Alaskan Grizzly

Cool short clip of Allen doing his part and going to work. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C49bt-xMiro/?igsh=MWVpYXk1b2R6dnowbw==

Agreed with making it a part of the game instead of an afterthought. I think why the changes occurred before had to do with player safety due to 'high speed impacts' etc. But the NFL may have over compensated in this instance. Glad to see they adjusting accordingly.

Fair enough. And when you receive a contradictory response, you can’t take it personal and go out of your way to call it “dumb” or “inane”. Talking football sometimes is like playing it, you gotta get dirty to do it right. ??

Wasn't quite sure what you meant by this but assumed you meant Poles doesn't necessarily have to get the Bears to 'winning' by his third year. I would disagree...a little...in that after the team went 7-10 and 4-3 after Justin returned, the team would certainly have to show some form of improvement and at least start the season .500 or better in the first half. IMHO.

He is the best prospect, as you say. There have been other 'best prospects' in the past, some have worked out, some have not. Right now and unequivocally, he's not the best NFL QB ever. Could he be? Sure, but right now he's not. This is the "stuff" that causes you to get cross-threaded with a few here. Myself especially. When you excuse my opinion of how I see another prospect not named Williams you right away assume its some sort of left over Justin "stuff" and that it's "dumb". As I had said a few days ago, each of the top 3-4 QBs all have individual qualities that the others do not, and some have more than all the rest. Nothing wrong with looking at our potential franchise QB candidates through varying prisms. And this is where the divisiveness starts to seep in. Again, you suggest you were early on the bandwagon and now all the writers are 'catching up to where you are'. Sure, you are in the majority but you're not the one that discovered Williams nor probably are you the first to cast Williams in the positive light here on this board. These are not in fact..."FACTS". Actually you contradict yourself by saying "No one can predict the what the future holes for Fields or Williams" and then declaring Williams is better than Fields "right now" because again, Williams has yet to play an NFL down. And truthfully, just because Fields struggled with our team doesn't mean he will always struggle. And until Justin retires, the book on his NFL career isn't finished yet where Williams' is just beginning.

Indeed.

Didn’t a good number of the staff go to McCarthy’s Pro Day too? Bears and Pats only teams to have HC, GM, OC and QB coach there. Or was that more for the other 17 players eligible?

Yeah I’m having a hard time buying into his antics, contrived or no. There’s some underlying ‘thing’ that just doesn’t give me comfort in knowing he’d be the best for us. Never mind I’m still not believing this “generational talent”. He’s good but not generationally better than others already playing or even some of his collegiate peers.

Agents, which he doesn’t have. And speaking of, was going to comment on the physical thing. Within the ~450 pages of the CBA there is probably something that outlines the requirement of members having a baseline physical to ascertain any potential pre-existing conditions. Like with most unions and/or benefits associated, there is a requirement for life insurance to have that let alone all the other ‘benefits’ these guys would be afforded . Looking at the 2020 CBA (for example) article 39 and 40 address medical care and providers (to include the clause that all players will submit to a pre-season physical - Art 39.8). Article 41 even addresses workman’s comp. So I would think it behooves both parties to participate in these tests. And Johnny Manziel and Brian Bosworth.

Amen brother!

A preview for JJ McCarthy’s Pro Day. Good pocket presence, good scan of the field and tight window throw. Oh and a cool background song… https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4yGjriL1nh/?igsh=dDM0eWh2a3l1aDc5

Ah apparently I misunderstood the question.

This is a good place as any for this. Found this YouTube video of Ryan Leaf talking about his Combine experience and how things went for him afterwards. Definitely a good listen and gives you a good perspective of things, especially from a potential #1/#2 overall pick at the QB position. And to think this was in 1998. Some takeaways I got were Leaf said he was asked by the Bears for an immediate x-ray on his thumb (as he had broken it in High School). And how upset the Colts organization were at him for 'missing a meeting' when he said he simply forgot about it and didn't do it intentionally. He did apparently later communicate with Indy that "he was not intersted" in going there. And 'because he was going 1-2 overall, didn't feel he really needed to do the Combine'.

Anyone up for some conspiracy talk? Since we're all a twitter about Caleb's Pro Day lets go back a few weeks when Bo Nix held his own at Oregon. And if you recall Eberflus "with a large contingent from Chicago" were at Nix' demo. At the time Justin was still on the team...then a few days later he was traded. And if you take into consideration Flus' awkward interactions yesterday at USC AND add in the thoughts from PHX about how Poles may have been talking to Caleb behind the scenes...

For what it's worth, I've seen a lot of people (on social media) comment how much they think Flus sends 'cringe' vibes. So that may have been a part of what was seen. I will say for as much as I like the guy, he does come across as a bit awkward at times. With regards to the pursed lips etc, from what I remember one of the unconscious 'tells' that people give especially when they don't want to say something is either crossed arms (like a whole body block) while sitting or the subconsciously bring their hand up in front of their mouth. The lips could be any number of things, like that or as Mongo said he was starting to struggle after a full day of talking. When I watched the interview where he moved among the crowd (good move on his part) he seemed relatively comfortable but you could see he wasn't totally in his skin in doing it. And like you observed, the hug thing was a bit weird too (not just with Flus) but with Poles especially. Very brief and just awkward. What it means? Maybe nothing... more to come I'm sure.

Not so fast. Generally I don’t get too excited for the run up to the draft but for some reason this year is different. I’m still in the ‘trade the 1st for more picks camp’ but yes I did like the interview earlier today…although it may have been a more veneer less substance. Need more info to draw some conclusions.

And that last playoff game against Michigan didn’t do him any favors either. He struggled in the bright lights. I like his grit for sure.

Yeah Saucony makes the shoe below for short-mid range running. Structurally looks similar but has the cushion plus the middle flex point which I think is what the shoe you found is copying or whatever. I prefer Hokas because they claim to be like running on clouds. But their soles are incredibly beefy like this one. Anyway....

I agree x2. Think this was brought up elsewhere that all teams should have access to the records because as PHX points out, what's to say a team that we never thought of can't pass on Caleb (for example) and will offer everything to get him? And they don't have the medical report to go off. Plus, like in the military (and many other jobs) you need to have a physical to determine whether you can do the job as well as be a 'mean' for where you started versus what may have accumulated over your playing career. (If that makes sense).

Since I'm back catching up on some other things, I had forgotten to respond to this question. FWIW I would hope they would indeed get a player like Rice. There is something to be said for genetics and similar to how MHJ has a lot of his dad's 'traits' I would assume so would Rice. If for nothing else, growing up they have a better understanding what it takes to succeed at that level.

Well I'll give you this, you certainly are bringing out a new side in Pix I never knew he had. ? Just to be sure you read my comments correctly, I think Pix was genuinely curious if those were 'lift-enhancing' shoes. I responded by letting him know what I thought. ?‍♂️

Well for what it's worth, this is Bears talk and I didn't really direct my comment to anyone, only to suggest it could have been interpreted a few ways. One of which involves, as you suggest, a false impression of positive vibes to the unsuspecting recipient. Like you said with Fields...it may have been cold-blooded and calculated (probably not). But what's to say it wasn't for Caleb too? Or simply Poles was caught up in the moment and as an athlete himself, felt the need to give a hug as to say 'nice work man'. This was the point I was making earlier when Poles was seen doing it before with Justin. I was wrong....as it turns out...that I was sure they'd be keeping Fields partly because of that gesture. He fooled me.