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Jeff Choniac aka the Mayor

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of Bearsville and his sidekick Tom

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the surf Faster.

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There new coaching

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staff set for twenty twenty four the Bears. You're

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ready for the scouting combine and free agency.

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Welcome into another edition of Bears Weekly.

0:36

I'm Jeff Joniak with Super Bowl winning Bear Tom

0:38

Fair. Thanks to our producers Jordan tread

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Up and Dan Burrilly from the Bears. The executive

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producer of the Bears Radio Network is Eric Ostrowski.

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Coming up will be joined by Jim Miller in

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the program. Also here one on one interviews

0:50

I did earlier today at Halis Hall with offensive

0:52

coordinator Shane Waldron and defensive

0:54

coordinator Eric Washington Tom Good to talk

0:57

to you, how you feeling and what do you

0:59

think of the newscom which is first earlier

1:01

we now know the coaching staff short of an insistent

1:03

defensive line coach. Justin Hines was

1:06

taken by Seattle become their new defensive line

1:08

coach, and he did a nice job of the Senior Bowl

1:10

working with defensive lineman.

1:11

So he goes, and so another position yet

1:13

to fill.

1:14

But overall, we know what the philosophies

1:16

are going to look like a little bit.

1:17

You know, there's a lot I liked about it.

1:19

You know, back sixteen years ago when I got

1:21

to meet Eric Washington, it seemed to me

1:23

more like an introverted guy behind

1:26

the scenes, just learning his approach to

1:28

where his coaching was going to take

1:30

him through life. And then you think of

1:32

Shane Waldron. If you ask one

1:34

hundred people out in the streets where Toughs

1:36

University is, they're never going to be able

1:39

to tell you where. And that's what I like

1:41

about these two coaches. And just to

1:43

a now and analogize tree

1:45

climbing. When you have branches that

1:47

are built close to the ground, it's easy to climb

1:50

a tree. But when you don't have them

1:52

very close to the ground, you got to climb a tree

1:54

in your journey's a little bit more difficult.

1:56

And I think both.

1:57

Of these guys you have to respect

1:59

the jury they took. And that's why I mentioned Tufts

2:01

University for Shane Waldron and then

2:04

the coaching process through the Bill

2:06

Walsh program in the NFL for Eric

2:08

Washington.

2:09

And look what both of them have become.

2:11

And I think that benefits their experiences

2:14

through the coaching life. When they have

2:16

this opportunity, you

2:18

know that they've earned. I

2:20

think they have a lot to withdraw

2:23

from a lot of experiences.

2:24

That is one of the best analogies I've ever heard you

2:26

say, because you can visualize that very easily.

2:29

Totally makes sense. Totally, Tom,

2:31

nice job that Notre Dame degree is working.

2:34

Now.

2:34

I grew up in the backyard with trees, right,

2:37

and so one of my sisters and Nette,

2:39

used to love to climb trees and

2:42

she would be sitting way up at the top. But that's

2:44

what kind of when I was thinking about their journey

2:46

through coaching, that's kind of what it

2:48

reminded me of.

2:49

Well, a lot of folks are going to want to know, Hey, what

2:51

did we learn. We didn't learn a whole lot

2:53

about what the Bears will look like offensively.

2:56

In twenty twenty four, and beyond. Defensively,

2:59

we know what they're going to look like. But the combination

3:01

of philosophies ideas in

3:04

the same system over time that

3:07

is going to net some very interesting results.

3:09

On that side of the ball offensive side of the

3:11

ball.

3:11

At the main podium earlier today up

3:13

at Hattlesaw with the media, as expected,

3:16

they're not going to tip their hand in what direction they're going

3:18

in terms of the quarterback or any discussion

3:20

of specific personnel, which

3:22

I totally anticipated. And when we

3:24

sit down with Shane mini One, I want

3:26

to I didn't even try to go down that path.

3:28

I you want to learn more about the guy, and that's what we're

3:31

trying to figure out right now because in his case,

3:33

Tommy, he's been touched by so many

3:35

different people and these

3:37

are Super Bowl winning people in his career,

3:41

and so you can only imagine

3:44

what is going through his mind as he

3:46

puts together a plan. Now, one thing I

3:48

wanted to bring up and I just didn't have the

3:50

time allotted for.

3:51

Me to do this is what you talk about.

3:53

What I want to know is how

3:55

difficult will be the new language of

3:57

an offense that may be

4:00

similar, but it's not going to be the same as

4:02

everything that's done in San Francisco or

4:04

Seattle or Los Angeles with the Rams.

4:06

Just because he came from that tree, it's going to be tailored

4:09

to what they have. But you know, like you

4:11

you've indicated many times that that

4:13

may be the most important thing whatever

4:16

they do at the quarterback position, but for everybody else

4:18

is to learn learn what they're they're talking

4:20

about.

4:21

Yeah, they're they're going to learn a new language.

4:23

And they're super fortunate to have OTAs

4:26

and multiple mini camps.

4:29

In this new NFL, so I

4:31

think.

4:31

You have a lot more meeting room opportunity

4:34

to teach the language to these guys. When

4:36

they go out in the practice fields, they're

4:39

able to get any evaluation of

4:41

how well it's being taught and how well it's

4:43

being picked up. Because that's

4:46

one thing going into the first week of the

4:48

regular season. You cannot have interruption

4:50

in the thinking process of an offensive

4:53

football unit. You

4:55

know, there won't be much change uh

4:57

philosophically and terminology

4:59

from the defensive side of the ball. But

5:02

I think from Shane, you know he's

5:05

learned and develop a whole process of teaching

5:07

offensive football. But you know, one

5:09

thing that's interesting to me when I was Shane,

5:12

and I'm glad you brought her up because Shane

5:14

is the offensive coordinator, but you have

5:16

a passing coordinator and you have a run

5:18

coordinator, and I think that takes a little

5:20

bit of the pressure off of the offensive coordinator,

5:23

just like I think a guy like Eric Washington

5:25

can take away a little bit of the pressure from Matt

5:27

Eberflus.

5:28

To the head coach.

5:29

And so I like the way they

5:31

have this plan in place because all the

5:33

responsibility of teaching this language

5:36

doesn't fall under the shoulders of Shane.

5:39

It falls into the coaching

5:41

development and all the position

5:43

coaches on board.

5:44

All right, Coming up next, we'll be introduced to Shane

5:47

Waldron, the Bear's new offensive coordinator.

5:49

Here on esp in Chicago and the Bears Radio

5:51

Network.

5:52

This is Bears Weekly with a voice

5:55

of the Bears for twenty three years, Jeff

5:57

jony Aik on the Bears Radio

5:59

Network.

6:13

Just check.

6:13

The Bears Weekly is brought to you by IGS

6:15

Energy, Jeff and Tom Here on Bears Weekly

6:18

and I sit down which Shane Walder and the Bears

6:20

new offensive coordinator up at Haus Hall

6:23

earlier today.

6:23

All right, Shane, welcome to Chicago. How's

6:25

it fit. How's it fit for the Pacific Northwest?

6:28

Guy?

6:28

Yeah, this has been great.

6:29

You know, I feel like I've been in all parts

6:31

of the country from this in this coaching

6:33

world and close side Bend was in South

6:35

Bend, Indiana, and it was a two thousand

6:38

and six seven somewhere in that range with the

6:40

you know, with the with Notre Dame as a grad assistant.

6:42

So being back in the Midwest and you

6:45

know, some of the different people that have reconnected just from

6:47

being here over the last couple of weeks has been pretty

6:49

cool. Yeah.

6:49

You really have spanned the globe when you think about it, one

6:52

corner of the country to the next. Toughs, Patriots

6:55

and moving all around. But that is the life

6:57

of a coach trying to climb the

7:00

coaching ladder, which you have done very successfully.

7:04

How do you reflect on that journey

7:06

and now to the charter franchise of the National

7:08

Football League.

7:09

Yeah, I think for me it's been you know,

7:11

I feel like it's been very lucky, but also a

7:13

mix of luck and hard work that's led

7:15

me to this point. There's been great experiences.

7:18

Every every experience has been so unique in

7:20

different stops along the way and just try

7:22

to do my best to learn and figure

7:24

out what each stop has

7:27

to offer for me that I can take with

7:29

me moving forward on to the next one that fits my personality,

7:31

fits my style, and you know that

7:34

leads us to, you know, what would be the best way to run

7:37

an offense.

7:37

You know, I find it funny.

7:38

I didn't realize this until I've known Eric

7:41

Washington for a long time.

7:42

But he was a tight end.

7:43

You were a tight end long snappers's college

7:45

president. Now we got two tight ends. We got a defensive

7:48

coordinator was a tight end. We got an

7:50

offensive corner tight end. That's a significant

7:52

position, obviously because of the multiplicity

7:55

of job responsibilities.

7:57

But I think good.

7:58

Coaches come from that of

8:00

the tight end position, offensive line

8:02

position, defensive line position.

8:04

Would you agree, Yeah, I think you know, as far

8:06

as that goes, I'm sure he's at I saw him up

8:08

on the podium. I don't know if I'm doing one on

8:10

ones with them anytime soon. But you know, for me,

8:12

also coach in that position, I thought was a big

8:14

help in my coaching

8:16

journey because, like you mentioned, it is a position that

8:19

has to know the run game, has to know protections,

8:21

has to know the pass game, and I think

8:23

aside from the quarterback, it does have the biggest

8:25

crossover in terms of having to know

8:27

the full field and what's going on throughout

8:30

the course of the offense.

8:31

You know, I've always followed the paths

8:33

of all players and who touched

8:35

them, you know, the touch points in their life. And you've

8:37

been surrounded by Super Bowl head

8:40

coaches, guys have won the game. But

8:42

and I just started, I just

8:44

got back from Vacationion just was reading Bill Belichick's

8:47

book. I'm on page seventy six and

8:49

you had time to spend with the Patriots.

8:52

How important you think that turned out to be?

8:54

When you're getting.

8:55

Different successful coaches, whether

8:58

it be veteran coaches that

9:00

took a while to get there or young coaches

9:02

that grew up in a family of coaches.

9:04

I mean, how significant is that to what

9:07

you are becoming?

9:08

Yeah, I think you know, you know the coaches,

9:10

a lot of the other coaches on that staff along with Coach

9:12

Belichick, just the attention to detail,

9:15

you know, the desire to get things done, to

9:18

work hard, you know, all those things. I was fortunate

9:20

enough to be around, you know, at a young agent,

9:22

and I was still learning. You know, there's a I had

9:24

a long way to go, still have a long way to go, and

9:27

in being a finished product, but that really did help

9:29

to lay a foundation. And and I thought

9:31

his messaging and hit the style of players

9:33

that were around that team, uh, those

9:35

different teams at those times.

9:36

You know, there were so many great leaders, so many

9:38

great.

9:39

White guys that set an example of what

9:41

it would look like with a great locker room. And

9:43

so it painted a pretty clear picture for me, you

9:45

know, moving forward in a coaching career, of

9:48

of what what the what that looks like, what

9:50

a team that's that's really built the right way looks

9:52

like.

9:52

We often now look at trees, coaching

9:54

trees, and certainly there's some

9:56

notable coaching trees that you've been a part of

9:59

offensively making successful In

10:02

terms of what your vision is for the

10:04

Bears offense, not necessarily Shane

10:06

Waldron's offense, but the Bears offense.

10:10

Is it adaptable to many different

10:12

types of players, especially the quarterbacks.

10:14

Yeah, especially, I mean, I think in my mind in

10:16

this league because every year, you know, the roster

10:18

turnover or injuries or different things that happened.

10:21

I think the ability to be adaptable on offense

10:23

is a key component to that. The ability to have

10:25

a system that can adjust to

10:27

the quarterback skill set, the running back skill set,

10:29

what O line you have that year, the tight ends, the

10:32

receivers. To me, all those things go together. So

10:34

having a good foundational approach to it,

10:36

or we have a group of coaches that are great teachers,

10:39

great with fundamentals, and then you

10:41

have this system that's allowed to expand

10:43

or contract or go in different

10:46

variations depending on what the players are and who

10:49

you have that particular year.

10:50

Yeah, or who you're playing, you know exactly.

10:52

I keep going back to Bill Belichick's other

10:54

coaches are like this, but you know,

10:56

hey, you know, take away what

10:58

they wanted do best

11:00

and focus on that. That was his mindset often,

11:04

but to exploit as well. You have

11:06

very flexible and adapt even in the course of a game.

11:08

And if you're in a box where it's because,

11:11

to be honest, some offensive coaches

11:13

that we do what we do, that's their

11:15

theme. But today's game, do you think it's

11:18

necessary to be super

11:20

flexible?

11:21

I do. I think you need to be. You still have to have

11:23

a core foundation.

11:24

You still need to be able to do the things well

11:26

that you know you need to do on offense, you know, starting

11:28

with being able to run the ball, starting with

11:30

being able to protect, but then from

11:33

there, knowing how variable

11:35

defensive defenses have become in

11:37

this league and how multiple almost

11:39

every team you're playing week in and week out. You

11:42

know, you might run into a game where nothing

11:44

on film is showing up in that particular

11:46

game. So being able to ready to adjust and

11:48

not have to you know, create a new

11:50

offense on the sideline, but be able to teach what

11:53

we're doing against a different style of defense

11:55

and still be able to attack them in an

11:57

aggressive manner.

11:58

How important is it to you to have people

12:00

that you work with before coming aboard here

12:03

from Seattle? Thomas

12:05

Brown obviously, and then that

12:07

same vein. It's now in vogue

12:09

for almost every team to have a run game coordinator

12:12

pass game coordinator.

12:13

How helpful is that to the offensive coordinator?

12:15

I think, you know, uh, you know, one thing I've

12:17

learned in a couple of years now in the role is

12:20

the ability to divvy up

12:22

the tasks and you know, spread out the

12:24

workload so there isn't one particular person

12:26

that's bogged down or another and it

12:28

gets everyone you know, working more together,

12:31

gets everyone involved, and so to

12:33

be able to have Thomas Brown, to be able to have Chris Morgan

12:35

as as a run game coordinator and a pass

12:38

game coordinator where they can

12:40

really have different pods and meetings throughout the week

12:42

as well. You know, we can all be

12:44

efficient while we're working, but also at

12:46

the end of the day get to the same the same

12:48

place that we all want to go through our communication,

12:50

which really starts in the off season of getting

12:53

on the same page where we want to go. But those guys will be a

12:55

tremendous help, and you know, it's been good just in

12:57

the short couple of weeks that we've been working

12:59

so far. You can see what direction and what

13:02

type of communication will have together.

13:04

Would you agree, And I don't want to put words

13:06

in your mouth, but would you agree

13:09

that in some respects, play

13:11

calling for the offense is an art and

13:14

it's there's a lot of different artists

13:17

and a lot of way to make the same schemes

13:19

that are now popularly in the league, you

13:22

know, look different, even even though they may

13:24

not be fundamentally different.

13:26

Yeah, I think you know, just the you

13:28

know, trying to be creative without you

13:30

know, losing the the individual

13:33

techniques and the core beliefs

13:35

that you have to have in football.

13:36

I think that's the balance.

13:38

You know, how how creative can you be, how stressed

13:40

can you make the defense, but without losing

13:42

the integrity of being

13:44

able to you know, have great footwork or

13:46

play grounded or you know, get open

13:49

at the top of route. So I think, you know, combining

13:51

those things to me is the real art. And and

13:53

you know, as the play calls go, you know

13:55

that balance of you know, the

13:57

analytical approach, but also the field of

14:00

the game, which I do think there is a you know, when

14:02

you're talking about a live action game,

14:04

you know there is a combination of the two

14:07

that go into it.

14:08

So in terms of your game plan,

14:10

I've known some coordinators they want

14:12

to shut their door, lock it down. Some

14:15

guys do it Friday night. Some guys, you

14:17

know, just put the hay in the barn long before that. What

14:19

kind of guy is Shane Waldron

14:21

In terms of setting up that game plan for Sunday.

14:24

Right, I think real process driven.

14:25

You know, it kind of have the times

14:27

of each day throughout the course of the week where

14:30

we want to knock out different sections of it. And

14:32

like I said, a collaborative effort where

14:34

different guys are involved in different areas, you

14:37

know, where it's all funnels to that final

14:40

call sheet on Sunday.

14:41

All right, Tom, some of the things I didn't get into with

14:44

him, but I can't wait to. And it's

14:46

significant whether it's with Justin

14:48

or if it's going to be Caleb Williams

14:51

or another quarterback in the draft, whatever the case

14:53

may be, Tyson baging for that, it matter.

14:55

You know.

14:55

One of the things that becomes important

14:58

and you'll notice also in the

15:00

conversation and our next segment, Eric Washing

15:02

about pressure on the quarterback

15:05

position. Pressure that applied to an offense

15:08

is that time of getting rid of the football,

15:10

and Shane helped significantly

15:14

in the time to throw

15:17

for those Seattle quarterbacks

15:19

because in the past that was not

15:21

the case. The same with Russell Wilson. They hung on

15:23

the ball a little bit, and some quarterbacks

15:26

do. But in today's NFL you really can't, can you.

15:28

No, you can't.

15:29

And you know when you talk about the difference

15:31

in the quarterback play that Shane has been around.

15:34

To me, the biggest impression that I

15:36

was always left with is Geno Smith

15:39

because I know me I kind

15:41

of gave up on Geno Smith and

15:43

then all of a sudden he goes to Seattle, and he

15:45

goes there and he has comeback

15:47

Player of the Year.

15:48

He has a year that is.

15:50

Pro Ball, all Pro caliber, and

15:53

so that tells me more about

15:55

Shane Waldron than it does

15:57

all the quarterbacks that he's worked with, because

15:59

when you don't have I don't necessarily think

16:01

he's a reclamation project. However,

16:04

you know, he has some stops along the way that he doesn't

16:06

he didn't have the success that he did in Seattle.

16:09

So that's one thing that really impressed

16:11

me about Shane the most, you

16:13

know, specifically to the quarterback position.

16:15

And he was excellent as a play caller

16:18

on early downs last year in Seattle.

16:20

They made first downs on first

16:23

downs, okay, And that's something that

16:25

Matt Eberflus has talked about a lot

16:27

offensively that he'd like to see

16:29

because you know that keeps like.

16:31

You, Tom, you're a first down guy.

16:32

I'm a first down guy.

16:33

Yeah, you're a first down guy. All right.

16:35

When we come back, we'll be hearing from the Bears

16:37

new defensive corder to help Matt Eberflus,

16:40

that is Eric Washington it's all coming up next year

16:42

on Bears Weekly, and they asked one thousand of the Bears

16:44

Radio Network.

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16:48

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16:50

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twenty four by visiting Chicago Bears

17:12

vip dot Com. Eric

17:15

Washington not new to Hallus huw

17:17

It's where he got his NFL start and where

17:19

he continues to pick up at the baton as

17:21

he enters twenty twenty four as the new defensive

17:23

coordinator.

17:24

First of all, congratulations, good to see

17:26

you. Appreciate the big bear hug.

17:29

Back when I first met you, I didn't need glasses,

17:31

but you still look the same.

17:32

What's the story.

17:34

I appreciate that. It's great to be back.

17:37

Just trying to take care of myself. I want to

17:39

remain viable. I have a teenager of

17:41

thirteen year old son, and I just want

17:43

to make sure I remained viable and active

17:46

for him.

17:46

You know, you're at sixteen years since you

17:49

had a position here. But I even go back

17:51

to when you are a Bill Walsh Minority

17:53

Fellowship intern. Right two thousand

17:55

and five, Bears go to the playoffs that year, first

17:58

time under Lovey in his second season, you

18:00

did that more than once twice. Yeah,

18:02

So how valuable did that turn out to be in

18:04

retrospect for you?

18:05

It was unbelievable.

18:07

Just first of all, it was my introduction to the NFL,

18:11

which is a different landscape

18:13

than college football, and I

18:16

got a chance to be around outstanding

18:18

players. Brian Irlacker was

18:21

here, and it just gave

18:23

me insight and perspective on

18:25

how to be an effective facilitator at

18:27

this level, which is a little bit different

18:29

than what it takes to

18:32

be successful in college.

18:33

So just being able to.

18:35

See that, to be in the meetings to understand

18:37

how this entire machine works,

18:40

it was an unbelievable introduction

18:43

to that.

18:43

Yeah. Now, as you take a step

18:46

back and if you could go down.

18:47

That long tunnel from what you were

18:49

then as a coach and how

18:51

you were viewed and respected already to

18:54

where we are sitting here today, Bears.

18:56

Defensive coordinator in twenty twenty four.

18:58

It's almost surreal and

19:01

it's a tremendous blessing. And

19:03

you know when for me, when

19:07

you achieve something

19:09

like this, I go back to the players.

19:12

I go back because you know, great good

19:14

coaches are made by great players. And

19:17

I think about all of the individuals

19:19

who trusted me, followed

19:22

through with what

19:24

we asked them to do, what I asked them to do,

19:27

and the value that they allowed

19:29

me to add to their life. And

19:33

I've tried to do what I asked players to

19:35

do, and that's grow, that's continue

19:37

to get better, to grow, to use

19:39

your experiences, those that are exactly

19:42

what you want and maybe those that fall a little bit

19:44

short, to continue to help you advance and

19:47

whatever you're trying to get done. So it's

19:50

just a wonderful testament to that. I

19:53

have nothing but gratitude and appreciation. And

19:56

I'm still growing.

19:58

And it's in the family of defenses that

20:00

you know, you started with here with Lovey, and

20:02

I used to love having conversations with

20:04

Lovey, as I'm sure you did, and with players

20:07

like he was about fundamentals, he was

20:09

about technique, he was about being in the right gap.

20:11

He's about you get off at the line of scrimmage

20:14

where your foot was, you know, I can remember detailed

20:16

conversations about that and then the

20:18

fight where players are going on instinct right,

20:21

like Lance. I joke with Lance

20:23

all the time. Lovey would be furious. Sometimes

20:25

he wouldn't be in his gap, but he knew how

20:27

to get gets skinny and get in there. As

20:30

this as this family of defenses

20:32

has evolved with the evolution of

20:34

the game and a lot more mobile quarterbacks

20:37

that could basically be wide

20:39

receivers or tight ends, and you're dealing with them

20:41

in a different way. How have you adapted

20:43

your thinking and coaching and with

20:46

a lot of it being on the defensive line.

20:47

Sure, the game of football

20:50

at this level has evolved tremendously.

20:53

And I remember when

20:56

some of the things in college that we saw

20:58

in college and contrast were like, well, there

21:01

are no running quarterbacks here. The quarterback

21:03

won't be a featured runner, so you

21:05

don't have to worry about this. You don't have to worry about

21:07

some of these things. And that's just not the case anymore.

21:10

We have to plan on so many different

21:13

types of presentations from an

21:15

offensive from an offense, and

21:17

we have to really understand what's going on in

21:19

college football. We really have to understand

21:22

the background of some of these players, especially

21:24

on the offensive side, to be able to have

21:26

a plan to defend it, to stop it,

21:28

to disrupt it, or whatever. And so you

21:30

have to continue to grow. There's

21:33

some things that are constants in this business,

21:36

the fundamentals blocking and tackling, plan,

21:39

you know, being able to affect a quarterback, playing

21:41

great coverage, and how those things complement each

21:43

other. But you have to evolve and understand

21:46

the trends. And sometimes the trends are

21:48

created here in the NFL, and sometimes they're

21:51

created other places.

21:52

So the Bearers were number one step of the run

21:55

a year after they were far different

21:57

from that. The adjustment's made nice job

21:59

by Matt and the addition of talent, and they

22:01

started taking the.

22:02

Ball away, which is talked about huge

22:05

crazily.

22:06

And Lovey did the same, and you've

22:08

done the same with your stops as well, with Ron Rivera

22:11

and Sean McDermott in Buffalo.

22:15

But pressure is king. Pressure

22:18

breaks pipes.

22:19

I don't know how many players have told me that there's

22:22

different ways of skin a cat.

22:23

What do you envision here in terms of

22:25

the pressure packages?

22:26

Start well, starting with we want

22:28

our pressures to really compliment the

22:31

different looks that we present, and

22:33

so we want to make sure that the quarterback

22:35

and the offense in general

22:37

that they are not really sure where we're coming

22:39

from. So you start with just being

22:42

able being in an alignment and a

22:44

grouping that says, okay, I'm not real sure. There's

22:46

not a lot of information that we're getting

22:48

from them, and then from there we

22:50

can decide what we want to do in terms

22:52

of deploying this particular pressure.

22:55

But it all starts with our front four. You

22:57

know, every defensive coordinator or

22:59

every head coach would love to rush for. And

23:02

then you know, have seven guys

23:04

in coverage that provides the

23:06

type of cover and we can get into different coverage

23:08

packages. But when you can generate pressure

23:10

with four and it feels like you're you're sending

23:12

a fifth guy, then that's that's when

23:14

he decided to deploy that guy. At

23:17

times, you can really overwhelm the offense. So

23:20

we have to affect the outstanding

23:23

quarterbacks that you see in this business, and

23:25

the first way that you do that is take away the dimension

23:28

of being able to run the football once

23:30

they Once we're in in a mindset

23:32

where we can kind of predict and anticipate. It

23:35

allows us to play faster, and it limits

23:37

their options.

23:38

All right, tell me about your relationship with Big Matt.

23:40

Matt, he loves

23:42

he loves coaches as much he loves players, and

23:44

he holds coaches as accountable as he does as players.

23:47

It's a unique approach in my opinion,

23:49

how he looks at things.

23:50

But you've known him a while.

23:51

Right, Yeah, Just

23:55

you know, Matt was at Dallas. He

23:57

was a linebackers coach there and

23:59

I was coaching the defensive line. I became acquainted

24:02

with him through my good friend Rod mayor

24:04

Nell Morris, And all

24:06

of a sudden, you know, when when Rod likes

24:08

somebody's probably somebody that you're

24:10

going to end up like it. And not just because

24:13

of the football acumber, because of the values

24:15

and and and just the way the

24:17

type of person that is which affects

24:20

which what we all do for a living.

24:22

Uh.

24:23

And then when Matt went to the Indianapolis

24:25

coach and I was transitioning away from Carolina,

24:28

we had some conversations about possibly working

24:30

together. At that time. We saw

24:32

each other at various off season

24:35

Senior Bowl combine, just

24:37

different things, and we talked and

24:40

when the time when the time and the opportunity

24:42

presented itself for us to finally

24:44

get a chance to work together. I

24:47

got a call from him and I and I was

24:49

just I was excited

24:51

because of who was on the end of that call. Obviously

24:54

the Chicago Bears, but it's somebody

24:56

that you know and that you trust, that you have

24:58

a lot of respect for.

25:00

All Right, so you've had a chance to digest

25:02

I'm sure what you've seen on tape from

25:04

this defense which was

25:06

flying around last year. I love the vibrancy

25:09

of the secondary. I love the attitude

25:11

of the linebackers and athletic as they are

25:14

and get to the football and make a lot of tackles

25:16

and then a developing defensive

25:18

line. I mean, there's a lot here to chew on, plus

25:20

more coming down the pike.

25:22

Here.

25:23

What's your first flashpoint reaction

25:25

to it.

25:25

We're going through the video right now, the

25:27

film. We're reviewing last season and looking

25:30

at different concepts, and when we got

25:32

in the room as a staff, I just I

25:34

was like, Wow, here we go, right, here

25:36

we go, and it's

25:38

exciting to watch to just

25:41

watch how tough this group plays.

25:43

They play tough, they play defense like

25:45

I like to see defense play and it's

25:47

with an attitude, it's within a certain

25:49

mindset and aggressiveness

25:52

that they are. Definitely they are a contact

25:55

driven defense. They want to turn

25:57

the guy around whoever has the football,

26:00

and that's where where we're starting from.

26:02

Is just exciting.

26:02

And then to say, okay, let's start here and let's take

26:05

it to a different plateau. As

26:07

we're going through the cutups in the video, I just

26:10

I'm just excited about what I'm seeing.

26:12

Yeah, and you know the guy who sticks

26:14

out just use the new addition that really kind

26:16

of multiplied the talent level was

26:18

Montest sweat.

26:19

Without those kind of guys, No, without

26:21

question, great length, great

26:24

mindset, speed, strength, He's

26:26

everything that you're looking for in an edge rusher. And

26:29

but at the same time, he wants to be

26:31

one and eleven. He wants he doesn't want

26:33

to go outside of the scheme and outside of the concept

26:35

to get to get the job done. He's concerned

26:38

about winning and contributing to

26:40

that.

26:40

Eric, good to have you here, welcome back.

26:42

Thank you, it's great to be here.

26:44

All right.

26:44

So at the outset, I said, hey, thanks

26:46

for the bear hug Man that that dude,

26:48

first of all, is big, and he just you can tell

26:50

how happy he is. He's happy he

26:53

is back here, and he's got

26:55

a great title and and a lot to work

26:57

with on the defensive side of the ball.

26:58

With more to come, Tommy, Yeah, you know.

27:00

The great Clyde Emrick always said is when

27:02

people look at you during your coaching

27:05

career or your playing career, make him

27:07

know that you're a football player from the

27:09

first.

27:10

Time they see you.

27:11

And when I saw Eric up at the podium, he

27:13

looked like a guy that could get in the stance as

27:15

a defensive end.

27:16

But I think it.

27:17

Also it reflects respect

27:21

from his players, and he talked about it

27:23

how he wanted that reflection upon

27:25

his thirteen year old son. And

27:27

so Eric is really pointed

27:29

in the right direction. And I'm really

27:32

excited to see that about him now.

27:34

I want to see him flourish as a defensive

27:37

coordinator here with the Bears.

27:38

Right and you know, with that side of the ball.

27:40

Also, now the influence

27:43

of somebody who's been really good on the defensive

27:45

line. That's why I focused on that pressure, the

27:47

pressure of quarterbacks, how that's

27:49

going to transpire, whether it be with

27:52

a little bit more blitzing than maybe out of

27:54

the beginning of this scheme, which is four man

27:56

pressure or just great players

27:59

and a combination of both.

28:00

You got to keep offenses off bounce.

28:03

But I was more encouraged about the fore man.

28:05

Pressure, Yeah, because you can do a lot to develop

28:07

an offense, especially with the traits

28:10

of length of Tremaine Edmans or the ability

28:13

of TJ. Edward, so of a guy

28:15

like Jack Sanborn. Even the defensive

28:18

backs that they have a board already, so I

28:20

think there's other guys that can contribute.

28:22

However, if you can start that engine

28:24

with fore man pressure, it gives you a lot

28:26

of versatility.

28:27

All right.

28:27

Coming up next, we are joined by Jim

28:29

Miller, our partner here on Bears

28:31

Weekly. We'll discuss where the Bears are headed on both

28:34

sides of the ball. It's all coming up next here on Bears Weekly

28:36

and ESPN one thousand and the Bears Radio

28:38

Network.

28:40

This is Bears Weekly with a voice

28:42

of the Bears for twenty three years, Jeff

28:44

jony Aik on the Bears Radio

28:47

Network.

28:52

This second of Bears Weekly has brought to you by Athletical

28:54

Physical Therapy. Visit Athletico dot com to requested

28:57

in clinic or virtual appointment and start feeling

28:59

better than mine sorrow. Jeff Joniek, Tom Fair

29:02

back on the air with us in our

29:04

program today, Big Jim Miller getting

29:06

ready. Let me know, because I don't know if you

29:08

just keep a suitcase next to the bed, big.

29:10

Time, you know you don't go anywhere.

29:12

You're gonna be going somewhere soon for the sunshine

29:15

of Maui. But Jim's on the move, So do you

29:17

have the suitcase pre packed and ready to

29:19

go because the combine's coming out?

29:21

Buddy, Yeah, that's right.

29:23

I'm gonna take off Monday night to

29:25

head down to Indianapolis. And yeah, always

29:28

a big weekend, or I should say week

29:30

of as the players start to get measured and

29:33

you just really start to get honed

29:35

in on these players. But I'll be down there Monday

29:38

night, Tuesday all the way through Saturday.

29:41

And just know these players that already scheduled

29:43

about seventy interviews with

29:45

players, so anybody from

29:48

you name it, from the old lineman to the

29:50

defensive backs to the quarterback, so we'll

29:53

get a good inside look

29:55

at some of these players and why they're worthy

29:57

of being selected.

29:58

Jim, I have tried to pull time over

30:00

there to the Indianapolis for a week.

30:02

He's just not having it. He has his TV.

30:05

He'll sit there and watch it and do his analysis

30:07

work. He'll read up, he'll get some notes

30:09

and then get you know, come on, Tom one

30:12

time, a whole.

30:13

Week in Indie with us. Do you know much fun

30:15

you'd have?

30:16

Number one you've never asked me.

30:18

Number two is I've been to the combine.

30:21

When it's my own and others. So yeah, I was

30:24

curious for both of you guys.

30:26

So last year watching the Combine, it

30:28

was an oh my gosh moment because when

30:30

I saw Bryce Young standing with the rest

30:32

of the quarterbacks, I was going, Wow, I

30:35

can't believe the indifferences in

30:37

sizes of.

30:39

The players at this position.

30:41

Have either of you guys ever had a wild

30:43

moment of a guy that's really big

30:45

or small from what for

30:47

the first time seeing them?

30:50

Yeah, I mean, well, you bring up a good point,

30:52

Tom, because to me, that's

30:54

what you want to do. You want to compare apples

30:57

to apples. You know, when you saw Bryce

30:59

Young in house small he was, or

31:01

say, like, when I was down there, I'll

31:04

never forget this. Tam Newton ended up

31:06

throwing right. That was the lockout year and

31:08

would he go number one overall?

31:10

But you could just see how

31:13

much physically bigger he

31:15

was than the other quarterbacks. And of course he

31:17

threw that time, and he wasn't the most accurate

31:19

quarterback, but you could see the

31:22

talent in cam Newton and why he

31:24

was selected number one overall.

31:26

But I think that's a big part of it, because

31:29

I remember even when I went to the combine, I

31:31

was mad that he Shuler

31:33

and Trent Dilferd didn't throw because

31:35

they were in my group and they elected

31:38

not to throw, and it was like me, Gus

31:40

Farrott and a couple other quarterbacks, and I

31:42

was upset about it because I wanted my

31:44

arm to show up and compare

31:47

to theirs, and unfortunately that

31:49

didn't happen. Of Course, those guys went, you

31:51

know, basically one and two overall, but

31:53

I felt I could hang with those guys. But you

31:56

definitely can compare apples to apples.

31:58

Yeah, for me, Tommy, just the intrigue

32:01

happens when there's a storyline.

32:03

So you know, I've been going to these combines

32:06

since they didn't have it in the inside the dome

32:10

there in the facility, I mean, it was it

32:12

was just a few people, but I remember one

32:14

Orlando Pace.

32:16

I think that was the ninety seven draft.

32:18

I literally went and we're on zoom right

32:20

now, so we can all see each other fans out there

32:22

listening. But I looked up and I'm five

32:25

seven and a half on a good day, and I'm this is

32:27

the biggest human being I've ever seen, and that as

32:29

I intimidated.

32:30

And he was the nicest guy of all time. And then

32:32

you had the.

32:32

Maurice Clorette Draft, remember that he

32:35

was a petitioned to get in, and that was

32:37

a crazy show.

32:38

And you know, it's just this mob of

32:40

people.

32:40

And you know Johnny Manziel I

32:43

thought he'd be a little bigger than I thought, and

32:45

he was.

32:45

He was a tiny quarterback as well. He probably

32:47

weighed one.

32:48

Hundred and sixty pounds, soaking

32:50

wet, it seemed. But you know, stuff

32:52

like that, for me, this is you know, now,

32:54

it's always become it's the quarterbacks. It's

32:56

all about the quarterbacks, and certainly as it relates

32:58

to the Bears, it'll be about the back.

33:00

So I can't wait.

33:01

I hope to sit with Jimmy on Saturday and watch

33:03

the quarterbacks. Actually, if he'll allow me just

33:06

to get his Jim would do would you allow

33:08

me the honor?

33:09

I mean, come on, be there, Jeff, let's do

33:11

it.

33:11

I want to hear as it's happening in

33:13

real time. What's going on? And how

33:16

many of these guys do we think are gonna throw?

33:19

Yeah, well I hope all of them do. I

33:22

think it only benefit See that's

33:24

what I mean about Kim Newton. I brought up Kim

33:26

Newton. He did not throw well. He

33:28

literally missed a lot of his targets.

33:31

But you could see his arm, how

33:33

the ball popped out of his hand, but

33:35

you know the fluidity with how he

33:38

threw, and he didn't complete

33:40

a lot of passes. Like I said, you know, I remember

33:42

the next day reading all these reports.

33:44

While he's inaccurate with the football, it

33:47

doesn't matter. These are new receivers,

33:50

all that stuff. All I know is you

33:52

could see the talent and evaluate

33:54

him and say that guy is the first rounder without

33:56

a doubt. He ended up going number one overall

33:59

and it didn't hurt him. Didn't hurt

34:01

him that he didn't complete a lot

34:03

of passes because you can see the arm strength,

34:06

you can see the ball pop out of his hand, you

34:08

can see the footwork, just the physical

34:10

stature of him, and so

34:13

all that stuff matters, and it's not going to hurt

34:15

you. A lot of people think, oh, I didn't test

34:17

well at the draft and it's going to hurt him. A lot of

34:19

coaches and gms are not going to bang

34:21

a guy. They're actually happy that

34:24

you're there working out where they can see

34:26

you up close and personal, going

34:28

about your business. The other thing

34:30

I would say, Jeff and Tom, we

34:33

all know that there's a lot of ancillary

34:36

other stuff that is going on down at the combine,

34:38

i e. Trades, i e. Free

34:41

agents. Think of the Bears last year, Ryan

34:43

Pouls that's when he went down to

34:45

the combine and he was already

34:48

working behind closed doors with Scott

34:50

Fitterer at that point, the GM of

34:52

the Carolina Panthers to what facilitated

34:55

trade. So there's so much

34:57

going on at night, a lot of private meetings,

35:00

free agents who are going to be available

35:02

that maybe you'll have a shot at taking

35:04

meeting with the agents, those type

35:07

of things. And yeah, the free agency window

35:09

hasn't open, but that's where all these

35:11

trades and signings

35:14

and all these things really start to get the

35:16

ball rolling is in Indianapolis

35:18

where you start to solidify at least open

35:20

the door for some of those deals to get

35:22

done.

35:23

Tommy, what do you want to see at this combat? Because

35:25

much like you know the Senior Bowl, when agents

35:27

have a say and their players get pulled for the game

35:30

or later in the week they say, you guys have done

35:32

enough agents sport

35:34

pulling out of bowl games. You know, they may

35:36

advise players that may not be

35:38

ready to have that sparkling

35:41

forty or throw up enough weight in

35:43

the bench presses, or to just go

35:45

into the actual you know, the throwing

35:47

and catching aspect of it.

35:49

What do you want to see and what do you hope that doesn't happen?

35:52

Well, you know two things I want. First of all,

35:54

I don't want any injuries to happen. Yeah, I

35:56

think that's the most important part about any

35:59

combine that you go to any senior

36:01

day. The two things is the rebound

36:03

in some arm talent from the quarterback position

36:05

that I saw at practices at the Senior Ball.

36:08

That I wasn't very impressed with.

36:10

And then number two, and I think Jim brought

36:12

it up as well as you, is the

36:14

defensive tackle position. I

36:16

don't I like

36:18

size, but I like, I'm more intrigued

36:20

by explosiveness. Because

36:23

you can take a guy that's three hundred

36:25

and fifty pounds that's maybe good for ten

36:27

to eleven snaps a game, or it's

36:29

really difficult getting him to stay on schedule

36:32

in terms of his weight and his accountability.

36:35

Give me a guy that shows extreme explosiveness,

36:38

the guy that you can maybe imagine being

36:40

on your football team as that defensive

36:43

end or that three technique or multiple positions

36:45

up and down the line of scrimmage that can come

36:48

in and be part of that contributing

36:51

rotation like we saw Dexter Junior

36:53

and Zach Pickens do this year as

36:56

rookies. But I really

36:58

need to see that top notch exploit, as.

37:01

Jim Tom asked me the other day,

37:04

because you know, he's always thinking ball. So

37:06

he throw these questions out that right, he gets

37:08

me, and then I feel like, God, I'm not even thinking

37:10

about this right now.

37:11

I mean, he's putting me on the.

37:12

Spot because I gotta I gotta try to

37:14

impress my my partner here.

37:16

So he goes, what a yeah he wants?

37:19

So Jim Tom Tom

37:21

fire off the reaction one you gave me this

37:23

week, did you say.

37:25

Not who, but what position do you want

37:28

most for the Bears throughout free agency?

37:30

So don't give me a name, just give me

37:32

a position that you want. And so,

37:35

you know, Jeff gives you a pair a paragraph

37:37

explanation before and he finally

37:40

says.

37:41

I set into your defensive lineman, Jim,

37:43

what about.

37:44

You three technique?

37:46

Yeah?

37:46

Same okay? And Tom you felt the same way.

37:49

A penetrating, dominant

37:52

three technique disrupting. That's what's

37:54

missing from from the defense in

37:57

my opinion. And then you know, offensively,

38:00

Yeah, we're going to talk about obviously

38:02

the elephant in the room, and

38:04

that's a quarterback. You know,

38:06

I think obviously the Bears are sitting in

38:08

the spot where they can get this right, where

38:11

they can really

38:13

solidify themselves for the next ten to fifteen

38:16

years at a position that has been elusive

38:18

for them. And I've been on

38:21

record and I've been very public about it. They

38:23

can do both. They can keep Justin fields

38:26

and they can still draft a quarterback and develop

38:28

a young quarterback because Justin hasn't

38:30

reached his ceiling yet and it's up to

38:33

him to reach that ceiling. Let

38:35

him play, Let them compete. The

38:37

cream always rises to the top. It'll

38:40

really benefit Justin in

38:42

my opinion, because again we

38:44

know the talent is there. Everybody's seen

38:46

the talent of him, and really his career

38:49

should start to take off. But you

38:51

can still address the quarterback position as

38:54

a fallback.

38:55

Tom Jeff, Yeah, you're not the only one

38:57

that gets my question.

38:58

I do send those questions to a.

38:59

Guy like Tommy Waddle and he won't

39:01

give me a sing an answer that you I'm looking

39:04

for a reaction. He wants to give me a

39:06

paragraph and then kind

39:08

of whittle it down. So when I give you those

39:10

questions, yeah, I'm just looking for a reaction.

39:12

So why is yours defensive

39:14

line mine?

39:16

For me?

39:17

Yeah? No, no, Tommy.

39:20

I just think it's an important position to.

39:25

Have the results of the exterior

39:27

success of the Bears defensive line. I think

39:29

you get more sacks if you have a little

39:31

bit more immediate pressure coming straight

39:33

at the quarterback.

39:34

All right, one more segment to go with Tom Thayer,

39:36

Jeff Jonaak, and Jim Midder from Serious X

39:38

in the NFL Radio is Moving the Chains. Will

39:40

take a look at what the new coordinators

39:43

Shane Waldron and Eric Washington

39:45

and that Bears defense need

39:47

to execute what their schemes will

39:49

look like here in twenty twenty four and beyond that's

39:52

next here on the SBN one thousand and the Bears

39:54

Radio Network.

39:57

This is Bears Weekly with a voice

39:59

of the Bears for twenty three years, Jeff

40:01

Jonia on the Bears Radio

40:03

Network.

40:10

This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by CDW.

40:13

People to get it and get the ultimate VIP

40:15

fan packaged this season by visiting Chicago Bears

40:17

vip dot com. Jeff, Tom and Jim

40:20

here in our final segment on Bears Weekly. So

40:22

earlier today we heard from Shane Waldron

40:24

and Eric Washington are sit downs played

40:26

earlier on the show.

40:28

And you know, Jim, what in

40:30

your opinion?

40:31

Let's start with the offense and how

40:33

this scheme will materialize

40:35

and if it's going to be as similar to what has been here

40:37

before, what does Shane Waldron

40:40

do you think need in terms of personnel

40:42

added to what is already expected to be

40:45

here? And leave the quarterback thing out of it

40:47

for right now, because who knows what's going

40:49

to happen. But what do you suggest

40:51

and what do you think? And then Tom you can follow up.

40:54

Yeah, well, first when you look

40:56

at Shane Waldron again, the scheme, the

40:59

system that he's going to run, Pete

41:01

Carroll wants to wanted to

41:03

run the football. That is paramount. Obviously

41:06

They've drafted high draft picks at running

41:08

back when you look at Kenneth Walker, Zach

41:10

Charbonnay who they selected out of UCLA,

41:14

and I think Shane comes from that background.

41:16

The Bears want to run the football. So I think

41:18

that's probably what during the interview process

41:21

that came up. Obviously, it's got to

41:23

be paramount, especially when the weather

41:25

turns and all that. And then you

41:28

think of DK Metcalf, all right, he

41:30

is a huge X wide receiver

41:32

that has been very involved and obviously has

41:34

put up big numbers. Ironically,

41:37

that's DJ Moore's position as well, and

41:39

so I think, who incorporate Dj

41:42

Moore do the things that obviously Metcalf

41:46

is done and done successfully out

41:48

there, and but it's you know, it's ball

41:50

control. You know, they can put up

41:52

big numbers in terms of the passing. Look at the

41:54

record setting year, not last

41:56

year, but two years ago by

41:58

Geno Smith in the numbers that he put

42:01

up over thirty touchdowns only

42:03

ten interceptions, So I think it's going

42:05

to be all encompass

42:07

at all in terms of what the Bears

42:10

want to do and why they elected

42:12

to bring on Shane Waldron. But it will

42:15

be a run, play action offense

42:17

that can be explosive, and of

42:19

course you've got to settle the quarterback

42:22

position. He's had good years obviously with

42:24

Russell Wilson, then he inserted

42:27

Geno Smith, and of course Drew Locke had

42:29

to play a little bit last year due to injury.

42:32

But you know, it's like we've always

42:35

been saying, the Bears need to be a run,

42:37

play action offense, play good defense,

42:39

and I think Shane Waldron definitely

42:42

fits in that mold.

42:43

You know, one thing I think about Shane Waldron it's.

42:45

Not necessarily who's here, but who else?

42:48

Because when you talk about DJ Moore, if

42:50

you could have that complimentary wide receiver

42:52

that's as equally as threatening as DJ Moore,

42:54

you're going to open up a lot more downfield

42:57

opportunities for this

42:59

offense.

43:00

Then then to me, is I need.

43:02

A tight end that's not obvious, a complimentary

43:04

tight end to Cole Commett. I love Cole Comett. He's

43:06

an every down tight end. But when

43:08

you think of the tight ends that had Marcedes

43:11

Lewis, if he comes into the game, you know most

43:13

likely he's going to be a blocker. If Robert

43:16

Tanyan comes in the game, you know most likely

43:18

he's going to be a receiver and not a point

43:20

of impact blocker. So if I could

43:22

get a guy that fits the template of

43:24

Cole Kmet, I think you have more of

43:26

a balanced opportunity to, as

43:28

Jim says, run the ball, but run

43:31

it equally to either side without

43:33

giving notification to the personnel

43:35

grouping of the defensive coordinator.

43:38

So what can you do most to

43:40

compliment Dj Moore? Because man, I think

43:42

all of us are impressed what he's been able to contribute,

43:45

but what the tight end position could do if

43:47

there's a little less obvious and a little

43:49

bit more similarities to Cole.

43:52

It's a good point, Tom, because when you look at Will

43:54

Disley, you look at Noah fan Remember

43:57

the Seattle Seahawks traded for

43:59

Noah in that Russell Wilson trade.

44:02

They had over a thousand yards at the tight end

44:04

position. Even Will Parkinson, their

44:06

third tight end shifted in. And

44:08

I think you bring up a really good point because

44:11

opposite DK Metcalf is

44:13

Lockett, right, Tyler Lockett.

44:16

That is something that has been missing in

44:18

the Chicago Bears offense. And then of

44:20

course they went out and drafted in

44:22

Jigba from Ohio State last

44:25

year. So they've got three really

44:27

good wide receivers, a core

44:29

of good tight ends, and I think if

44:32

the Bears add to those positions, maybe

44:34

now you're cooking with gas offensively.

44:36

Because he's been my partner here for twenty

44:39

seven going on twenty eight years. I'm always going to stick

44:41

with the line of scrimmage and make that as

44:43

excellent as possible.

44:45

That's an obvi to me and obvious

44:47

right.

44:47

But I was reading Bill

44:49

Belichick's book on my vacation here.

44:52

I'm getting through it and the whole discussion

44:55

of the Super Bowl against Mike Martz and

44:57

Marshall Falk and how his focus

44:59

was just to eliminate as much as

45:01

possible that three down, dangerous back who

45:03

can catch the football and still run between the tackles

45:06

if you needed him. How do you

45:08

guys feel about Listen, I love the Bears

45:10

running backs, but would you have interest

45:12

in a guy that can threaten a defense

45:14

in both ways? On three downs that you know

45:17

you have to account for him, and a

45:19

kind of offense kind of runs through

45:21

that a little bit. Is that a

45:23

weapon that could work in this particular

45:25

offense and how you would feel about it because

45:27

you're giving a defense a lot to have to deal with

45:29

Tommy Well.

45:31

Are you looking for touchdowns or first downs?

45:33

Both?

45:33

If you're considering first downs or in Roshawn

45:36

Johnson, I could develop him as much as

45:38

anybody because he's a great blocker, he

45:40

catches the ball well, and he's got good

45:43

physical, tough instincts and he

45:45

knows Jeff, We've talked about this plenty,

45:47

almost a nauseum, that I'm a first down type

45:49

of guy. So if you want to give me a guy

45:52

that's going to have a seventy five yard touchdown

45:54

run, you know once every you

45:56

know, certain amount of time, Okay,

45:59

I'm happy with that.

45:59

But I need a guy that's going to keep the offense on

46:01

the field, and I think the Bears have it.

46:04

But listen, man, you're always looking

46:06

to upgrade the depth of the running back

46:08

position, and I think one thing the Bears have

46:10

done a nice job of the last couple of years

46:13

is keeping fresh running backs aboard,

46:16

so when their opportunity is called, whether

46:18

it's deata foreman or you

46:21

know, like I said, Roshawn Johnson or

46:23

Khalil Herbert, all these guys have.

46:26

Certain attributes that as

46:28

a reason they're in the NFL.

46:29

See to me, Jimmy, the guys like the Eckler's, the

46:31

Barclays, the kid in New Orleans,

46:34

the backs that you know, man, if they get

46:36

in what Detroit is working up there, those

46:38

are dangerous for your defense to have to

46:41

deal with.

46:41

So that's what I was looking at.

46:44

Well, there's just there's very few belcow

46:46

backs anymore. Yes, you got McCaffrey,

46:48

You've got Derrick Henry, You've got Barkley

46:51

who you just mentioned. The NFL seems

46:53

to be going by running back by committee

46:56

at this point. When you look at just surveyed

46:59

the landscape of the NFL, I mean even

47:01

you know, you look at a diminutive back like

47:04

McCaffrey for the forty nine ers, that guy

47:06

legitimately is going to get thirty thirty

47:09

five touches a game. You know, he's going to get minimum

47:11

twenty carries and he's going to get ten

47:14

receptions. Just go look at the super

47:16

Bowl and how they utilized him leading

47:18

up to the Super Bowl. Not a lot of teams

47:20

have that, you know, It's just it's a rarity

47:23

now. And why the running backs had

47:25

to take haircuts last year because

47:27

it's a I don't want to say it's a fungible

47:29

position, because it's it's a position

47:32

you need certainly if you have a belt

47:34

cow that's it's unbelievable, but it's it's

47:36

to me, it's a rarity now in the

47:38

NFL, it's going to be by committee. Even look

47:40

at the Lions that you just mentioned. I mean between

47:44

you know, obviously Jamier Gibbs

47:46

who they drafted, and obviously David Montgomery,

47:49

who I think is an outstanding back,

47:51

but they utilized both of them and they rotated

47:53

them constantly.

47:54

All right, in our short time we have remaining here

47:56

about on the defensive side of the ball, we touched on a

47:58

three technique, another

48:00

edge rusher to help this defense

48:03

really and Tom you know, Jalen Johnson,

48:05

whether he's going to get franchise tagged or signed

48:07

one of the two.

48:08

I'm hoping the Bears are able.

48:09

To keep him.

48:11

Yeah, you know, is the personnel that you

48:13

play on a regular basis in the position that

48:15

you want them to be in. Canjervon

48:18

Dexter move around a little bit along the

48:20

defensive line play defensive end as well

48:22

as he's playing on the inside.

48:24

When you look at the linebacker.

48:26

Position, are they said, and I've talked

48:28

about this, is Tyreek Stevenson?

48:30

Is he a free safety or is he a corner?

48:32

Because to me, when you have Terrell Smith

48:35

and if you really think that he can develop and do a starting

48:37

corner, I think the most physical defensive

48:39

back the Bears have is Tyreek Stevenson.

48:42

I've talked about it before.

48:43

So just as Eric

48:45

and coach Eberflus, if they go and reevaluate

48:48

the defense, is the personnel in the position

48:51

that you want them to be in?

48:52

Jim with the release of Eddie Jackson, a

48:54

guy who can range from hash to hash

48:56

and intercept the football in

48:59

such a way as he did, Is

49:01

that's something the Bears will try to replicate

49:04

at that position?

49:04

You think, or is Tommy's Maybe Tommy's idea

49:07

is the one to go with.

49:08

Yeah, well, I agree, We'll

49:10

look at the safety position. Both running

49:12

backs and safeties are already out there

49:15

on the open market. You just mentioned Eddie Jackson

49:17

getting released. How about Adrian Phillips,

49:20

he just got released. Tracy Walker just

49:22

got released by the Detroit Lions. So safety

49:25

position is already

49:27

out there that you can sign guys,

49:29

and I do think the Bears won't have to address

49:32

the safety position.

49:34

All right, boys, we're out of time once again,

49:36

Big Jim, thanks for seeing Indianapolis

49:38

save room for me over there.

49:39

Will you?

49:40

We'll do that's going to do it for us.

49:42

The executive producer of the Bears Radio Network, Eric

49:44

Ostrotski, thanks as well

49:46

to our producers Dan Barrilli and Jordan

49:48

Treadup and tonight at the ESPN one

49:51

thousand studios, Jack McGrath, thanks

49:53

for listening, everybody, Bleck and abdata our

49:55

next Don ESPN one thousand of the Bears

49:58

Radio Network, thank you for listen.

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