Kap & J. Hood
9/27 8 AM: Courtney Cronin
[Music] Good morning, and welcome in to the Captain Jay Hood Morning Show on ESPN 1000. And streaming on the ESPN Chicago app with David Capel and Jonathan Hood with you. We will hear from Courtney Cronin with the latest on the Bears at 8.35. But first, shot or no shot, here's AI Jack McGrath. Good morning, guys. How's it going? Good, your battery life ready to go, you can get the 10? Oh, yeah. 100% right now. Okay, good. Is it, is it, Jay Moore? I mean, he says it's 100%, but, again, he's programmed to say that. Let's, let's take a look here, check his back, his battery pack, what'd it say? Just move to 99. Okay, so he's actually pretty good. He's actually in shape. Less than two hours left in the show. All right, 99% pretty good. I talked to Norling last night. Oh, you're the one. Norling was not feeling great. He's been battling, man. He's been feeling outstanding. I've been under the weather, but I've never felt better. [Laughter] I'm sure that's how you go. Check on our guy. He's fine. So he's a man. He's fine. Isn't he? He's struggling a bit right now. He's struggling. He is. He admitted that to you? He did. Huh. How are you feeling? He was not good. Damn. Here's Jack. All right, big news of the day yesterday, Derek Rose retiring, shot or no shot. The Bulls should retire Derek Rose's number. Go ahead, get the recorders rolling because I'm going to piss everybody off. But there's nuance here. It's not a black and white. There's gray. Level of gray here. My question is, Jonathan, you grew up here. Yes. Now, the Bulls have done things a little different. You know, Bob Love gets his number retired. Bob Love? Don't do that. I mean, good player. Don't do that. Hold on a minute. He's meant a lot to the community. Don't go after Bob Love like that. That makes no sense. Don't do that to Bob. That's wrong. What do I say wrong? You stop it. Why? I think you're pardoned. I'm not doing rehearsals here. Wow. What do I say wrong? Here's my question. Don't do that to Bob Love. I got Tyler Ocky asking if they should retire Jokey Noah's number. When did the standard of retiring numbers become good guy, nice player? Derek's way better than that. But I'm talking about Joe. Retired Jokey Noah's number? You people locked your freaking minds. Get back to the topic. What did Jack ask you? Look, if they retire, Derek's, I think it'd be super cool because he's a Chicagoan. He meant a lot to the community. He did win an MVP, but he was like a meteor going through town here. Like this is not a no-brainer. Like even Sylvie, who I know, Sylvie, Sylvie said yesterday he got into bed after Derek blew his ACL and Allie had to get him out of bed to go to a charity event because he was so despondent. Yeah. But the bulls mean a lot to Sylvie. That's Sylvie's favorite team. Yes. He loves them all, but that's his favorite team. That's the team that means the most to him. But like, look, Derek had a great start and I think he would have gone to the Hall of Fame. No doubt if he doesn't blow his ACL, but he did. So look, there are people thinking he belongs in the Hall of Fame. Okay. Well, again, different topics. Let's take it one by one, Jack. We talked about it yesterday. Derek Rose is not a Hall of Famer. He's not. And I know that the basketball Hall of Fame is a public toilet. Everyone sits in it. I understand that. But it's not to the point where Derek rose to Hall of Fame. He's not. He's a ring of honor winner for the Chicago Bulls. That's where he should be. He should have his own night, quite frankly, not with a bunch of Bulls and five and six guys. Great. Derek deserves his own night because people resonate with Derek because he's from here, but to Simeon, youngest MVP we ever seen before, we started talking about John Moran and all these explosive guards. It was that guy in this era, kind of like the Bo Jackson of basketball, since he got injured in his career was kind of ripped from him. I would say that. Yeah. But as far as his numbers being retired, J Moore, it's Michael and Jerry Ryan's dorf. That would not surprise me at all. Me either. Am I going to be pissed because one is hanging in the rafters at the United Center? No, because that's because of all the things that we can rip the Ryan's horse for. There's athletes that they appreciate. Yes. And look, I'm not, again, let me be clear. I'm not saying he shouldn't get his number retired. I'm just asking the general Jersey retirement thing. When did it become so? Yeah. Retire his number for all these different athletes. Jokey Noah. Let me ask you a question. Are we retiring Chris Bryant's number? You should know. You should. You should not. Absolutely should not. That was the MVP that led you to the World Series after 108 years. Yeah. But Rizzo was the heartbeat. I would argue Rizzo's number gets retired. If it doesn't get retired, he deserves a statue. Who? Rizz. Oh, Rizz. Rizzo. You hear what I'm saying? Right. Right. Okay. I'm saying Rizzo to me was the heart and soul of that championship run. But Bryant was the MVP of the team. That's fine. Rizzo was the guy. But Chris Bryant's never, ever getting his jersey retired. I understand. But if you asked a question why, you know what the answer is? Follow the money. That's why. Feel good works when your team sucks. Or if your team is just average, you know what brings people to the ballpark? You know what brings people to the arena? Feel good. And nostalgia. Well, that's why. Well, that's Justin Fields' number then. Now you're taking it too far. Don't you ever feel good? No. You missed my point. My point is, is that people when you saw Derek Rose being drafted number one by the Bulls, being the youngest MVP, how exciting he was, how he set the NBA world on fire. Unfortunately, he did get injured. However, he's still ours, Cap. He's still ours. He is. He's a Chicago kid that plays into it. And again, I'll say it for the hundredth time. I'm not saying he shouldn't get it. I'm just asking the general question. You don't like my answer. My answer is, because you follow the money. Why are there so many statues that guaranteed rate? Why? Because Jerry Reiser understands nostalgia and appreciation for the O5 championship. Same thing for Derek. If Derek's one is retired, if it ever will be, it's fine. It's no problem, but again, he's not a Hall of Famer. Can you tell me how many Jersey numbers the Bulls have retired? Who they are? One of them I would never have gotten. It's love. It's Sloan. Yep. Johnny Kerr's up there. Johnny Kerr's not. He's not. There's a broadcaster. As a head coach, not as a broadcast. Head coach. Okay. I know he's up there. Yep. Not a number, but yeah. There's five numbers. Oh. And then you got Phil, Jerry Krause and Red Kerr separately. Yeah. Yeah. So you said Sloan, Love, Jordan. Jordan. They didn't retire Pippany at them. They did. They were Pippins there. Yep. There's one more. Is Van Leer up there? If you get this, I'm going to take the money out of my pocket right now and I'm going to buy you coffee all next week. Okay. The other bull, not from the championship years, is it? No. It's not off the Bulls championship team. No. So it had to be from that Van Leer Sloan era, right? It's Bob Boozer up there. No. He played in that era. Okay. So Sloan, it's not Van Leer? Nope. Okay. Yeah. I don't know who that is. Bill Russell. What? Bill Russell. Bill Russell's number six is retired across the league. Oh, I see. Yeah. And that's it. So you got Sloan, Russell, Love, Jordan and Pippin. That's it. So this is fur coat is up there. Correct. Duregia thesis fur coat. Correct. Being on Rush Street. Correct. So that's all we've got. They were talking. Should we retire Pax's number? No. No. That'd be a horrible night. And I love John. No, it'd be a bad night. Right. But he's getting blasted because of how it worked out when he was in charge of basketball. I love John. He had a huge shot to win a championship. Then we retire in Steve Kerr. He had a shot to win a championship. How about Horace Grant? He made the pass to Steve Kerr to hit the dirt at Pax. That's why you have a ring of honor, to honor them that way. That's my point. Ring of honor. A thousand percent. But as Jerry, it's Jerry's heart. He knows he feels bad like we all felt bad about the injury to Derek. Correct. So. And again, I'm not anti him getting his number retired, but the rest of them? Sweet mother of God. Who else? No Purdue Dennis Hopson that is hops who would be a great one. Here's Jack. You alluded to this earlier reports earlier this week that the Bears are going to try to get Roshan Johnson more involved this week. It's Jonathan or J. Hood. You don't know me like that. Go ahead. Yeah. Shorter. No. Shorter. No shot. Roshan Johnson establishes himself not only as like the lead back for the Bears, but more of a feature back committee goes to the side and it's all Roshan Johnson after this week. I think that this week, Roshan Johnson will be the lead back. Now what does that mean? Moving forward? I don't know. I think that some people need a wake up call in this organization and Swift might be one of them. Swift Nate Davis. We can make a small list of those guys cap need a wake up call. So I would say that Roshan Johnson will start off getting the lion's share of the carries and then Swift will get his. I think that's only right because that guy was making a hole. Is it four yards of carry cap, three yards of carry, four? Okay. I'm fine with that. Now, was that is either feature back moving forward? I don't know. Yeah, I can't say that that's a note for me right now. That's a no shot, Jack, but he'll get significant opportunities. I would just love to have Shane Waldron on. I don't think he does radio, but consider this an official request that I'd like Shane Waldron to come on. And I just would love to ask him, like, could I walk up to him after practice and say, can I ask a question? You said Kaleel Herbert is your short yardage back. Then why wasn't he in there on fourth and goal, fourth and inches at the five? Got to turn the page, man. Why is this game? Got to turn the page. Say it. I want to know. I want to say it and I don't want to hear we have to execute better. Yeah. That means did lead to me. Got to move on. I want to hear. Guess what? I F'd up. Roshan should have been in there. He's our toughest runner in between the tackles. You're not getting that from shaky Shane, man. That's just BS. You shaky bastard. He's not getting that. And you should be able to get the job done running the football against the Rams, who's 31st, 31st in the league. The Panthers is 27th and the Jaguars 29th in the league as far as defensive rating. You should. But will you? That's the question. Do it and have a consistent plan. Hey, it's fourth in inches. We're going for it. I get Roshan in there. Okay. First and goal at the four. Let's get Khalil Herbert in there. What? Can you sneak in one more, Jack? I can. I can make it a quick one too, because we're going to talk about this later as well on the Friday folder. But Teresa Weatherspoon, coach of the Chicago sky, fired last night, Angel Reese put out a statement on social media, said she was quote, heartbroken, shot or no shot. This is a bad look for the sky that they fired their coach after one year with a young roster. A slightly shot. That's a bad look, unless they have some kind of bombshell, a higher is Weatherspoon, the bridge to something better. And it's the sky. And I would usually say no, they thought how they do business cap. So I was so surprised to you and a surprise to me when I saw it on my timeline. But if you don't have like a big time hire, they say, all right, this is our rent a rear. We're moving on. Okay. But if it's just some ancillary hire, just some person, then there's something internally that I got to find out about Weatherspoon and the way she coached. Yeah, I was wondering why there were two sky executive scouting my game, the 10 year old team that I coached this summer. Take a notes. It's a no shot because they know their system way better than we all know their system. Lord knows they know what's going on with Teresa with her spoon. So I will assume that they had a valid reason for moving on. It's just a little concerning that you're young and up and coming star that goes to social media that means you like who cares. She was upset with the move. Good. Who cares? And if they bring her into the interview process, they're stupider than I think they are. No. You don't get the players involved in the interview. You may have dinner and say, hey, here's what's going on. What do you think of this? Give me the vibe of the team. But they don't make the determination, no. But I think she'll have a say in the direction of the organization, maybe not the hire, but the direction of the organization. She's a rookie and she's going to have something to say if men have that autonomy, she should as well. But do men really have that autonomy? They do. Depending on the organization. I mean, like of LeBron, yeah, he has the autonomy and earned veteran players, especially in the NBA, had that autonomy. But I don't think when if they fire Iber Flus, I don't think Ryan Polls is talking to the whole team or the top guys, I should say going, what do you think of this guy you want to be in the interviews? Well, they, you know, Polls would ask some of the top guys in the bears, but they don't have any. Coming up next. Oh, wow. The picks on Captain Jhood. Wow. The truth of the matter is, you're listening to Captain Jhood on ESPN 1000 weekdays, seven to 10 a.m., but it'll last a lifetime. It may only be three hours a day, but it'll last you a lifetime. And now it's time for the picks here on the Captain Jhood morning show on ESPN 1000 and streaming on the ESPN Chicago app. We got Courtney Cronin on the Bears coming up at 835, but now time for the week four picks college and pro here's Jack McGrath, Illinois for and all so far to start the year ranked 19th in the nation, traveling to ninth ranked Penn State Penn State favored by 17 and a half points Jack Penn State's offense is amongst the best of the country. James Franklin did a good job. He's got a new offensive coordinator. So that offense is humming. I think that they will run try to run rough shot over Illinois, but I'm going to give Illinois just a slight bit of credit. They won't win the game in Happy Valley, but I got Illinois plus 17 and a half cap. What time is that game kicking off at 6 30 p.m.? Not a not a whiteout, but it is a night game in Happy Valley. And there's some of the fan blogs are saying, we're white anyways, and we'll try to make it. Why would they not? Is that the whiteout? They don't want to overdo that. Is that why? I don't know. Because those that's super cool when they do that and then they don't consider that game whiteout worthy. It's Illinois. Wow. It should be though, because that's two good teams. Two really good teams. Yeah. Illinois wins the football game, but when you go to Nebraska and you get the job done, it opened a lot of people's eyes. So I am going to take the Alignite and the 17 and a half. Close. Yep. All right, Jack, what do you like about this game? So Shea takes Penn State in this game, and I think it's really, really tough with Illinois traveling there. But 17 half is a lot of points to give up to an Illinois team that went off and went and knocked off a very tough Nebraska team. They've proven it so far. I've doubted them throughout the season, but I'm not going to doubt them here. I'll take them with the 17 and a half points. Game more. I'm rolling with cap. I am taking Illinois. You know, I picked Illinois as well. Oh, I'm rolling with you too. Jack too. Take that. That's right, cap. I'm rolling with you. Let's do it. Who would also took Illinois? Also, we go to the next game, Jack. What's next? Also a big 10 match up, biggest spread we're going to see in our slate here. Ohio State, minus 23 and a half at Michigan State. Michigan State will be the best team that Ohio State has played so far, but I don't think it's going to be a true glimpse of what Ohio State is really capable of, a love Ohio State, and the 23 and a half against Michigan State. That'll be all. Look, Michigan State is nowhere near the class of team that Ohio State is. The Buckeyes are getting ready to just put it in the third gear. They haven't gotten an overdrive fifth gear yet. Give me Ohio State to win this thing by 30. Shane's going to take Ohio State in this one as well, but Michigan State last week traveled into Boston College, which was a very electric atmosphere. Boston College stormed the field after the game, and Boston College is a good team so far this year. It was a four point loss, but Michigan State had a chance at the end. Boston College was ranked earlier in the year. I'm believing that Michigan State, they've shown it against pretty good competition. I don't think they win the game, but I think they cover the 23 and a half. Boston College has a D1 team. Boston College, they ranked top 25 this season. There's Jack taking the cheese. Here's Jack. Well, it will Ohio State. Take that waddle. Can't do it. I got Ohio State. Can't do it. Jack. One of the biggest games of the week, Georgia minus two and a half, probably the biggest game of the week at Alabama. Matt, rematch of the SEC Championship from last season. All right, we'll pass. Go ahead. Time for your class. Not allowed. What time is that game at? I got to make sure I'm locked in for that one. Double check and make sure I got a game I've got to emcee the malnotties cancer benefit tomorrow night. Well, you know, six 30 p.m. Oh, yeah. Unfortunately, they couldn't move it for you in your schedule. Nonetheless, try. Nonetheless, obviously, I'm going to ride with Georgia. Don't have a real big opinion of the game because, you know, I'm a fan. So I don't have an opinion, but I could just tell you that I'd like Georgia to win the game. Oh, stop. I'm calling the game, so I won't give it a pity. Yeah. You're calling it from your colleagues. Make your pick. Drop a pair and let's go. I like Georgia to win the game. The two and a half tells you a great story about how close this game is going to be. Yep. So I like, but I'm right with my bulldogs. Sick them. Sick them. Love my friend. My friend hoodie. He's family to me. That's why I will be there to put an arm around him when his Georgia Bulldogs get their head kicked in, they lose by a touchdown in Tuskah, Luca, give me Georgia, give me Alabama. We just played this game nine months ago, right? Alabama won it. I'm going to say they win it again. This time it's at home for them. I think that's the difference here. I'll take Alabama. I'm going with Georgia. Next game. She took Alabama on that one. Two. Next game is Eagles minus one and a half at the Buccaneers. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hertz is one and three against Tampa. The lone victory came in week three of last season on the road. So Jack, this is also a tough one. I have circled here the Bucks being able to get the job done at home. I think that the Eagles are coming around, but I think the Bucks at home will have the momentum. So I'm taking Tampa. All right. Yeah, this all of them, all of them is yet a feller. They're all tough. I'm going to take the Eagles. Really? I don't know why. I think their coach thinks I'm going to take the Eagles. Okay. Buccaneers are due for a bounce back game. They lost to the Broncos last week. They're not going to let that happen again. I think that was a blip for the Buccaneers. This is a really good football team. At home, I'll take the Buccaneers. Shea takes the Buccaneers as well. Yeah, two home losses in a row. I don't think so. I'm rolling with the Bucks as well. A game that has the highest over under in all of the NFL this week, and this is surprising based on what we thought of these teams at the beginning of the season. Commanders at Cardinals. Cardinals favored by three and a half. I'll hold my nose and take the Cardinals in a three and a half, only because they're at home, Jack. The commanders have really looked good offensively. I mean, Jane Daniels has lit the world on fire. People are turning their head like, wait, what's with this quarterback? Look at this offense. I just think that the Cardinals at home will find a way to win this ball game. Give me the Cardinals in the three and a half. Yeah, I'm going to take the commanders. I think the commanders did the right thing in the off-season, upgraded the O line. They got the number two overall pick at Jaden Daniels. They're an emerging team, not there yet, obviously, but give me the commanders, post three and a hook. Kyler Marie has been ridiculous so far this year. He had five touchdowns, one interception, a 104.6 quarterback rating. That would be the highest in his career. He's been great. I'm going to take the Cardinals. Shea takes the Cardinals as well. One on 4.6 on your dial. I think the Cardinals find that week two magic again at home, so I'm taking the Cardinals. Jack? Two teams that have, Bills have been phenomenal this year, and the Ravens have disappointed. It's Bills at Ravens minus two and a half. Ravens are favored. All right, we'll pass on that. Go ahead and hit a cap. What's your thought? Make your pick tough, right? Bills and Ravens. Let's circle here, Bills, Bills winning on the road against the Ravens. But the Ravens were so spectacular in their last game. Dallas, correct? Yes. It's so close, but I'm just going to roll with Josh Allen. I think that they will find a way to win on the road against Baltimore. Plus two and a half cap. I'm going to take the Ravens. They're at home. Buffalo is coming off an unbelievably good performance. The Ravens beat Dallas. I'm going to take the Raven to win by a field goal. Ravens have had problems in the secondary so far this season. I think Josh Allen is going to tear them up. I'm going to say Josh Allen could have 400 passing guards in this game, because they've had their struggles, and Josh Allen's looking like MVP so far. I'll take the Bills. Shay takes the Bills as well. I'll take the Bills. Josh Allen will take that lunch money and carve them up. Jack. Chiefs minus seven at the Chargers. Chiefs. That was fast, hoodie. Well, because our time is limited here. I am going to take the Chargers plus the seven and a half, because Carmen de Falco once taught me a rule. The intra-division home dog gets the points. You take them. I'm with you on that cap. Chargers haven't looked too shabby so far this year. Chargers. Chiefs. Seahawks at Lions minus three and a half. Like the Lions minus three and a half at home against the Seahawks. Two really good teams again, but I believe that the Lions will find a way to win this ball game and cover the number. Lions. One of my top plays on the board. Give me the Lion Lions as well for Shane myself. Seahawks. Why? It looked pretty good. All right. Good analysis there. Hey, we up against the club. I understand. They look pretty good. They look pretty good, man. That's the restaurant quality analysis we have here on cap and J-hood. Oh, absolutely. Okay. All right. Now there's NFC North matchup jack. The NFC North Viking surprise team Packers could have Jordan Loveback Packers laying two and a half. God. Cap, I like the Packers to find a way to win that game. Vikings have been solid, but I think that the Packers will cover that number in a two and a half. Two great coaches. I really like both these guys. The floor though, a little more proven. I think they're going to get Jordan Loveback. If they don't, it would change my pick. But if they have them back, I'm betting that they do give me the pack. I'm going to take the Vikings in this one. Shay takes the Packers, but Vikings have looked so good so far. I'm a believer in Sam Darnold's resurgence. I'll go with the Vikings. Pack is whack. Never bet the packs. So I'm going Vikings. I love that philosophy. Rams at Bears. Bears favored by two and a half points. Love the Bears to win outright and cover the number against the Rams. And like, what do you think, Cap? 24. 10. I had the Bears 2713. Bears are my best bet on the board. Give me the Bears. We're in the same. Same. Same area. Go, baby. Yup. Gotta take the Bears. Bear down. Bears. But you don't have to take them. Oh, yeah. What I'm going to. Yeah. I just think this is an opportunity. As John Leslie would say, you get tired of having your sphincter knocked in the dirt. Enough. Enough. Your schmensers knocked in the dirt. Let's go. Enough. Enough. Let's go. And if you lose this one, so long, everybody. That's Tom right. I'm going to say enough. All right. Right. So those are the picks right here on Captain J. Hood. Big name, Jack. The picks. So we call it what a segment. The picks. All right. According to crony with the latest on the Bears, as we get ready for the Bears and Rams, we'll cover starts at seven a.m. on Sunday right here on ESPN 1000. You're listening to Captain J. Hood. Follow the show on Instagram at the Catman and at IG J. Hood. This is ESPN Chicago, Chicago's home for sports. If you're beak out of it, actually go to Chicago Bears 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, polls 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. Time to talk to Courtney Cronin about the Chicago Bears and match up against the Rams and Courtney's on the hotline. Carks turn on a lot of rattle, rattle thunder, batter, boom, boom, boom. Don't worry. Call the car. Good morning, Courtney. How are you? I'm great guys. Happy Friday. Happy Friday. Courtney. You know, it's something like an old head, a seasoned veteran to be in your locker room to tell you facts and tell you that, hey, you can't walk on eggshells, we're trying to win this season. What did you think of what Mars cities Lewis had to say about the operation offensively and Shane Waldron? I accountability is the first word that came to mind for me and that whole leadership council meeting. I know it's interesting that Shane Waldron is the one who prefaced that to start his press conference. He's never mentioned, you know, who he meets with on those Mondays and Tuesdays and, you know, the issues that they've gone through. But, you know, Mars cities Lewis has been around the block for a long time, 19 seasons. So he's seen things that have worked, seen things that haven't. So when he says, you know, we're not keeping secrets and he's talking about, you know, going through walkthrough and practice to me, kind of deciphering that is, hey, if there's a mistake, call it out in real time so it doesn't show up in the game. And then, you know, to the point of, you know, you don't want anybody walking on eggshells around us. It's players who want to be coached hard. And I think it just sheds the light on maybe what's going on behind the scenes right now. It's not that people aren't taking accountability, it's just maybe there's a difference in the way that the message is being delivered that's not striking the way that it should through three weeks. And this might have been their come to Jesus moment with that to try to get things done differently from a coach execution standpoint. Why does Eber Flus and Waldron, it goes to how they sanitized hard knocks? Why are they so afraid to ruffle feathers there? All right, we have Tom Thayer on yesterday. He said, I played for DITCA, I played for George Allen, I played for the late Don Shula. He said, let me just tie something right now, man. They did not care about ruffling feathers, getting in your face, getting after you in a very intense, direct manner that might not be suitable for the radio. Why are the guys up at House Hall not like that? Start with Eber Flus on that, because I think when he left Dallas, and I knew some of the players that he coached in Dallas, like when he was getting hired for this job and I was coming on to the beat, I was trying to figure out who he was personality wise, I had come from Mike Zimmer, who was like the absolute opposite of what you see from Matt Eber Flus at the podium. And even when you see him during games, he can get fiery, but doesn't feel like he's ever crossing the line. And there was a point in time for him where he was very different in the way that he approached when he was a position coach, when he was a linebacker's coach, the different guy that you see now is the CEO of a team. And I'm not sure if there was an event or if there was some sort of need for him to recalibrate and change his personality, but he does have that. It's just that he's choosing to go about it a different way. And players you've talked to here over the last couple of years say that he can't get on them, and he does. I, Walter, no one's interesting. He doesn't really come across as someone with that personality that's going to really light into you, and everybody's personality is different. And if he got away with that into Seattle and it works, great. And clearly, the Bears thought this would be a personality fit when you pair the coaching staff together when they brought in all of these other offensive coaches, and it could have also been that they really wanted some of the other offensive coaches and they just thought that was the right mix. But I don't, I think it's asking a lot when it's not asking a lot for accountability, but it is asking a lot for someone to change their personality completely. So I think what you see is what you get with Waldron, who, you know, when he's at the podium, he comes across as a little nervous, maybe a little jittery. I wouldn't say defensive. I thought, honestly, we got some honest answers to him yesterday, like, why was this recall on the fourth in goal? Okay, well, we wanted to get in the, in the formation faster. It didn't happen. That's on me. Why was Cleo Herbert the short yardage back in the goal line back? Well, he gave you the answer that that was the plan going into the game. Like you actually got something, but according to interrupt, you know, why is it that's fine? And who do you reference that earlier? That's fine. He's the short yardage back. The one unfortunate is that the five is it not Cleo Herbert, but it's Rosha on the slam and in there to get you the first down. That's a great question that didn't get an answer. They should have gone with Roshan Johnson. Everybody knows that. He had three third down conversions in the fourth and one at the five, a couple of plays before we talked with Roshan earlier in the week. He wasn't exactly thrilled that he wasn't on the field, but that's not his call. Those are personnel usage questions that are different than personality and accountability questions, but I do think they go hand in hand, which is why this is the prime week to start seeing some personnel changes to see Roshan Johnson get a bigger bulk of the carries and be put in a better situation because the one thing if you read between the lines of what Iberflu says and even Waldron yesterday, you've got to have the right running back out there for the right play and you have three, I know they say they can all do the same things, but you have three very different styles of running back. It should all look the same for like the first couple moves, but then you can rely on a Roshan Johnson to power through contact there, which we all thought if they were going to run right there and they weren't going to go under center, we all thought that Roshan Johnson should have been there the fourth in goal play, which in hindsight, I'm pretty sure the Bears coaches would have would have done that one differently starting from the way that they drew up the play. I probably would not have been what they called to putting someone a little bit more powerful at the goal line in that situation. What's the latest on the injuries, Courtney? Keenan Allen was limited two days. That's good. That's a good sign. You know, for him and his heel, which they keep saying they don't think it's going to be a long-term issue, but this sounds like it's going to be a week-to-week pain collar and see if he hasn't set back, sounds like he's trending towards being at least questionable, which then, you know, go through a pregame warmup, maybe see if he's able to play. But, you know, for two weeks and two-week absence for a guy in a contract year and somebody who they really need, this is the time to get out there. The one that's kind of concerning, there's two, Kevin Byard has a back injury that popped up. I guess that would have been Wednesday's practice. He was DNP yesterday and then Roman Dusse, who we know has a sprained MCL, also has a hip injury that had him limited. So keep an eye on those two and then the other one that is not great if he can't play is Andrew Billing. He's getting knee injury. He was DNP yesterday after being limited on Thursday, so we'll see how he's designated today, but they do not have defensive tackles up and that's a big problem if he can't go. In terms of looking at the Rams coming in here, banged up, they brought in three offensive linemen a couple of weeks ago, they have no plukinacua, they have no Cooper Cup. Like, I feel like this is a game you have to win, absolutely 100% have to win. Are you with me on that? I mean, all of these in this first stretch, whether it was Indianapolis, the Rams, Carolina next week, the JT are all winnable games and, you know, defensively for a team that's averaging 3.47 yards per play, which is the lowest in the NFL, you're going against the second worst scoring defense and second worst team in terms of yards allowed per game. That seems like a gimme and it's hard to, you know, put anything on this Bears team right now as a guarantee just given what they have not shown you offensively, but on the back end of this Bears defense, it's not going to be nearly the test that it was. I know Matthew Spafford is a really good quarterback that came back from 14 points last week, but they're down their top two receivers. Like, I think they're going to have an okay time with 2-2 at well. I don't think that's out of, you know, out of line to say that, but probably try to sell out on the run. Kyra Williams has been a big part of their offense and dealing with all these injuries. The defense will handle theirs. It's just until the offense shows you that they can get some semblance of a run game going because it's not going to be sustainable to put Caleb Williams in that situation with their without Keenan Allen or however many weapons he has where he's throwing 50 plus times a game that's just that's not you can be a pass first offense with a little bit more balance if that's the identity that they ultimately settle on. That's great, but it can't look like it did against the Colts because it's going to result in a loss of their lives. Courtney Cronin joins us every Friday here on the Captain Jay Hood Morning Show on a ESPN 1000 and streaming on the ESPN Chicago app. Courtney, we were just talking about offense of philosophy. And I thought that with Waldron coming in here that the ball would be in the air more. Of course, all of us growing up watching Chicago Bears football, I mean, we have been the microcosm of a big 10 team for a long time, run the football, utilize the tight end, strong defense when the game 13-10. But would Waldron being here, I expected for it to, for the ball to be in the air, I didn't expect it for 52 times in the last game. But the identity of the Bears offense, is this what you see as well that, hey, as much as we love the meat and potatoes, that this will be more of a passing offense throughout the year with numbers in the 30s for Caleb? Well, if it works, yeah. I mean, if they can get the past protection to think up with the past concepts, sure. I felt that from the very beginning that they had the chance to become a pretty potent passing attack. Does that mean top 10? I don't know. But everything lined up from where Waldron's philosophy was in Seattle using two running backs instead of, you know, the stable that the Bears have right now, not necessarily leaning on the run game as much, to be, you know, you got to see the system that he comes from that makes a offense is going to lean more heavily on the quarterback to do a lot of the work in the offense. And that's OK if you can execute it, but you can execute it if you're asking the quarterback to be the first of your year. If you're down two scores, you're passing the ball regardless of whether you're a run first team or a past first team. So I think that that's something that has to be taken into account for the ultimate passing numbers that we saw from Caleb Williams last week, they were trying to get back in the game. I mean, most of those throws came in the second half when they were down by two scores. But nonetheless, you're not going to get there if you're taking time off by running the ball as frequently as they would have hoped for. But, you know, there's a discrepancy 52 pass attempts to 28 rushes is not that's not balanced enough for an offense that doesn't have it footing yet. You can eventually become a past first offense if you want to become the cheats, for example, if that is ultimately the goal that you strive to have, it's the goal you strive to, a healthy Rams team, a system that he was brought up in. You can become that, but there's so many layers to this, including what's going on and what's not going on up front right now that directly affect their ability to establish any sort of identity, including one that would rely on them passing the ball more. But they are. You look at the numbers. They're making it more concerted after it to do it, even from the very onset of Caleb Williams NFL career. So Courtney, I got the text last night. Almost the entire offense was at Carson's up in Deerfield and I said that to hoodie and he goes, great, I want to win football games. Do you think stuff like that, like when Jim McMahon would take the old line to dinner, the offensive guys would go out every Thursday? Does that play any role in helping that team, especially with a rookie quarterback who was at the dinner coming together or is that stuff overrated? I think it plays some role. I mean, I mean, unless they're like, they all have their iPads up at the dinner and they're going over plays, I'm sure that that did not happen because that's not what happens when they leave the facility, like they try to, you know, it's just, it's like anything else chemistry. If you're around the same people all the time, people you work with, people you rely upon to be successful. Those things matter because it's, you will not have as many gaps in communication. You'll have, you know, nonverbal communication to lean on and I do think that makes it more comfortable to be able to pull guys aside if there are issues and be able to check people if they need to be checked. It's just building a relationship and for a young dish team, I mean, you've got a young quarterback, so he's going to be the root of all of that. When I asked Caleb about that the other day, like how do you, he took it an answer away I didn't expect, but I asked him specifically how do you match up like how fast you're processing with what the protection's able to execute and he immediately went into like what you just talked about, Kathy, you know, we hear that word communication and I honestly, it's a buzzword, it's annoying, you've heard it a thousand times because you're like, well, what does it really mean? You know, and he pointed to them doing things outside of the facility, does that necessarily relate to, you know, the success rate on third and nine plus? I don't know. I don't think anybody can point to, oh, they had, they had ribs at Carson's last night. Maybe they got the key line pie too, like that's, that's the reason that they win this game against the Rams, but it, you'd rather have that than guys just going off in silos. And, you know, when you do have older players who probably want to be spending more time with their families when they're away from there to hear that, you know, most of the guys or how whoever was there last night at Carson, it's just a team building thing. And usually the closest teams are the ones who end up being able to fight through these patches of adversity, which they're clearly in it wanted to. So the Bears are taking on one of the better coaches in the NFL and with the Rams. And so what are your thoughts from the Rams standpoint? What's that matchup look like? Because you know, that boy genius on that sideline cap, getting flat out coach. He's got stuff ready for the Bears. So how do you see from the Rams standpoint? Yeah. I mean, a lot of window dressing, a lot of motion, this defense knows that, which is good because they're an experienced defense. We try not to bite on things that are just there to throw you off. Since that's, you know, probably my biggest takeaway from talking with Montes Fled about that yesterday, and McVay, you know, McVay is in his bag when he is against the wall, which he was last week. And they were eyeing 0 and 3, the team was completely decimated, clearly not as much as bad as it was for the 49ers, but to come back from that 14-point deficit and to win, you can't count a coach like that out, especially with how he schemes things offensively that catches you off guard. So the secondary of the Bears should have the edge. You're down the top, your top two receivers, Pukonakua and Cooper Cup are not playing, but that doesn't mean you can take them lightly. I just think that this is a situation where if they can't tighten it up offensively and try to go pound-for-pound with an offense, it's pretty injured, even more injured than the Bears are up front, then that's going to be a really long day, and you're putting even more stress on this defense, which has carried this team through four games. Courtney, have a wonderful weekend. I'm going to watch high school football tonight. It's a great football weekend. Yeah, looking forward to it. Thank you guys. Have a good one. Thank you, Courtney. Courtney proven on the car X-TART and on a hotline. Let me get to that page. Here we go. You're a better man. You're a better man. Boom, boom, boom. Boom. Boom. See, J-Max team tonight, Carmel Catholic. Yeah. I'm going to watch Carmel tonight, bringing your rosary. No. Okay. Well, the Bears will take on Matthew Stafford, folks, 5,761 passing yards and 35 touchdowns against the Bears in his career from all those Lions games. Oh boy, the Bears will win on Sunday if in two minutes.