Kap & J. Hood
8/19 8 AM: Courtney Cronin
[Music] Good morning and welcome in to the Captain Jay Good morning show on ESPN 1000 and we're streaming on the ESPN Chicago app with David Kaplan and Jonathan Hood with you on a Bears Victory Monday. We'll hear from Courtney Coronerly coming up at 835 but right now it's time for Shot or No Shot. Here's Shay Norling Shay. Good morning boys on a Bears Victory Monday. Can I tell you both just off the top? I am drinking the Kool-Aid. What flavor is it? Blue and Orange. Ah the mixture it's always good. So do you put that like in a ninja creamy and throw a little yogurt there making a Bears smoothie? Maybe I should. Maybe it should be a Bears Sunday if you will. Jay Moore makes a Kool-Aid for his family. Picture after picture. He continues to make the Kool-Aid for his family. Blue and Orange everything else. Jay Moore's family at the house. They went to dinner up at Carson's and then they came over to the house and I offered them something to drink and Jay Moore said I will only take Bears Kool-Aid. If you don't have that we're good. That's true. Jay Moore? Yes. Like to confirm. Bears Kool-Aid. I'm drinking it all day. Well actually when it comes to Jay Moore when losers draw he's always drinking the Kool-Aid. But now this is new though because Shay has taken a big leap forward. A big step forward in the program. Yeah. Tyler Ocky texted Saturday after Kayla Williams made that throw to Romadunze and then the rushing touchdown and like just said the hype is out of control for this team. It's beyond but he's buying in and I was thinking about it and I'm like I don't even know if the hype's getting out of control at this point. When I watch Kayla play and I look around this division. Packers get thumped yesterday. All the reports from Matt LaFloor. It's not just a Sean Clifford thing. The offense looks bad in joint practices. He's concerned. Lions are beyond banged up. Minnesota's banged up and probably sucks. I'm like can they win this division? Yes they can. You told you last week. Bears can win this division. What did I tell you guys last week? I told you guys they're winning the division. Just the good Lord has to bless them with reasonable health. Well I mean the answer you asked the question can they. That's a shot they can. Will they is a different question. And the will day is no they won't win the division. And the reason why is because I take a more tenure team that's been there and done that than the bears. I just you know when it comes to the hype I do want to address this whole thing with the hype. When fans or even Tyler is concerned about the hype. I don't that is really the essence cap to me is fan how you want to fan. If someone feels like the bears are going to win the NFC. If you don't feel that way doesn't mean that you got to feel that way. It is the equivalent of the young lady that you meet at the club that you say to her man you are sexy. You are hot. I really like the way you look. No I don't. No I got this problem. I got that problem. There's deflection right. The same thing here in this situation cap. If you look at the bears and you feel like they're the best or they're going to win the conference of the that's fine. But that should not stop you from feeling how you want to feel as a fan. That's my point. People are sometimes overwhelmed by the by the expectations or the over the top thoughts about the team. My thought is like you feel how you want to feel. Yeah I learned my lesson when I was trying to tell people how to fan. I got into it with Sylvie and I've learned my lesson. You fan how you want to fan. I'm just telling you they're winning the division. Okay. All right. And that doesn't stop me from believing that there'll be a playoff team. Right. Some people are so overwhelmed by it. It's just way too much hype. I can't take it. The young lady is way too much hype about me. I can't take it. Well listen. Let people feel how they want to feel. It's fine. I think they're a playoff team. I'll stand by that. Also like the hype is just Nick right saying they're going to the Super Bowl which is Nick right doing what Nick right does. I don't I'm not up or grudging him. That's what he does. Every time I look up at ESPN and get up or first take or whatever they're talking Steelers or Cowboys and Caleb Williams maybe get some highlights in the sea block but I think the word hype has kind of like jumped beyond where we actually are. Cap and I were talking off the air last week. There are reports that the Bears win total is the most bet under by tickets and by handle. So a lot of people are like let's fade the Bears hype train. I am very happy to be on the other side of that. Same here. I've already got my plays in. Let's go. Yeah. I got it. You can bet your Cowboys all you want. Oh yeah. Okay. All right. Well. Now my Cowboys. Here we go. Here's Shane Orley. All right. Bears are still looking for some depth on their defensive line. They're looking to finalize that pass rush unit for 2024. Albert Breer over the weekend on YouTube said the Bears are still in contact with the unique in Gakwe after swinging and missing on a trade for Judon. So shot or no shot. The Bears will bring back Janik and Gakwe. I keep hearing the money is far too rich for what Ryan polls wants to spend. He's got 21 million in cap space and Gakwe got 10 and a half last year. He broke his leg. He's healthy. But how high do you want to go for this guy? He says he's wanting I'm here and it's seven and a half eight million dollars. That's money you could use for extensions for guys you want to keep like Kevin Jenkins like maybe Keenan Allen. So look the only they know internally what their projections are for what Austin Booker's capable of for what Demarcus Walker is capable of at the other and opposite Montez sweat. If they feel like it's not a massive upgrade then don't do it. They feel like that's a problem. We got to get him in here. They do what you got to do. So as we talk about this today obviously cap it's a no shot. But here's the part that we you and I have not talked about enough. And that is the reason why that we keep spinning our wheels on who else polls can get on the other side of Montez sweat is because Demarcus Walker isn't an explosive enough player coming off the edge for some people. I think Demarcus Walker's fine. But I think that in passing situations or past rushing situations he's just not as explosive as people would like and you want something better than that. And but I would just say that if you're going to start the season with fifth round pick Austin Booker if you're going to get Dominic Robinson who's bulked up he looked bigger than I saw on the sidelines last year cap. Then we see what we see from Hardy here in the preseason. If that's the direction you're going to go then you move forward with it. You just have to like what you have and you got to develop what you have. And got ways not available. If you can't find someone today then you've got to be able to look at your roster and say well who can make a difference. And so I think you had to go that way. But ultimately what we have not talked about is there's no one else that's sexy enough on that defensive line to say she was a Bears fan. That is that fair. That's fair. Okay. Again in an Eber flu system they've got to get a lot of push in the middle of that line at three technique he's always talked about. That's the key to my defense collapsing the pocket pushing the pocket back. Unless York's coming out of retirement. By the way happy birthday the good kid had a birthday this weekend. Unless York's coming out of retirement the big you're right the Bears are more. No name guys in the middle like Andrew Billings a good football player. They extended him. He's not one of the he's not Dexter Lawrence of the Giants or guys like that ilk. So we'll see where it goes. I have my brother and I were having this discussion. Here's our football fantasy that the Cowboys go all right we got to get Dak re signed. Got to get CD Lam. We said we'll trade you Micah Parsons. They can't pay them all. I understand but you got to love the Bears what they are right now. There's going to be more additions coming before the end of the season cap. But if you move forward with this team I think that you're fine. Someone else has to develop. And if they don't develop that's on Ryan polls. Just to be honest like I mean. Drvonne Dexter should be a guy. If not him pick and he's got to be a guy. Booker's got to be a guy. And you just can't you can pay only so much. And you can only put as much spackle as you can on that defensive line at some point. Some of these young guys have to step up to because that's supposed to be your future. Agree. Shane Orley. All right. One of the more ridiculous stories that was happening over the weekend from the Bears preseason game Simone Biles was on the sideline. It sold your field to watch your husband and new bear Jonathan Owens in the preseason game against Cincinnati. Of course hoodie because 2024 and everyone is miserable. Some Bears fans were a guest that she would wear a jacket with her husband's photo on it and a Packers logo because news flash he used to play for the Packers. People said she can't wear the jacket. She's got to get rid of it. She's got to get a Bears version. The Green Bay Packers logo jacket cannot be worn at Soldier Field. I thought it was absurd. It's literally her husband but shot or no shot. It is fair game for Simone Biles to wear her Packers Jonathan Owens jacket on the sideline at Soldier Field. Good girl. That's a shot and the reason why it is a shot is because that's on the Bears to get her a better jacket. You know she's coming through the door cap and if you are PR or if you are whoever is part of game ops. Hey. Oh, that's your husband. Can I interest you in a in a Bears jacket? We'll put that one that you're wearing in a bag and you can just wear something with the Bears on it. Again, you're not offended by it. But you want to give her some Bears gear. Does she have any Bears gear? That's the question. Has she been given any Bears gear? First of all, the jacket was super cool. Yeah, it was. And it looks like it's one of those custom jackets. I don't know where she got it. But remember who's the girl. Kyle, who's your husband. Who am I thinking of? Shay Kyle, who's check's wife, Kristen Kyle use check's wife makes the custom jackets and Taylor Swift was wearing one with Travis Kelsey's number and Kylie Kelsey, Jason Kelsey's wife got one from her. They're super cool. I don't know if she made this particular one, but she's some mobile. That's her husband. Who cares if it had a Packer logo? He plays for us. Yes. That's all that matters. I'm not concerned. And get him a custom jacket to give her. That's right. That's right. But for me, it's the Bears should give her gear if she didn't have any by now. But she just support in her husband. That's the last thing that she has that supported her husband with his face all over it. And it's just happening Packers gear. Now, if it was just a regular like majestic or NFL shop.com jacket, I'd be like, go to this souvenir stand to the team store that's in Soldier Field. Danny and I were in arrows buying stuff for my kids. They got awesome stuff. Grab something for her, probably in an extra small and go, here you go. We got you hooked up. But it's a custom jacket with her husband's face on it. Sure. Come on now. Yeah. She did have a video on the sidelines and Hey, Chicago, go Bears. I think that made up for it. That went viral. The Jayhawks response to this discussion. Oh, no. Read the Jayhawks response because I completely disagree with the Jayhawk Daniel Zetterman. Horrible question. No shot. She should wear that jacket in Chicago. Totally tone death by the goat. How about this? How about this, Danny? Once you go down to the sidelines, you got to pass and tell her is that that's not an anchor tied to your ass. You go down there. Get her a Jonathan Owens Bears jacket that says ESPN Chicago on the sleeve. We should get somebody who's a tailor. Danny should do this. Take a jacket and it has Jonathan Owens. It has Simone on it, goat, whatever with Bears stuff and ESPN 1000 home of the Bears. Let's go commission a jacket and that Danny can present it to Simone with his side line pass. How's that sound? Yeah. I mean, Danny talks about that's a horrible question. Something that was talked about all weekend, that jacket, he got a lot of reaction. So I mean, if he's got a problem with you, go down there. You're a representative. Danny forgot where he came from. He would have asked the same question if he was sitting at chase. Oh, he might have been a little angrier about it. He might have just said she she can't wear that shot or no shot. Would have been Zetterman's way of doing it. Yes. By the way, I do think tomorrow night on hard knocks, we're going to end up with a Lee of Schreiber, a little, uh, Roma Dunes Hayes roaming in the end zone. And Simone Biles is roaming the NFC North. Maybe get a new jacket, Simone that features Simone Biles Green Bay Packers jacket. Watch how you say that now. She's roaming what? Yeah, the NFC North. Well, I mean, I listen, you went there. Not me. I was saying I'm just calling it out. I'm just calling it out. What? I'm here to clean up the new city in the division. Okay. I don't like how you said that. I just want to clean up for you. Just trying to help you. All right. I just tell you, like last year, the cool thing, the cool thing was Taylor Swift last year is that most of the Chiefs games and they're always showing her and all of that. We got the goat, the freaking goat. So how about her and a bears ESPN Chicago ESPN 1000 jacket? How about that? Well, ESPN 1000 over the jacket, whether the face of Jonathan Owens, how about that? I'll be, we'll get that idea. Yeah, the Danny and Maggie. Let's go. By the time that happens, he'll be with another ball club. Here's Shane Orling. Good morning, everyone. Just a dumb story I saw over the weekend, Cowboys preseason game, their kicker Brandon Aubrey drilled a 66 yard field goal. This ties the record for the longest NFL history. The only problem, it doesn't actually count because preseason stats aren't official and they aren't recorded, but to me, like 66 yards is 66 yards. Doesn't matter where you get it. Shot or no shot. This, this should count as a tie for the longest field goal in an NFL history. No shot. It's preseason. First of all, guys aren't going as hard. They're the ones that that are scrapping to make the roster maybe, but come on, they're not selling out to try and block it like they would in an NFL game regular season. No, no, no shot. Yes, that's a shot. It should be an asterisk to be able to tell the story like anything else tell the story. Now again, Cap, it doesn't count for the real record, but it should be noteworthy that he was able to accomplish that. Anything you do on that gridiron, man, if it's a good thing, if it's a record breaker, it should be noted. If nothing else, noted 66 yards is 66 yards. It's not like he was on a tee kicking this before the game. Kick the 66 yard field goal. Doesn't matter. Preseason stats, Doka. Are we going to add nine home runs to Chris Bryant's total because he hit nine of them in spring training as a rookie? No. Well, you certainly wouldn't. The heat you got with him. All right. Coming up Chris. Just because he likes street clothes better than a uniform. Well, I mean, oh, his dad's online to cap. Hey, Mike, how you doing, man? How street clothes Chris doing? I think you offended him. By the way, Danny, his weight in again. He wants a gold strip from Simone Biles for wearing the jacket. Oh, loses gold medal. He said, yeah, well, I'm sure that she'd give him a gold strip. All right. Yeah, something one he deserves. There's a gold medal for you. Bam. Those things are heavy. She'll give. She'll give him a strip. All right. All right, coming up, we get around the NFL. Courtney Cronin with the latest on the Bears at 835 Captain Jay Hood on the home of the Bears. ESPN 1000. Welcome back to Captain Jay Hood. You're officially like the Chicago's home for sports ESPN Chicago. Hit both sucks. He sucks. I'm just a fan. I'm not a football without you. I love the Green Bay Packers. The guy is front, but there we go. This is not Detroit, man. This is the Super Bowl. I love winning. He starts the comedy. This is a really thickly built guy. I mean, what's the answer you're looking for on these things here? It's time to go around the NFL right here on the Captain Jay Hood Morning Show on ESPN 1000. Here's hoping he's going to have a great Monday and a great week. We're with you till 10 o'clock then my green burger 10 followed by Carmine Yerko from 12 to three. They'll have Matt Eberflus on a 12 30 from Hallows Hall also while in Sylvia 230 Bears weekly with Jeff and Tom at 6 30 let them dollar at 7 30 around the NFL with shade. All right. I want to start with the LA raid or L. L. V Las Vegas Raiders made their quarterback decision official Gardner Minshu will be the starting quarterback in week one. They want to try to hit the ground running get off to a quicker start. That means former Purdue quarterback, Aidan O'Connell goes to the bench after last season when he could barely attempt a forward pass. Minshu did last year. Don't forget nearly lead the Colts to the playoffs after the Anthony Richardson injury and this Raiders team is not talent less. The Devontae Adams Brock Bowers also got Max Crosby leading their defense. Are we sure this team's going to be awful? That's a tank season. That's a tank season. That's why they did that, Shay is like so if you don't think O'Connell should start and Minshu is a nice backup and in a pinch he'll you know help you through here and there but that tells me they don't have the quarterback that they want for the future and that's too bad cap because Pierce is someone that the players believe in but you look at that schedule and just think about what the Raiders have and then think about the schedule. We were taking on teams of the Oak of the Ravens and whatever you think of the Browns and the Chiefs and the Bengals, Dolphins pretty tough. So I would say that this is a non-play off team here. The Raiders. Okay so the Raiders 24 win total is six and a half. They were five and three under Antonio Pierce last year with two three point defeats and a thrashing of the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs where Andy Reed said that's a good football team and we really needed you to beat us to get us back to reality. Six and a half is an awfully low total, awfully low. Take the over but that's they're not going to the playoffs. Probably not because in that division you have the Chiefs. The Chargers I think is an underplay at eight and a half. I don't like that team that much. I do think they will eventually get there with bookend tackles that Harbaugh now has. The Raiders six and a half the Broncos always down at five and a half but I think the Raiders are better than that but you're probably right to get to the playoffs would be a long shot. Jay what do you think? I think that that's you're right about their talent. I'm just looking at their schedule and I just don't think I think Minchu is okay but that tells me you don't have a guy yet. Well they got screwed in the draft too don't forget because they picked 13th and what was it five quarterbacks might in the top 12. So they just never even had an opportunity to get a guy. Well whoa whoa what do you mean didn't have an opportunity you ever heard of trading? It depends. It takes two to tango. Everybody who was in front of them and took a quarterback I think was married to taking a quarterback no. I think you could have at least I don't maybe they did. I did not hear any reporting that said they were aggressively trying to move up. I know the Giants talked about trying to get up to get either Jayden Daniels or Drake May. I did not hear any now they did get a good football player Brock Bowers. Oh yeah definitely from my Georgia Bulldogs man it's a really good stop. Just stop. Just stop. Everything that I have you can't have. I'm an Ohio State guy. We're winning the title this year. I think Clemson wants to have a word with you you're a Clemson team aren't you a Clemson guy. I like yeah because I like Clemson I like Dabbel. They're 60 to 1. 60. Big Bama fan too. No. Now that my coach Nick retired no. No. His coach Nick. His coach Dabbel. His Ohio State bucket is unreal. No. I'm actually just a tall Ohio State. Let me be clear. I'm not rooting for the others. Okay. So that's my thought on that. What's next on around the NFL? I mentioned I'm drinking the Kool-Aid on the Bears. I'm also drinking the Kool-Aid on Bonix. Pre-season game one was excellent. He was efficient. Pre-season game two was excellent. He was efficient again. Displayed ability to step up in the pocket. Ripped the ball into some tight windows. Got a touchdown on one of those throws. He's he's just played so much football and he knows so much football because he's been in multiple systems in college. What he learned under Dan Lanning last year I think was invaluable at Oregon. Now he's with Sean Payton who loves a guy who can get the ball out quickly will make the easy reads and make the easy accurate throws. Drew Brees Oh, he's going to be QB one for the Broncos. I think Sean Payton is going to love having him. He's a low floor guy or a high floor guy rather kind of low ceiling to me. But I think you're one for all the rookies. I'm really in. He's going to be the second best behind Caleb. Well, you think Wayne Larry was thinking on that twenty seven two beat down by Denver? I don't know, Rock. What's going on? I don't think you'll be happy with that. They do not look good. The pack. Yeah, but Bonix, a good football player, man. He really isn't. He's got a great teacher to help guide him through the start of his career here in Jean Pate. I think you have the right coach to tutor you along. Think about this. Here's Sean Payton saying, yeah, I can do without Russell Wilson. But here's a young man I can mold and shape and that's Oregon's bow next. That works. That works with how far they can go. I don't know. But they're off to a good start. Everything I hear out of their cap is positive. It's fresh in the quarterback room now. Shane Orley, let's go. Justin Fields just keeps looking like the same Justin Fields. Steelers preseason game one. He had the two fumbled snaps preseason game two. Everybody's picked up on this ridiculous fourth and two Steelers run an RPO. Both the bubble screen on the left sideline open hand off to the running back lane wide open first down either way. What does Justin do? Keep the football get buried in the backfield. Decision making really remains a struggle and Steelers beat writer Mark Keboli put out a belief, a conspiracy theory, if you will, that the Steelers were fabricating the severity of Russell Wilson's injury to get a longer evaluation of Justin Fields and that with the preseason play, Fields might have blown his shot. Look man, cap, I'm looking at this completely different than most people. I'm rooting openly for Justin Fields and you know why. Because you like Justin and like me, we both want the Bears to get a fourth round pick, not a sixth round. Damn right. That's exactly the reason why. Right there. I want that draft pick. I need him to be in 51% of those. I need him to turn it around. Turn the narrative around cap. That's why I want for Justin Fields. Whenever I'm with the Bears, it did not work whether it was fair and unfair. He's now in a new team. I need him to play. I need him to be better than this. So that's why we're broadcasting live from Steelers camp in September and we will figure this out together. We'll have Justin on, we'll have Mike Tomlin on. It's going to be great. They're coming in studio air. We will talk to Justin and get this turned around. I need that draft pick. Like a hobo needs a ham sandwich. I need that. Come on brother. Come on Justin. Oh man. Like like all these fans out here that think you still should be in a Bears uniform. I can't do anything about that. But while you with the Steelers, you know for yourself and for the Bears. Prove everybody wrong. 51% of the snaps. Let's go. Game up. Okay. I know you guys don't do it, but you might need to root for a Russell Wilson injury at this point. If you're able to get 51% of the snaps may just doesn't sound like it's going to be go that way. Cap can't do that because he's very close to Ciara. Ciara is my friend. So yes, can't root against Ciara. And by the way, as I was watching that game just with one eye, Cordell Patterson on that Pittsburgh team. Good luck. Take that. Wow. Well I stick with quarterbacks. I saw a lot of people really praising Jayden Daniels for his work in the preseason 10 of 12 passing did everything that was asked of him. I'm not going to totally begrudge him here. I just want to make the point. The bar for evaluating a quarterback doing a good job has been lowered so much for people watching this game. This guy in shotgun every snap ball is out in a second. There is value in that, but you're going against a preseason defense and everything is schemed immediately open. He was never asked to look beyond the first read. It was just catch the snap, throw the ball to the scheme to open receiver. That can work a little bit in the NFL, but eventually you got to go through your progressions. The one time that he did was a four yard check down on third and eleven. But before we just go out of our minds going, Jayden Daniels, 10 of 12, he was really accurate. Can we talk about what actually happened? He was asked to do almost nothing. It was pitch and catch to wide open guys. It was Beijing's debut. It literally was. And the one time he goes 20 yards deep. It's because he's locked on to his first read, doesn't look at the safety and air mails a ball to a fan. Like, can we just raise the bar for celebrating quarterback play, please? Kat, please tell this young man at the minimum what coaches want. Please don't turn the ball over. If you got throw up from me to you, it's good enough. Just don't turn the ball over. Let's just fight another day. Just don't turn the ball over. Now, let me tell you something. If you take a good close look at this, Kat. Dolphins beat the commanders 13 to 6. All the Washington quarterbacks were efficient as hell. All of them were didn't do much to do anything. They just said matriculate the ball down the field shake slowly. Just matriculate the ball. Don't turn it over. Let's just not forget that this is the same group, like over at first take or get up that had justed fields as the MVP last year going into the seat. That's great. Okay. It's great. Jane Daniels, that's the bar. Shay is where we are. Look, I know Caleb's not perfect. I'd like to see better than six or 13. I know like Drake may wasn't perfect in the game for the Patriots, but at least these guys through really good deep balls and flashed like their ability that we expected when we were watching them in college. Jane Daniels did none of that for me to you, just pitch and catch. He did nothing different than like even bow nicks was ripping bullets over the middle of the field. Everything Jane Daniels did was on the sideline. And the one time he went deep, he threw it to a fan and misread a safety. I don't want to hear about how great he was. And that's a look around the NFL right here on Captain J. Hood. Coming up, we'll hear from Courtney Cronin with the latest on the Bears as the Bears beat the Cincinnati Bengals 27 to 3. It's a Bears Victory Monday on Captain J. Hood. Welcome back to Captain J. Hood on Chicago's own for sports. ESPN Chicago. Keep your beak out of this. Chicago Bears are a reporter for ESPN. You have to temper expectations. If you are a Bears fan, just given everything that this team had to kind of undo. Breaking down the Bears and the latest NFL storyline. Poles was given the flexibility and the freedom to take this thing down to the ground floor down to the studs to be able to build it back up. Courtney Cronin with Captain J. Hood on ESPN 1000. Chicago's home for sports. And Courtney Cronin is on the hotline. That beat the car X. Tiring auto hotline. Rattle, rattle, thunder, batter, boom, boom, boom. Gary, come in here. Don't worry, call the car X name. Good morning, Courtney. How are you? I'm great, guys. Happy Monday. Happy Monday to you. Courtney Cronin, could you give us a letter grade overall for the Bears offense? All four quarters. All four quarters. I think it's got your, you're factoring in some really bad early on with a good crescendo to how it finished for the first team offense and then new Tyson's agent leading the second team unit. I thought did a pretty good job, but collectively, let's give it a solid B. I think that's fair, because you have to factor in the way that it started with Williams and that first team unit to give it a fair grade. Yes, it crescendoed with his first touchdown of the preseason and another scoring drive, but there's still a lot for them to clean up on. So I think a B is a good place to start. Kyler Gordon, for me, was dominant. The sack, I mean, the quarterback, obviously he's a third stringer for a reason, has to have more presence like, oh God, it wasn't like he got hit from the blind side, but getting him back when they eventually have Brisker healthy and Jalen Johnson and Terrell Smith and my guy Kevin Byert, all these dudes, this secondary will make the lack of another edge rusher that much less of a factor. Do you agree or disagree? Well, the depth that they have in the secondary, as we saw again, whether it was Josh Blackwell, Greg Strowman, who had a strong showing in the joint practice the other day, you don't usually have a group where you can go four or five, six down the depth chart and feel comfortable with those guys in on the back seven of the defense. And for Gordon, I mean, that was the first time he had been in a game all preseason. We didn't see in practice for about three weeks. Remember, he comes in to camp. He looks like he's out there. Iber Flus says that the tightness, which was how he described the injury was something that happened during training. So he was just kind of working through it, didn't really do much, and then starts to ramp up this past week. So to go in for Brieber Flus and Breyer, Washington to be that aggressive in a preseason game, I counted three corner blitzes that they had just with, you know, just when that unit was in against Woodside. And Kyler Borden giving him a welcome to the NFL moment. I think he's seven years into his career, but holy moly, I do not know how he didn't see him on the front side of that play. That's a, that's a really good sign for where the secondary is headed that Gordon goes in immediately after so many weeks of being on the sideline and makes such a big impact. And it wasn't even just that. I mean, there was a, you know, of course, the SAC for an eight yard loss, the two TFLs that he had in that game too. I mean, that was a very solid outing for him in his first game. You know, Courtney, this is not a question, but just a conversation that we should all have about the Bears defensive line. I understand that there's a lot of talk about the return of a gawk way or someone else that could be on the other side of Montez sweat. But if it doesn't happen just from my seat, I understand because it doesn't mean that that's the way it's going to be the entire season. At some point, some of these young players, whether it is Java Dexter, what we see from Daniel Hardy, Austin Booker, someone else has to be able to emerge. And I just feel like if it's a no, no, no name defense with Montez sweat, as long as you get to the passer, I think that's good at it for the time being. Because they can always make an addition by the trade deadline, which they did bring in Montez sweat last year. So you're right. I know that there's been this talk all off season. Okay, it's going to be unique in gawk way. There's been keeping tabs on him. He's healthy at, you know, the beginning of training camp coming back from the ankle injury. We've seen the movement on that. He wasn't their only option. Looked at last week when they were in on the Matthew Judon trade conversation. I mean, he's 32 years old. So clearly this comes down to a want to of price and contract and knowing, you know, just how long term of an option is he going to be that bears had a price. They weren't going to budge beyond that. And that's why he ends up getting traded to the Falcons who they still don't have a deal done yet, which I assume eventually they will. But it's not like the bears haven't been trying to make some moves with a defensive line. But right now, if they're okay with this group as is because Montez sweat is going to get his regardless. And, you know, to see him out there for a couple of a couple of drives and then he and Marcus Walker get pulled because their day was done on Saturday. I mean that unit really or Cincinnati's second third string, whatever you want to describe, it did a really hard time against this defensive line, whether it was those two in the game or Daniel Hardy and Austin Booker. And I think it was a great opportunity for Booker yet quieter game than he did in Buffalo. But this experience and the reps that he's gotten seemingly with the starters. You know, I know that sweat and Walker were out, but he was still getting some really good time in there to show all that he's been able to and all the skill he's been able to acquire the pass rush moves. He's been able to hold him throughout training camp. And that's, you know, for a fifth round rookie, somebody that you some I mean, look at Dominic Robinson a few years ago, he was a fifth rounder and the contributions that he had as a rookie, I guarantee will pale in comparison to what the bears are going to get from Austin Booker on a regular basis. He's already shown that he's not just going to be like a third down piece. He's going to be a part of this pass rush rotation. And if they can get by, they don't sign anybody, you know, the next couple of gifts until cut down day, they can still upgrade the roster cut down day too. There's the waivers, the waiver wire with chicken book claims then on they've done that before cut down day. They can also scour for depths on other people's cuts. You know, there's still time, but I think their moves and their lack of moves show you that they still are confident with this group that they have going in that it will be more effective at affecting the quarterback than it was last year. Let's talk about the running back room, which I don't know how many they're going to keep. I don't know how many receivers I'm assuming six. In terms of the running back room, what have you seen from valest? Obviously, Khalil Herbert had a really good day the other day. Does that make him more tradable? Does that make him less likely to be caught? How did you take the running back progress from Saturday? Yeah, there are two healthy scratches. At least you would assume because Kevin Byard talked to us on Thursday before the game. He and DeAndre Swift not playing in the game. I'm pretty sure that's by design and not injury related because there was nothing notable coming out of the joint practice for either. So that's a good chance to showcase Khalil Herbert. I think that there's a lot of motivation behind why he got the run as the starting running back. Why Swift was on ice for Saturday's game. Outside of the first couple of drives, he had a pretty good day. He was able to put together a performance that if you're a team that has a running back go down with injury or you have guys that are on the bubble and you think you might be able to upgrade from a player who's going into entering a contract year and you see an upside there. I think that he'd be a solid candidate to at least inquire about. The extended run he had in the first half, that's enough film for teams and already having seen him for the last three years. But that's enough film for teams to know what version you'd be getting right now. Five carries, 31 yards and it's just over six yards a carry. Like he had a decent day in a pre-season game. I guess I was a little surprised about, you know, Bayless was starting to get some reps with the ones and we really didn't see anything happen for him until the second half and he just wasn't effective. Six carries, 13 yards. I don't, I think he had the seven yarder was his longest. It's a hard position. It's more than just catching the ball. He knows that, pass protection element upon watching it back. I think that that's an area that I don't know how you learn that quickly enough to know that you can make an impact at that position just in terms of protections and the blocking and what's expected of you. But this will, you know, depending upon starters are going to play on Thursday, which the added practice on Wednesday makes you think they're probably going to go the route of what they did before the Hall of Fame game with like those two fields and split practices of guys who are playing versus guys who are not. That's probably, I mean, that is probably going to be the last opportunity Bayless will have to make his case and maybe he will get significant run in Kansas City to show whether, I haven't making this roster regardless. I know how it was positioned on hard knocks to make it sound like it's between him and Ian Wheeler. I think Bayless is on this roster, no matter what, but the contributions that running back, you'll probably have one more opportunity to show if that's a viable option for him in any capacity. More with Courtney next on Cap and Jay Hood. If you missed something, get the podcast on the ESPN Chicago app. Cap and Jay Hood are back on Chicago's home for sports. ESPN Chicago. Talking Bears on a Bears Victory Monday with Courtney Cronin on the Cap and Jay Hood Morning Show on ESPN 1000. Courtney, what does your gut tell you about the upcoming Kansas City game for the Bears? Do you think that we've seen everything we want to see from Caleb Williams for the rest of the preseason or will he get a chance to play? Well, he's at 43 preseason preseason game snaps right now. I don't know how many snaps from the joint practice the Bears are factoring into his overall workload, but the change in schedule yesterday might shint kind of what we were talking about last segment that they could do with split scrimmage or split practice on Wednesday where the starters are on starters for the game itself or on one field and then everybody who's not playing in the game are on the other field. I think if you're a Bears fan, you're comfortable with what you've seen so far in or if they don't play him knowing, okay, you got some good that you some really good moments that means they're all they're talking about on national sports talk radio and television all day was how great the final four plays were of the second half or the first half for Caleb Williams, but you also saw him work through three straight drives of three and out and watching how he had to balance that and the professional day a quarterback is what Matt Eberfel has called it. So I think you'd be okay not seeing him in this game against Kansas City. If he goes out there and they do it like one series one or two series, I mean it won't hurt, but I just I think in terms of how they're going to manage his workload and these practice that just popped up this week that's probably an indicator of the direction they're headed. In terms of looking at the position group that you feel could use the most upgrade, the wide receiver room might be the best in the NFC might. It's certainly right there in the discussion. I love the defensive backfield. Which group is it the front seven defensively? Is it the offensive line? Which room would you say, you know what we can only afford to overhaul renovate this one room in the house? Let's do that one. Can never hurt with past protection, right? And the good news that they got yesterday is that Quran Amakaji is coming off NFI. Now how ready will he be to get into practice? We'll see that in a couple of hours. I would imagine he's been out there every day watching, which usually if you're rehabbing from an injury and it's serious enough, like we've seen several guys like, but you don't see them for a couple of days because they're in the training room during practice. I mean, Quran's been out there. He's been, you know, taking mental reps. He's been a part of that group. Chris Morgan, the offensive line coach that he's been a star in the classroom. So I wonder what that addition is going to do. And it's like it's an addition from within because he's already on the team. But this is somebody who they drafted knowing that he had the partial quad tear he was recovering from and that he wasn't going to be pushing for, you know, for Braxton Jones's job this year at least. But there's going to be some time before that becomes a true competition battle. But hey, for depth and for somebody who, you know, if he can start getting into practice this week and, you know, put himself, he's going to make the roster anyway. There's no doubt about that. He's a third round pick. But if he can start contributing, then maybe you have your swing tackle, then maybe, you know, eventually that could be his job because we know with Larry Borham, he's got the escalator in his contract and he's in the final year of his rookie deal. Do they want to pay for that playing time incentive? If he hits it, that could be a way to, that could be a way around that. It can also just be some quality depth if, if and when he's able to get up to speed and be, you know, a part of that group on the field. One thing that was off your plate that you didn't have to report on last year was the field because that was not a topic. However, six days after Metallica had two sold out shows, the surface wasn't the best. I would imagine we'll get back to a nice clean surface for home games, right? This won't be an issue. I would imagine, and I want to get confirmation from Maddie Berf was on that because he talked about it post-game that, you know, he was aware that they had just re-sotted the field after the concert. There's another concert coming up at Folger Field on the 24th. I would imagine ahead of September 8 that they are going to re-sotted again. But we're just lucky that there was no, it was not an issue. You know what I mean? Like, did it look like it could potentially be pre-game? Yeah. There were some scenes that were pretty notable. Ryan Polls, when he was on with Joniac and Bayer in the third quarter, talked about just examining it, trying to see if there were any holes in the grass. But the last thing you want is the surface to cause any injuries. They got, they didn't have any, so that makes it a non-issue. But it's always going to be an issue with Soldier Field when it comes to the playing surface because of the natural grass and because of how many other entities the Bears have to share that stadium with. And I remember after the debacle in 2022, when it was the preseason game against the Chiefs and they, you know, they hand spray-painted the 40-yard marker and it was just, it was a joke. And all those weeks later, we were holding our breath wondering how this thing was going to look against the 49ers when they rolled out the new turf and how it was going to hold up in that rain. You know, you don't want to be in that situation. Again, I think that they've found ways to mitigate some of those issues. But until, until they have their own stadium and anytime there's any semblance of an issue with the playing surface to even just aesthetically, it's going to be a topic of conversation with the Bears. As always, Courtney, we appreciate the time. Thanks for coming on the show. Thanks, guys. See you Friday. Have a great day. It is Courtney Cronin with us on the Hotline. We need CarX tire and auto hotline. It's a Bears Victory Monday. We talk about it in two minutes on Cap and Jay Hood.