someone who's gonna make an
impact right away. And you know, he shined a little
bit in the in the preseason last year, like you said, Joe,
but you know kind of tailed off, you know, kind
of got used to the NFL schedule. You know, maybe
(09:54):
he needed to put on some more weight. Obviously he
was he was a he was a link. He's a
lanky guy, right, so he uh needed to put on
some way. He told us after a Sunday's game that
he did put on a little way feels a little
bit better. So it'll be that's definitely something to watch
on because listen, you're gonna you want Montest sweat and
you want Dioa Dingbo obviously to be your key pass rushers, right,
(10:16):
but you're gonna need reinforcements you're they're gonna be going
in waves. The same thing with the interior of the
defensive line. Dennis Alan likes to move a dango around two,
So maybe sometimes you'll have a situation where you have O'dangbo,
Montes Sweat, and Austin Booker out there at the same time,
or you might You know, that's the thing about Dennis Alle,
and he's gonna switch things up a lot on that
(10:37):
defensive front. So it'll be interesting to watch how that
kind of happens. But yeah, an encouraging sign from Odangbo
or not from Dingo for Booker to kind of start
things off, and it'll be interesting to see if he's
able to kind of continue that moving forward. But let's
focus more on what the Bears were kind of more
focused on, and thatwas Friday's joint practice against the Dolphins.
First chance for the Bears to go again on someone
(11:00):
other than their own teammate, which players always love to do.
And let's start with what kind of stole the show
on Friday, and that was the defense. The defense just
looked electric right from the start. That secondary looks really
good even without Jalen Johnson, without Kyler Gordon, who was
out there, not out there with.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
An injury on Friday.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Listen, Jakwon Brisker, He's just continuously around the ball at
this point. He doesn't look hesington at all after missing
the last twelve games of last year.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
You know, Kevin Byron looks really good out there.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Terrell Smith obviously fighting for some reps at the quarterback spot.
He got some good hits out there. Na Sean Wright
continues to have a really good camp, and you saw
the the past rush kind of come alive there. Obviously
you're not going to hit the quarterback, you're not going
after them in these joint practices. But listen, the Bears
defense came out with an intensity that you know, Ben
(11:58):
Johnson kind of challenged him before practice and said, you know, listen,
if you're going to prove something like, this is the
day to do it, Like you want to show that
you want to be part of this roster, you want
us starting snaps, this is the day to do it
against the Dolphins. And that's exactly what happened for that
defense where man, they just they just look electric. They
just look like a defense that you know is going
(12:20):
to be physical, is going to get after players and
is going to leave their mark, and you know, it's
one joint practice. It's a couple of weeks into the season.
I understand that I'm not here to proclaim that they're
going to be a top five defense based on what
we've seen two weeks in, but I think you have
to be really encouraged about what this defense looks like,
especially with how they ended the year last year.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
I lost you there, Michael. We seem to have this
connection like once a show where the audio keeps fluttering
on me. Can you hear me?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Okay, yeah, I got you. Can you?
Speaker 1 (12:54):
I was just talking about the defense and how electric
they've been, and you know how how big of a
response it kind of been like been for them since,
you know, after they kind of ended the year not
on a good note last year.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Yeah, I love Can you hear me?
Speaker 2 (13:09):
I can't? Can you hear me?
Speaker 3 (13:15):
All right?
Speaker 2 (13:15):
It seems like Joe's dealing.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
With I'm gonna I'll talk. I'm not sure if I can.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
If you can hear me, seems like Joe's dealing with
some uh, with some internet issues. But yeah, like I
would like I was saying earlier, I think you know
you're just seeing this defense and I wrote about this
on Friday, just how much the defense is matching the
intensity of Ben Johnson. And I think you're seeing a
lot of that with the way they you know, they play.
(13:43):
They're really going after players, and you know, I think
it kind of caught the Dolphins off guard a little bit.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
I saw some you know, I'm not that.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
The reporters kind of reflect what what the what the
players are thinking, but even the reporters were kind of
caught off guard with just how well that defense was
able to just speech physical and there are no cheap shots.
There was nothing outrageous or anything like that. But I
just think that you're just seeing a defense that, you know,
Dennis Allen is a competitive guy. Ben Johnson is a
(14:10):
competitive guy. You're seeing it from the players, especially defensively.
So fair Montes Sweat, you know, has needed a good
rebound camp after kind of a down year battling injuries.
He looks good, like he looks like he's getting after guys,
he's creating pressure, and he's just doing a lot of
things that you want him to do as your top
(14:31):
paid pass rusher. So Joe, like I was kind of
talking with the folks here, this defense is. You know,
I understand that it's early. I understand that it's a
joint practice and you're going against the Bears offense who's
learning a completely new offense. And maybe it doesn't look
like it's best right now, but I think that this
has to be a really promising start for a defense
(14:51):
that really needs to.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Rebound after a down end to last season.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
Yeah, and we hear so often in this league that
coaching really does matter in the National Football League. I
just refused the Bears talent last year the year before
that was that.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Horrible, like top five bad in the league. I just
refuse it. I just think, you know they had I
hate the criticis.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
You know, there will come a point where we stopped
criticizing Matt Eberflus and Shane Waldron and all those guys.
But let's face it. I mean, it's it's been bad
the last two years. Do you I think the burst
of had a playoff team last year the year before, No,
but they could be.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
I think they could have been better. But what they
were clearly so, I think. And even though we don't
want to.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
Read too much into the preseason game against Miami, were
there any moments Michael where you thought, well, here we
go again with this coaching staff.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
They don't know what they're doing.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
I didn't see any of that from offensively at the
end of the first half when they squeezed not a
field goal there, you know, just that that time management,
even at the end of the game in a tie
game the Bears are looking to go ahead or they
you know, they didn't execute with Austin Reid. Okay, nothing
to not to be concerned about, but they still let
other timeouts.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
You know, they look like a well coached team.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Defensively too, they looked like they had packages when you know,
Miami was you know, in third and long situations and
and and they were like game on the line moments
in this preseason game. The Bears looked like the coaches
knew what they were doing. And we talked about all
the individual performances, you know, especially on the defensive side
of the ball with Hooker and Sewell and and guys
(16:30):
like that, and offensively with Manungai and you know, Beigent
did pretty well actually in the first half. But to me,
the biggest takeaway probably was the Bears look like they
have competent coaches and I don't think I do think
of all things that does matter.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
And getting back to the.
Speaker 4 (16:48):
The scrimmage with the with the Dolphins, uh what two
days earlier, same thing, I mean, least, you know, I mean,
let's look, I mean, like, let's face it, football is
an emotional game.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
It's like hockey.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
You know, you have to bring it on every shift,
on every down, and it does have rewards. So I'd
rather see the Bears being physical, even if it's it's
always gonna be borderline chip, be physical, clean. I mean,
that's the game. So it was good to see at
least they had the intensity and they were fired up,
and you have to be because sometimes you know that
(17:20):
might you know that that makes a difference in football games.
And so I was really encouraged with that instead of like,
well the Bears really laid an egg against the Dolphins
on Friday in that scrimmage and they looked uninspired. Now
they look like they're ready to go. And again we
almost have to preface every sentence we say here, every
paragraph with it's only the preseason. But but that said,
(17:44):
I was encouraged.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Yeah, and I think a lot of Bears fans are
going to be encouraged. And I think that's a good point.
I'm glad you brought that up. I think, you know,
as a reporter, maybe I've kind of gotten used to
this at this point. You know, obviously with the off
season practices and the and the training camp stuff, like
I kind of used to that intensity and kind of whatever.
Just that's kind of been the biggest thing that this
coaching staff is brought in. But I do think fans
are going to see that intensity in games and practices
(18:08):
right like this is this is a coaching staff that
has a lot of experience, even though Ben Johnson is
the first time head coach. Like you know, I'm glad
that you brought up that end of half situation where
I clearly last year that was not a thing that
was going to happen. There is a lot of scenarios
last year where Maddy Refluce and that coaching staff just
(18:30):
didn't put those situations. But you saw the Bears, you know,
took over the ball, they got a turnover on fourth
down and they took over with six seconds left. Tyson
Bagent fines Luther Burden for a quick pass, and Luther
Burden knows to go out of bounds as quick as
possible picks up thirteen yards, you have a second left
before the end of the half, and then you know,
(18:50):
Cairo Santos ends up hitting a I think, what was
it a fifty six or fifty seven yard field goal
to get three points on the board, right like that
is that that did not happen last year, And I
and I think that is something that you take from
that preseason game where you're kind of like, all right,
it doesn't matter if the Bears win, loser, tie against
the Dolphins or any of these other preseason games. No,
(19:10):
it doesn't matter, or I guess it doesn't count, like
Ben Jonson like to say, but it does matter where
that is a situation where.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
You woul did not see the Bears do that last year.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
And I think that's what Bears fans are going to
see this year that it's just.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Going to look better.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
And you know what, operational wise, is Caleb William's gonna
throw fifty yard bombs against the Vikings.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
I'm not promising you that at all.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
It's going to take time for that stuff to kind
of happen here under a new coaching staff and a
new offense. But from right now, you know, one game
in three two and a half weeks in the training camp,
things are so meticulous to the details, and fans are
going to see that, and you're not going to see
what You're not going to see what happened against Detroit
last year. You're not going to see what happened on
(19:55):
the last minute hail mary where you give up thirteen
yards to set up that hail mary on the play before.
And then Maddy Eberflu says it's not important, like, you're
going to see a detail oriented coaching staff, and I
think that's gonna be come Like, I'm glad you mentioned that, Joe,
because that comes across pretty click quickly, even in a
preseason game like Sunday.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
Yeah, and let's face it, of all, the most scrutinized
individual on the Bears last year besides the quarterback, was
the coaching staff and Matt Eberflu. So you hope Caleb's
gonna be better. He'll be better. I mean, come on,
he'll be better this year.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
I'm pretty confident of that.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
I'm not saying they're gonna win twelve games, although I
think I did prick them for twelve wins when we
did our little mock two months ago. But I just
think coaching will show up, and not only with Ben Johnson,
with Dennis Allen and.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
The assistant coaches too. You know you've written about it
a lot.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
We've talked about it a little bit about the assistant coach.
I just think they've got confident guys coaching, and I
am confident that will translate to victories.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Yeah, I think that matters, right like that that a
lot of a lot of those You know, the Bears
were a five win team. They easily could have won
seven or eight games if the coaching was a little
bit better. But sticking with uh, we'll get back to
that joint practice. Mister Shorty asked who was your game
VFP things for joining us. Mister Shorty, I think Austin
Booker probably was your m v P right, just the
(21:23):
way that he looked we talked about a little bit
earlier in the podcast in livestream.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Yeah, he looked good.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
But getting back to that joint practice, like I said, uh,
the defense looked good offensively, I think you just kind
of saw what you've been seeing for the past couple
of weeks with Caleb Williams in the first team offense.
There was good and bad right. There was good. There
was some impressive throws. He fit in a beautiful pass
(21:49):
over to Olamadi's a chaus and he fit that in perfectly.
He hit uh Tyson Bage and hit Coaston Loveland with
a nice past during seven on sevens. But then in
the red zone defense or in the red zone toward
the end of the towards the end of practice, you know,
there are a couple of penalties there, and there's a
delay of game, and there's just there's just you know,
(22:11):
I think the problem. You know, the biggest thing that
Bears have talked about with Kayleb Williams development so far
has been the processing, right that's you know, the pre
snap process of getting the call, going up to the
line of scrimmage, telling everyone seeing what the defense is
giving him, that that that is what they're really honing
in on right now. And I'll give you that. It
does look better than it did at the beginning of camp,
but there's still a lot of mistakes. And even yesterday
(22:33):
on Monday, a practice where none of the players who
played on Sunday, or very few of them practice on Monday,
so it was just the starters essentially playing against the
starters and it kind of a loose practice. It wasn't
padded by any means. But there is miscommunication, right. There
is a delay of game, there were drop balls, there
(22:53):
were guys not running the right way or not communicating
with Caleb Williams. And I think that, you know, is
that reason to you know, sound the alarms. You know,
two and a half weeks in. I'm not gonna go
that crazy, But it's stuff that we're still seeing, right,
It's still stuff that we're seeing. There's miscommunication. The installs
are done. The Bears went through twelve practices of installs,
(23:15):
so now they're working on honing in on what Caleb
does well and you know, incorporating the more into its offense.
So you would think that would look a little bit
better here. Obviously, I'm not gonna take a lot from
Monday's practice, but I do think that if you're a
Bears fan, if you're winning house Caleb Williams looking so far,
A lot of the answer I give is he looks
(23:36):
like a quarterback who's learning a completely new system and
learning how to rework as fundamentals. There's good and there's bad,
and I think you're just looking for that progress and
I'm really interested to see how that kind of looks
this week as he prepares for the Bills.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
Yeah, and he's also going up against Dennis Allen's defense,
which would think is you know, the Bears is gonna
be better primarily because it hit, not necessarily because the
offseason act positions Zichodengbo and you know, Grady Jarrett, those
guys and hopefully you know Billings is healthy and Jakwan
Brisker is healthy.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
So I mean that's that's a good defense too.
Speaker 4 (24:10):
And you know, I hate to go back to the
eighty five Bears, that's my first eighty five Bears reference,
but where the offense and defense got after each other
so much they just made each other better. So you know,
I still look at the Kleb situation, Michael, there's so
many weapons on this offense now. And we've already seen
Luther Burden flash, We've seen Loveland flash, we've seen a
(24:32):
Doomsday flash. We know what Dj Moore can do. I
just think there's so many weapons on this team now
that even if it's not the most perfectly executed play,
if you can get the ball in the hands of
those guys, good things are going to happen. Maybe DJ
Moore doesn't have to catch seven passes a game, or
it's like, oh, we have no one else to get
(24:53):
the ball to. Now there's just so many guys, and
there's there's so much potential for a big plays with
the receip including.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
The tight ends that they have on this roster. I
just I just don't see how this is. This is
gonna be a bad offense.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
I mean, there are a lot of other teams in
this league if you look at the rosters, that have
a lot less talent at the receiver position. So if
Caleb just is good, it doesn't have to be great.
I think it was just okay to good. The numbers
are gonna look really good and the points on the
scoreboard will be there because there's so many guys who
can make a difference on and sometimes, as you know,
(25:29):
every coach will tell you right after a loss, well
I know it's just one or two plays that were
the difference, yes, And now they've got just more guys
who can be that one difference in a game that
can I mean, you know so many of these games
in the NFL right there, they're typically one, one or
two possession games and so now you have so many
guys there. I've been burned a lot as a Bears fan.
(25:52):
I'm at a Bears for a long long time. But
I am encouraged. And I'm almost pitching myself because I'm thinking, really,
you're encouraged, Joe. I mean you're used to being disappointed,
But I am optimistic. Not not like on a scale
of ten to ten out of ten, but more so
than normal.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Yeah, I'm sure, mister Shorty brings up a good point too, Like,
I'm actually impressed with how much the offensive players have digested.
I mean, there's a lot, there's a lot to learn
in this offense. This is not an easy offense by
any means. No NFL offense is obviously easy, but listen,
this is a This is an intricate offense that is
important with the details, and it takes time to learn this.
(26:35):
It takes any player roughly a year or two to
learn a complete to be fully comfortable with an offense. Right,
So I'm not I'm not really surprised that that we're
not seeing it consistently, right. I think the biggest thing
that right now, that if you're close to being any
sort of concerned, is just a miscommunication and the and
and the in the false starts. I think that's the
(26:58):
biggest thing right now, whether it's a false starts to
the delay of games, the miscommunication, I think that's really
something that really needs to stop, if if, if we
really want to see progress here. But yeah, I would agree,
it's a lot and that's important context to kind of.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Keep up with.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
We've got probably i'd probably say ten or fifteen minutes
left on the podcast. We'll talk a little bit about
what we were looking for with the Bells bills, but
the left tackle competition, obviously that's the biggest competition for
this team.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
Joe.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
You obviously got a chance to watch the game on Sunday.
I truly wasn't impressed or daunted by either player at
Braxton Jones or Rozzie Tripilo on on Sunday. Obviously a
lot maybe was made a little bit about that final
play Braxton Jones had where I forget who was on
the Dolphins, but the Dolphins a rusher got past Braxton
(27:52):
Jones and almost a Tyson Beja before Beijing found Maurice
Alexander for a touchdown. Deucklan Doyle said on Monday that
was a snapcount thing. But yeah, and you know, talking
with Declan on Monday, he said that there's some separation
in the competition, but he said that the competition is
wide open, and he also said that there listen, there's
(28:13):
a lot to learn from Sunday, and it's very clear
to me that neither player is making an impression, right.
I don't think you watch Sunday's game. I don't think
you watch Friday's practice. You even watch training camp and
you're like, Boom, Braxton is the guy. Boom, Ozzy is
the guy. I think you're just kind of left with.
(28:36):
Maybe they'll continue to impress us as maybe there's more
development to come with. I mean, there's important context, right,
Braxton Jones is coming back from an ankle injury. He's
still developing, Like obviously he's only been back for a
couple of weeks now, Ozzi Trapillo is learning a newer
position and in that in the NFL, Right, Like, there's
important context here. But I just think that two and
a half weeks into this thing, I don't think we're
(28:58):
closer to knowing who the starting left tag is at
this point.
Speaker 4 (29:02):
Yeah, Well, to me, it's it's really all about Braxton
Joanes health. I mean if he's if he's healthy and
he can get back to what he was before, you're
okay there.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
I mean, he's not going to be an All Pro
left tackle. He's not.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
I don't know how much better he can get at
this point in his career.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
You just want him to be You can be serviceable
and play left tackle. That works.
Speaker 4 (29:24):
Just don't get your quarterback killed. I mean, there are
a lot of guys who played, you know, a long
time in the league and were serviceable to good players.
I mean, Charles Leto played a long time here. I mean,
I think he did go to one Pro Bowl as
like the tenth Althar Knit kind of thing one year,
but you know, he.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
Played a long time in the league.
Speaker 4 (29:40):
I'm actually surprised he's not on a roster yet unless
he's not healthy.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
But that's another story.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
But my point is, you know, with Braxton Jones, you
know what you have.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
So if he's healthy, I get.
Speaker 4 (29:51):
I just don't like having a rookie no offense to
Ozzie Trapillo start opening opening night. I just think that's
a big ask and uh, let him be that swing
guy for now less Brax and Jones isn't ready, so
you know, you know, look, Ozid Grapillo, I know was
second round pick, but it wasn't like he was a
top five pick in the draft. I mean, it wasn't
(30:14):
like he's not like this is panay Sewell, who were
you know who was a top five pick in the draft.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Uh, pretty certain, But then the word the.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
Expectations were there, and even sometimes those guys take a year,
you know, to get acclimated to the NFL and playing
against men when they're you know, twenty one, twenty two
years old.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
So we'll see again.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
We got but three weeks that I say, opening over,
the opening night, you have the Bills, the Chiefs off week,
you're bye week, and then then ready to tee it
up for real. So you got some time here. Just
be serviceable. You don't have to have it all pro
at left tackle, as nice as it would be. But
it's to me, it's keeping those interior guys, all of
(30:56):
those guys healthy. Uh Touney didn't play, Noah Noah Jackson
didn't play. Those guys are key. Drew Dolman, to me,
that's where it's really key. And we know what Darren
no right is Darneld Wright's a good football player. I'm
really not concerned about him either. You know, is he
gonna be an All Pro guy?
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Could be?
Speaker 4 (31:12):
Yeah, you hope he would be after they picked him,
what tenth in the draft a couple of years ago.
But you got to keep those interior guys healthy and
they got to be good. We know how good tune
he is so left tackle, just don't mess it up, right,
Just don't get the quarterback killed. You don't have to
be pancaking guys on every run play.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Just just be good enough.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
Yeah, I would agree. I think you need it. You
need it.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
You just wanted to be serviceable right like you don't.
And I think that's the biggest I think the biggest
thing with this competition is is obviously Braxton Jones has
one year left on his contract, and are you going
to pay a high salary for a guy who's average?
Speaker 2 (31:51):
Right?
Speaker 1 (31:51):
So I think that's the biggest thing that the Bears
are trying to figure out right now, is what do
we have in Braxton Jones? And is Ozzie tripple Up
potentially the answer? And you know that can all be
see look different at the beginning, that could look different
at you know, later in the year.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
Then will we kind of start things off.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Maybe you start off with Braxton Jones and Nausie gradually
kind of gets better, gets his feet under him.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
And he learns what what you know, he kind of
takes over the job.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
But you know, I think the biggest thing is, like
both both Declan Doyle and Ben Johnson have said that
they would like this to be done. You know, if
they're not in a rush, They're not going to rush
the decision, but they would like this to be done
as quickly as possible because you need that cohesion, right,
you need you need Joe too, need to know who
is going who's going to be his left tackle consistently,
(32:36):
and they're going I think this is an important week
that where they're going to find things out. You know,
Declan Doyle quote him yesterday, he said, the tape doesn't lie.
It will become clear and clear as time goes on
that one of those guys is going to separate themselves
and the eyes of the decision makers, of Ben Johnson,
of our front office, our on line coaches, myself, but
incorporate evaluation. Thus far, we still have a lot of
(32:57):
football left to play. So listen, I I think you know,
I feel bad for Karan. Obviously, he's been injured. He
missed last week. He was back in limited fashion on Monday.
I think at this point it's the Braxton Jones Zuzzie
Triplo conversation just because of the injury that Karan kind
of had to deal with. But this is an important
(33:19):
week for them, and I think they're gonna get it.
They're gonna get a good chance to prove themselves, whether
I think for both Friday and Sunday against the Bills.
I think it's an important test for them because eventually
you do need to make the decision, and whether that's
going to be Braxton, who kind of gives you some experience,
or whether it's gonna be you're just going with the
rookie and you're gonna you're gonna live and die with
the rookie. You're gonna understand that he's gonna make some
(33:40):
mistakes here and there.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
But if you're.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
Willing to live with that, I think you are fine
with that as long as you just come up with
a decision here.
Speaker 4 (33:48):
Yeah, I mean, I'm sure they know which way they're trending, uh,
and they're not gonna share that with with the media
and the public. You know, why would you? You know,
they'll make a decision when I feel like they have
to make a decision, like, okay, it's go time, it's
close enough, we're naming Ozzie, or we we'll see enough
Bracks and we think the ankle is good and he
can hold it down and then then you go forward.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
But you know, again, injuries always happen.
Speaker 4 (34:11):
Are all five of those projected starters, whether it's bras
and Jones or Ozzie Trapillo at left tackle, or are
are all five of those guys gonna play seventeen games?
Speaker 1 (34:20):
No, there's no chance, No, it would it would be.
I'm not wishing injuries on anyone, obviously, No, But the NFL,
it's the yeah, like you need. Ben Johnson has said
you need seven eight nine offensive lineman to be ready
to play at any time because you never know when
your number is gonna be called, and that that's that's
exactly what you need. So yeah, I would agree with you.
(34:41):
Karan doesn't get the job, he can still be a
very important swing tackle who needs to come in a
certain times. Bras and Jones and Ozzie Trapillo same thing.
So I I would agree with you. I I think
I I I I I think you know you got
to make the decision, but you're not going to fully
rely on one person.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Rick Chiming in good see a Rick.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
That's the reason Ben will not be afraid to start
Ozzie is because he has Tuny next to him that.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
Could play a factor in it.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
I don't I don't fully disagree with that assessment. I
think whoever you haven't left tackle is gonna benefit from
Joe Toney, Drew Dollman being in the interior. Jonah Jackson,
I think that definitely benefits and that that could potentially
be the reason why you put Braxton Jones in there.
Maybe if you're Ben Johnson, you're like, I don't want
to put a rookie in there for Game one.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
I want to.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
See what Braxton Jones can do when he's healthier and
with a much improved interior line. Right, Like, obviously you're
only as good as your teammates are at some point,
especially the offensive line, So maybe that does just get
Braxton Jones an opportunity to kind of be like, all right, Braxton,
we gotta see what you can do here, and if
it doesn't look good, you go.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
To the rookie.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
You know, sometime during the bye week, all right, Joe,
We've got Wednesday, the Bears going to be practicing against themselves,
same with Thursday. Friday is to joint practice against the Bills,
and then they play the Bills on Sunday night at seven.
I don't know who's scheduled a Sunday night seven o'clock
(36:11):
preseason game, but whatever. But I think you took a
lot from that practice against the Dolphins, Joe. I think
Friday's practice is.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
Going to be huge on a lot of different things.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
You're going against a team that is potentially not potentially,
they're a Super Bowl contender. Sure, and I think both
you know, both teams are going to treat Friday's practice,
I would assume as a really good moment to kind
of see where you are at this point. I think
the Bears have a big test to see where they
are against the Super Bowl contender. Are they going to
(36:45):
be able to pressure Josh Allen? Are they going to
be able to stop that offense. I'm really excited to
watch this defense go against that Bills offense. And for
the offense, obviously, you know, is Caleb is that offense
making progress.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
I know that.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
The the Bills defense probably isn't as good as it's
been in the last couple of years, but it's not
anything bad by any means. So what does Caleb Williams
look like? Is he able to do well in seven
on sevens? What does the eleven on to eleven look like?
How does Braxton Jones or Jossy Tripple look against this,
you know, defensive front from the Bills. I think Friday
(37:19):
is going to be huge, and I think you take
a lot from that practice on Friday in evaluating what
this Bears team is a couple of weeks before the
season starts.
Speaker 4 (37:29):
Yeah, I'm sure they'll look at that as a challenge too.
Like you said, this is one of the top teams
in the entire league. So there's an opportunity there to
again to ratch up the intensity because that's what's good.
You're gonna need that for all seventeen games, So another
opportunity there, And to me again, just stay healthy. Let's
let's not do stupid things. I mean, and we know
(37:49):
injuries happen on non contact place too, but come out
of it healthy and come out of it bringing the
same intention as you did against Miami last Friday, and
that'll be good.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
You don't want to see them to get riddled.
Speaker 4 (38:02):
But it is important for Caleb too, right because you need,
uh these kind of reps and you need to execute
and and to get a little as we get closer
to week one here. So it'll be fun and probably
it's probably gonna be more entertaining than the game Sunday night,
the actual game Sunday.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
Night, I would agree.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
I think these joint practices are just that's just just
the way of the NFL at this point. I think
a lot of these coaching staffs, they can control the
elements their quarterback doesn't get hit, they can work on
a lot of different things. They can agree with the
opposing coaches on what they're going to do. I think
they take a lot from these and I think, yeah,
I think you took a lot from Miami, and I
think you're going to take a lot from this Buffalo
(38:43):
Bills one. And I agree, uh, you know, with Caleb,
I think I'm looking at what does the process look
like and is the able you know, one of the
bigger things de glan Doyle talked about on Monday is
a big step in Caleb's development is going to be
how does the process what opposing defenses are doing. He
got used to Dennis Allen's defense, right, so he maybe
could tell, oh, I know this one, I know that
(39:05):
I need to go this way for the first time.
Against Miami, he went against the defense that throws a
lot of different fronts at you. So he's going to
get the same thing with the Bills. Where is he
seeing what the defense is putting out there? And is
he making the smart play hitting the wide receiver open
here in the end zone or when he's making his move,
or is he settling and scrambling like he has done
(39:26):
in the past. So I think that's honestly the biggest
thing that I'm looking for on Friday and even maybe Sunday.
How is Caleb processing what he's seeing and is he
processing the right way or is he making mistakes and
still scrambling like he has you know for most of
his career.
Speaker 4 (39:42):
Yeah, it would just be nice to see some like
easy throws, easy ten yard games. We see it every
Sunday in the National Football League, and guys who are
backup quarterbacks, guys who are not big name receivers, and
you know, it's first and ten and there's a guy
wide open on you know, on a seam round out
and it's it's a seventeen yard pickup.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
It's like, why don't the Bears have these easy like these?
Speaker 4 (40:05):
And not every play is easy, but gosh, the Bears,
it seemed like they're they're last in the league.
Speaker 3 (40:11):
Everywhere.
Speaker 4 (40:11):
Every pass has got to be thrown precisely, you know
where it's supposed to go. Every guy's got to run
the perfect route, Like it shouldn't have to be that hard.
Speaker 3 (40:20):
It wasn't that didn't look that hard for the Lions
last year. Jared Goff.
Speaker 4 (40:23):
I mean, he's a good quarterback, but you know he's
he's not Dan Marino in his prime.
Speaker 3 (40:28):
But there are a lot of easy throws.
Speaker 4 (40:30):
Can they just get enough these easy throws so Caleb
doesn't have to be you know, Dan Marino on every
single time, every single time he drops back to pass.
So I hope there are enough of those plays and
then when they are the tight ones, then you you know,
that's that's why he is the first pick in the draft.
You hope that he could he makes throws, so we
know he can make those crazy throws, great throws downfield
(40:53):
over the middle. But can can he you know, every
every play doesn't have to be it shouldn't have to
be where he's got to recognize what the defenses is
doing and what the what, what the coverage is and
and then make the perfect throw. Like it shouldn't be
that stressful. Because when I see NFL games on Sunday,
I see other teams not every throw Patrick Mahomes makes,
(41:15):
it's like a Hall of Fame caliber throw. He's got
some easy throws, you know. And again with the weapons
they have, you think guys are getting more open. I
mean a lot of games when I covered the Bears
in the pass sometimes like you know, I was covering
when when when Mitch was the quarterback and uh that
kind of kind of.
Speaker 3 (41:32):
Pre COVID right before COVID. So that was Mitch.
Speaker 4 (41:36):
But you look, you look down, feel like no one's open.
So Mitch got the criticism, deserved a lot of it,
but a lot of times guys weren't open. With this
group of receivers, I gotta believe guys are going to
be open. I mean with with you know, we mentioned
the names, so many times guys will be open and
you're not gonna have to make you shouldn't have to
be having to make the perfect throw every single time, all.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
Right, Joe?
Speaker 1 (41:59):
Before we say goodbye, I want to get your opinion.
Does dude, does Caleb and the starters? Do you want
to see them play on Sunday? How much do you
want to see them play? Like regardless, Like if I
told you that Friday's joint practice was perfect, you saw
exactly what you needed from the defense. You saw exactly
what you needed from the offense. Caleb had a great day.
(42:20):
Are you do you still want to see this team
practice on or you know, play at least a little
bit on Sunday?
Speaker 2 (42:25):
Or are you comfortable with?
Speaker 1 (42:27):
Okay, Friday was good, I don't really need to see
it on Sunday too.
Speaker 4 (42:31):
No, I'd want to see it Sunday and not just
one series. I mean again, you only have one more
tune up after this one, So no, I'd like to
see at least a quarter.
Speaker 3 (42:43):
Because it I think it's a game.
Speaker 4 (42:47):
I meant the uniform on like you said, Michael, it's
different from just having the practice jersey on and running
a few plays. I want to see it. I want
to see the starters, including the receive for at least
a quarter you.
Speaker 1 (43:04):
Yeah, I would like to see them play, regardless of
what happens on Friday. Obviously, injuries or something like that,
like don't play them obviously that that that goes without saying,
like you're not trying to prolong any injuries, But I
would like to see them play. I don't have a
specific number in mind, maybe more than a drive, just
to kind of get into the groove of things. If
you play a first a whole quarter, cool, If you
(43:27):
play a whole.
Speaker 2 (43:27):
First half, great cool.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
I'm not I don't have a specific snap count that
I'm looking for because I know that you can get
a lot more on Friday's practice than in a game
on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
But I do agree. You want to go through the process.
Speaker 1 (43:40):
Of getting ready, getting live action, going through the process
of getting Ben calling the offense in your head and
your helmet, and I think all that matters.
Speaker 2 (43:51):
Rick says starters have to play.
Speaker 1 (43:54):
Uh, mister uh says that what Rick said, Rick is
going as far as saying, I'll be limited if the
starters don't play.
Speaker 2 (44:03):
I think that's fair, right.
Speaker 1 (44:04):
I think you want to see them play, and you
want to see them go through the motions, and I
think the biggest thing is you don't want to go
out there on Monday night against the Vikings to start
the year, and there are issues Caleb isn't used to this,
or they were kind of surprised by this. Like you,
I think you obviously want to prepare this team as
(44:25):
much as possible, and I think Ben Johnson has shown
that he's going to do that. He values the details,
he values how important everything is to making this.
Speaker 2 (44:33):
Whole operation work.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
So I wouldn't be surprised he plays on Sunday, goes
through the motions, gets a driver too. When things look good,
things look bad.
Speaker 2 (44:43):
Ho hum.
Speaker 1 (44:44):
I'm am not going to take too much from it,
but I think you go through the process and he's
going to go out there and play a little bit,
and you know, life goes on and we'll talk about
it next week.
Speaker 4 (44:56):
Yeah, get a first down on the first drive? Please
get a first down? Uh. You know you mentioned the
two and we all saw it and you wrote about it.
I mean first two drives with with Bagent against Miami
looked like the twenty four Bears looked like the twenty
three Bears.
Speaker 3 (45:11):
Does that matter in a way?
Speaker 4 (45:13):
I do, Michael, because they were they had to be
the worst team in the NFL last year.
Speaker 3 (45:18):
In the first quarter offensively, right, there's stuck.
Speaker 4 (45:21):
It was three and out, three and out, and before
you know it, you're done ten nothing at the end
of the first quarter. So and you know this fan base,
I'm telling you you Monday night with the Vikings, it's
it's not gonna be ah.
Speaker 3 (45:34):
Let's be patient. It's the first year.
Speaker 4 (45:36):
And you know by week five those stocks showing signs
of improvement. They go three and out opening night. You've
seen it. I've seen it. Everyone watching has seen it.
This fan the boot Birds, they're gonna.
Speaker 3 (45:49):
Start coming out early. This is an impatient fan base.
Speaker 4 (45:53):
We got all the weapons, we got the coach everybody wanted,
we got the number one overall pick from the year before.
It's got us start happening. And I know it's a marathon,
it's not a sprint all that, but they've got to
start making it happen. And again, you got Minnesota, you
got Detroit. You know they're not gonna be favored neither game.
(46:14):
You start going too.
Speaker 3 (46:16):
Can you imagine it's the city's gonna.
Speaker 2 (46:18):
Be like you know, and you know that Brian Flores
isn't gonna exploding.
Speaker 4 (46:23):
Again all of a sudden, it's gonna be this, Oh
my gosh, here we go again.
Speaker 3 (46:26):
Get a first down and then go from there.
Speaker 1 (46:30):
Yeah, and you know that Brian Flores isn't gonna take
it easy on Ben Johnson in week one. He's gonna
he's gonna go after him pretty quickly. That's the Vikings
obviously defensive coordinator. But we will get into more week
one break breakdown obviously once we're a little bit closer
to the season. But that's everything that we got for
this week's episode live stream. Thanks so much to everyone
who joined us. If you join us on the live stream,
(46:50):
thank you for all your comments. It was great to
I'm here for you folks and see you guys chime in,
and if you're listening to the podcast, thank you as
always for listening to the podcast. If you want to
join us in our live stream, just look at our
social media. We usually we try to post at least
twenty four hours.
Speaker 2 (47:06):
Before we're going to do a live stream.
Speaker 1 (47:07):
It's a little bit hard with the training camp schedule
fluctuates here and there, but Joe and I will try
to do at least one if not two podcasts per
week just during training camp as we kind of get
you ready for the regular season. So make sure you
are checking us out and checking out our social media
when we're going to be doing our next podcast before
we do our regular you know, Monday Friday routine during
(47:30):
the regular season, So make sure you check out all
of Joe Aguilar's work over at the Northwest Hero. Like
Joe mentioned earlier in the stream football season, high school
football season is back and he's got you covered. Make
sure you're checking out all his work there, and as always,
make sure you're checking out all of my work with
Bears Insider. We've got you covered every day of training camp, games,
(47:52):
all that sort of stuff, so make sure you are
checking out all our work there.
Speaker 2 (47:55):
So thanks so much for joining us this week, folks,
and we will talk to you folks down the road.
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