What to watch for in Bears-Jets Week 4 matchup | Bears, etc. Podcast

0:00 Caleb Rose, middle.

0:01 Of the field, love the catch, love the 20, love the 10, love the 10, touchdown Bears! Mighty Monungai, another touchdown run!

0:11 What was it like playing for Coach Dicka? I don't want to answer any questions like that.

0:16 Cairo Santos is up, he's gone!

0:19 Bears win it!

0:20 Oh wow!

0:20 And take it out, and take it out, and take it out!

0:25 Now, Bears Etc.

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0:32 It's a mile post for the season coming up Sunday at Soldier Field. End of a three-week run at home as the Bears wrap it up with the AFC East New York Jets. It is week four already. We discuss in episode 250, Big Tom, of the Bears Etc. podcast with Super Bowl-winning Bears guard Tom Thayer. I'm Jeff Joniak.

0:48 Bears Etc. is brought to you by Chevy Drives Chicago. Chicago-led in northwest Indiana. chevy dealers coming up with the program we hear from the coordinators we're taping this on thursday coordinator thursday with dennis allen press taylor and richard hightower all looking at the new york jets and what is going on with the bears after three weeks at two and one i gotta stop right there tom and 250 podcasts first of all if you would have started this career in 1997 like you did And thinking you would be doing podcasts. We really didn't even know what that was back then. But are you grateful and are you thrilled that we've made it to 250 episodes of really good conversation about ball?

1:26 Yeah, I enjoy it. I enjoy doing the podcast. But I enjoy talking to the people out there who do listen to the podcast. And that alerts or brings up a question that they have. And so it gives us topics to talk about. We've gotten to interview some unbelievable people. Fun Bear fans across the country. And it's just kind of a neat, normal way of life. Like you said, 20 years ago, we had never thought about it.

1:52 Now it's the norm. And I really enjoy being a part of it.

1:56 30 years ago.

1:56 My gosh.

1:57 Well, which is interesting. I have an actual stat, Tom. Ready for this one? The Jets have not won a game in Chicago. None of this matters because it's every eight years, right? So they haven't been here. They have not won a game against the Bears in Chicago since week 12 of 1997. So you already were deep into your first year being the color analyst. The Jets' starting quarterback day, you'll never guess it, but Bill Parcells was the head coach.

2:24 I'm not sure.

2:25 Glenn Foley. Wasn't he the Boston College quarterback?

2:29 Boston College kid guy, yeah.

2:31 Yeah, Glenn Foley.

2:32 Red-haired kid.

2:32 How about that?

2:34 Yeah, cool.

2:35 Jets arriving, Jets arriving.

2:37 Let me ask you, what's more surprising, Foley was starting then or Geno Smith is starting now? Because it's like fitting a square peg into a round hole for both of them.

2:48 Well, you know, Geno just keeps coming back. He already has won an NFL Comeback Player of the Year award in Seattle with Seahawks. We had to sweat him out in the game in Vegas last year, if not for that block kick by Blackwell. That's a different outcome. And now he leads the NFL in completion percentage through three weeks.

3:09 No interceptions.

3:10 Almost 800 yards and four touchdowns. And he's got a lot of assets out there. And he's being protected by his offensive line. And then he's complimenting the offensive line when they need his help. So he's an experienced quarterback that has not seen it all, but he's seen a lot of NFL football.

3:29 He's got a really good offensive coordinator in Frank Reich. I mean, that guy's been around a long time, NFL player as well. And there's a lot of respect for what he does. And he's got some weaponry. Well, we'll dig a little deeper, but Out of all the guests, is there one that sticks out in your mind? For me, it's Sebastian Maniscalco. Couldn't believe we got him. He was headed to Chicago to do a show. He was hilarious.

3:50 There's just so many. But do you have any that stick out to you?

3:54 Well, to me, it's every ex-teammate.

3:57 Yeah.

3:58 Not teammate, ex-Chicago Bear that we've got to interview because, you know, people think, oh, yeah, you walk around the building and you sit in there and talk to these guys. And you may go a whole season and never talk to some of these guys. And whether it's Urlacher or Peanut or– you know, whomever it is from our past and the Jimbo coverts and the Hill geese and all these guys, I really enjoy talking to the X players that we broadcast their games, but we never had a chance to have a 30 minute conversation.

4:30 I enjoyed your teammate, Neil Anderson. That was a very good one.

4:34 Neil.

4:34 Good to see he's doing well. So yeah, this is a, this has been fun. So let's keep it rolling. Let's get the update on the bears right now as we sit here. So, They're getting healthier, but yet have some concerns. So Caleb a little closer, hopefully, to returning. Cam Lewis, Braxton Jones, we haven't seen the injury report just yet for the week. Tyreek Stevenson got on the field last week, but didn't really play much. But coming up, you know, Shamar Turner, Noah Sewell, they will be ready to be activated if they are off IR. And now the 21-day window for Kyler Gordon. And that'll be a topic in our show here today because... He was asked about that for Dennis Allen. So this is going to be a deeper team here in a couple weeks.

5:20 Listen, they're not over any hump. There's still a long way to go in this season. And I think they talked about week one, you're sprinting to a marathon. And now you start saying, okay, we got some guys coming back. We got some added depth of some positions that are playing really well right now.

5:38 We have a guy that.

5:40 Is a super interesting part of the ingredient of defensive personnel. All these types of things. And then you got Ozzie Trapillo on the cusp of coming back.

5:51 He may be the most intriguing of them all just because of what we're hearing about his recovery and to see the literal joy on his face in the locker room that he's making progress. That's a long way from that nasty injury in the playoff game.

6:07 It sure is.

6:08 Listen, like I said before, it used to be a death sentence.

6:11 Now, the way that Ozzie Trapillo has been able to rebound with the help of the staff inside the building, I admire them, but I admire him because it's not a painless recovery. There's a lot of pain that goes into the recovery of any injury that you've had. And that's one of the unique, you know, callous builders of NFL players.

6:32 It was your worst recovery of an injury.

6:34 Probably back surgery while I was playing, you know, knees were just commonplace back then. You go to Lanny Johnson, East Lansing, Michigan. get scoped, come home, and then you're working four days later. But the back took a toll on me because I lost a bunch of weight, had the back surgery, and then I worked with Clyde every single day. And we worked more at the Bulls facility than we did at the Bears facility because they had a real specific back strengthening machine there.

7:06 At the multiplex?

7:07 Was it the Birdo Center that was behind multiplex?

7:10 Yeah.

7:11 Al Vermeule.

7:12 Yeah. Al Vermeule, Dick's brother. Great guy. Great guy.

7:16 Yeah.

7:16 They had so much in common. And so, yeah, it was, it was a tough recovery. And then the, you know, mentally getting confidence in it where you could really get a big hit on somebody and.

7:30 Still be standing.

7:30 So you have great respect then for the recovery process and what these guys go through. And the, you know, I've, I've said this before, it's a lonely journey when you're not with your teammates and you're left behind, so to speak, to, to get yourself right. And you're not at practice and things are moving at a fast clip and the season's slipping away. And, you know, you're just, you're collecting a paycheck, but you're not doing what you want to do.

7:54 I look at a guy, for example, like Grady Jarrett. He suffered last year, and you could tell he was limping around. But he has been super diligent about his recovery, and he is playing a really good brand of football. And so that encourages me, too, by an elder statesman like that. But some of these guys, it's going to be the first time they've ever had an injury in their life. And then how do they react to it, and how do they rehabilitate it?

8:20 And those are the big questions.

8:21 And yeah, since I've been retired, I've had two hip replacements and a knee replacement and the rehab doesn't get any easier or less committed.

8:31 How do you tell a cashier you're a Bears fan without telling him you're a Bears fan? With the Chicago Bears PNC Bank Visa debit card, which gets you exclusive discounts on Bears merchandise. Find out more at pnc.com slash Bears card. I'm glad you brought up Grady, you know, watching the tape and you know about this stuff better than I, but You know, he didn't register a tackle last week, but boy, he was taking on double teams.

8:51 And that patented nose tackle-ish where you dip and just hang on for dear life and grind your way through a rep, he did really well with that, helping stop that offense last week.

9:06 I mean, the thing about the defensive line and what they've been preached since the beginning of this season is you got to get penetration to disrupt the flow of the backfield. And if you can do that and you can never make a tackle, you're making your football team better. Because if you watch over the last couple of weeks, the results between Devin Bush and DeMarco Jackson and TJ Edwards, all these linebackers are becoming more familiar. What is what's expected out of the defensive line?

9:34 And then I got to talk about the sucker sneak once again, because it's a big topic. It was the sneak by Case Keenum for the touchdown against Detroit. So Jared Goff has done it. The 49ers do it with Brock Purdy. Someone did it in 2007. That's all from Press Taylor. We're going to hear from him in a moment.

9:52 But you, of all people, appreciate the design of plays, but also the time and the execution of those plays. Here's what I got to ask you. So, yeah, it's in their playbook. It's been around in the NFL, Mike Martz, the whole bit. But you have to rep it. I don't know how many times you rep it, but you have to get the right look. And this is where I think football fans, because I'm asked about this all the time, I'm not qualified to answer it.

10:21 You are.

10:22 So you go to the huddle. You got a series of plays. But you're at the one. There are options, but you go to the one. But you get to the line of scrimmage, and now you think you got the look that you need to have that play be successful. So it's not like you come out of the huddle with one play. You're going to run it no matter what.

10:41 The design on the defensive side of the ball has to fit the equations. is that something that I explained properly right there? And how, I mean, that could go a number of ways. You think you see the look, they shift out of the look. I mean, this is what I'm talking about, the timing and the execution.

11:01 Right, but you're trying to take advantage of the temperament of the defensive linemen. So when you get down to that down and distance and they're in a short yardage and goal line defense, there's a lot of those defensive.

11:11 Linemen that are in a low leverage stance.

11:14 So all they're thinking about, Jeff, is there's nothing matters.

11:18 As soon as that ball snap, I'm blowing up field.

11:20 And that's what happened.

11:21 And if something passes me by, then I got to see if I can readjust.

11:25 That's not the case. There's the intentions of, you know, getting outfield.

11:30 And there's guys throughout the course of their career, a Keith Millard, a Jerome Brown that had that same type of mannerisms. And that's why they got trapped or whammed a lot throughout the course of their career. And it's kind of a unique style of taking advantage of the personnel. But the play creativity is out of the box. So we used to have a play that I would pull to my left. I'm playing right guard. I would pull to my left and really shallow. Mark Bortz would pull to his right with a little depth. Now we're two offensive guards on each side of the formation going in opposite directions. They had no idea what they were looking at.

12:12 And so we had a running play out of it and a pass play out of it, which was pretty cool at the time.

12:17 Do you believe that they, and I think press indicated at the podium, you'll hear it here, that he wasn't sure the defensive line knew, not this play, but when all of a sudden Darnell Wright and Jonah Jackson are on the left side, that is the power side for this particular rep. And it looks like this is the biggest invention of all time, but it throws you like you trust in your right. Do you, I mean, maybe they didn't even realize it until after the play was, you know, it was that, is that fair?

12:50 Well, they just get to their landmark. They know what the defense is called. They know and they're counting out the amount of guys that are in the field of their responsibility, and then they adjust accordingly. So there's a defense that the New York Jets will run, and they ran it last week. They got four guys, four eligible blockers to the left-hand side. So they have five guys to the left of the center. There's one more guy than they have the ability to block. And then there's two guys to occupy the attention of the right guard and right tackle. Those guys pull your chain by taking a step at you. You go to defend yourself and then they drop off in the coverage in all five come to a four man side.

13:34 So it is a, something.

13:36 That you're going to have to be aware of in, you know, hoping, you know, that you have the right play called accordingly. And, you know, I'm sure Ben knows Aaron Glenn as well as any offensive coordinator calling plays against them.

13:50 All right. Uh, yeah, exactly. Uh, taking over the defensive play calls last year, he did not do that. And, uh, that was probably a lesson learned. Maybe it was to ease into the, to the mix, but Steve Wilkes, the former bears, uh, defensive coach started the year and was replaced by Chris Harris, who's still there coaching DBs and is the passing game coordinator. He took over in December, but he decided, you know what? This is, this is what I do. This is who I am. So he's in charge now.

14:17 Good news.

14:17 Chicago United Airlines is getting brand new planes with all the bells and whistles like Bluetooth connectivity screens at every seat and room for everyone's roller bag United proud to fly the Chicago bears. And you too, I've been, uh, indicating we're going to hear some coordinator talk. So let's listen in to Press Taylor after that Case Keenum performance and what a performance it was.

14:36 We were efficient early in the game. I think really when we got to the red zone is where really we did not do very well. You know, we had two false starts. We had, I think we had four negative runs in the red zone. So we kind of, as we look at our normal down distance out in the field, we felt like we were pretty efficient with us.

14:50 We were definitely lacking the explosive part of it. And that was something that Coming out of the game, we felt we were efficient, not necessarily explosive. And you look at the whole range, even the pass game, there probably weren't as many explosives that we would have loved to have. But when you're able to do that, you're able to manage third downs. We were third and six or less, I think 12 of our, however many we had. So we were able to play in that world because you start getting behind the six against those guys and the way they match coverage and the front they have, depending on their years back, the game can get pretty hard.

15:18 So it was definitely important to us and we felt like we were on track. And then We also felt like we were stubbing our toe there in the red zone with some of the runs we had, and part of it has to do with the way they played us down there, but we felt like there were too many instances where we got in our own way with some of the looks down there as well.

15:32 Ben talked a lot about the quarterbacks meeting you had Sunday night before the game, like you do before each game. What was that like from your perspective, having Case kind of take over the show a little bit?

15:40 Yeah, it was really cool to see.

15:41 I mean, I've been in meetings that are like that at times, and it's veteran quarterbacks and things where they've come from that type of environment, and they want to sit and go through every single play, and so I think it was cool for everybody in the room to see it. You know, Tyson, Case, Caleb, all those guys, everybody does it a little bit differently as they go and what their process looks like. And so I think we all kind of realized it was going to be like that when, you know, we typically met at this time and Case wanted to move it 15 minutes up because he wanted a little bit more time with it.

16:09 And so we were like, okay, this is going to go a little longer than normal.

16:12 And it did.

16:12 But it was, you left there just so confident that this guy knows the ins and outs of the plans. He has an idea of what he wants. He and Ben are talking through situational calls, when this is going to come up, when you like this. So, I mean, you went into the meeting with tons of confidence because we knew what case to put in during the week, but then you left the meeting knowing you're going to sleep great because this guy's on top of everything.

16:33 Everybody's raved about Khalif Raymond since he got in here in terms of his work ethic and helping the young receivers and stuff like that, but he's also producing huge now through three games at least. What has impressed you most about him taking that and producing on the field like he has?

16:47 Well, it's kind of what we knew about him. I mean, obviously we had guys that had been in the room with him and could speak to his leadership, his professionalism, all that. But then as we're learning the system that Ben's bringing with him, we're watching the teach tapes. He's all over the teach tape and that's what he, he's a clinic tape. I mean, if there's a route on air, he's going to run it exactly the way you want.

17:04 And then it carries over to a game and he's going to run exactly the way you want. So I think you saw some trust of case, let a couple of balls go where he's not out of the break yet because he's going to be where he's supposed to be when he's supposed to be there every time. And he has done that forever. So he's, He's a very trustworthy target from that standpoint, let alone he can fly.

17:20 I mean, so, so those things, and you know, his catch and run there, that was a great catch. That was not our best throw right there. He did a great job to turn catch and hit the gas still and score. So he's been exactly what we expected from the guys that had Intel on them. And then the rest of us that didn't, it's just cool to see this guy. And he filled a void of leadership in that room of just some veteran presence that we needed.

17:41 And he's been awesome. Two questions on Tyson.

17:45 Number one, He's been your number two quarterback since the end of the training camp a year ago.

17:50 How do you describe from your perch what you guys value about him in this offense? Well, I think he operates the system at a high level. I mean, he's an extremely intelligent person, extremely competitive person. There's a little bit– you sense a little bit of him and Banner kind of similar in the competitive edge that they both carry, but also just the intelligence they carry. I mean, we install– And he can take it to the grass right away in an hour. All our guys are that way. Honestly, like the quarterback room, just the preparation that those guys have put in through the course of, I mean, last year learning the system and feeling it. There's always each week you're kind of learning things. But then to come

18:25 back in the offseason and the kind of growth they'd shown and the ownership they'd shown in the system and then to carry over this year. And we've seen instances now in the last quarter, game and a half of everybody playing, all three of those guys playing for us. And so there's just tons of confidence that those guys know exactly what what they're doing, what they're being asked to do and how, what the responses are to the other looks. So I had a wild couple of months here, not the least of which was last week.

18:48 How do you make sure that you keep him in the right frame of mind throughout a week like this?

18:53 Honestly, he's a guy that we've never felt like you have to worry about his mindset. I mean, he's one of the most locked in people I've ever been around. Um, so, you know, whatever his role looks like, whatever the future for him looks like, you don't worry about any sort of, um, mental lapse with him or any of those guys, honestly.

19:10 And it's been great.

19:11 To see from that standpoint in that room.

19:13 I said that the writing the hot hand with case, like that's a part of the evaluation.

19:18 But I know that there's like a structure here with the depth chart with quarterbacks.

19:21 What's the balance in sticking to that depth chart potentially, but also realizing what case did against the Eagles could be replicated and.

19:29 Could lead to another one.

19:31 Yeah.

19:31 I mean, I think you take every single situation as is in the moment. And so we're always going to, kind of readjust or recalibrate every single week and see what applies this week, what gives us the best opportunity moving forward. The variables are never ending, honestly, of what goes into it and the conversation.

19:50 And all that.

19:51 And it's kind of been the fun part of just sitting and watching and how everybody handles it. And I think everybody's on the same page of what we want to do and what we're trying to accomplish. And I think the biggest thing everybody knows, especially coming from Ben and coming from Ryan, every decision here is made to do the best thing for the bears. It's not, anything beyond that. It's what's going to be the best for the Bears right now and we're going to roll with it.

20:13 And so I think when you see that consistently over the course of our time together, it's very easy to get on board with whatever the decision is and we all ride with it and we put our best foot forward every single day.

20:23 What have you observed with Ben last week adjusting the game plan to a different quarterback and now this week potentially a third different quarterback?

20:31 Yeah, I think he's always very intentional about attacking our opponent. So it kind of there's a process of, it starts with who are we playing?

20:38 What do they look like? How do they like to play?

20:40 Okay.

20:41 What, what do we need to be aware of? What do we, what matchups do we need to protect? And then it quickly transitions to, okay, how do we now utilize this as a weapon? How do we take, um, there's, there's that part of like, it's kind of a defense mechanism at start of how do we limit what they do really well as a defense or, or take that.

20:57 And then how do we turn it and flip it and attack? And so I think that's the cool part about watching him go through the process of a week and putting together a game plan and flipping it and, We're the offense. We always want to be the aggressor right here. But it does start with, all right, here's something we have to be very aware of from this defense.

21:12 How can we limit or negate that as much as possible and flip it around? So that's been the cool part about watching him kind of go through every single week.

21:19 Press, who has a catalog of plays that he is unveiling week after week and seeing if it could work or not. I think these guys, they're in the lab, and they've been in the lab in the offseason cooking up things for these specific teams when the week calls for it. And against the Jets... This is a team, defensively, that is not a big blitzing team. They play a lot of man defense. They play a lot of single high safety. So, in that case, what? They say middle of the field closed, right? So, are the outside of the numbers and all that going to be available? They don't stack the box much. They lean into those big guys. And, you know, I'm hoping the Bears can continue, pound the hammer, and run that football at the rate that they're running

22:02 in that.

22:03 Yeah, you know, you got to have some success against their adjustments. They'll go there and they'll run a little bit of the bear defense and they'll kind of put a tester out there to see how well your center and two guards can move a guy.

22:15 That's right over the top of their head.

22:17 But there's plays specifically designed against the bear defense that can be really successful.

22:23 So we'll see how all that goes.

22:25 And I love the creative, young, energetic, well-spoken mind of press Taylor. He's a super intelligent guy when he sits up there. And I imagine the off season talks conversations between all the offensive coaches got to be like you are at, at football 300 drawing board. And then, okay, we're going to, we may develop this in February. We may not even see it until sometime down the road.

22:51 So some of those conversations, if you could be privy to those would be super, um, gratify it would make you a smarter football i.

23:00 Wonder what meetings would be for you nowadays versus what you were used to just the kind of conversation in an offensive team meeting in a in a design meeting or whatever the case may be it would be interesting it would be interesting.

23:12 Yeah you know there's a lot of bitching about who gets the film because they only make a So now everybody's trying to get into Mitch Friedman's office to make sure they can get a copy of tape so they can run it during practice. That's, you know, one element of the old projector. And then it went to DVD and then it went to beta and all that kind of stuff. But I got to think that a guy like Dan Roshar is kind of old school and he He pulls no punches. He's got high expectations from these guys.

23:46 He's the ultimate encourager to this age group of guys to get the best out of them. And we've seen those results out of it. So, um, I, you know, I'd love playing for Dan Rashard and I would, I enjoyed playing with four Dick Stanfield.

24:01 You'd love playing for Ben Johnson because he puts it on the offensive line shoulders. Uh, they were third and six or less, uh, Press said about 12 times. I haven't researched that to see if that was around. But, you know, that's considered third and long in the NFL if you get to third and six plus. So you want to stay out of that. And it does change your play calling. But they did a nice job in those situations. And I think they still are the top rushing red zone team, at least in attempts. But I think they would really like that to expand in terms of production. because once you get inside the 30 and they are one of the teams in the league, I was wrong last week. I felt that they were only one of a couple, but there's a handful of teams

24:46 that are almost 50-50 run pass, and that is kind of the theme for this first month of the season anyway, and the NFL teams are running, and the Bears like to run the ball. Inside the 30, they're very successful. Inside the red zone, they would like to be more successful in that regard.

25:02 You know, I think that's where I really enjoyed the unpredictable play calling of Ben Johnson because he calls plays according to what he sees across the line of scrimmage. What is their strength? What is their weakness? Who's vulnerable to this route? Or who's, you know, maybe not their best pass rusher. Those types of things that he takes into consideration rather than just rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat.

25:27 That's what we did as an offense back in the 80s. Now, just the creativity, that he puts out there every year is.

25:34 Fun to watch.

25:35 Would you have more fun with that than running the same play? You knew you'd be successful in the play, but would you have enjoyed having this kind of creative playbook?

25:44 Oh, I would have.

25:45 Absolutely loved it. It puts the onus on you as a football student. You got to go there and you have to study a lot more. You have to make sure that you're familiar with every element of every play called in case they call two on the huddle and they make that adjustment.

26:01 So the study habits.

26:04 The familiarity is going to be super beneficial to you.

26:08 At the quarterback position, as of this moment, we are not privy to who will be the starter. Case Keenum, the oldest player in Bears history to score a rushing touchdown. And Tyson Bajan, who has not started a game since 2023, his rookie season when he went 2-2 with three touchdowns, six interceptions. He's a vastly different quarterback right now. He's been schooled by Ben Johnson, been in that classroom, and all those offensive coaches now for better than 18 months or so. And he is a much more prepared player to run this offense. And, you know, you forget about it because it was Minnesota and things went sideways. All three quarterbacks have played. And when he was playing in those few reps, he was connecting with Luther Burden. He

26:49 was making plays. He was making plays. So I'm encouraged no matter what happens.

26:54 You know, Ben is not.

26:56 Going to talk or say really nice things about a guy if he's not living up to Ben's expectations. And there's probably no position more difficult than the quarterback position under Ben Johnson. So when you look at his physical commitment to the offseason, where he's at, the energetic, enthusiastic style he comes into the building and into practice with and everything, You know, I just, I bet you that quarterback room is, it's dynamic, it's fun, it's amazing. Just there's so many good things you can say about it.

27:32 JT Barrett, he's a quiet superstar in there. He was inducted into the Ohio State Hall of Fame last weekend. He was able to go on Saturday and came back Sunday night. for the Bears meetings. And then you have Press Taylor in there. You've got other offensive coaches of note in those offensive meeting rooms. All right, let's talk special teams because the cool thing was seeing Joe Tooney out there on the wing in field goal protection. Richard Hightower, we're going to hear him here in a second, but said Tooney, Dio, and Montez Sweat all volunteered after those problems the first two weeks of the season to help out.

28:09 That's the culture of what it means to know how to win. Yep, that's what that says.

28:16 Back in the 80s when Mikey Hartenstein and Steve McMichael played those two same positions, they're defensive linemen, but they're there and bringing up the fact.

28:26 That I'm built for this spot.

28:28 I'm big, I'm strong, and I'm powerful, and I can use all of those in the difficulty of that wing-type protector. And so I was super encouraged to see Joe Tooney out there because– You're not going to pull anything over his eyes. He knows everything that he's looking at and everything he's going to see.

28:47 All right, let's listen in to Richard Hightower.

28:49 Coach, you have an interesting mixture of guys that have been doing this specifically for you on this team for a while now, some veterans, along with some rookies that are doing this at this level for the first time. I'm just curious, through three games, how you've seen that mixture kind of work together.

29:07 Yeah, I think it's worked together well.

29:08 I mean, we've got a great culture of young guys with a mix of veteran guys. We got some young guys that I think in the first two weeks in the core played really well. Last week, I think we had some guys that would want to play us so bad and didn't play as well as they wanted to play. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as dominant as they wanted to play. So I think it's just going to be a constant process. It's a work in progress with those guys, and we just got to keep working with them.

29:42 But they're trending this way, and I've been pleased with our rookies, most of our rookies so far.

29:48 Richard, what goes into when you put Joe in there?

29:52 Do you have to have a conversation with the whole deal, like we want to use Tooney this way, or is that just your call?

29:57 Yeah, so... That's a great question, Mark.

30:00 I will tell you that we have guys fighting to get on that field goal team.

30:08 All right.

30:09 That team, that field goal team was not happy with what happened the week before against Minnesota.

30:15 They know it shouldn't have ever happened. And they're very prideful. All right.

30:20 And Joe wasn't the only one that wanted to be involved. Dio wanted to be involved. Sweat wanted to be involved. We got leaders. that wanted to be involved. And I think that speaks to the culture that Ryan and Ben have created here where guys want to be out there and they want to do it. We had Braxton go down in the game, right? And we had to make a in-game adjustment. And Bradbury stepped in and did something, all right, that he hadn't done in a while, okay, and did a phenomenal job at it. And that was the best field goal block unit in the NFL. They blocked the most kicks in the NFL. And our guys didn't like what happened in Minnesota, and they bowled up after what happened, and they did a phenomenal job against

31:05 that unit.

31:06 Phenomenal.

31:08 Joe Tooney is a stud and probably going to be, I mean, in my mind, he's a Hall of Famer. But it's a reason why he's going to be is because of the way he works. He was not a guy that was going to let anything happen. He did everything he could do. to help us win that game. And we just need more, more, more people like that.

31:31 Since Ben Johnson's got here, you guys have kind of been very resilient. You have like a bad game and able to quickly bounce back. What is it about the way he sets that tone each week that allows this group to do that?

31:42 Yeah. I think that's just who Ben is. You know what I mean? And I think attitude reflects leadership.

31:47 So like your team is going to always be in the image of your head coach. Cause that's the question you're asking. That's the way he is. He doesn't allow for excuses. He always is pushing forward, always trying to find a way. And I think the rest of the group feeds off of that. The rest of the group, and I think the whole building, feeds off of that.

32:10 And you got enough like-minded people that kind of are that way too, then it's easy to go that direction.

32:18 I'll give you an example.

32:20 We talk about, y'all was talking about Sam and being a young guy or young guys or whatever. in Ben's mind, in my mind, there are no rookie mistakes. Like if we put you on the field, we expect, we believe in you no matter young, old, whatever, no matter who it is. And we expect you to deliver and we're not ever going to allow no excuses, no explanations.

32:43 That's, that's how Ben rolls. That's how we all roll.

32:46 Coming out in there. He talked about Sam Roush. You know, he's had some plays that he'd want back. Um, This is a Stanford kid, super smart, super serious when he comes out of the locker room, big dude. He's going to be a longtime NFL player. What would you say to a rookie that's had a few stumbles here in the first month?

33:07 You know, it's just not common occurrence.

33:09 The next time that you come up against that opportunity, you know how you're going to slow yourself down. You know that you're going to stay legal. Listen, from what Sam Rauch did, I hold nothing against him. But you're going to learn from it. Every single time that you make a mistake in any way, shape, or form, it's something that you learn from. So I think Sam is only in the infancy stages of a long, successful NFL career.

33:35 And Coach Hightower is fortunate to have him.

33:38 He's a good athlete. He's willing to play on special teams.

33:41 And you need that cut type of big body in today's kicking game.

33:45 Test rest any mattress at Steinhafels, and they'll donate $ 20 to Special Spaces Illinois. Plus, you'll get a $ 20 lunch gift card. Find your perfect mattress and give back at Steinhafels. I saved the best for last because I really love what the defense did last week. Canem was great. The defense slamming the door now for 10 straight quarters. making it very difficult. You see a rising player in Dylan Thienemann.

34:09 He had a whole series of significance there with the interception in the end zone and using his speed to get the angle to knock somebody out of bounds. But it's not just him. It's like you indicated at the top of the show, the linebackers, the guys up front. They may not be in the category of all-pro type player But as a group, they are kicking some tail up front and getting things done. It's creating opportunities for players. Dio, Austin, Montez.

34:37 And so I'm excited to see where this goes moving forward.

34:40 Listen, if you have a defensive line number on your jersey, you're going to play. And that's the thing about it is these guys, whatever rotation Dennis Allen, the defensive line coaches pick for them, however many consecutive reps they deliver, they're bringing in a fresh group of guys. And there's nothing worse to an offensive lineman when you bring in some fresh, young, hungry defensive linemen and you're already tired from being in your stance for six or eight plays.

35:06 And so that's what I like most is the improvement in what they're able to do up front, but then how they're complementing the linebacker position. So keep it up, keep going, and I think it's fun to see what these young defensive linemen are able to do.

35:25 How do you tell a cashier you're a Bears fan without telling them you're a Bears fan? With the Chicago Bears PNC Bank Visa Debit Card, which gets you exclusive discounts on Bears merchandise. Find out more at pnc.com slash bearscard. Let's listen in to Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, who coached Demario Davis, the now 37-year-old linebacker with the Jets, back to his roots. He was drafted by them. He's also had time to not only coach and see, but also coach with Aaron Glenn in New Orleans.

35:55 Listen, I mean, number one, he's a tremendous human being, as good a person as I've ever been around. Got a lot of respect for him, both as a man and as a football player. As a player, and he came to work every single day, focused on his job, great preparation, was always available. I think that's probably one of the best characteristics of any player is his availability.

36:24 I remember we played on a Sunday one week. He sprained his MCL. he was supposed to be out four to six weeks. He played on Thursday night against Jacksonville. So, uh, just got a lot of, I got tremendous respect for him, uh, both as a person and as a player.

36:41 What have you seen from Malik to earn him that starting spot, that opportunity last week?

36:46 Well, listen, I think he's, he's done a good job in terms of his preparation. He's done a good job in term, in terms of his work. Um, and he's gone out and executed when he's been called upon to go out and execute.

36:58 So, uh, And.

37:00 Really, quite frankly, we're in a next man up, you know, business. And so, you know, Tyreek missed the early part of the week. And so that gave Malik the opportunity to step in there and play. And I thought he did a nice job.

37:17 When did you find out that Kyler's practice window would open up? And what do you need to see from him right now to get him back up?

37:25 Yeah, I think it was probably sometime– Last week, maybe the week before, they said he'd be back in the building this week and ready to start practicing. I think really right now where we're at, he's got to ramp up and get himself into football shape. We did a little extra work with him yesterday. I thought he looked good.

37:48 I thought the way he went out there and practiced I thought was good to see. He moved around really well. I think the biggest thing is, you know, it just takes a little bit of time to kind of get him into, you know, football shape. So we'll do that. You know, we got 21 days to, you know, figure it out and make a decision. And we'll use whatever time we need to to evaluate where he's at. And, you know, hopefully he'll be ready sooner rather than later.

38:18 I think he's a player that can help us.

38:20 Dylan had a pretty incredible replay stretch there by the interception. showing his speed to get to Barkley. What impressed you most about that whole little sequence there with him in those three plays?

38:31 Yeah, I think just really Dylan, each and every day, each and every week, he continues to improve. He's starting to get a better feel for the defense, a better feel for how the offense is trying to attack us. He's becoming the guy that we thought that he would be when we evaluated him uh, in college. I think, you know, anytime you have a guy that's got the speed and the range, uh, back there, they kind of become an eraser. Um, you know, they eliminate, uh, explosive plays. And, and so, um, he's in, he's still in the early part of his development. I think there's still a lot of growth left for him.

39:13 Dennis, you, uh, Dennis, you knew Aaron Glenn as a player and as an emerging coach, uh, what was unique about each phase of that career?

39:23 Well, Number one, I played with Aaron Glenn at A & M. I coached Aaron Glenn his last season. in New Orleans, and then he and I worked on the same staff there in New Orleans. Again, I got a lot of respect for A.G. He's a tough, feisty competitor. He works extremely hard. I know in New Orleans there was a lot of times where I'd show up in the morning, early in the morning, and he'd already be in there with the lights off grinding on the tape. And when I got ready to leave late at night, he was still in there grinding the tape. So what he's accomplished throughout his career has not been just God-given ability. It's been a guy that's got incredible work ethic. And you can see his fingerprints going on their team. I think

40:15 their team is a very tough team. uh, competitive football team. Um, and so we know we got our work cut out for us in all three phases. We know this is going to be a 60 minute game. Uh, and we know that we have to bring our a game if we expect to come out with a win.

40:30 You've spoken highly of color in the past, the player he is on the field. Obviously it's been a while since you've had him out there. Where's your confidence in him right now and then what he can be for you?

40:40 Yeah.

40:40 I mean, I got extreme confidence in what he can do when he's out there on the field. Um, and so that's never, that's never wavered. Um, I think, as we all know, the biggest thing for Kyler is for him to be healthy and be able to stay healthy. That's kind of where the focus is. Obviously, when we get to a point where he's been able to get himself into football shape, be able to stay healthy, I see him being back out on the field for us and helping us win a lot of games.

41:14 Was the Rams game with Kyler a good example of what you could do with him, what he can do?

41:21 Yeah, I think when he's been able to play, you know, he's been effective for us. So hopefully, like I said, hopefully we can get him back out there and he can do the things we think he can do.

41:33 When you're talking about, like, takeaway culture when players are prone to forcing fumbles in situations like that, how much of that is just, like, extra effort, mindset, so much, like, kind of like.

41:45 I think a ton of it is that. I think a ton of it is that, you know, you have to live, sleep, eat, breathe, taking the ball away every single day. Now, that doesn't guarantee that you're going to get them. But if you're not doing that, it's highly unlikely that you're going to get those takeaways. And there's, you know, there's really about five things that we talk about that we'll keep amongst ourselves in terms of how do those things come about. And so we really focus on that. We talk about it every day. We go out and practice that way. And I think that shows up in the games. And our guys believe in it.

42:32 Our guys have bought into that. And that's why we call them takeaways. We don't call them turnovers or giveaways. Nobody gives you the ball. You've got to go out there and take it. our guys have bought into that culture and done a good job with that.

42:47 With Xavier and Cam, those are two guys that might not have, we might not have expected to be in the starting defense a few months ago. The way you move them around, mixing, matching, how nice is it to have veterans who are presumably unselfish that are just.

43:00 Going to do it? I think that's a big part of, you know, everybody loves the superstar player, you know, but you can win a lot of games with just good, smart football players. Uh, and that's what we've tried to, you know, accumulate as many of those guys as we can, uh, and guys that can go out and perform multiple roles, uh, on game day, you know, Cam's a guy that, you know, he plays, he plays safety. He can go in and play, you know, in the nickel, uh, X is a guy that could play the strong, he could play the free. Uh, so guys that, that, uh, you know, can go out and, and perform when called upon, uh, I think is, is, is, is big.

43:42 Cause you need those guys.

43:43 Cause this is a, this is a, uh, uh, a game of attrition, you know, and your injuries are a part of the game. And, and so you have to have guys that, uh, can step up when called upon.

43:55 Thought it was cool. Just a year ago when they beat the saints and Johnson gave Dennis Allen game ball, gave him a game ball for the defensive performance last week. I know Ben handed out game balls to other players on Tuesday and or Wednesday when they got together for their first big team meeting. But that was a classy move.

44:13 And I think they both look at the game in a similar lens because they just don't throw the guys out there. They come up with a unique game plan for the opponent. And I like those kinds of coordinators.

44:25 Yeah.

44:26 You think about what Dennis Allen has to go through during the course of the week when you don't know who or when or, you know, what, type of guys you're going to have on your game day roster against one of the more competitive offense in the national football league. They were highlighted by one of the best offensive line, one of the best running backs. They have a dynamic quarterback and they have some really good receivers and tight ends.

44:48 So there's a lot that goes into the preparation that's starts with after the Minnesota game the week before then leads up in the Monday night kickoff. And just like Ben Johnson and having all these ideas swirling through his head, So does Dennis Allen, swirling through his head in the different personnel groupings. And I think that's the coolest thing about it is when you watch making personnel changes in and out of the sideline, you don't know who's in the defensive backfield.

45:17 There's somebody new. You don't know who's on the defensive line. Somebody new.

45:21 But Dennis has every one of these mentally and physically prepared.

45:25 Would it shock you if I told you that the Bears were in the top six in blitz percentage this year in the NFL?

45:33 It would.

45:34 It would because I would think that you'd like to have more bodies covering because if you have uncertainty in the defensive backfield, but then I like the blitzing and where it's coming from and unbeknownst to the protectors on the offensive line of the scrimmage, and then it's making the quarterback either retreating, backpedaling, or trying to get to the outside of the tackle box.

45:58 And they're still taking the ball away. Six of them. That's top five in the NFL, so Dating back to last season, Bears, obviously, they led the league and are continuing to be right near there. They have 39 takeaways, a plus 25 turnover margin since the start of 25. And again, he put some more skin in the game saying, listen, this is not by accident. There are things that I'm not going to tell you that we preach, but I would like to know what they are that lead to some of this mindset of taking the ball away.

46:34 Well, I think it's performance by each position. In 85, after three games, we had 12 sacks. Right now, they have seven sacks. And I think it's more difficult to get sacks in this era than it was in our era. There's a lot more three-step drop. There's a lot more RPOs. There's a lot more moving pocket. The quarterbacks are probably better athletes in some sense. But I'm super encouraged that– OK, if it doesn't result in a sack, you're still getting pressure to the quarterback. And so how many of those pressures of the quarterback factored in the outcome of the play?

47:09 The other day when Andy Dalton threw an interception in the end zone, he didn't get.

47:13 Sacked, but he had to throw it into coverage. And Dylan did a great job of wrapping it up and taking a knee.

47:19 Gino's been sacked nine times. That's 25th in the National Football League.

47:24 So.

47:25 And they might be without their left guard. Dylan Parham, who is a player he played with in New Orleans, they brought here in free agency. So that's a wait and see until Sunday at noon. The Jets have, I keep talking about them because I enjoyed watching their tape. They're aggressive. They play violent football. Some of their DBs, that's a nasty bunch. I'm still shocked they haven't had a takeaway, an interception rather, in 20 games. So this would be game 21 if they don't get it. That's dating back to last year. That's never happened in the modern era that you don't get even a tip pass.

48:00 I mean, wow. That's just by accident, you would think, right? But they have had the lead or been tied in the fourth quarter of all three games, Tommy. So they're not going away. Put them away early. Don't let them come back.

48:12 Yeah, they're developing the culture of Aaron Glenn. And I remember used to watching Aaron Glenn on the defensive coach for the Detroit Lions as Dan Campbell was turning that thing around.

48:21 And he was an absolute no-nonsense guy.

48:24 He would walk back to the bench when a guy didn't do what his assignment was or he didn't make the play that he needed to make. And he was not scared of the cameras and getting in their face and delivering that message.

48:36 So when you talk about a team.

48:38 that's been living with frustration now for as many years as they have. I do think Aaron Glenn is the right man for the job to get that culture turned around.

48:48 Weird that he's playing three straight NFC North division teams when he came out of there from Detroit, losing to Green Bay and Detroit, now the Bears. He plays the Vikings in week 17. So really, they're a 15. They're a 15 in the NFC North this year. And they're going to play Everybody else. So they matter. Like beating them matters. This is a scheduling thing.

49:10 Winning every game matters. I mean, that is.

49:14 Like so important of winning these games.

49:18 Like you know they they're giving the bears like.

49:20 A 73 chance to win the game on the espn site and so it's almost don't look at it don't become aware of it don't let it change your um you know your commitment to what you need to do to be ready on sunday.

49:35 And they also force three and outs. So sustaining drives, whomever is the quarterback, will be key. And that's where that run game comes in handy. I think the chain moving, they lead the league in time of possession. Not that Ben cares about that, but it just happens that way. And it just so happens the Jets are number two in the league in time of possession. So, you know, I don't know what you take out of that. Didn't you guys lead the league? You guys led the league in time of possession and kept a fresh defense.

50:00 For a long time.

50:01 But, you know, right now the Bears are averaging 34 minutes, 32 seconds time of possession. Right now they have 48 more plays than their opponent. So now take a couple things into consideration. Those 48 plays at this point, I think, is number one. But how much time do you take off the clock? How much time do you keep the ball away from your opponent? And how much, you know, when you have that physical style of running game where you're hitting these guys right in the mouth, the toll it takes on them, just like we saw the effects in the latter part of Monday night's game.

50:32 Yeah, I don't want to deal with Garrett Wilson, outstanding player, three times a 1,000-yard player, knee injury last year, limited to seven games. But he's a matchup that, you know, he's a 50-50 guy. He's very aggressive. He's excellent out of that Ohio State program. And the tight ends, they got a lot of them.

50:48 Is your guy going to play?

50:50 Who?

50:50 Well, I don't know. It sounds like he had the MRI. It doesn't appear to be anything long-term. It's a quad.

50:57 Your guy would be talking about Bryce Hall.

50:59 Brees.

51:00 Brees.

51:00 Brees Lightning.

51:01 Brees Hall, excuse me.

51:02 Brees Lightning, Tommy. He's very good.

51:03 I think he is a fantastic football player.

51:07 In both phases.

51:07 I've liked him since college. The guy is just an unbelievable football player. He has anticipation, vision. Everything you need.

51:16 He's a glider, man. He hits it, and he's also a very good receiver. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Chevy Silverado, the official truck partner of the Chicago Bears. Check out a Chevy Silverado at your Chicago and a Northwest Indiana Chevy dealer. Chevy drives Chicago. Any other thoughts before we wrap things up? I just cannot believe we've hit the four-game mark already. It's moving fast.

51:39 Yeah, 250 podcasts is great to talk about that and stuff. But no, man, it's kind of like picking up where last year left off. The weeks go by fast, and they are exciting, and everybody wants to bend your ear about the Bears, which I love because no matter who, where, or what you're doing, somebody in your path wants to talk about the Bears.

52:05 And I've had the.

52:06 Quarterback question probably– Yeah. Probably 200 times since the game Monday.

52:12 Of course.

52:14 They try to set you up for it, too. I know you know. No, we don't. We don't know.

52:18 Yeah.

52:19 Jeff's going to play quarterback.

52:20 We don't know. For Tom Thayer, I'm Jeff Joniak. Thanks for listening, everybody. Please subscribe on the Chicago Bears official app, Apple, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. And bear down, everybody.