Full Transcript for Breaking down Bears’ keys to success vs. Buccaneers | Bears Weekly

four as well. So, um, that'd be a huge challenge for us. I number one team in football rushing the ball right now. So, um, it'll be, it'll be a big one. 00:05:22 Speaker 3: And it is a game of attrition. 00:05:23 Speaker 4: Contavia street goes on. I, with any injury, uh, Xavier Scott just went on IR on Thursday. He had a wrist injury in the game. He was doing so well on special teams. So Stephen Carlson now on the active roster. We'll see what's next in the run department because Kyle Munungi still not practicing with thumb and toe injury. And DeMarco Jackson also unable to go with an ankle injury on Thursday. So, you know, next man up, Tom, that's work for them. And it will have to continue to do so. 00:05:53 Speaker 7: Yeah. 00:05:53 Speaker 5: I mean, listen, everyone, that's the great thing about this coaching staff is every assistant coach, when they had to call up some of their numbers, that next guy was mentally and physically capable and ready to. 00:06:05 Speaker 3: Assist their football team. 00:06:07 Speaker 5: And yeah, some of these guys that you're mentioning, I feel super disappointed for because I I'm, I'm selfish in my appreciation for how hard they've worked in what they've been able to accomplish when they get their chance or their number called. 00:06:21 Speaker 4: All right, this is a battle of the top two running offenses in the league, and each team is top five in rush defense, including Dennis Allen's crew as he takes a look at that running attack of the Buccaneers. 00:06:32 Speaker 8: I mean, they're running the ball better than anybody else in the league right now. I mean, I think, you know, I don't remember the exact numbers, but it's like 960 yards and 169 attempts in the last four weeks. So they're running the ball extremely well. Um, I think, you know, their offensive line is, is, is physical, uh, I think this team just plays really hard, and they play a physical brand of football. 00:07:00 Speaker 3: There's a level of seriousness here. 00:07:01 Speaker 4: Everybody's attention is certainly on that ability to run the football. The play of Jeffrey Simmons and the resultant play of others on defense, namely Montez Sweat, certainly caught Dennis Allen's attention, and now there's a new expectation for a player of that magnitude. Coming up, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. This is ESPN 1000 and the Bears Radio Network. 00:07:24 Speaker 1: Welcome back to Bears Weekly, a Chicago Bears production on the flagship home of the Bears, ESPN Chicago. 00:07:34 Speaker 4: This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by Chevy Drive Chicago, Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana Chevy dealers. 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 Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana Chevy dealer. With Tom Thayer, Jeff Joniak, Tommy Caleb Williams returned from his hamstring injury. 00:07:54 Speaker 3: In a word triumphant, I mean, command.

00:07:56 Speaker 4: And control laser focused, calm accuracy is really popping three wins by 10 points or more. And now number two behind Joe Burrow, the Bengals in completion percentage for the season at 70.9%. What is your impression of what he's done since he's been back? 00:08:13 Speaker 5: His approach to the game where, you know, the thing that impressed me the most about the other night, it's not, you know, all of his arm strength and his talents and his vision, his accuracy, his escapability, all those things are, you can speak glowingly about. but it's his control once he breaks the huddle. Because you think of the time, from the time you break the huddle to the time you snap the ball, how much information is going through your head. You're thinking about two different plays you just called. You're thinking about where the safeties are. 00:08:45 Speaker 3: You're thinking about. 00:08:46 Speaker 5: How the positioning of the defense affects everybody of a play that you just called. And so it's really his control, right? from, from breaking the huddle to me, I'm up in the booth and I'm looking at the play clock and I'm going just, there's a thousand things scrambling through my head. Then you just imagine if you were actually on the field, you are the quarterback and you are in control of all that. So from the time that Caleb has been back from his injury, he's been incredible from the time that he gets the play called into his helmet until he breaks the huddle. 00:09:20 Speaker 9: Yeah. 00:09:20 Speaker 4: Super focused. Here's Caleb Williams from Wednesday at Hallis Hall. 00:09:23 Speaker 7: Just better overall. placing the ball better, you know, being more decisive. I think that's something that I harp on for myself. I've harped on it, you know, since I was with Coach Riley. It's one of our last things we say to each other in our QB meetings when I was, you know, with him is be. 00:09:37 Speaker 2: Decisive, be decisive, be decisive. 00:09:39 Speaker 7: And so I think that's kind of where it stems from. I think one of the biggest things as a QB is being decisive. When you're hesitant and things like that, you know, bad things happen. And so decisiveness wins is what I go by, a slogan I go by, and just being Trying to get better at that each and every day. 00:09:53 Speaker 6: Caleb, since you returned, you guys haven't trailed in any of the three games, all wins. I know you're looking ahead, but can you kind of put in perspective what how well you guys have played over the. 00:10:03 Speaker 7: Past few weeks yeah shout out the defense uh because there's times we haven't started with the ball. 00:10:08 Speaker 3: Um and then and then shout out the o-line. 00:10:10 Speaker 7: And wide receivers and everybody just doing their job i think that's what it comes down to uh we knew like like You know, last week, they're not a defense that. 00:10:18 Speaker 3: You know, typically. 00:10:18 Speaker 7: Allows over their time of just allowing explosive plays and, you know, first score drive, you know. And so I think that was big for us to be able to come out and have a certain energy whenever we got the ball, whether it was, you know, the first drive or, you know, after them. And so I think that was that was big for us of just going out there, executing, you know, getting the ball, you know, in guys hands, earning those points. three, four, you know, yards, maybe some of the nasty twos sometimes and just trying to stay on track. And then from there, just, just playing together and communicating and doing well. 00:10:51 Speaker 5: On those long drives, is it almost that you have to be perfect on those because the more plays you run, the more chances there are for something to go wrong? 00:10:59 Speaker 7: I don't, I don't feel that way. I think, I think when you start getting in those, those long drives, you know, it's just, it's finding completions. It's, it's, it's keeping the drive alive. Um, it's not going for the, the kill, you know, per se, it's not going for the shot. 00:11:16 Speaker 9: It's okay. 00:11:17 Speaker 7: The shot's not there. Let's, let's check it down. Let's get that, that four yards, five yards, um, and, and, and keep the drives alive. I think that's, I think that's where we've grown as an offense, uh, whether it's, you know, me getting the guy, you know, getting the ball in the guy's hands and them, them knifing and, you know, getting those extra two yards or, And, you know, it's me just being able to find a check down quick and things like that. And then from there, we run the ball. We run the ball well. That's a part of who we are. It's, you know, a big piece of who we are. And so we're going to keep doing that. We're going to keep finding check downs. And then when the explosives show up, when the shots show up, we'll take them too. 00:11:50 Speaker 5: Do those drives kind of, is that like emulate, or I guess just like highlight your growth and like seeing the check down, not necessarily going for the kill shot? 00:11:59 Speaker 2: Do you feel like that's an area where you've grown? 00:12:02 Speaker 9: Yeah. 00:12:02 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:12:02 Speaker 7: Yeah, I would say I've grown in that area. I think you go back to high school, all I did was take shots. I went to college and scrambled around a little bit. I took a few check downs, very little. And then, you know, my first year was very little. I got sacked a lot, all of that. And then this past year or the yeah, this past year, I found a few more scramble still a little bit. 00:12:22 Speaker 3: And then, you know, this year it's just been a. 00:12:25 Speaker 7: Lot more comfortable with, you know, the playbook and understanding it and, you know, what we want to do with certain plays. 00:12:31 Speaker 2: And then, you know, from there being able to, when they. 00:12:34 Speaker 7: Don't give us a specific coverage, just being able to check the ball down and keep the drive alive. 00:12:39 Speaker 4: Analysts

and the reporters are trying to ask him questions. He's not allowing them to put words in his mouth. He stops them and say, no, I look at it this way. I don't quite look at it that way. And just that confidence in his preparation. And he's spending a lot of extra time. in this building and on the practice field. And I can attest to the fact he was out there last week very, very late on the practice field trying to get it right. 00:13:06 Speaker 5: I'm glad you brought that up because I heard that same thing in terms of him answering questions. You're not going to say something for me. Ask me a question and I'll tell you your answer, which I really appreciate because how often that a quarterback has to go to a podium, everything they say nowadays is looked at through a microscope. 00:13:30 Speaker 4: So the Bears have put up 30 or more points four times this season. 00:13:33 Speaker 3: Only Buffalo and Dallas have more. They have five. 00:13:36 Speaker 4: Bears have a 10-minute and 53-second time of possession margin advantage, more than twice as large as any other team in the league. And they're 17 rushing touchdowns, the most through eight games in a Bears franchise since 1956. And here's another nugget. Walter Payton in 77 led the NFL in rushing touchdowns. No other Bear in history has done that. So DeAndre Swift has that chance. He's off to a heck of a start with 10 rushing touchdowns. One thing I also noticed, because you mentioned Lincoln Riley in there, who coached him at Oklahoma. We forget that Lincoln Riley coached Baker Bainfield, too. So two Lincoln Riley disciples squaring off. Two former Heisman winners again, and two former Oklahoma Sooners are going to be on the field on Sunday night. 00:14:23 Speaker 3: Should be fun. 00:14:24 Speaker 9: It is. 00:14:24 Speaker 5: You know, they have a different style of play. They have a different attitude and a different personality, but they were both coached by a super creative college coach in their younger years of learning football. And I think they've both benefited from it. 00:14:39 Speaker 3: You can see it in their professional game. 00:14:41 Speaker 4: And since week five, the Bucs, number one scoring defense in the NFL, 13.8 points per game. And they lead the NFL in takeaways with 16. They're a plus nine since that week five. We'll dig into that a little bit later on. Coming up next, we hear from linebacker DeMarco Jackson. This is ESPN 1000 and the Bears Radio Network. 00:15:01 Speaker 1: Jeff Joniak and Tom Thayer chatting about the Bears. It must be Bears Weekly. 00:15:06 Speaker 3: Well, if it's Bears Weekly, it must be the home of the Bears. 00:15:10 Speaker 1: ESPN Chicago. 00:15:12 Speaker 3: This segment of. 00:15:13 Speaker 4: Bears Weekly brought to you by Athletico Physical Therapy. Visit athletico.com to request an in-clinic or virtual appointment and start feeling better tomorrow with Tom Thayer, Jeff Joniak. So DeMarco Jackson never takes football for granted. Our player

profile this week on the native South Carolinian thriving among Dennis's menaces on defense. 00:15:31 Speaker 9: You know, it's challenging. It's something you got to learn as a young player. 00:15:35 Speaker 10: If you're not developed, if coaches don't see you as that starting guy, you kind of just got to find your way. And special teams was that way for me. So, you know, I just always say, guys, just keep my head down and just try to figure it out from there. Like, just go to work every day and just try not to pay attention to where you're at. Just keep trucking along. 00:15:56 Speaker 3: Yeah, don't look at the depth chart, right? 00:15:57 Speaker 9: Yeah, don't look at the depth chart. It can get you down. 00:16:00 Speaker 10: Frustrated at times but eventually man i think it's time it always comes. 00:16:03 Speaker 4: You were throwing some curveballs though even in high school didn't you have an injury right before did you think that affected your recruiting and then you were injured your rookie year. 00:16:12 Speaker 10: Yeah so i feel like you know that definitely altered my decision of where i was playing ball at um so app state they happily took me and gave me the um got the surgery with them and you know it was that was a tough um Tough moment in my life trying to figure out, you know, being a kid, trying to figure out. 00:16:31 Speaker 9: You had your mind set in one place. 00:16:32 Speaker 3: Where was it? 00:16:34 Speaker 9: South Carolina. 00:16:35 Speaker 10: Yeah, so, you know, it was like bigger SEC school. So I thought that was my path. But eventually, man, I feel like God has. 00:16:42 Speaker 9: A way of working things out. 00:16:44 Speaker 10: And I went over to App State, and it was kind of like that same trajectory, like how my NFL career started. Injury, special teams, then finally getting that role player. 00:16:56 Speaker 4: Did that culture and the people at App State kind of create what we have right here? 00:17:02 Speaker 10: Yeah, I feel like App State was a school, you know, just transitioned from the FCS to FBS. So being in that Sun Belt, man, the coaches there, the players there, it was a different type of group. And I feel like that really changed me to see, like, the grind that it takes to get to the next level. You know, I feel like it's a lot of, you know, guys that kind of went under the radar who has the potential but might maybe not have the size. So that kind of just, for me, that was my case. So you just keep your head down and just go to work, man, and that was our mentality. 00:17:38 Speaker 4: I would imagine the hunger, even from the coaches, trying to climb that ladder was evident all the time. 00:17:46 Speaker 9: Yeah, man. 00:17:46 Speaker 10: It's, you know, man, it's like you just got to stay hungry. And, like, being at App State, seeing– You know, like, App State don't get the recognition they deserve at times, I feel. 00:17:56 Speaker 3: Unless they beat Michigan. In the big house. 00:18:00 Speaker 9: You're right. 00:18:00 Speaker 10: Yeah, that was a game, well, everybody knows about when you bring up App State. But, yeah, so, you know, it just, you don't get the recognition. So, I just always play with that chip on your shoulder. 00:18:10 Speaker 3: What put one on yours? 00:18:12 Speaker 9: I feel like all my life. 00:18:14 Speaker 10: I just kind of been like that guy who was just like, you're just not there yet, you know? 00:18:18 Speaker 9: That guy that's like coach's. 00:18:21 Speaker 10: In the past, he's not big enough, he's not fast enough, he's not quick. 00:18:24 Speaker 9: Enough, whatever it is. 00:18:26 Speaker 10: And just having those repeated messages kind of just sent in my head, you know, it just lit a fire under me. It just motivated me just to prove to myself to not let others try to determine where I should be, you know. So for me, like having how my parents raised me, going to App State, that culture that we created as a brotherhood up there, it really just turned me to who I am. 00:18:51 Speaker 3: Well, apparently you're the brick wall now, right? 00:18:53 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:18:54 Speaker 3: Who gave you this nickname? Ben told me about it. 00:18:56 Speaker 9: Yeah, L. Randall L. 00:18:58 Speaker 10: He gave it to me one week in the team meeting, and it kind of just took off from there. 00:19:03 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:19:03 Speaker 3: You okay with that? 00:19:04 Speaker 4: Yeah. 00:19:05 Speaker 3: You carry that well. You got to tell us about the hit against New England. 00:19:08 Speaker 10: I feel like the past couple of games, I've just been having kind of like maybe some face mask issues. 00:19:16 Speaker 9: And there was one play on New England where me and a guy just met in the hole. 00:19:20 Speaker 10: And it kind of just like busted the face mask, face hit something, man, busted my nose, shifted the tooth a little bit. And it kind of just like I come back to the huddle and I can just feel my face ringing. And, you know, I'm like trying to say a call, hello, not trying to move my face. I'm like, man, I feel something, but I don't know what I feel, you know. But I get to the sideline and I sit there and TJ was like, yeah, man, I think you need to I was trying to look at your nose I'm like what is it messed up and I'm like trying to like look between the eyes I'm like I can't see what's going on they were just like yeah I don't I don't think it looked like that before then. 00:20:02 Speaker 9: I was like oh man and it was just yeah. 00:20:04 Speaker 4: Yeah Ben loved it because the blood on the nose and it's Like it's perfect Chicago Bear linebacker, right? A Mike linebacker looking like that, like you'd see in NFL films. But you're so much more than that. That interception against New England was fantastic. Your performances last season, big player of the week after that Pittsburgh start. 00:20:24 Speaker 3: What is it that, you know, it's not. 00:20:26 Speaker 4: Too big for DeMarco Jackson. When

you're called upon, you have delivered repeatedly. This coach, this Dennis Allen defense, the man who drafted you, what's the secret to this success? 00:20:37 Speaker 9: Man, I just think, like, just years of just my preparation. 00:20:40 Speaker 10: I don't feel like no moment is too big or too little type of deal for me. 00:20:45 Speaker 9: So, like, I just go into it level-headed. 00:20:47 Speaker 10: Like, I know when I step on that field and I was telling the coaches like this, like, I'm not preparing for them. They're preparing for me type of mentality, you know? Like, I know what I'm going to bring to the game, my speed, my physicality. So, I just, like, hang my hat on that and just, you know, just go out there and just play free and ball. 00:21:04 Speaker 3: Farm work? 00:21:05 Speaker 9: Yes, sir. 00:21:06 Speaker 4: Tell me about all that because– Colston Loveland was a rancher. 00:21:10 Speaker 3: I don't know if you know that. 00:21:10 Speaker 9: Yeah, no, we talked about it. 00:21:12 Speaker 4: Roma Dunze, Utah, with his grandparents. So we know that it's not easy work. So did it mold you in many ways with your brothers? 00:21:20 Speaker 10: Yeah, man, my brothers, grandpa, dad, uncles, aunts, like those were some of my best memories just from being out there. Either if it was a Thursday night in middle school football, like Little League, Friday night, Up early on Saturday, like, I'm out there pushing out a bell of hay, fixing some fence line, picking up some stuff out the field, moving rocks, carrying jugs of water up for the pit, you know, just a lot of different things. And, like, my parents always just told us, like, man, like, whatever it is in life you want, just go to work for it, you know. And, like, that discipline really transformed my life. Having that as a kid, just keep going, keep going. Not, like, trying to, like, figure it out. just keep working and just keep your head down. Like that's been my whole, that's been my whole, you know, like my whole life kind of like, don't worry about where you're at. 00:22:13 Speaker 9: Just keep going. 00:22:14 Speaker 10: Eventually like, man, you're going to get there. 00:22:16 Speaker 9: And that's just how I've been playing. And that's how I've been living. 00:22:18 Speaker 4: Is football in some respects easier than waking up at the crack of dawn and doing your, your farm work? 00:22:26 Speaker 10: Oh man, I will say, man, like the farm work is challenging, but being here in Chicago, the team that we have, like going through training camp here, the culture that we're building here, it is, it's a tough, we're like, I feel like the guys in that locker room, like we're a tough team, the way we practice, the way we come out there, um, just the violence, the physicality that we. 00:22:48 Speaker 9: Go against one another with all year long. 00:22:50 Speaker 10: Like, I really feel like that is carrying us so far this year. So, you know, I would say this was probably one of the toughest years, like going through training camp here, um, with Ben, um, But, yeah, it was definitely one of the funnest ones, too, though. 00:23:06 Speaker 3: What's Dennis Allen mean to you? 00:23:08 Speaker 10: I would say, man, he the one that gave me that call, I want to say about five years ago, kind of changed my life. Being down in New Orleans, giving me that opportunity, really seeing and believing in me. You know, he's a coach that's tough on you. 00:23:24 Speaker 9: Don't get me wrong. He's tough on you. 00:23:26 Speaker 10: But it's that tough to where he knows you got more in the tank, you know, and he's always challenging you. And for me, like, I'm always up for a challenge to get through it. And then it's another challenge at the end behind that door, you know? So him giving me the opportunity to be here, being in New Orleans to start out, but then just to be here, him just to trust me and just letting me play my game, but also like, you know, putting me in the scheme, like trusting me with it, man, it means a lot. And I carry that with, you know, a badge of honor being out there, being a green dot, calling it and just running it. 00:23:58 Speaker 3: And don't forget your special teams work. Cause that's also significant. 00:24:01 Speaker 9: Yeah. 00:24:02 Speaker 3: You're, you're a demon on that unit. Yeah. 00:24:04 Speaker 9: You know, I take pride in that too. 00:24:06 Speaker 10: You know, I feel like some guys may look at special teams like, Oh, not less important or something like that. But I feel like you've seen in these past games, man, we kind of been lighting it up. Um, our special teams, um, shout out the, you know, high tower left. They really, um, bring energy into the meetings. They bring passion out there on the field. So like, I feel like what y'all see is the passion that we get from this coaching staff. We have fun with it. We are energetic. We take the field with a purpose. 00:24:36 Speaker 3: And you have a bigger purpose. Raising a child. 00:24:38 Speaker 10: Yeah. 00:24:39 Speaker 3: I believe another one on the way. 00:24:40 Speaker 9: Yeah. 00:24:41 Speaker 3: Another one on the way. 00:24:42 Speaker 4: But one of the coolest things for me after the game is when I interview you guys, the family area down at Soldier Field, and you so proudly carry your daughter. 00:24:51 Speaker 9: Yeah. Right? 00:24:52 Speaker 3: And you do interviews with your daughter. 00:24:55 Speaker 4: Yeah. 00:24:55 Speaker 3: She's never going to forget that. 00:24:57 Speaker 9: No. 00:24:57 Speaker 4: And you certainly won't either. How important is that to you, just to share these moments that they won't understand until they're older? 00:25:04 Speaker 10: Yeah, man, I feel like my daughter is like my heart outside of my body, you know? And I feel like she's a big reason I am where I am today. You know, how I transitioned my life, being a father and a husband. But just to come home to her every single day, my wife and her, it's

like, you know, it just kind of, it takes your mind off of practice. It takes your mind off of football for a second. And it just like, just being a dad. 00:25:31 Speaker 3: Balances you out. 00:25:32 Speaker 9: Yeah. 00:25:32 Speaker 10: Balances you out. And it's just like, just having her smile at me, call me dada. Like it just, you know, it just melts my heart at the same time, you know? So being a father is one of the most proudest and, you know, most loving things I ever came across really. 00:25:47 Speaker 4: Lovely ending to that interview. It's all about his daughter. It's all about his soon-to-be son. We marched through his life on and off the field and recognizing the impact he's making, Tom. I know I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I think we're on the same page. We like the attitude he plays with. 00:26:03 Speaker 3: Oh, I do. 00:26:04 Speaker 5: You know, I again, I grow appreciation for these guys when I get a chance to see these in depth, hear these in depth interviews. But the one thing that strike me when he said holding his daughter is like seeing his heart outside his body. And it kind of like it's emotional to me because. you don't get a chance to see that side of these guys. You don't get to hear that side of them. And so when you hear an interview and you know their appreciation for their life outside the building, but I guess I'm equally as impressed with his performance inside the building and on the football field. Again, a great appreciation for DeMarco and where his journey has taken him and the offerings in his professional life by Dennis Allen. I'm super happy for him, and he's one of those guys we talked about. These assistant coaches have him ready, so when he got his opportunity last year against the Pittsburgh Steelers, interception tackle for a loss and you know player of the week so congratulations to him and i hope it continues for a long. 00:27:11 Speaker 4: Time and nfl analyst former tampa bay and indianapolis colt defensive tackle booger mcfarland coming up next here on espn 1000 of the bears radio network. 00:27:20 Speaker 1: Welcome back to bears weekly on the bears radio network here's your host the voice of the bears jeff joniak. 00:27:31 Speaker 4: This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by Athletico Physical Therapy. Visit athletico.com to request an in-clinic or virtual appointment and start feeling better tomorrow with Super Bowl-winning Bears guard Tom Thayer. 00:27:40 Speaker 3: I'm Jeff Joniak. In this segment, we're joined. 00:27:43 Speaker 4: By Anthony Booger McFarlane, currently on ESPN's NFL and college football coverage, including NFL primetime with Chris Berman, our good friend, and ABC College Football Studio coverage, originally joining ESPN in 2014, former number one pick out of LSU by. 00:27:59 Speaker 3: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 00:28:00 Speaker 4: Played for John Gruden, played for Tony Dungy, then was traded in season during that 2006 year to rejoin Dungy and the

Indianapolis Colts. And I think, Booger, the only sack by Indianapolis in that Super Bowl win over the Bears. 00:28:14 Speaker 3: A little walk down memory lane for you. 00:28:17 Speaker 11: Yeah, it definitely brings back some memories. Thanks for having me. Some good old days back then, you know. 00:28:22 Speaker 3: Yeah, you're smiling. You can smile. That was a heck of a game. 00:28:25 Speaker 4: You know, and that year you think of Jeffrey Simmons getting in-season move from Tennessee Titans to the Bears and make an instant impact. 00:28:32 Speaker 3: How was that hard for you to make that move? 00:28:36 Speaker 2: It was kind of hard. Everything off the field. 00:28:39 Speaker 11: Like when you start thinking about, you know, your family and how quick it happens, you get traded on a Tuesday afternoon. and you got to show up in a new city on Wednesday. So that part of it's hard and getting acclimated. Where do you stay? What do you do? Do you have a car? 00:28:53 Speaker 2: Do you not have. 00:28:54 Speaker 11: Like, all the things that we take for granted in our daily life, those things are hard. Once you get on the football field, as a defensive tackle, man, it's really not overly complicated. 00:29:02 Speaker 2: Like, defense is... From a defensive tackle standpoint. 00:29:05 Speaker 11: I'm either lining up inside the guard, head up on the guard, outside the guard, or over the center. Like, there's only so many spots you can line up. You got to learn the terminology, for sure. But then it's about understanding, you know, what your job is, what's your role, what you. 00:29:20 Speaker 2: Can and cannot do. 00:29:21 Speaker 11: But by all means necessary, inside, it's not typically, like, you know, geometry in there. 00:29:30 Speaker 2: Like, it's really put the hand in the dirt and go play football. 00:29:34 Speaker 5: Booger was one Superbowl more rewarding than the other. I was 24 years old when we won the Superbowl and I said, okay, sometime throughout the course of my career, we're going to win another one. 00:29:43 Speaker 3: And then we never did. 00:29:45 Speaker 5: But for you having the opportunity to win two in a, in a career like yours was either one of them more gratifying? 00:29:52 Speaker 11: They were both very gratifying for different reasons. You know, the first one in Tampa, you know, I came in as a rookie, man. I was on a team with several Hall of Famers, John Lynch, Rondé Barber, Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks. And, you know, those guys form one of the best defenses in the history of the National Football League. And, you know, for years, we didn't have anything to show for it. So to get that Super Bowl was kind of validation for them. And so it was special for me because those guys are really important to me. 00:30:16 Speaker 2: Those are my friends. And then you go to Indy. 00:30:19 Speaker 11: You know, Tony got fired in Tampa. He goes to Indy. Fast forward, they trade for me and they help him. get a Super Bowl in Indy,

be the first black coach to get a Super Bowl. Him and Lovie Smith playing in that game, two black coaches opposing each other. Tony drafted me in Tampa. Now I get an opportunity to help him in Indy. So they were both very gratifying for different reasons. And both of those rings mean different things to me. And they both are very special to me. 00:30:47 Speaker 5: You know, so when I went to the combine after my senior year in college, I remember them measuring me and they said, you know, Tom, they're six. 00:30:54 Speaker 3: Three and three quarters. And I go, no way. I'm six, five. 00:30:57 Speaker 5: I've been six, five since high school. But then I was looking at your dimensions. 00:31:02 Speaker 3: Six foot. Is that right? 00:31:04 Speaker 2: Yeah, six. Actually, the combine I measured six foot seven eight. 00:31:08 Speaker 11: So you could say six one, but it's six foot seven eight, however you want to call it. 00:31:12 Speaker 2: Is what I measured. 00:31:13 Speaker 5: Was strength and leverage always an asset to your game? And so when I think about you and your career and your production and everything, was leverage an. 00:31:22 Speaker 3: Asset to you and your position? 00:31:25 Speaker 5: Well, yeah. 00:31:25 Speaker 11: I mean, leverage is an asset to every defensive lineman. I don't care how tall you are. 00:31:29 Speaker 2: You can be 6'6. Low man still wins. You got to get low. 00:31:32 Speaker 11: And so it was an opportunity for me to use that. Like, we all are blessed with different attributes. For me, it was speed, quickness, lower body twitch. Like, those are the things that I was blessed with. But my defensive line coach, who coaches Chicago, would always tell me, even though you're short, you can still play high. Like, it doesn't matter how tall you are. You still got to get low. Rob Marinelli, I think you guys are familiar with right up there. So it was about playing, you know, getting low, using your head and hands and feet. for me, and those are the things that I did. But, yeah, there was a built-in advantage starting off a little lower to the ground, you could say. 00:32:09 Speaker 3: And you weren't a defensive lineman with Rod Marinelli. You were a rushman. 00:32:13 Speaker 2: There you go. 00:32:13 Speaker 4: Yeah, you were a rushman. Booger McFarlane, our guest here on ESPN Chicago. Tom Thayer, Jeff Joniak, what is your impression of the impact, the immediacy of Jeffrey Simmons on the Bears against a really good Seattle team on Monday night? 00:32:26 Speaker 11: Well, I thought he flashed, and I think that's the thing you want to see. Anytime you look at defensive linemen, can they flash, especially when you have a guy who you give up two first-round picks for and is making the amount of money that Jeffrey is making to whom much is given, much is expected. So he's got to flash, and I thought he flashed really well. He's an impact guy. He's going to require a lot of attention. And I think, you know, what do you have, six tackles a sack? You know, a couple of TFLs. Like, that's what he is. He's the best defensive tackling football, and he's been that for the last two or three years. So it's really cool to get an opportunity to see him on a national stage. 00:32:59 Speaker 2: I've known him for a long time. 00:33:02 Speaker 11: I went and visited him at Mississippi State years ago, had a conversation with him. He is a young man that has matured beyond, I think, years that people could even have ever thought that knowing. 00:33:14 Speaker 3: Hmm. 00:33:15 Speaker 11: He's an outstanding player. I think he's a better person. He's an even better team leader. And so I think if he can stay healthy and Caleb can stay upright and Ben Johnson is the coach, I think that combination there gives Chicago an opportunity to be as good as anybody in football. And I think that's what you want when you make a trade like that. 00:33:35 Speaker 2: And bring in Jeffrey Simmons. 00:33:36 Speaker 5: When you see what Simmons can do to a Montez Sweat, to an Austin Booker, to Grady Jarrett, he's got his own, you know, he's a good player on his own merit. But the way that you guys affected the other guys around you, how important do you think that is when you see the production of a guy like Montez now playing one game next to him in the NFL? 00:33:57 Speaker 11: It's always important, man, like, because no one guy can do it by himself. You know, especially when you look at the rush from the front, it takes four guys, sometimes five. 00:34:06 Speaker 2: Like, you know, you got to cover it. If the end goes. 00:34:09 Speaker 11: Underneath, the tackle has to go outside. If the tackle has a two-way go, somebody else has got to cover. Like, it's four guys working as one. 00:34:15 Speaker 2: And so... You know, when you have a guy, I play with Warren Sapp. 00:34:18 Speaker 11: We had a guy that we knew that was going to be able to kind of get the fire started. And once he got it started, it was up to us to pile on and make sure that the flame was burning really, really hot. And so it takes somebody like that. You have to have a guy to get it started. Green Bay has Michael Parsons. Pittsburgh has T.J. 00:34:38 Speaker 2: Watts. You know, the Rams, Aaron Donald was that guy. 00:34:41 Speaker 11: You got to have a guy that gets the party started. And then it's up for everybody else to come and join in. And I think, you know, when you look at Sweat, Sweat and Simmons have played together before. They know each other. They understand each other. Grady Jarrett can win one-on-ones. Booker is a young guy up and coming. So if these guys can start to reach their potential... Now Dennis Allen has a four-man rush that he can work with. And so it's amazing how good the secondary gets when the guys up front rush. And so now Stevenson starts to look a little better on the back end. You know, Gordon starts to look a little better. Like these players start to look better when that ball's got to come out. So

it's four guys working as one, but it all starts up front. And I think the Bears have the making of something really special. 00:35:25 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:35:25 Speaker 4: What is your overall impression? of this team right now. It certainly is getting a lot of attention. This will be the third straight primetime game. So all eyes have been in on these guys and what happens then. Everybody's writing and talking about the Chicago Bears. 00:35:40 Speaker 2: Football team. 00:35:41 Speaker 11: I think the best thing that they do is run the football with Swift and Menangai. I think that has to be the foundation when you run behind Jackson and Darnell Wright and Joe Tooney's no slouch. 00:35:51 Speaker 2: I think They got a major in the run. 00:35:54 Speaker 11: And then that allows Ben Johnson to get creative with Luther Burden and, and Roma Dunza and those guys down the field. Uh, Ben wants to be a physical football coach, and I think that's the best thing that they do. We can get caught up in the Caleb Williams and all the improvisational stuff, but it stops and starts with the ability to run the football. I think defensively, they got to be opportunistic. I think the defensive line has got to carry the show. I don't think you can leave the corners out there on. 00:36:22 Speaker 2: An island one-on-one. 00:36:24 Speaker 11: I think the front seven has got to carry this defense, and I think that's how this team has to win. But when you bring in Simmons and you look at everything else, They can beat anybody. They can beat anybody in football. The key will be health, the quarterback not turning the football over, and then just ball bouncing your way every now and then. I think that's going to wind up being the key. 00:36:48 Speaker 5: Booger, so if you were playing for the Chicago Bears and you think of what Tampa Bay played in last week, because you've also played in those conditions, would you think outside the box and maybe watch a different tape of Tampa? Or would you watch that to see how they ran the ball just because of the footing, the conditions and everything that went with it? 00:37:07 Speaker 11: No, I think, you know, you got to understand it is what it is. I mean, the conditions dictated how the game was played. It always does. But I think, you know, you have to realize that they're not going to run the ball 54 times against the Bears. I think, you know, you're going to have your opportunities to rush to pass it. But the best part of the Bucs team is their offensive line. That's the best part of their team. They're going to run the football. It doesn't matter whether it's rain, sleet, or snow. The Bucs are going to run the ball. And then it's going to be play action, getting the football down the field of Chris Godwin, getting the football to some of these other weapons. So you can throw out the game plan of zero for three passing. But as far as the type of team you're playing, a physical team that wants to run the football, yeah, that's

going to be the same on Sunday night. 00:37:52 Speaker 3: All right, Booger, we'll leave you with this. 00:37:54 Speaker 4: And thank you so much for your time here on ESPN Chicago and the Bears Radio Network. 00:37:59 Speaker 3: How fun is it? 00:38:00 Speaker 4: How rewarding has it been working with our friend Chris Berman? And another great friend of mine is Mike Greenberg. 00:38:07 Speaker 3: You've had great hosts to work with. 00:38:10 Speaker 4: And what do you think of your media portion of your career because it's been very impactful well i. 00:38:15 Speaker 11: Just pitched myself man because i've had an opportunity to be a part of some very iconic shows you know working with greeny on mike and mike and now being a part of nfl prime time with chris berman you know those guys are the ultimate professionals professionals and and i think more than anything we all see how great they are at their job i don't need to get on here and say that they're better people They both have opened their arms and welcomed me into their world as friends and as humans. And to me, that means as much, if not more, than what we do on the air. 00:38:50 Speaker 5: One final thing. I went to Notre Dame. Notre Dame, Miami. I'd like your thoughts on that game. 00:38:57 Speaker 2: A big game. 00:38:58 Speaker 11: I think based on what the committee's told us on Tuesday night. 00:39:02 Speaker 2: Notre Dame needs to win. 00:39:03 Speaker 11: I think, you know, Malachi Tony is now out for the game. And so that that's one less weapon. But Miami's loaded. Miami has spent as much on their roster as anybody. They got two really good backs. They got an offensive line that is huge, will be the biggest offensive line Notre Dame has seen all season. They got a quarterback that could be a first round pick. Defensively, they got six or seven guys up on the defensive line that are going to get drafted. So it's going to be good on good, man. 00:39:29 Speaker 2: I know everybody. 00:39:30 Speaker 11: you know, kind of looking at Malachi, Tony being there, saying that the edge is to Notre Dame. And I would agree that, you know, Tony is a huge part of what Miami does. But Miami's loaded, man. They are absolutely loaded. So it's going to be a good game. Hopefully for the Irish, they can get it done because if they don't win this game, even if they win out, I think it's going to be a hard sale to put Notre Dame in the playoff at 10-2, not having a really signature win and losing to the only two ranked teams you played. 00:40:00 Speaker 2: Being BYU and Miami. So Notre Dame needs this win. 00:40:03 Speaker 3: Well, Booger, we appreciate it. Thank you so much. 00:40:05 Speaker 4: And everybody, knowledge is power, and this guy is not looking off paper for notes, man. You are fun. It's all rolling off your tongue, man. You're doing some deep dives on everything. You got to know everything in college and NFL. Booger McFarlane, our guest here on ESPN Chicago. 00:40:19 Speaker 3: Thank you,

Booger. Anytime, man. 00:40:20 Speaker 2: Y'all have a good one, man. 00:40:21 Speaker 4: Tom Stotts coming up next here on ESPN and the Bears Radio Network. 00:40:26 Speaker 1: Bears bears weekly a deep dive into all things bears with jeff joniak and tom thayer this is the home of the bears espn chicago. 00:40:42 Speaker 4: Welcome back to espn 1000 of the bears radio network this is bears weekly a wonderful interview with booger mcfarland he's a book of knowledge. 00:40:51 Speaker 5: He is listen i admired him first as a player and do you know his real name Anthony. 00:40:57 Speaker 3: Okay. 00:40:57 Speaker 5: I'm just glad you knew that because I think about Booger McFarlane and since we've been introduced to him as that name, as his grandma gave him because he was a feisty little kid, you kind of get into these guys throughout the course of your life that take a life in a locker room and you know them only by their nickname rather than. 00:41:16 Speaker 3: Their real name. So it's just cool. 00:41:19 Speaker 5: And yeah, I really, really appreciate it. listening to his intelligence. 00:41:24 Speaker 4: The only nickname I've ever heard of for you, the late Jack Snow, former analyst for the LA Rams, former great wide receiver, called you Two-Ton Tommy. 00:41:31 Speaker 3: Remember that? Two-Ton Tommy. Yeah, that was from my college days. All right, time for Tom's thoughts. Rip them off, baby. Let's hear them. Well, number one, it's good to start with a couple 190-pound punches. 00:41:45 Speaker 5: And so what I mean by that, if you look at the game the other day, you look at the first play of the game, Kyler Gordon, he's in the 190 pound range that put everybody on notice that, listen, this is a physical approach from the line of scrimmage that you don't know where we're coming from. And that's the gift of Dennis Allen. Then you get a play later in that same drive. You get Cam Lewis. He's in that 190 pound range. You light up a receiver. That's going across the middle thinking that he's innocently going to make a catch and And then he's not going to. 00:42:13 Speaker 3: Get hit after. Well, he made a catch. He got hit. 00:42:18 Speaker 5: He, the ball dropped to the ground and it was a 290 pounder. So we're used to seeing big defensive linemen, big linebackers that have these unbelievable Dick Butkus style hits. But look, man, 190 pounders. They opened the game for the bears and they opened the a window of realization that Seattle was in for a fight. 00:42:40 Speaker 10: Wow. Yeah. 00:42:41 Speaker 3: Gordon broke a rib. 00:42:42 Speaker 4: He broke, he broke Darnold's rib and he suffered a quad injury as well. 00:42:46 Speaker 3: So he's out this week. So yeah. 00:42:47 Speaker 2: Yes. 00:42:48 Speaker 3: What's next? 00:42:49 Speaker 5: My number two is I need soldier to turn into a top five. Okay, we have the smallest outdoor stadium in the National Football League, 61,500. And if you think real quickly, the top five stadiums in your noise is New Orleans Saints, it's Detroit Lions, it's Lumen Field, and a couple of the other. 00:43:09 Speaker 3: Places that we've played. Minnesota, pretty loud. Minnesota, Green Bay. So I. 00:43:16 Speaker 5: from this point in the season till the end, I need 61,500 to be like 200,000 because he can really benefit the bears defense. And now you have a guy in the, in the style of You know how Jeffrey Simmons helps everybody else be better. 00:43:36 Speaker 3: You get that crowd noise. You start slowing down. 00:43:39 Speaker 5: The efficiency of a snap count and it's going to affect the opponent. So 61,500, I need you to be like the top five, even though you don't have the numbers is a time to put more. 00:43:51 Speaker 3: On his plate. 00:43:53 Speaker 5: That goes directly to Caleb Williams. And we talked a little bit about before when you saw Caleb run the system in some of the most difficult circumstances in football and the noise of Lumen Field. 00:44:07 Speaker 3: I couldn't believe how. 00:44:09 Speaker 5: Accurate or how calm he was, you know, he was never in a rushed hurry. They're breaking the huddle with the second, you know, a couple seconds left, all those kind of things. So you always think about we're going to introduce Caleb to this system and we're going to feed him as much information as he can handle. I almost think, OK, is there is there that next level of creativity spinning around in the mind of Ben Johnson that can offer Caleb a little bit more challenge the opponent? 00:44:41 Speaker 4: You're scaling the Empire State Building is what you're doing. As a professional player. You're trying to crawl higher and higher. 00:44:47 Speaker 3: So, yeah. Nice thoughts, Tommy. For Tom Thayer, I'm Jeff Joniak. 00:44:51 Speaker 4: This has been Bears Weekly on the radio home of the Chicago Bears, ESPN Chicago. 00:44:56 Speaker 3: Amber and Ian are next. Have a good night, everybody.