Ryan Poles talks Caleb Williams’ growth, how the Bears roster is shaping up | Mully & Haugh

Ryan Poles talks Caleb Williams’ growth, how the Bears roster is shaping up | Mully & Haugh

Ryan, great to chat with you. Obviously, I think we have to start with Caleb Williams, and I think everyone’s really excited to see him play on Sunday in particular. Where have you seen him improve the most throughout training camp? And how do you hope to see that show up on Sunday night? Yeah, you can see, you know, for a young quarterback, you can see his progress that he’s made throughout training camp, um, and really over the last two years, um, night and day just in terms of the operation. Um, and there’s still room to improve. Um but he’s taken ownership of that. Um being open to being coached hard and he continues to get better. You know, with with young players, it’s usually, you know, two, three steps forward, maybe a step back, two, three steps forward, step back. Um kind of that n natural progression um as as we’ve gone through camp. Um but I love to see him continue to improve, you know, with the operation and have the opportunity to do that here um in this this first preseason game that he’s going to play in. Um I I’m curious about that about the the play of the starters and we heard from uh Ben Johnson yesterday and he said that um that that it will be determined how much they play. There were a lot of things involved in that. I’m just curious, you know, coming from Kansas City where Andy Reid played his starters. They played a lot in the preeason. Um, what is your philosophy versus uh Ben’s philosophy? Do you guys uh agree on this? How much conversation did it take to help you guys decide uh when the starters will play? And I’m I am I I could be wrong, but I’m guessing that that third preseason game coming on Friday after a a Sunday night game seems it seems like this may be the debut and the uh finale. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Ben and I we have a lot of discussions about this to to start. Um the one thing I really appreciate about Ben is he’s very very thoughtful. Um, and it’s really a part of being a head coach that no one really thinks about when you’re putting together the schedule, the workloads, working with sport science. Um, and also your installation process as well. Um, he’s been very thoughtful with that and and has had a great plan that I absolutely agree with. Um, obviously wanted to get a high volume of of reps um, for that group last week um, against Miami as well, plus the pregame. and now be able to roll out and get these guys going um in a live situation in the stadium where, you know, you got to get the calls through through the headsets and it’s it’s a normal game operation. So, um you know, we we did have a lot of conversations and I like the progression. Um I I wouldn’t I would not assume that this would be the last one either. Um, okay. I think he’s going to take a look and see how practice goes, how how the game goes, and kind of determine um how we’re going to approach the third game. But I I think we’re still pretty open to how we’re going to approach the the Kansas City um operation as well because kind of the big challenge over the last few years is when you have that empty space where it used to be a fourth preseason game. Um, I think you have to really look at that differently because that’s a long time between games, um, and between live action. So, yep. Um, we’ll continue to work through that, but I I wouldn’t make any assumptions on the last game either. You brought up, uh, working with Ben and obviously you interviewed him and had a big part in getting him here. And I’m just curious because we were Molly and I were just joking about it before you came on. You know, you never got to sit in a meeting room with him. you never watched him coach on the field. Like what has surprised you the most about Ben Johnson the head coach? Yeah. Like so one I knew the intelligence was was very high. I knew from you know obviously playing them um when he was calling it that from a scheme situ like a scheme standpoint he was very good. gave me vibes of of what we had in Kansas City and how he was able to get players in positions to be successful, but also to um attack pressure points um on the opposing defense. So, I knew that that part was there. Had very little questions about that. I think anytime you’re hiring someone, it’s like how are they in front of the room? How are they in stressful situations? Um what’s the overall day-to-day operation look like in terms of motivating the guys? and then staff and he’s knocked all of those out of the park um in front of the room. He’s incredible. Um very thoughtful in how he approaches the team and the guys respond to it. Um the intensity has been high. I knew he was an intense guy, but it’s it’s skyhigh and it’s because he cares. The passion level is is off the charts and the guys respond to that really well, which has been really cool to see. And they trust them. We had that padded practice. All everybody was talking about how physical it was and I’m out there. I said, “Man,” I said, “You know what? This this tells me that this team trusts you.” Um because not a lot of teams are doing that anymore. Practices aren’t that physical. Uh but they believe in you when you said, “Hey, we need to do this in order to take the next step to be a physical football team that’s going to allow us to win and also be resilient when we get into the season.” And and they didn’t think twice about it. They did it. And that that was a huge sign for me. Ryan, I’m sure you’re familiar with this Seth Wickerssham book that’s coming out, uh, American Kings about quarterbacks. And Caleb has already addressed some of the stuff with his father and the pre-draft process and whether uh, they were uh, ready to come to Chicago or worried about coming to Chicago, etc. I I’m sure you’re well familiar with it. There was an element of it that I didn’t hear about until recently, which is apparently there’s a chapter where Shawn Payeyton talks about the way that he evaluates quarterbacks and and he he’s looking specifically at Caleb and he talked about the the the number of I think he calls them um uh too many completions left on the field. the the uh idea that that sometimes with college guys, you got to look at the negative plays versus the positive plays, but he said at the time that he was a little bit concerned, a little worried about uh Caleb’s processing speed. Is that a legitimate concern? And and just generally speaking, when it comes to processing speed, I I mean, for years, I was always taught by people in the NFL that accuracy with quarterbacks is something you really can’t learn. You’re either accurate or you’re not. You can either throw the ball. You can’t you can’t really get better at it, even if you can improve slightly. But processing speed seems to be something that you can improve on, that you can work at. Is that is that something you’re counting on with the relationship between Ben and Caleb? Yeah, and that that’s the time that you put into it as well. I mean, you got to get to the point. Um, and I had all my scouts and we actually spent time on um, you know, not so much well processing speed, but instincts, read and react. And we really focused on that every single position. And we feel like the the more reps that you get at it and the more un big picture understanding of what you’re trying to accomplish within the scheme allows you then to start speeding that up. And the more reps that you get, the more opportunities that you get, you you should see that improve. Um, obviously you got to put the time in and have that relationship um to get the clear understanding. So yeah, we we believe that that’s definitely part of the evaluation, something that can continue to improve over time. Um, so that’ll be interesting. And and and I tell you what, like you look across the league um and I know there’s historically you’re probably right, but you know, when you see a guy like Josh Allen and his completion percentage and accuracy um improve like it did, you know, it gives you hope in development of of really everyone on your roster. I mean, I’m looking I’m looking at Nan Wright. I’m looking at um Theo um offensive line. We’re looking at Dom and Booker. like it’s been really cool to see this staff lean into these guys and see this growth um in a very short period of time. So, as long as the work ethic’s there, the dedication is there, the passion for the game, and then there’s a relationship with the coach where they trust him, um I think you can grow in all these different areas. I’m glad you brought up Theo Benedict because we got to see him get some reps with the ones yesterday at left tackle. Is he really in the mix in that competition or was it just sort of an opportunity to, you know, get Azie on the right side? H how do you view that left tackle competition at this moment? Yeah, it’s still ongoing. Um and as a staff, I think, you know, we’ve I think Dan uh Roshar spoke recently, but you know, we’re looking for someone to take that take that position um and go out there and play free um and get after it. And Theo’s earned that. um he has excelled since the you know this year and just seen the growth physically and performance-wise. Um so he’s earned really the right to to get into that competition. So uh we’re excited to see him um get more and more reps at the left spot and he’s shown that he can play a little bit of right and he’s shown he can play guard which is brings tremendous value. Um and then Aussie we got to also look forward to you know the season too. So, you know, wherever this lands, you know, you got to show some versatility to be active on on game day and to help us. And um I I haven’t done the study. I’m sure historic not historically, but over the last few years, we had to be at the very top of the league in terms of the amount of different O line combinations. Um I hope that slows down, but we got that we have everyone ready to go. Um and they can play both sides in different positions. So, really excited to see that play out here. Um, you would hope that it starts to clear itself up here, I would say, over the next week or two. I I’m curious, Ryan, do you feel when you’re evaluating offensive linemen that you have an advantage as a former offensive lineman or does it become more difficult because you know more about that position than anyone than any other? I mean, is that a is that a burden for you? Is there is that a plus for you? No, I would say there’s a couple things there. I do think when you play the position, you you understand the little details. You can probably pick up on on certain things. That’s why I love talking to different different scouts that play different positions because they can just pick up on the the the small things if it’s just the stripe of the helmet where eyes are going through, you know, a twist or even a a linebacker being able to read and react and trigger. Um, so it’s it’s really cool to hear from different people in those positions. I think sometimes the hard thing is we we have a super high standard and you’re always looking, you know, for the absolute best and and there’s also in between where guys can come in and develop and get better as well. And it takes, you know, some tools and traits. Um especially coming out of college and even a smaller school. Um you understand that there’s there’s growth and they can get to that point. Um, but yeah, I would say it’d probably be more of a positive. Um, and I got a couple guys on staff, you know, some tight ends, some O linemen that I feel like we’re dialed in pretty good. Um, and it it’s starting to show up. And I love, um, the way this is set up. Darnell continues to improve. Um, working on his consistency and finish. And then the three guys inside with with Jonah and Drew and Joe. Um it’s been a pleasure to watch those three work together, start to gel and communicate and and I think we’re going to see that early in our run game. Um that should get established um pretty good this year. Speaking of the run game, I know everyone including DeAndre Swift himself is looking for a better year this year. I wanted to ask you specifically though about Kyle Manungai and how fun it’s been for you to sort of watch him develop over the course of training camp. a seventh round draft pick who Ben Johnson said after Family Fest, he’s someone that we’re going to be able to trust. It’s high praise for a seventh round guy. Yeah. Yeah. You pair those guys up with Eric Benemy, usually good things happen. Um but yeah, Kyle’s been doing a really good job. You you know, when you watch the tape, you really appreciate the vision, the feel um at that position and then the contact balance and the strength. Um, a lot of times you’ve seen guys excel and and reach their ceiling um, because of those traits and that’s what he has. Um, sometimes I think at that position you can overevaluate, you know, the 40 time. Um, Kyle’s a guy that is going to find uh, the right crease. Um, he’s fall forward. We saw that in that first preseason game. Um, so I’m really excited about him. He’s he’s surprised me. Even his hands are a lot better than I thought they were going to be. Mhm. Um also going to help us in certain situations and check downs and and he’s a pain. He’s a guy that you know wear on you throughout the course of the game and with that rotation um with him and Swift and and we’ll see with you know Ro homework how they how they you know that pans out but um should be a pretty cool combination. Ryan, we really appreciate time. We’ll let you go just on the way out. I’m very curious. In previous seasons, um, we saw you guys, you know, maybe making an extra cut and picking someone up, maybe trying to improve your team through other teams, letting guys go at the end of camp. Is that still the case? Do you think that you’ll be um be shopping around and looking? It’s always important to improve your team whenever you can. Is that an opportunity that could happen before the start of the season or do you feel pretty set with this roster? Yeah. Um, one I’ve learned fast. I I never feel set with the roster. Things change so fast. Injuries or or whatever. Um, so we we attack it like we did the first year. Our pro staff, um, including myself, will make calls across the league and just kind of see what’s out there, what’s available, what the chatter is, and see if that’s an something that can improve our football team. In terms of the claim process, um once you start moving out of the first three slots there in the claim order, it becomes a little bit more difficult. Got to be a little bit more selective. Um thankfully the the roster is in a much better place than it was the first year when we we made all those claims. So it’s harder to make this football team, right? Um, we’re going to be in a situation now where I think there’s probably 57 58 guys that I I really would like, which makes it really hard in terms of making decisions down the stretch, but it’s also a positive in terms of how far we’ve come. Um, so it it’ll be a little bit harder. The number goes down, you know, as you get your roster set, but we’ll always take swings at at players that we think can can improve our roster. Um, I think you always got to stay aggressive and keep that mindset regardless of of where your football team is. So, we’ll we’ll continue to do that. Great stuff, Ryan. Thank you a ton. Really appreciate to talk to you. Thank you. Thank you. You have a great day.

On the Mully & Haugh Show, Bears general manager Ryan Poles discussed quarterback Caleb Williams’ growth in training camp and how the team’s roster is shaping up.

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