Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Full Show: Signs are pointing toward Caleb Williams returning for Bears on Sunday

Episode Date: October 15, 2026

Leila Rahimi and Mark Grote discussed how Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is trending toward returning Sunday from a hamstring injury that has sidelined him for the past three games. Rahimi is concerned that Williams might be returning a little too soon and thinks he should feel fully healthy before getting back to game action. Later, they welcomed on Yahoo Sports insider Russ Dorsey to discuss the latest action in the MLB playoffs and the White Sox's future.

Welcome into Rahimi and Grotie on 104.3, The Score. We are broadcasting live from the Hyundai Studios, brought to you by your local Hyundai dealers. What's happening in Layla? Oh, you know, just hanging out, talking sports. It's what we do. Having some food. Learning about Cuba. Aloha, Mr. Hand.

What's going on over there? Mr. Hand? Is it, if it's, what is the line? It's like, if it's your time and it's my time, then isn't it our time? Our time. Yes. I hate that that movie keeps getting older because time keeps. passing but other than that I'm good I know that dude mr.

no shirt no shoes no dice and why was judge Reinhold the practical one like I don't know he seems so whiny and blasé and bland he seemed I like judge Reinhold he always seemed in all of his roles just slightly defeated just slightly defeated aren't we all that's why I like him I suppose so but we are here for you. 312, 644, 67, 667 is the number. As we inch more closely to

the very real possibility that Caleb Williams could be starting at the Atlanta Falcons at noon on Sunday and we could stop fussing over the backup quarterbacks. Surfing's not a sport. It's a way of life.

Absolutely. I'm just going to keep quoting fast times. Yo, bro. Can I ask you something? Hang loose. What gives you this indication? Well, I have some evidence here. Okay. Why don't we present the evidence that has begun to pile up over the realness of Caleb Williams playing this Sunday, starting with the Bears head coach Ben Johnson. He met with the media yesterday and gave the latest update on quarterback Caleb Williams. Understanding that there's a box of subject for Caleb, are you preparing and planning for him to be a quarterback on Sunday, or is it truly fluid right now? Yeah, it's still fluid, but I feel good about the plan that we have in place at this point. But, Ben, do you expect him to be a full participant in your projected injury report today? That will come out shortly, won't it?

He'll be full today. He'll be full. Is it safe to presume that so long as he is full in practice throughout the week, but that means that he's going to play on Sunday? Is that a different conversation? We're going to figure out what's best for this football team to win this game on who plays on Sunday. So in the walkthrough yesterday, there it was Caleb Williams officially projected as a full participant in the fake practice from yesterday. It's that part of it.

It's the fact that it's a fake practice and you can get away with it. And I know Ben Johnson talked about the schedule and how what they were doing at Hallis Hall yesterday was predetermined long before they got to this week because of how the NFL schedule works, five games in. All of that made sense. but until he's out there, I just am very concerned about rushing people back. Very concerned. Because? Well, I know we've got other evidence.

Because Bigsy this morning, I think, did spill the beans a little. It certainly looks like it's headed in that direction. Him being listed as a full participant in their imaginary practice yesterday is a very good sign. They'll be out there today. And if he's full again today, that's another good sign but if you I think if you were you know asking for what's your what's your best guess for for Sunday afternoon in Atlanta I think Caleb Williams is the

starting quarterback could something happen between now and then sure could they have a change at heart based on wanting to be cautious with the big picture and and plenty of football remaining this season that that's always possible but my best guess is he starts against the Falcons. There is Brad Biggs right there not reporting that he's starting, kind of just following the evidence the same way all of us are following the evidence. And today we'll tell the

tale. Like if he is an actual full participant in practice today, doesn't necessary practice yesterday. Yeah, it's a real practice that will happen today. And if, if, and this is huge, this is the biggest part of it, if he speaks today, if we see Caleb Williams march up to that podium today

and speak to the masses out there at Hall's hall. That has been the indicator. because every single time we've said, oh yeah, practice, imaginary practice, coach, whoever, oh yeah, well then who's talking? Whenever you have to roll up a quarterback

to the media, to the media, who's talking? And typically the person who's talked has been the person they expected to start. I got a couple of things about it, I guess, in consternation. I am very aware that if you rush a quarterback back, sometimes it

takes the entire season to get them healthy, again. And by the entire season, I mean that including the off season. And I know that sounds crazy given that it's a hamstring. But it's a hamstring that has required multiple weeks so far. It's a hamstring that's required three weeks. I take that seriously. I also follow White Sox baseball. I take hamstrings seriously. They can derail your season. We've seen soft tissue injuries derail the Bears player seasons. Look no further than Kyler Gordon. Where he said he was ready to play and then in pregame warmups, no he wasn't. Jail and John, John, Johnson said he was ready. No, he wasn't. He ends up missing multiple weeks after that.

And now we talk about him like he's not the same since he had that injury. I'm not saying it's to that effect. I'm not saying the drop off would be that big. But I just know there have been enough times, Roma Dunesay included, even though that wasn't soft tissue. I think there are enough examples here to say, you really got to make sure that you are correct when you do this against a Falcons team that I know they're playing at home. But they do have a losing record. So that's why I just am really, really concerned about like making sure, like, don't be penny wise and pound foolish on this. I hear what you're saying. I did, like, that all makes sense. In this case, though, with this player, with that man, Caleb Williams,

I don't think that they would do anything to risk it. If they felt like there was a chance that he could re-aggravate the injury, if there was that risk. And obviously, there's all going to be that risk. It just is omnipresent. It's always going to exist. I don't think that they would do that with Caleb Williams. Their franchise player, their best player, their best player in the last decade or so, the guy that they are eventually going to pay all the money to. In this case, I do trust the Bears medical staff to give the right suggestion for this player, for this quarterback, especially with what is at stake, not just this upcoming game, but the game. But the, the fact that there is a Thursday game the following week, so that's the short turnaround.

I'd have a hard time believing, Layla, that they would put this guy out there if they didn't think that it was mostly risk averse to re-enjuring it. Yeah, I feel like all of that makes sense by itself. But then I think about the surrounding circumstances. You just got waxed by the Packers, you know, and that magnifies everything in a way that I think for us we can kind of quantify kind of but for the bears at Hallis Hall when George

McCasky trains workies to hate the Packers and calls him Team Voldemort and just how much that emanates you know around the building and then to see what you saw out of the guy in Tyson Bayon who Ben confidently said would be the starter last week and he was very gungho

about that and then now we have this place that's really unclear I just I think there are other things that might motivate them to bring somebody back faster. So you think they're overreacting? If Tyson Bay, if the Bears had won that game in Green Bay, if Tyson Bay didn't have played the game that Ben Johnson thought he was going to play,

do you think that they, that Caleb Williams would be coming back this week? Do you think that Caleb Lewis would be coming back this week? That's a good, that's a fair question. I had to continue the family guy. No, that's, that's a, that's a very fair question. Because I don't think the answer would be yes. Right.

Are they desperate? Are they acting desperately? right now. And we want to get people in on this too. 312, 644, 67. Would you rather that the Bears just did a, well, the player's ready. Everybody says he's ready, but then just give him one more day off or one more week off to make it real. And it's not even a week. I mean, it's two games when you can see her Sunday and Thursday.

Exactly. It's a fast turnaround. Like you may feel it on Thursday if you come back too soon on Sunday. But if he is, but if he is feeling 100 percent, if the players, feeling 100%. And the trainers say if the medical staff says he is 100%. If your best player, if your quarterback is ready to return, I feel like it's still, it's a green light. And we obviously don't know how he feels and we don't have the medical details on it. But I would bring that guy back if that's the way he feels. Like if everybody is being honest and everybody is ready,

then you go with it. Did you find, did Caleb Williams find Chris Gets on a an elevator and say not only am I ready to come off of injury, but that I feel like I can help the team today. And then Chris Gett said to Caleb Williams, okay, cool, also your batting cleanup. We have to ask Tommy Fam about that. We got Tommy Fam in there. There is one more. I mean, listen, you want to know the combination to the locks of your people, okay? And for Chris Gets, I found out the successful elevator pitch is the way to go on a literal elevator. There is one more piece of evidence that we have left out here. I think you might have mentioned this yesterday. But on Caleb Williams's

Instagram, there is the John Wick photo and then him saying, I'm inevitable. Well, yes, you are, but that means, it doesn't have to be Sunday. Yeah. And then, yeah, also there's a wizard and what looks like a doctor with a mustache, to which I said, is Mike Vassel his doctor? Well, I took that to me. Caleb is telling us

that he is returning with like on a magical time table that no one expected. Would you rather have Mike Vassel as your doctor or for Dr. Mo, given that his patients have been Yala Johnson and Kelly Gordon? That's a tricky one because Mike Vassel. Well, Mike Vassel said the Wizard is retired at the conclusion of the playoff run. You know, I'm the Wizard. You know, what's going on here?

Yeah, a lot of people say they're retired. Right. You know, maybe you just need a break. We need Mike Vassel to send a fax. He's back. Well, Wizard wouldn't send a fax. they would do something else that's more spectacular, like send a dragon or something.

Just appear. Just hit the, yeah. If only a dragon could send my fax, that would be great. That would be nice. But the dragon blows up the fax because it breathes fire and it's like, oh, man, I did it again. We are open for you guys.

Dragon facts on the score. Are you comfortable with the idea of Caleb Williams starting at quarterback on Sunday against the Falcons, 312, 64, 64, 67, 67 is the number. We are a full house today. Layla and I are here. Ray Diaz is here. Tyler Buterbaugh is in the house.

We've got our score video team of Connor O'Donnell, Max Curtis, Jacob Stutz as well. The score, Chicago.com editor is Cody Westerland. Oh, and I just saw the, yeah, yes, yes. Adam Jons on Twitter. Yes, oh, oh. Is it Hogue? Is it Hogg? I'm not sure. Adam Hogg. Adam Johns.

The Bears plan to make quarterback Caleb Williams available to the media following practice today. Dash, another sign that his return is imminent. There it is. The evidence continues to pile up. We want to know how you feel about it. Are you more on the conservative side like Layla is? Or are you kind of like me where, okay, they're not going to put this quarterback in this game if they think there is some sort of major risk for the rest of this season.

312, 64, 67, 67 is the number. It is Rahimi and Grotie on 104.3, the score. Rahimi and Grotie, midday's 10 a.m. to two on Chicago's sports radio, 1043, the score. Do you still think that Tyson could, is he a capable backup for you should he need to play this week? I think we have three guys that can win games in this league. But do you? Do you, Ben Johnson?

You could say it, Ben. Yeah, see, it's funny because we welcome me back to Rahimi and Grotia 104-3, the score. All the Evans, again, is pointing towards Caleb Williams playing this game with the latest submission, admission being that Adam Johns is saying that he will speak out at Hallis Hall today. I sure would have liked to have known, and it's still possible that Caleb doesn't play. I would have liked to have known what Ben Johnson would. have done if he was dealing with choosing between Case Keenham and Tyson Vagent. And I guess we'll find out because he's going to probably have to name who the backup quarterback is in the game, right?

He's got to name QB2. That's almost more interesting at this point. Will Ben Johnson admit that Case Keenham is the backup at this point? Or will we not hear it until we know until Sunday morning because of the gamesmanship of it all? Our sports friend and colleague Jacob Stutz brings up a good point here on Twitch. We are the score of Chicago on Twitch. The reality is you can't coddle it. Any game being played brings risk to get hurt.

If he's ready to go, he should be out there. He can get hurt again regardless of when he comes back. Maybe. But my issue is if he's not at 100%, which we've seen other Bears players not be at 100% and then come back, does it cost you more games down the line? You cannot afford that. You cannot afford that with a losing record.

already in the division. You cannot afford that when you have a schedule that gets harder from here on out. And maybe I'm just being naive and that's possible. But I just don't think the Bears medical staff, the Bears' coaching staff, the Bears' front office would allow this player, Caleb Williams, number 18, to step on the field in game six of the season when you're already three and two. You're not in some big hole right now unless, unless it was smart. to put him out there and maybe he is 95%. Except we all said

when they lost that game in Green Bay my first reaction, maybe your first reaction to others. Caleb Williams can't come back fast enough. So you went from having a backup quarterback plan to having a we need this guy back. But I was also Case Keenham

too. You can't put Tyson because honestly my assumption was until the last 48 hours or even 24 hours. was that there was going to be a backup quarterback. And I thought the debate today would be, and throughout the week would be, is it Tyson Bayesian or Case Keenham?

And I was all about, and I think you were too, about it being Case Keenham. So that's where my mind was. And now it's like, oh, we have to follow the evidence and it looks like Caleb Williams. And I just can't believe

they would put him out there unless he was good to go. Well, it's also the fact of the matter that you have a Thursday game. And that Thursday game, the number one thing I always heard about, about the pushback from players about that game,

was that the recovery time is exponential. The difference a day makes in the NFL, the difference a day makes when you get a Monday night game as opposed to a Sunday game, the recovery helps so much. The last thing I want is for Caleb Williams to somehow not be good enough. Or he takes off or it's a scramble drill

and something happens in that Thursday game too. And that's why this is so, this is why I'm taking such care with this. Yeah, and that is reasonable. We've talked about that. talked about that on Take the North. The turnaround is crazy. So all that, all of that. And like, even, I think in the last episode of Take the North, I said, I don't think it's going to be Caleb Williams. But now things seem to have changed. So that says to me that he is healthier than we even

know. Why don't we take some of these calls? 312, 644, 67, 67. Where do you stand on this? Would you rather they just let Caleb breathe a little bit and make sure that he is 100%? Or are you get him in there if they give him the green light. Let's go to Anthony in Elk Grove. What's going on? Anthony and Grotie on, Rahimi and Grotia on 104-3, the score. What's up? I love you guys. I listen to you guys every day.

Thank you. Worst thing to say, worst thing to do is putting him in the game on Sunday. Our future is in the decision for Sunday. If they put him in and he's not 100%, he makes the run, wrong turn, wrong run, boom, he's down. We're out the season. don't even say we're in the playoffs. We have to go to our second string or our third string because we don't even know which one

is that. All right, Anthony, Anthony, thanks for the call. Damn. It sounds like Anthony was calling in on a radio station. Was that like a radio station on a radio station? A little buzz in the background right there? Well, Anthony's more concerned about the consequences than I am based on that commentary. It sounds like Anthony doesn't, and maybe you, for that matter, too, are not trusting

that Caleb Williams is healthy enough to play football. I think players will say they're ready to go. when they're not ultimately ready to go, unless you're Tommy fan. I'm not even kidding. FAM's always ready to go. Of course players are going to say that. But it's up to the medical staff, the coaches. I'm ready.

I can do this and your arms falling off. Of course. And that is up to everybody in the organization to protect the player from himself. It's Bob in Mount Prospect. Hi, Bob. You're on Rahimi and Grotie on 104 to the score. Hi, folks. Listen, this is very, very obvious based on what happened up in Green Bay.

Okay. There is no way, if Caleb Williams does not play Sunday, there is no way the Bears win in Atlanta. The defense is not going to be able to take care of business, as we have seen. They're okay against the mediocre team, but they're not good against a team with a decent attack, okay? So it's not even a question of whether he should play or not play. I think this coaching staff knows very, very well that if Caleb Williams does not play Sunday, they do not win on Sunday. Period.

End of story. I think you're giving probably a little. And I'm with you. I want Caleb to play. I'm green like Caleb. But let's not act like the Atlanta Falcons are world beaters yet. And they might be a good team. And we know they've got stars.

The Atlanta Falcons have something that I think a lot of people here just like, which is a dominant and punishing run game and a good enough defense being at home. So that together will win you games. Yeah, they have an outstanding receiver in Drake London. They've got a really good tight end in Kyle Pitts. They've got two good running backs. They've got the dueling Robinsons and Bijon Robinson and Brian Robinson. You've got Jahan.

We've got Dotson. We've got Dotson as well. But you know, the funny part about the Falcons is you know where they're deficient. The passing game defense. They're toward the bottom of the league. So what's funny is who do you trust to sling it at that point? Because that's probably what you're going to have to do against Atlanta to win. They're giving up right now just over 248 yards a game.

And that would definitely trend towards get Caleb Williams back out there. So when Luther Burden is wide open, he will pass it to him. when Colston Loveland is open, that he will pass it to him. When Roma Dunesay is open, that he will pass it to him. They're 27th in passing defense, and they are fourth in rushing defense. Mm-hmm. Yeah, they have been stopping it, and they can run like crazy. Obviously, Bichon Robinson, 580 rushing yards so far, 5.7 yards per carry.

And he is far and away past the number two back, which is Kenneth Walker. Yes. Your Super Bowl MVP, who's having a hell of a C-Shing. so far for the Chiefs. It's pretty amazing, the dominant season he's having. Yeah, when the difference is that much between one and two and two is excellent, that gives you an indication. He's also, while we're doing this, Bejohn Robinson,

also the second leading receiver on the Falcons, 18 catches for 152 yards. Just ahead of, we've got Dotson. Do you know what it reminds me of Wani saying about Ricky Williams? It's bad enough that he was 65% of my office. That's Bejohn right now, man. And Drake London is awesome. He's coming off a game where he had seven catches for 118 yards in a loss, a tough loss for the Falcons,

the Kyle Hamilton pick right at the very end of the game. You know, but that's the other part of this too, is if the Bears' defense were better, would you feel better about having a backup play? Like that I worry that all of these things factor into this. Yeah, like because he's the fixer for everything. 312, 644, 67, 67. Keith, our guy, in a round. Keith, you are on Rahimi and Grotie on the score.

Hi, Mark. Hi, Leila. Hi. So I'll answer the question up front. It's Caleb Williams, obviously, by a mile. And these are the three questions. I ask myself, and these are the three questions, I'll ask you. Who gives the Bears the best, who gives the Bears the best chance to win any given day?

It's Caleb Williams. This is a conference game. How important is this conference game to the overall season right now? Layla, I completely respect you and your thoughts. but you're thinking down the road right now, and I'm thinking about this week, this is a conference game. They cannot afford to lose and have another tiebreaker potentially down the road be broken. And then the last thing is this was a grade two hamstring pole.

And if he's healed from a grade two, and all indications are that he is, then, yes, is it possible somebody can get hurt, re-hurt again? It is. But the season, this team, this is going to be the sixth game of this season. they're going to have 11 games left. And if they lose this game, which they shouldn't, they'll have another game in the conference that's down. And they're not going to have much chance within their division

if they lose any more games than the division. So this game is more important than I think some people are giving credit to us. And that's why it's K of the Williams and it's by a far reach. Well, I actually think that you, this is what happens. We do this as a best practice in the industry. Once you read your writing out loud and once you start talking through your own point, you see where the cracks are. And even you backed off of what you said originally.

Once you realized what the long-term consequences are based on how you described how the season plays out. And that was my concern. Also the evidence that I've previously had with important Bears players. Oh, yeah, the players that had been hurt or they thought they were going to come back and then they didn't. You cannot afford to do that with your quarterback. Hey, hey, all that makes a lot of sense to me. I just can't believe they would do that with this player. One more here before the break.

It's Joe. And Joe, where are you right now? South? I can't see it. Oh, Southside. Over on 35th. Oh, beautiful. That's a lovely area right there.

There's a ballpark right around there. Yes, a nice little ballpark, and it's one of those things where you have to shift your mind from 35th and move it to Calis Hall and try and get a little positive spin. It's a long drive, man. long drive. You know a thing or two about hamstrings, though? I'll give you that. Oh, yeah.

Well, the thing is with the hamstring, you know, they graded it as a grade one initially, and then they moved it to a grade two after some MRIs. You wonder if it was just kind of borderline, grade one, grade two, where they thought, oh, you know what, it might only be one to two weeks. Let's not put them on IR. And now they're sitting there thinking, this is the fourth week. If we don't get them out there, we should have put them on IR, and we could have had an extra person on the roster, helping us on defense or offense.

And I think right now they're either thinking, we've got to go gung-ho and hope he brings us a win or else we're going to be spinning wheels heading into week six, week seven. Thanks, Joe. Love the South Side. Enjoy it. And we appreciate the call for sure. Yeah, I mean, it's a tough call. It really is, but the initial prognosis was three to four weeks, and here we are three weeks in.

Well, also, I don't, it was reported what the hamstring was. That's not to say that the bears graded it differently from the beginning, and I think that's important to denote if we're going to bring that up. So there's that. Fair enough. 312, 644, 67, 67 is the number if you want to talk bears and Caleb Williams. We will continue to do it. top of the hour. We are going to have in studio today, right? Russ Dorsey will be in the house today

for a couple segments. Chris Gets was speaking of the South Side. Chris Gets, the White Sox General Manager held a Zoom press conference yesterday. So we'll talk White Sox. We've got Cubs questions because I don't know if we actually ever truly got closure. We'll go out to Hall a little bit later on. Danny Parkins is on the show today. And you are as well. 312, 64, 64, 67 is the number. It's Rahimi and Grody on 104.3, the score. Rahimi and Grody. Are you feeling it, Leila?

Are you feeling this week? Midday. No, 10 a.m. to 2 on the score. It's up. It's Rahimi and Grody on 1043, the score on a Thursday? Yes. Today is a Thursday. It is a Thursday.

You know why? It's a day check. Because I'm going somewhere tonight. Oh, yeah? Yep, I'm going to Orland Park. Fatty's Pub, 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday night football watch party, and round one of Bud Light's football face-off tournament. They call it a tournament up there in the northeast. Score the most points in advance for a chance to win a trip to Las Vegas during the NFL playoffs.

Win there and you'll compete for the ultimate prize, Super Bowl 61 flyaway to Los Angeles. It's all courtesy of Bud Light, but you've got to be 21 and older. That sounds like a good time. Go out there. Go out there. Go hang out with Layla. Yeah. You kids could go.

You just can't be drinking. That's all. Well, and you can't participate in the contest. You can't participate in the contest. But you can participate in just hanging out at Fatties. Absolutely. I'm looking forward to checking out their food. Sounds delicious.

I would imagine that a place called Fatties probably has pretty good food. That would just be my guess. I'll be the judge of that. I can't wait for the full report tomorrow. Which will be up Friday right here on the score. Are you comfortable with the idea of Caleb Williams starting at quarterback on Sunday? 312644-67-67 all signs are pointing towards it including the fact that he is expected to speak today and that's usually the tell-tale sign he is expected to be a full participant in practice today we will wait to see it and then report it but that is where we seem to be going a couple text messages I just want to fire through before we get back to your calls 312644 67 67 the caller seemed to imply that Caleb equals a win after last week I'm more interested in how the coaches come up with with a game plan if he doesn't play.

I was kind of interested in that too. Of course I want to see, and I am green lighting Caleb Williams. We all want to see Caleb Williams be the quarterback and not have to worry about backups. But I was interested, am interested in, and I don't know if we'll ever find out now. If Caleb Williams is playing, like, what is the true evaluation of Tyson-Bajun and Case Keeneman? Who is your number two quarterback? Here we were with a backup quarterback controversy, and now we're like, well, wait, which one is better?

And that's a concern too. Right. And we really don't want it to have to matter. And that's the beauty of Caleb potentially coming back. L.R. That'd be Lala Rahimi. I agree. Caleb should return against the Pats.

He gets mini-buye to recover. I am terrified with this. Hamstery injury, if you don't fully rest it, I just feel like it will really derail you. And we've gotten some reasonable responses on Twitter. What's? Yeah. I think the landscape of Twitter

changed the past couple of days. So this is from Ryan Lancer. Listen to NFL players who said wait a week more after you think you're ready. As Brody Sports has described, all of the bad of the bears and all of the good of the Falcons, we are not winning this game with or without CW, not because Atlanta is the best, but because they're much better than us.

Atlanta? No, do you think that? I don't think Atlanta is much better than the Bears at this point. It's about some certain matchups. And when I see a Falcons team that can stop the run and I see a Bears team that has struggled to really get a passing game going via rhythm, maybe the matchup doesn't always favor. I don't know that...

All the more reason to have Caleb back in there if you want rhythm in your passing game. Don't you think things would have been vastly different against the Packers? I think the Packers also provide a different matchup because of how well Christian Watson, for example, and that crew can cook against the Bears secondary. There's no doubt. I'm not saying... I just don't understand why Ben, Johnson didn't run the ball more.

Jonah Jackson told me the truth there. I think the Packers still would have scored all their points, but I also think Caleb Williams could have made it a lot closer. Again, that game was 14 to 7 at the half. And we know from the All-22 that everybody has shown us all over social media that there's tons of players that were open. And my guess is that Caleb Williams sees some of those guys that were open and has the Caleb Williams magic that goes with Caleb Williams.

I agree. I just cannot have. I cannot have him of all people. I cannot have him come back too early, and then he's diminished later because of it. Scott Stapp, wide open down the field with arms wide open. I think he got to warble a little bit more there. Tyler's been waiting to put that one in there.

Guys wide open. Let's go to Jeff. He's driving on 294. What's going on? Jeff, how are you? You're on the score with Rahimi and Grody. Excuse me, fine. How are you? How are you doing it? You're all right, Jeff? You're doing okay, pal?

I'm fine. Okay. I'm fine. You know, when Case Cana played the Eagles, he played like he was putting on a clinic. And I think he played as good as, if not better than Caleb Williams has played yet as the Chicago Barrett. And I'm not suggesting that Caleb Williams is not the number one quarterback. And the way he runs around back there, because he doesn't like being in the pocket, it's just a matter of time. before he gets hurt again, and it's not the quarterback's fault that the Packers almost scored 40 points.

You talk about Caleb is inevitable that Caleb's going to get hurt again? Yes, absolutely. The way you run, yeah. Hold on a second, though. He went through two full seasons without missing a game due to injury. Well, guess what? He just got injured, okay? So, I mean, any quarterback, I've been watching football a long time, and the Bears,

any quarterback that runs around as much as he does, inevitable he's going to get hurt. I mean, he did, he just, I don't know what his injury history was. He had a hamstring injury at USC. Yeah. Remember because the report said it was the same one? That's right. Everybody was like, no, it wasn't.

Like, we have the data on that. And then he came back like a month later and played in the Cotton Bowl. That's right. That's right. That's right. That's right. That's right. Kind of the same timeline that we're at right now.

And that's partially what's coloring my viewpoint on this. Because you know what happens when you get older, you get older. Caleb's how old? Caleb's 24 years old. I don't think we're ready to call him. No, but I think you probably... He's just a baby. But you heal faster in high school and college than you do as an adult adult.

Yeah. Yeah. That's true. I just, I trust that they would not put him in danger. Jeff in Minnesota. What's up, Jeff? You're on the score. I'm rolling down $3.94.

Okay. We got $2.94. We got $3.94. All right. Whatever it takes. Yeah. How are you guys doing, man? It's a pleasure talking to you.

I just wanted to say, you know what I would not do? I would not start my stock quarterback in two games and one week coming off the injury like that. So I think the smart play, if it was me, I was starting case team in one. Sunday. If I was going to go with Caleb on the way to Thursday, he has a whole another week and a half after that one game and got to recover from that. And I just think that's just a smart play.

Let's say even if you lose Sunday, you're 3 and 3, you're still not out of it. I know it's a conference game and all that, but I just think the future of Caput was too important, but not only this year, but you know, for years to come to take that chance.

Jeff, thanks for the call, man. Drive safely. We appreciate. You appreciate you listening and checking in with us here today. Don't you, Layla, though, think, and Jeff, for that matter, that the bears have thought of all this stuff, too, that they have thought about the fact that there's the fast turnaround and that they have a lot of season left. We can't be the only ones that are thinking that way. And then they have to have thought that through and they have to have thought that the risk is not as big as maybe everybody thinks at this point. I'm sure they did their math. Yeah.

But at times I question their math. That's what this is. So you're questioning their medical staff is what you're questioning. No, it's just a matter of, I think there are times where players really say they're ready and they think they're ready and they feel like they want to get back out there, especially on a team that wants to win games and thinks they have a chance. And then you find out later that you rushed yourself and then, you know, who's stopping you? Like who's strong enough to stop you, especially when the motivation might be more because of what just happened against your rivals. It's like the Joe Madden theory of. Once the guy is ready, once he's 100% healthy, give him one more day off and then put him in.

So you are a Joe Madden subscriber. In a lot of ways. It's not a bad person to subscribe to it all, by the way. If you look hot wear it, respect 90. Yeah. No, no. There are a lot of things to look up to when it comes to Joe Madden. Great hour.

Thank you for the calls. Thank you for the interaction. That's what we love here on Rahimi and Grotie. And coming up next to another person that we love. One of our regulars, one of our faves is Russ Dorsey. He does all sorts of great stuff with Yahoo and with Apple. He's got his own podcast. And he is great at talking about Cubs and White Sox.

That's what we will do next with him for two segments in studio on Rahimi and Grotie on 104. The Score. He does it all. He is Russ Dorsey joining Rahimi and Grotie right here in studio. It's been a while. It has been a while. I haven't seen you guys in a long time. Is that why it's extra good to see you today?

That's probably what it is. Ray doesn't love me anymore. He's just like, no, stay home. Stay home. Like, we don't want to see you in person. This is not true. No, it's true. I love you, Russ.

Nah, no, no, no, no. I subscribe to your podcast, the Relay with Russ Dorsey. I appreciate that. But he's just like, it sounds good on the radio when he says that. But when I get that text, it's like, hey, man, you want me to come in? Nah. Stay home. Stay the hell home.

Get you in and out at 1025 and then you're out of here. We got Caleb to talk about it. He doesn't want. me around. Well, I will say that we waited to do our official post-mortems on the seasons, I think, until we talk to you. And frankly, you know, we might bring up old stuff, like somewhere around the off season, but we'll definitely do it with you today. And even before we get to get that, you want to tell the people of the world that you told them so? The brewers are looking pretty in control of this thing. I'm not a big victory lap guy until I am. Antinacchi.

I set you up. Take your victory lap at Antinacci. I'm proud of that one. I'm proud of that one because that one caught heat at the time. But I know what we were you talking about. Brewers. They're a really good team. Antinacci.

Anthony. I actually, I think we can take it away from really good team. They're a great baseball team. Yeah, best record all year. They won 103 games. I think we get this idea that, oh, the brewers are this cute little team and they try hard. And they're overachieving. They were second in my first.

Major League Baseball and Run scored this year as the team that was 28th at homers. And then when the lights of the brightest, hey, we should hit homers now. Let's do that. Oh, my God. How you doing, Jake Bowers? Last night. What a guy. Last night, that was the most surprising part of the game.

You go to Dodger Stadium Marine Layer is no joke. Effects pitchers, ERAs. It is a significant crowd difference, a home field difference for them. And they just cut through it in the late innings. Like, it was no big deal against Snell. I think in the last, call it five years, the ball is jumped there. Right now, obviously, when you have guys like, more than it has. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Like in the early 2000s, it was very much, hey, you're not going to hit a lot of homers here, especially at night. Covering the NLS 10 years ago, I had to get real used to some pitcher's tools. Right. Yeah. But now, you know, when you bring Shohei in and guys like that and Wookie and Freddie, like, yeah, the ball's going to leave the yard. But a 5 o'clock game, it's been warm out in L.A., ball's going to carry. And talk about an ambush, first pitch of the game, Jackson Truro, gone. One-nothing lead.

And then Jake Bowers, who has had the bat he had in game two that really ignited that offense, 12 pitches, draws a wall, Christian Yowicz comes up, two-run base hit, and then it's off to the races for them. 11 pitched bat in game 3 off Blake Snell finishes it with the homer to put the Brewers ahead after they had Abner Uribe who pitches every night for Pat Murphy and has done it successfully

gives up the lead Jake Bowers two run shot Garrett Mitchell comes back homerun of his own after that you're talking about putting your foot on the neck of the back-to-back World Series Champion Dodgers like they are shell-shocked right now Choi Otani hitting 6th?

Yeah, it hasn't been good. I'm surprised they, I'm surprised they decided to put him in the lineup, but I get it. Can I tell you something? It's their fault. It's the Dodgers' fault that Shohei is the way he is right now. Because they had an opportunity in July when he was first really starting to get banged up to say, you know what, we got a thing long term here and put him on the IL. And they let him talk them out of it multiple times.

And then now it's like, hey, I mean, we got to trust Shohei. You trusted Shohei, and it didn't work out for you. Oh, and you wonder why I feel like this is about the Bears quarterback. You wonder? I think it's different because he looks healthy now as opposed to Shohei who does not look healthy. Fair enough. Yeah, decidedly unhealthy. That is the voice, the in-studio voice here on Rahimi and Grotie of Russ Dorsey.

Hello. MLB insider for Yahoo Sports, MLB Network, and, Friday night baseball on Apple TV. We'll talk about his podcast, the relay with Russ Dorsey as the show goes on. Oh, by the way, girls. I'm team pro play Caleb this week. You are?

Yeah. You're with, so you're naive like me. Yeah. We trust the bear in the best. I saw it. Case Keenham is a human on that team. Shout out to Case.

Who throws the ball. Shout out to the best dad in the world. He's up there in years a little bit. A little bit. Who's the better team dad? We all are, Ben. Because they made him. t-shirts.

How about Matthew Boyd, too? Matthew Boyd is nominated in the player awards for Man of the Year, isn't he? That might be the victory. But yeah, I'm team play Caleb if he's. So you were hurt, though, because Layla made a good point, too, that people were like, get Caleb back in there because of seeing Tyson Bage. And so you're kind of falling into that. It's that plus, how long has he been out?

Five weeks now, four weeks? Well, it's three weeks. Three weeks. First of all. to me it's the if you had started the right quarterback and things that looked better, I'm not even saying you

win the ball game. You could buy yourself another week. Against the Packers, would you still feel this way? With two games. It's a good question. Two games this week. It's a good question. And the Thursday game, you know, if you've covered athletes for any amount of time.

You know that the recovery time matters. But the recovery time matters. That Thursday game hurts. It hurts for everybody. It does. I just can't believe. that the Bears obviously have had to have thought with all their performance experts at Hallis Hall. Their performance experts who let Kyler Gordon get injured in pregame warm-ups?

Who let Jalen Johnson come back? Who let Romaduzzi tell you about the new normal? So can't people learn from their mistakes? A, and B, it's not those guys. It's Caleb freaking Williams. Which is why it's more. Okay. This is our previous hour.

They're going to head. Different players are going to be handled with different types of care. They're not going to put Caleb Williams out there. if they think there's like a real chance because of the current injury that he's going to get hurt and he's aggravated. He's as he's more important than any of the players you mentioned. And for that reason, if they believe that another week would serve him better in the long run, he won't play this week.

That's where I'm kind of at with it. But I would like to see him back again. I think we all would. We all miss him. And the crazy part is he's only played two games this year. And only one of them was really fantastic. Fantastic. And that was the Carolina game in game two.

He was 15 to 26 for 138 yards and a pick. So it wasn't like you sit the world on. Game two just sucked all around because it was the rain. It was sloppy, fumbles. It was bad. All the Chicago cried. It was bad. And it is appropriate that you have good football opinions.

So I'm glad you're in on this. But it all just kind of speaks to the same thing. We're talking about two of the biggest focal points in their respective leagues. And you see how it's affecting long. term the overwhelming favorite previously to have gone to the World Series. And this is how bad it's gotten is that the nebisysus of the team we cover is now the favorite to win out of the National League. That's been like, I'm going to say funny.

Interesting to watch the Cubs fans out there who are very conflicted because they don't like either team in the NLCS and one of the teams they hate more in the Milwaukee Brewers. And it's one of those things where I'm like, as a Cubs fan, are you more upset because the team that boat raced you during the season goes on to win the World Series or at least goes to the World Series? Does it validate you more like we were never going to win it? Because this team was the best in baseball. Right. You lost to the best team. I look at it as and maybe I'm, I don't know what people are saying out there.

Maybe this is petty of me. They're saying a lot of things, gross. I would imagine that they are. Are they saying things like Go Brewers because it sticks it to the Cubs front office a little bit? I've seen some of that. Be better?

I've seen some of that. I've seen the, we picked the wrong manager. I've seen the, I've seen the Cubs fans rooting for the Dodgers because they have that much disdain for the Milwaukee Brewers. I've seen it all. Ray is pointing to himself. We were in the elevator.

I'm like, Ray. You're trying to get rid of Russ? You want Russ to go home? No, no, not at all. We've had enough of them. I am that Cubs fan that is rooting for the Dodgers. Oh, yes. Anybody but the Brewers.

And it doesn't look good for my segment of the fan base. But I will say this is I think that was a question that we asked if Craig Counsel thought. It was Spiegel who brought it up first. He heard the pregame interview with Zach Zademan. This is probably with two weeks to go in the season. And then it did sound like, like, did you know that you didn't have a team that was going to compete with those dudes? But then I always asked after that, well, in having that attitude, did you also concede home field advantage in the playoffs? Okay.

At least in the wild card, respectfully. I think as the season progressed and we saw what the Cubs starting rotation situation evolved into, because it went from the lowest point where it's like, we just got to get a stop gap. You'll get David Peterson. and it actually works out well. And then everything up to the deadline is you need starting pitching. You get Gosman, you get Holmes. And it's like, okay, like you've actually put this together really well.

And then those guys don't necessarily perform to the level that you thought they were going to perform to, especially as the season progressed late in the year when the brewers really separated themselves from you. But at the same time, like, you had the best player in the National League. You had the second best player in the National League in the second half in Alex Bregman before the facial fracture. And even then he came back, right? So I think there were a couple of things where I think you just have to tip your cap to the better baseball team, right?

The brewers are proving that they are the best team at a minimum in the National League. And they look like they're going to sweep the back-to-back World Series champion a year after getting swept themselves in the NLCS. Like this is a different Milwaukee Brewers team. And maybe it's a thing in Cubs fans' mind. And I remember me and Lawrence talked about this in like May, where there's this, you feel this superiority, like, big brother, little brother. I think that's how Cubs fans feel about the Brewers of like,

well, we're always the big brother. And maybe it's switched. Maybe you're now little brother. And maybe you're seeing in the production. and the results and now seeing the brewers lap you and now be on their way to the World Series, that they are now the big brother. Well, and we know that there's been discussion about the size of front offices, especially in baseball in the past few years, that we've seen teams try to change,

how many scouts they have, for example, what their analytics interest is. And what's funny is there was a tweet that was going around a couple days ago, Russ, where there was a guy saying, well, the brewers don't care about analytics, they just care about contact and hitting and all this stuff. And then you see how many people they have in their front office and of those who are all analytics, they have a huge front office.

And you're seeing it pay off in this way. I think the Milwaukee Brewers have always been forward thinking when it comes to their front office. And I think a lot of that comes from when David Stee's, Sterns was there as the president of baseball operations, they had a lot of that, you know, analytics, modeling, et cetera. Very similar to what the Tampa Bay Rays do, which is ironic because those two teams could be facing off in the World Series this time next week.

But they also believe, and this is something I've talked with Matt Arnold, the Brewer's president of baseball operations about, like, they believe in having a good mixture of both. Yeah, they have R&D, they have analysts, they have much. they have the people that do the modeling. And then they also have great player development that I think sometimes in these conversations gets ignored because your model is great. But how do we get this player to go from here to here? Right.

Yeah, a swing adjustment or change or biomechanics. All that's cool. But how do you verbalize to a player? Hey, Andrew Vaughn, you're not going to get 700 at bats anymore. Jake Bowers, you're not going to get 7. at Bats anymore. We're going to give you $550, and you're going to be the best damn player

of this postseason. Andrew Vaughn, you're going to get 450 to 500 plate appearances, and you are going to be the best left-handed specialist in baseball where you crush left-handed pitching. And it's successful, and I think you've now seen more than enough data in real time in the performance to say, yeah, they might be the best in baseball at it. Let me ask you this then, if, as you said, the brewers, the roles have reversed. The Brewers are the Big Brothers.

They have lapped the Cubs. How are the Cubs keep from continuing to get lapped? Like, because this isn't going to, like, the Brewers aren't going to all of a sudden be bad next year or the year after, considering what they have, considering what they will get to keep? What's the Cubs adjustment other than signing Tarek Scouble or Sunny Gray or, like, should Cub fans get used to this? Like Milwaukee continuing to do this? Because every year, at the beginning of the year,

we go through this exercise of, okay, the Brewers can't possibly do it again. And maybe it's time for me. Maybe it's time for me to stop doing that every year. And I know I'm not alone, but I will just point the thumb for right now. I do think that has to stop. Because until the Cubs decide that they're going to stop it,

it's, you have to look at them as the team to beat every year. Yeah. Until you decide we're going to be better than them, we're going to win a division. You can't look at them as being worse than you. Like you've seen what they've done. They chased them down last year.

They were better almost into end this year and then ran away with the division. You have to look at it that way. Like they are the team to beat and you have to start going into it saying this is who we're chasing. In terms of your question, girls, of like, how, do you keep from making it worse? Yeah. Or keep on happening. Yeah. I mean, I think it's a year. I think you have to still invest in the front office. I see, I think it's more than that. The Cubs might lose. Better player development.

I think I think they might lose Jared. I think they might lose Jared Banner. You know, there's a lot of talk that Jared Banner might walk out that door and he's the guy who got you PCA. I think the thing with player development that gets lost sometimes is, and it was something that was an issue when it was Theo and Jet of how do we get players who get to the big league level to continue to get better. I think they have their first big win in that in PCA, right? I think that's a huge player development win, and they should be very proud of that. Undeniable.

But now you have to say, okay, we got it right with Pete. How do we do it with the other guys around him? Because I think that's what makes the Brewer so good. It's just like Jackson Trurio was going to be a start. Anyway, you can make the case that PCA, after you saw Flash's last year and the improvements that he made and he deserved a lot of credit for this year, okay, that was going to be our star. We projected him to be our star. But who are our stars around that guy? How do we help Michael Bush continue to get better?

Right. How do we get Nico, who we've invested in as the best second baseman in Major League Baseball? How do we help him continue to get better? These young kids that were promoting from AAA Iowa, how do we help them continue to be? impact players at the big level. Those are the questions that you have to start asking because the Alex Bregman's of the world and guys like that who are,

you'll have a track record of success, those dudes you expect back of the baseball cart. But it's the other guys around that you have to get continued progression out of. So prior to the trade deadline, this is the latest farm system rankings from ESPN. Kylie McDaniel did it. The Cubs are 27th prior to the deadline

and the Brewers are number one. And that concerns me too. That all adds up. Let's pause it right there because we need to take a break. When we come back, we've got to get into the White Sox here because Chris Gett spoke yesterday. We've got some cuts that we want to play and just ask you all things about the White Sox this season and what the White Sox look like going forward as well.

We've got Russ Dorsey with us in studio. Hi, from Apple and MLB and everywhere. And he's got his own podcast. We'll get into that as well. It's Rahimi and Grotie on 1043, The Score. Rahimi and Grody. Let's go live to our hotline. Heat Crow Armstrong.

What's going through your mind right now? Oh, sorry, but... What's your profanity? He said, pop of the mind. You've got to let it flow, and I feel like that's exactly what happened. Our poor producer, Ray, spilled his coffee, so thanks for christening our studio. Middays, 10 a.m. to 2 on the score. Score.

What these players, you know, went out there and did. They exceeded expectations, you know, for themselves. certainly as a team. And I think most importantly, in, you know, what I think about just this player group and how much they care for each other and care for this organization. And it became a very attractive group, a fun group to follow and to then get our fans to really, you know, get behind them and experience, you know, what had transpired this season is what makes it, you know, even more special. an unexpected season for the White Sox for sure.

That's White Sox general manager Chris Gets as we welcome you back into Rahimi and Grotie on 104.3 The score, our guy Russ Dorsey in studio. Hello. MLB insider for Yahoo Sports, MLB Network, and Friday night baseball on Apple TV. Let's get into the White Sox. We'll move the story forward, obviously,

on the White Sox and their off season on what's next, Russ. But as we said, because Ray kept sending you home and telling you to stay home, we don't know. Yeah, Ray. Like your final thoughts. I'm completely kidding. Give my socks post-mortem until a week later. Hey, guys, it's time to wrap it.

What is your recap of what we saw this season? Obviously, beating Houston and then fizzling out and really choking against Cleveland in those final three years. So when I woke up this morning, I knew I was coming on with you guys. So I'm, like, gathering my thoughts of what to say about the white socks. And the first thing I thought of was I'm really having. for White Sox fans. This was an incredible ride. To watch a team that two years ago set the major league record for losses in a season.

And then 24 months later, be vying for a spot in the ALCS. They didn't get there, but the fact that they gave themselves a shot at it means that things went extremely well. I think you can be really proud and excited and happy with the way this season has gone as a White Sox fan. And part of a team that is good, yeah, you should be pissed off at the loss, right? You can be upset about how things went in game three, four, and five. Because when you have a team that you expect to play well and when you have a team in the postseason, that's what comes with a postseason playoff type of team. The expectations are significantly higher.

think what was cool to watch with the White Sox this year is every month I could see White Sox fans' expectations getting higher and higher and higher. And that's a good thing. And I think what that does is that continues to put pressure on an organization to continue to develop and excel and be good in player acquisition and go after these players that instead of getting bounced in five games, maybe you win a five game series in the ALDS and go on to the ALCS. Well, we also thought about something that we talked about on this show, which you, I think, communicated really well, was they are going to regret what they didn't do with the trade deadline. And we have some audio from Chris Gett that speaks to that. I don't have any regrets because, you know, truthfully,

I was looking to do more. And, you know, I didn't want to mortgage the future. I didn't want to give up our top end talent for rentals. I didn't want to do that, this particular trade deadline. So, you know, I would say that I'm fairly aggressive in nature and willing to find deals. It just, they weren't there. Now, you know, was I still, you know, happy to be able to accomplish what we did? Sure. Did I want to do more? I did. And that's where I find comfort in it because I was willing to do more. It just wasn't there. Well, I guess we're, I guess Louise Castillo is the guy that we all have to circle here who had an 842 ERA and nine appearances. Don't forget Brazoban.

Yeah, who asked a brazabon. I like that movie at the time. I thought that was a good move. It just didn't work out. Who am I thinking of two that didn't work out? That was also a catcher that got injured. Oh, Joey Bart. Yeah.

No. There was another pitcher. Oh, of course. Jose or Keady. That doesn't count. That was not trade deadline either. That would. Well, it was, it was, but it was just prospect for Keity.

That wasn't the one that you expected things out of. That was just like, hey, you're here and can throw baseballs. I heard what Chris Gett said yesterday about not having any regrets because he wanted to do more, but also didn't want to mortgage their top-in prospect capital for rentals, which is, I know it's probably not what a Sox fan wants to hear, especially when you see the results of what they ended up getting. and how that player performed, that was something I heard from executives

all across baseball, right? The price of rentals was really high, right? When you think about what Terrick School landed the Detroit Tigers, right? They got a top 15 prospect in Major League Baseball and a MLB Ready starter for two months of Terrick School.

Now, you could say that's the best pitcher on Planet Earth. Cool. But also, like, that just goes to show you what teams were looking to give. I think the thing with the White Sox now. Season's over, right?

Trade deadlines passed. None of that matters at this point. Those players who were rentals that you might have been looking to target, those guys are available now because a lot of those guys are free agents, whether you're talking about Clay Holmes, whether you're talking about a guy like Kevin Gosman, whether you're talking about, you know, Robbie Ray is a free agent, Walker Bueller is a free agent. Like there are a lot of veteran starting pitchers that would help this staff, Nick Povetta, that are available.

And so I think for the White Sox, you have an opportunity to say, okay, we didn't want to do it at the deadline because of X, Y, and Z. Fine. We can invest where we only have to give up money. I don't know the Sox fans are rolling their eyes because like, yeah, you know what that means. But does this season show ownership that, hey, we flip this thing really fast? We can continue to accelerate it by investing the right dollars into starting pitch. which was the thing that cost you down the stretch, the thing that we knew from April was going to be their weakness. And for a while it looked like, okay, they might have figured something out, and then it ended up being the thing that cost them in the end. Instead of having to bullpen your way through the postseason,

maybe you can have two, three guys that can go out there in a five or seven game series and give you five, six innings. Those guys are going to be available. It's just a matter of deciding who do you want that guy to be. Funny you, well, I was going to talk about the budget piece of it too. Do we want to play the cut that Bruce Levine asked about the budget then?

With the CBA coming up December 1st, when you sit down with Jerry or if you have already sat down with Jerry and talked about budget, do you anticipate being able to go after free agents between November and December without knowing what the rules are going into 2027? So Jerry and I haven't had the conversation about payroll or budget quite yet. That'll happen here shortly. You know, when it comes to the CBA, you know, my approach on it is it's very much out of my control. Let's put our players in the best positions possible to go out there and have a great offseason and prepare for next year. we're well positioned to handle whatever the outcome is. You know, we've got payroll flexibility.

It's a young growing team. And, you know, there's going to be opportunities to add the timing of that. Who knows? We're at the mercy of a lot of different things. And once again, so much of it is out of my control. But, you know, we'll continue to have these conversations, you know, the next couple weeks. And your conversations with Munay and his representatives, do those continue on? Do you have a good feeling about getting something done before the proposed lockout?

We'll continue to have those conversations. Obviously, you know, that stuff is very sensitive and private. But Munay means a lot to us. And, you know, we're certainly, we certainly want to. to come back here and be here for a long time. Russ, what do you think? Sorry. No, no, no.

Which part of it do you want me to hit first? The budget, Mune, where he feels they're positioned. I think it's the budget because it speaks to what you just talked about. We're trying to get decent pitching, which isn't going to come cheap. And then, yeah, Mune's part of it, but he's still got another year on that deal. I think the reality is, as much as I imagine every executive in baseball would like to, you can't bully your ownership group into increasing payroll to the levels you want, right? So I think his point about I don't control that is might not be a satisfying answer,

but it's true, right? If Jerry tells him, hey, this is what it is. He has to say, okay, let's see what we can do with this as the budget. I think you, in those conversations that he has with ownership, you say, look, look at what we've done in two years. look at what we were able to do look at the increase in revenue that we got because we had playoff games at home right

when we're able to extend the series and then look at the young talent that we have at the big league level in our farm system we have to add to this roster everything we do can't be internal and we want to add player X, Y, and Z

because that makes us let's call it six wins better and now we're a 90 team, 91 one team, we win the division, we get a buy, and now we're talking about hosting playoff games to start, right? Like, those are the conversations that you have with your ownership group. And then at that point, it's up to your owner to decide, you know what? I like the cut of your jib.

We're going to do it. Or, hey, man, all that sounds really good. I'm going to give you player X. That's what you get. What a bop from within, though? Like, is Sean Burke the only starting pitcher that exists on this rotation? right now. And I'll throw in Hagen Smith and Grant Taylor about whom yesterday, Chris Gett said eventually, like he did not commit to either of those being starters next year. I look at, especially

Hagen Smith, and I can see why it's tantalizing and say, yeah, this is a starter, or looking at Grant Taylor and saying, this is a starter. But I think you should have honest conversations because I look at a guy, I know we've talked about the Brewers. lot today in Aaron Ashby. Aaron Ashby was one of the best prospects in baseball when he burst onto the scene in 2019 with the Brewers. As it started through 100 miles an hour from the left side was the next great Brewers starting pitcher and it didn't work, right?

And they didn't just throw him to the side. They said, look, we're going to turn you into a weapon out of the bullpen from the left side. And you look at him out of the bullpen this year. and what he's been able to do in the postseason, that guy is a stud, has basically neutralized every left-handed hitter that he's faced and right-handed hitters. He's been able to do both.

And so I can understand why Chris gets in the White Sox aren't going to just jump out. Nope, he's a starter because I think you can look around baseball and say, there's not just one path to this guy being successful in the big leagues on our roster. Yeah, maybe there's a reason and you have those conversations with, You're pitching and pitching development people are like, okay, this is what we think we can do with this guy. We think this guy has more upside as a starter. We think this guy has more upside as a reliever. And then you go from there.

But I'm okay with them saying, we're going to talk about it this off season because you don't have to rush into stretching a guy out, right? Russ, the segments went fast as they always do. Ray, you gave him the wrap up. I had my back turn. I didn't even see it. I know you did. What's that? What about Mune real quick?

I don't think you got to get to that portion. Do I think the socks extend Muna Taka Murkami? I want to ask you guys this. I know everybody was gung-ho to do it after the first two months. Do you still want to do it right now? He lost a lot of money the past, what, two months? I think so. I think so.

So the price is right for the socks? Yeah, will the socks be able to afford to do it? Yeah. You see why I ask, though? Oh, of course. I think when you look at what he did down the stretch, if I'm the socks, yeah, you keep the relationship positive. You keep the conversations going. And maybe there's something that work for your budget, gives him some guarantees.

And that's a relationship that lasts a long time. I think the one thing that works in Mune's favor, that organization loves that dude. And I think this fan base loves that dude. Yes. And I think that matters. But I don't necessarily think you have to rush to a contract extension this offseason. Do you remember that the sticking point for the Manny Machado deal for the Sox was that they had all these escalators and incentive clauses in there? And that the Padres were like, nah, here's your money.

That's what kind of worries me about whatever may happen with Munay. But no, the thing I'm saying is this is all based off performance for me. Yeah. I think the player we saw in the first half and second half are two different players. I agree. But I'm saying even when it's a star star, the White Sox are still the, like the last time they were faced with this idea, they added in a bunch of clauses to say prove it. And then another team came in and was like, no, you don't have to prove it. Yeah.

I just think they're apples and oranges, right? The one was a proven Hall of Fame caliber player. This is a player with big time talent that you saw some of in half of the season. then you saw a significant fall off the table in the second half. And I think if you're the White Sox, yeah, you love to do, but you have to be really honest about what you think he is as a complete player, right? Is he a 950 OPS or is he a 7 or a, what was he in the second half? Close to a 550 OPS, right?

It's probably somewhere in the middle. So what do you pay a guy who you think has 50 Homer upside, but is probably a 750 OPS. What is that worth on the market? Those are the questions. It's a great question. Russ, thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for coming back. I mean, like, we've heard more from your brother than we've heard from you lately. What a guy. Yeah, he called him.

He told me. Ray told me. I was just like, oh no, because I was concerned. No, he was great. Okay. He was great.

Your dad's great. We love all Dorsey's here on Rahimi and Grotie. Hi, everybody. Hi, Mom, Dad, and Brother. Yeah, he thanked us. He started a call by thanking us for supporting you, actually. Yes. They're good people.

The love is real. And listen to his podcast, the relay with Russ Dorsey and all the other places. Yahoo Sports, MLB Network, Friday night baseball on Apple TV. You might even see him covering the World Series, assuming the crew is there. You'll make that short drive to Miller Park. I took the train for the first time last week. To Milwaukee from here. And it's like, it's okay.

Yeah? Yeah. Get a lot done out of it. train. That's what it was. It was like, you know, just seeing America on your laptop. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it was great. Trains are beautiful. Trains are awesome. It's Rahimi and Grotie. Half-Time is next

on 104-3, The Score. Hi, how are we doing? It's Rahimi and Grotie on 1043, The Score. We opened the show today with a powerful Caleb Williams hour. Play him or protect him. We took your calls, we took your text, we interacted with you, and we had a blast.

Russ Dorsey was just with us in studio for two. I'd say powerful segments as well talking about the the cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers and we had a great conversation about the white socks about their season and what is next for them and that's what we've done so far on the show today it's laptop I should probably explain to our friends on Twitch this is not the Packers this is a Texas Stars hockey blanket from the AHL I do see Packers every time I see that it's not it's the stars it's got a mustard yellow which are a nemesis of the Blackhawks, but it's the Texas

stars. Yeah, I don't know. We've got to get you a better blanket. I get cold in here, okay? Somebody get her a better blanket for crying out loud. And then you know what happens? I fall out of a tree. Bears blanket. Doesn't Molly Cruz down the hallway? She's got a garage sale going on. Can we get a blanket from her? Oh, the B-96 garage sale.

I'll go take a look. I took a candle from her. We got a couple of shoes. I got this, this quarter zip. No, it's just a regular hoodie. Hoodie here. St. Jude's Children's Hospital. I got that from the Molly Cruz. garage sale. Every time you say Molly Cruz,

I also think Motley Crew. So I got a candle and a couple CDs. Very nice. Like you said it was like a $50 candle. Yeah, it's the anthropology Capri Blue Volcano Cano

Cable Volcano candle. If you know, you know. That's great value. If you need a gift idea, friends, that's a good one. A couple things here in halftime. Something just happened over the other side of the glass.

Ray Diaz told us that there was some ice cream cake that he was going to share with us. Yeah. That was a celebration for Mitch Rosen. His birthday is coming up. Happy birthday, Mitch.

Happy birthday, Mitch. But it was ice cream cake, but we got caught up in, you know, like, producing the show. Yeah, I understand. And then I went and turned around and the ice cream melted. Is it in the room with you? It's in the trash. Yeah, it just was a mess. It was a puddle.

It was a puddle of ice cream. See, what it reminded me of is it hurt me. One of the scenes in a classic. Cartoon holiday cartoon Frosty the Snowman. Do you remember when he melted?

Yeah. It's such a sad. I'm the only one that was like traumatized by that. Ray and I had a whole conversation about some of the trauma porn that existed for no good reason in children's programming.

Like the brave little toaster. Awful. Well, how about Donner and Blitzen being all mean to Rudolph too? Yeah, what was up with that? I'm going to put this black mark on your red nose.

That's the way Donner talked, by the way. We're going to teach you how the world works. I'm blitzing. No, you're just justifying bullying and can't write a plot. There was no need for Frosty to melt either. Oh, that was so, it was just terrifying. Well, kids got to learn.

Not at that age. Your brains don't learn that way. Here's another thing. I was at the grocery store recently. And it was a jewel. It was a jewel. Were you bullied? No, I wasn't.

I tried to avoid that. I get bullied a lot, but not at this particular jewel. Actually, I was helped. It's quite the opposite. Quite the opposite. So I was doing the thing where I did not want to commit to either carrying around the little basket or the little quarter cart or the big rig. So I was like... Why were you doing that?

I don't understand this challenge. Because I just thought I was going to get a few things. And then I ended up, then I was like, okay, well, I actually need this. I need that. And so my whole, I was starting to, I was filled up with things. I probably looked ridiculous. Like I was challenging myself to get to the checkout aisle without having. to get a basket.

And there was an attendant at the Jewels who was clearly watching me struggle. But didn't realize that it was a challenge for myself. And this attendant brought me a basket. She was like, sir, you have to give up. The challenge is over. Here is the basket. Take it up. Use this.

And I was very thankful for it. But it kind of upset me a little bit too because I really thought that I was going to make it to the checkout aisle. I see we all reach a breaking point, and I do it too. And partially I do it because when you walk with your groceries, you know, you want to know what you can handle. And the basket does kind of give you a false sense of carrying maybe what your bag will carry or what, you know, what you have capacity-wise. And the last thing I'm doing is getting is paying for a bag. That's not happening.

It's either the bag I brought or I'm not getting the groceries. So I feel you on that because I do the same thing. And like how many items do you think you can get to before everything starts getting unwieldy and you drop things? When was the last time you committed to the big rig? The big cart. Oh my gosh. It's been years. Yeah, right.

No, at jewel, it's never happened because I've always walked to my jewels. Yeah, I'm a basket guy or the or the small cart, you know, like the more compact cart that's available. Yeah, yeah. I call the quarter cart. That one. Is that a good name for it? The quarter cart. I like that.

or a card. It's usually what I go with. It's like a baby-sized buggy. It's a single girl buggy. Yeah. Yeah. So no. No,

I've been basket life for a really long time. Yeah, it's the single-led style. I've had to be. We have coming up very important questions. Hold on. We've also got a text saying they were correct. 574. Thank you, Layla.

Brave little toaster was so traumatizing. They sang a whole song called Worthless while Anthropomorphic appliances got crushed in a junkyard. Yeah, what was the point of that? Also, the goo. Did you really need to throw the shoe in the goo on who framed Roger Rabbit? Oh, my goodness. No, just throwing in traumatizing stuff just for no effing reason.

Was Bambi's mom mean? The texture at the top? Bambi's mom got shot. Oh, yeah. For no reason. Pour one out for Bambi's mom. Yeah, that's God. That's awful.

All right. None of that had to happen. We've got to get in better moods here. Five on it. We got questions. We got sports questions for you coming up. up next in five on it. Rehemi and Grotia 104 3, the score.

Number one. On a scale of 1 to 10 on the regret meter, trademark, where would you rate the level of regret you imagine Bears General manager Ryan Poles might be having right now for trading defensive tackle Javon Dexter to the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for

Clark Phillips the 3rd and a 2027 fifth round pick back in August. I would say probably not as high as maybe people expect. I would say it's at a five right now. And I get the question because Drivon Dexter has been good. He has 20 pressures so far this year tied for the best in the league for defensive tackles. By the way, in the name of this game coming up against Atlanta, the person that he is tied with also plays for the Atlanta Falcons.

Yeah. It is where the players play. Yeah, that's right. Brandon Darius is the other. guy, the other defensive tackle. So, beware of that when DeAndre Swift is running, maybe column and unguile, although he didn't practice yesterday, waiting for the interview report for today. So I'll put it out of five. And the other reason I'm going to do that is because, because

this is just my thinking of it, this happens a lot when a player gets traded in any of the sports. They'll go to another team. They will look better. They'll be a pop for whatever reason. They're more comfortable in the system. They're motivated.

They have been, their ego has been checked and now they've got to do something. I want to wait a little bit longer before we start to say, oh man, we really regret not further developing Dravon Dexter the second round pick. And I was not crazy about losing him because he's a core piece of your defense, even though the defense wasn't great last year, it still doesn't appear that there was a better part for it. but I'm not going to go crazy yet on like regretting that Dravon Dexter is gone because we all saw him play and it was not a dynamic player. I think my regret meter is higher because of course it is.

Hello, who are you talking to? You know how I feel about this front office. We do. So what I imagine Ryan Poles to have, not high regret because I don't ever think he has a lot of high regret. Like you're the one who gave up the pick of Joey Porter Jr. for Chase Claypool. So I mean, after that, like all bets are off. It can't be worse, really. But my personal regret meter about it is more for the value of the deal.

So I would put it at a six and a half. I thought you go higher. Positional value matters. And on the defensive line where guys get paid pretty high, like the Jervon-Dexter extension ended up being, that shows you that he was worth more than a fifth-round pick and Clark Phillips, a guy who a lot of people thought Atlanta was going to cut anyway. Or as you call him, Phillips Clark, or Clark Phillips or Philip Clark, Clark, Clark.

It's beautiful. Yes. Who we've been wondering where he is because the bears might be able to use some healthy dudes in the secondary. So add to that, the fact that Javon Dexter is generating the pressure that I think the bears thought they were going to get out of Dio O'Dingbo. And that he does have the 20 pressures. Here's the other part. It's not just the pressure number. It's the percentage rate.

so he was at a 10.5% for Chicago last season. 10.5% quarterback pressure rate, six sacks got you the second most on the team to a guy who just got pop for PED. Now his pressure rate here in Atlanta is 16.1%. Is it sustainable for the season? That makes it look even worse. What about the fact that your former GM who is at him, the man in charge in Atlanta in New Canningham,

is the one who believed in him enough to trade for him. I bet he thinks he got a screaming deal. So yeah, six and a half. Five on it. Number two. We touched on this topic yesterday, but it warrants a follow-up. WTTW reported this note. Following an Illinois gubernatorial debate on Tuesday,

Governor J.B. Pritzker told reporters that the state has continued negotiations with the Bears regarding the team's push to build a new stadium, and he believes both that, quote, were closer than we have been before, unquote, and that the state could be. potentially give the bears the option of either moving to a site in suburban Arlington Heights or remaining in the city of Chicago. So here is the question. Are you buying the idea that the Bears Stadium saga could actually be close to a resolution? Yeah, because you bought land for a stadium and you're not using it. And that land still requires a tax payment of some sort. So every day that

goes by, the bears are paying for something they're not using. And therefore, something's got to give. Also, the deal does run out. Now, it doesn't run out until 2033, the rent on Soldier Field, and you're not going to find another team to use it. But I think it's close to a resolution because they've got the right people in the room. George McCasky wasn't in that room. Kevin Warren wasn't in that room. Nobody representing the Bears ownership was in that room. Pat Ryan was representing the Bears, and he gets deals done. So, and the next. name of closers. I think Pat Ryan is a dude who helps get this done.

I'm with you on all of that. I mean, that was symbolic. That was reality when he entered the fray, whatever you want to call it. And put very simply, it has to be close to a resolution. It just has to be close to a resolution because we've gone through every single possible manifestation of this stadium two or three times already. And I think it's hilarious, too, that it was so close to, we're moving forward in Indiana. We're committing to Indiana.

All of our businesses in Indiana, well, all along, we knew that the talks were continuing with the state of Illinois. I mean, we didn't have to go deep to figure that out. And now here it is, back out in the open, as you said, Leila, they own the stadium here. The part that I'm most interested in is the part where he says, where Chicago, is still on the table. I don't know what that means. I don't know if that means. More Soldier Field.

We're actually going to build the stadium that Kevin Warren, the whole presentation that I attended, is that back on the table? That's the most intriguing part to me right now. Or is in another place? You talk about it in Chicago? Yeah. There's been some percolating.

Can I ask you this then? Yes. If it is indeed a mysterious and magical third-scibly, in Chicago, does that mean it's not close to a resolution? Like, is it close to a resolution once the place is finalized? Like, there's going to be another cycle. Oh, my God. The Bears and Illinois side of it was always, can they negotiate a property tax rate?

They wanted to pre-negotiate their property tax rate for as long as I think they occupied the stadium. So that was the part that they needed help with. So I think J.B. Pritzker's like, okay, yeah. If it's at either of these places, then here's the rate, maybe. But what is the rate? The rate. Ding, ding, ding. Ding, ding.

Five on it on it on 104. Three, the score with Layloraheimia. And Mark Grody, here's question number three. What was your biggest takeaway from White Sox's general manager, Chris Gets, his end of season press conference yesterday? Kind of hard to narrow this down, but I will. And that is that Chris Gets said that he expects Hagen Smith, and Grant Taylor to eventually be starters.

And I just thought it was interesting that he didn't necessarily commit to that happening this year, which I think, believe it or not, portends well for the White Soxas that says to me that they're going to go out, as Russ was saying, that there's some good veterans that are available on the free agent market, whether you want to talk about Clay Holmes or Matthew Boyd or Kevin Gossman. Yeah, all the Cubs, basically. The Cubs. You want to get crazy and go after Sunny Gray or Tarek Scouble? I don't think the socks would be in on that.

But it does tell me that Chris Gets is thinking about that because he can't possibly be thinking about Davis Martin going into next season, like for sure as a slam dunk starter. And I also thought it was interesting that they had it been revealed at any point in time that Davis Martin was dealing with a calf injury, which I don't understand. Like, why would they not just reveal that? to us if that had been true.

Like they could reveal a blister, but they can't reveal. This isn't football. Gamesmanship, though, in the sense of, I mean, I feel like I'm not surprised. I don't find myself surprised. Maybe he didn't reveal it to them. Maybe. That's what I'm saying about some of these injuries, my friends. I guess so.

So you're thinking about David Sandlin? You're thinking about Luis Castillo? No, it sounds like the GM is going to go out and spend some money on starting pitching because that was, although they put it together and they got through the Astros series. We all knew that there was a point where they were going to run out of starting pitching and you can't just keep bullpen, bullpen, bullpening it. But I also liked seeing Hagen Smith come out of the bullpen.

I think that that's fascinating. Grant Taylor could be one of the best if they continue to develop him as a bullpen guy. Oh, yeah? Yeah. What about Anthony K and Eric Fetty, huh? You tell me. Well, Feddy's a free agent. Feddy's a free agent.

Yeah, well, Fed he also got traded away and then he came back to the White Sox like a boomerang. Do you want them back? You want your K back? I can always find a use for Eric Fetty. Okay. Fetty I'm good with, but K? I don't know. Yeah, you can't keep everybody. Carry on. But I do think that the starting pitching is the thing here.

And yes, Chris Gatz was asked about the possibility of upgrading the rotation. Here's the quote that is not unique to other teams. In our case, I think it is perhaps a little bit more pressing. Yes, Chris, it is indeed more pressing. You know who I wanted five years ago? The year after he won the Salyang, he was available for a reasonable price. Robbie Ray, do you guys remember that when I was? Well, Ray does because I do.

Name and yeah, I was very into the Robbie Ray idea. I was like, why didn't, I think that would have helped their playoff window, RIP to that playoff window. I think, I don't know, maybe, I know he didn't have the best like second half of the season, but is there enough there to take a flyer on some gas in the tank with Robbie Ray, the former Sye Young winner? I'm hearing you. So that's just another fun.

I got more, but that's fine. But I don't want to be Kenny. I don't want to be Kenny always gets his man about it either, guys. You know, that's the other side of this. I don't want to be chasing some dude who maybe doesn't have the same stuff that he had previously. So is Robbie Ray or White Whale? No. I mean, it's...

Sounds like you're having a debate with yourself right now. I want Robbie Ray, but wait a minute. I don't want to be like Kenny Williams. But no, he's taking... Robbie Ray's taking up a lot of time in my mind. Yes. Number four. I mean, you have to think about it along those lines of guys like that, though.

Well, look at Jed Hoyer. I mean, he's in love with Kevin Gossman. It didn't go well. Well, do you think he'll bring back Kevin Gossman again? Bonus question. How in love is Jed Hoyer with Kevin Gossman? Should we have to assume that they're going to try to bring Kevin Gossman back? See, that's it.

Like, don't get me all this. We were obsessed with him for years talk. Exactly. And then be like, you know what? We had our time. It was a nice little situation ship rental. Could all the Cubs free agents be gone, by the way? They could be, yes.

Sayah, Hap, Shoda, Gawesman, Peterson, Boyd, Holmes. Yeah. Yeah. Swing and miss, please. And then what? I don't, I mean, I don't necessarily know. They have to go out to scoble. They have to at least take a shot at scoble.

You do. But you also need a guy like a ground ball pitcher, too, to kind of, you know, mix it up. I mean, I'm going to debate with myself about Robbie Ray some more. Okay. Okay. All right, question number four. Yesterday we learned that the gold glove finalist for the second base position in the National League were Brandon Lowe of the Pirates, Bryce Trang of the Brewers, and JJ Weatherholtz of the Cardinals. This morning, 104, three of the scores, Bruce Levine joined Haw and Peyton and asked this question.

Did Nico get punished for playing shortstop for a month when Swanson was away because of injury? What do you think? Answer Bruce's question, please. probably but does anybody else find it weird that they're all in the nl central like j jay whetherhold i get brice terrain obviously he's our p i taea paid in the ars award winner and turns out he's also the dodgers paid in the ars award huh huh see it's not just us and then brandon low also a bit of a pita so maybe that was the real award here here's the problem with the gold glove as everybody knows yes a lot of people get gold gloves because of

batting average and it doesn't always make sense. It's not always because of their defense. And I wonder if Nico got punished for that as well. It's a great question by Bruce. I really hadn't thought of it that way, but I think he's probably right. He probably did get punished for it. And maybe it's even justified. I mean, how many games did he play at shortstop?

He played a lot of games at shortstop. So I guess that's like if we want to talk about being fair about the gold gloves and actually taking everything into consideration, I actually understand that. believe it or not. As much as I would like to see Nico Horner get the gold glove, he played a lot of shortstop. We get these responses about Geron Dexter that confuse me. Oh, yeah, go ahead, please.

Like on Twitter, this person says, not at all. Got draft compensation for a player in a contract year that wasn't going to be re-signed. You got a fifth round pick and a guy who might have been cut. Clark. You also could have used the year of service out of the player. What?

It's not like your contract year means you still have. have a year left on your contract. But whatever reason, though, he was not going to be a game-changing player. Never was a game-changing player with the Bears. And so while we could haggle over the value that they got back, it was probably eventually time for Javon to go. But it's just like the Montess Wet discussion. Just because it's somebody's time doesn't mean you have a better option.

Five on it. You can't at least get something better. Final question on 5 on it. I won a 4-3 of the score. You're reading Twitter way too much. I mean, always, but like, no, this is not, but this is a pretty commonly held viewpoint by a lot of people, and it just doesn't make sense.

X. Well, we will proceed to a baseball question for our final question. Like, you could just use the length of the contract for somebody. All true. The Dodgers now trail the Brewers 3-0 in the National League Championship series. The last time the Dodgers trailed a best-of-seven series three-neper. Nothing? Was the 1966 World Series against Baltimore?

Do you believe L.A. can pull off a win tonight, or are the Dodgers cooked? I think the Dodgers are cooked. I think that, like, if you're actually asking if they could win tonight, yeah, I do, but I think, unfortunately, I guess I'll put it that way, I think Milwaukee's time has come. I'm not saying that they're going to win the World Series, but I do think that the Milwaukee Brewers are headed to, the World Series this year.

As Russ said correctly, they are the best team. They are legitimately the best team. This isn't just some overachieving baseball team, which we're just, that's just happy to be there. They're the better team right now.

Yes, I think they advance to the World Series. I think they advance to the World Series. I don't necessarily think it's tonight. I believe yesterday I said Dodgers loose in five. You did. And I was wondering if yesterday changed your mind at all. That was pretty convincing against a guy who I respect a lot in Blake Snell starting. They've got glass now going on the mound tonight.

That's what happens when you spend all the money on all the pitchers. So I wonder if this is just the last gas, but maybe they can eke one out at home, but I don't think they win this series. For the purposes of the historical context, you know, this note about the 1966 Dodgers team, they were swept for nothing and lost that World Series. Oh, yeah. Well, did they have Mary Hart and Pat Sejax sitting front row?

Huh? Great question. Mary Hart. Oh, man. Entertainment tonight. Of course. Of course. Mary Hart.

Yeah. Coming up next on Rahimi and Grody, we're going to get into, let's get back to Bears. Let's get back to the Bears' offense and some of the issues that exist right there. That is coming up next on Rahimi and Grody. I'm 104 3 the score. Bears. You're listening to Rahimi and Grotie on Spores Radio 1043, the score. Doors closing.

I mean, obviously, we've got a lot of rest with 18. You know, he's our starting quarterback. You know, he has tremendous talent, you know, armability with his legs as well. So obviously when you're missing a play like that on the field, you're going to fill it. But like you said, man, we have a ton of confidence in our quarterbacks. Quarterback room as a whole to go out there and make plays. So in his absence, you know, they're going out there and do it. that, but obviously 18 is a playmaker for sure.

That's Bears wide receiver. Yes, I do. Roma Dunzei. Returning of the Mac. Maybe the return of Caleb Williams. All signs seem to point towards that. People did not think that when you said, no. I was thinking Khalil Mac.

Oh, yeah. I did the same thing. I fell for my own bit. I remember that song being played a lot when Kalil Mack was here. Could he return? Maybe he will return here again. They could use them. It's not been that productive.

We should talk about that this week. We should. We're running out a week, though. Tomorrow's Friday. So I guess we'll talk about that tomorrow. Writing it down for Friday. Yeah, there's a lot that's happened, you know. It has, man.

It's been tough. Yeah, we've been grinding through the Bears backup quarterbacks, and now it has come to if you missed the first segment of the show today, we presented a lot of evidence towards the fact that it's very, very possible that Caleb Williams will be this. starter on Sunday. His doctor is Mike Vassel. That's right. From Instagram. He's magic. That's really probably the clincher. And we're waiting for the injury. He's going to probably practice in full today. We do know that he is scheduled to speak

to the media today. So it is very possible that he's coming back. But even with Caleb Williams in there, we've talked about Red Zone a couple of times on this program. And the bears right now, through the first five weeks of the season, they are dead last. That'd be 32nd in touchdown percentage. They, like many teams, move the ball well between the 20s, but once they get to crunch time,

they don't score. 42.9% of their red zone trips are turned into touchdowns. Not good enough. Yeah, that was the same stat I had from team rankings. And if you compare it to last season in 2025, now I know we got a lot of season, to go. But last year, you're talking about a significant drop-off. It was 57.14%. And that's good enough

to be at least in the middle of the NFL. You'd still like it higher than that, as we know. But the thing that concerns me, it shouldn't, and I shouldn't be reminded of this, but I remember being on this radio station in December of 2018, talking to Lawrence Holmes for my monthly visitor segment. And I remember saying to him, it concerns me that you need to be. You need to be a all these trick plays to get into the end zone. Santa Slay and whatnot. Do you remember where that was fun until it wasn't? What not.

Yep. Yep. And there are a lot of whatnot. There were other trick plays as we know. But I was like, I don't like this. I don't like that you have to use all these trick plays in order to score. You should be able to just score. And I think that the two things I'm watching out for in the spares offense, it's not

just getting the tight ends involved, which I think helps you move the chains. It's also, what are you doing in short your arms? heartage, please, for the love of everything, quarterback anyone. Do not back into the line of scrimmage when you're trying to sneak. You cannot high jump this, okay? You need to actually just move forward with your head, drive your legs. And then additionally, you know, you can't suck or sneak your way into the end zone all the time either. It's short yardage in red zone for me, and that's a real problem.

Yeah, I mean, like, that's the one thing about Caleb Williams, and we all do hope that Caleb Williams is back. but he can be a little bit clumsy when it comes to those sneaks in general. Like that is not one of his superpowers. He like twists into it. And by doing that, you've already lost the leverage of the concept of the play. You know what's funny as Danny Parkins who's on at one. He says that Ben Johnson doesn't like the tush push.

I think he should run it because that'll help you understand as a quarterback what you need to do to move forward. You might be right. Too stubborn, though. Yes, Ray? Can I ask this question, though, because Caleb is now slimmed down a bit this season. Do you think that puts him at a disadvantage for that idea? His mechanics put him at a disadvantage.

Like, that was one thing I saw was immediately in short yardage again. When the season began, he was getting back into the bad habit of backing into the line. Like, you're just not going to win that way. Ben Johnson, the Bears head coach, met with the media yesterday and discussed what this offense is missing without starting quarterback, Kayla Williams. I mean, I think each week's been a little bit different in terms of where our struggles have occurred. You know, we talked at length there for a few weeks about our red zone issues, and, you know, we really made that a point. Emphasis felt like that was a little bit better last week, and yet we were still one for two. And so a lot of work to be done there.

You know, I think as a whole, it's just consistency. It's our play style needs to show up on a regular basis. And we've had more three-enounced than we would like. The turnovers were a major issue last game. And so it's getting back to what we did all through camp and how we started the first week of the season. I don't know that we've done that at a consistent level since then. I guess the good news about this is this stuff pisses off Ben Johnson more than anybody.

Like Ben Johnson, who wants to break every single scoring record, as he has famously said, and he is pretty good at adjusting and fixing things. And I use the running game as an example from last year when it was bad to begin the season. And we where I was probably like, you got to sign somebody. I think I remember asking Ben Johnson the question. I mean, do you have to bring somebody in from the outside? Do you have to do something different? DeAndre Swift not good enough.

And three-year contract later, everybody was wrong about that and he was able to get that going. So I guess that's the good news in all of this, that I do believe that Ben, Johnson will fix that. He will find a way or go crazy if it doesn't happen. So we don't have to go crazy. Yeah, that is, that is again, like I don't get concerned about Ben Johnson not finding a counter to what happened last week in Green Bay. I don't get concerned about him not finding a way to move the chains. But, you know, there is this that was pointed out too. It was Nicholas Moriano who had it on Twitter first. And I always think, okay, well, what's the best way to move the chains on third down? Well, it's probably tied in usage, which speaks to what the bear.

of scene. We're not doing it. And he posted, according to Radar 360, the Bears ranked 22nd in the NFL with 199 receiving tight-in yards. Chicago's only touchdown by a tight end, a cold combat reception in week one for they scored 59 points, leaves them tied with four other teams for the second view as tight-in touchdowns in the league, Biden four teams was zero. So if you think about that, they don't even have 200 receiving yards to the

tight-in group right now. So that speaks to moving the chains. And it also speaks to the touchdown problem. on. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And we talked about that with the Clay Harbor a little bit yesterday. It has gotten to the point where you're really wondering what's going on.

Colson Loveland so far this year, 13 catches, 110 yards, 8.5 average. Cole Komet, just five catches for 56 yards on the season. And old Sam Roush, good old number 87, three catches for 3. for 33 yards so far this year. 16 of those were on one play. That's right. That's right. And we know that unfortunately,

Sam Rausch has made more mistakes this year than it seems like he's made good plays. So, yeah, man, I mean, there are a lot of early season issues for the Bears. What's going on with Jihadi Walker? He's not even been a part of this thing this year. I saw him. One catch for one yard. Did you see him? I saw that catch.

Yeah. There was that one catch. one catch for one yard so far this season. So hopefully Caleb can come in and fix all of this, but it continues to be a concern. Well, Caleb's blankie is Kleefe Raymond. Yeah. Which I don't necessarily have a problem with.

This is blankie. But was it this past week where Rome only had three catches on nine targets? Is that correct? Yeah, I think that is correct. Now, I do think that was a bit of a two-way street. I don't know that all nine of those throws were on target, but it's just a bad number that continues for him. I think that's the one you have to really take a look at as well.

Rome has actually taken over the lead in overall yardage. I would have just off the top of my head, I would have said Cullif Raymond, but Rome 17 catches 273 yards. Luther Burden has 23 catches 266, and there is your guy, your blankie. Caliph Raymond 24 catches for 226 yards. Look no further than his lack of involvement.

in the game plan last week too. Six yards on three catches. No. Yeah, that's no. What worked for you on Sunday? Honestly. Let me look at my chart here. I feel like there were a couple of runs to the right side,

which I could say on any given Sunday for the Bears. Xavier and Thomas had a 13-yard run at one point in time. I think DeAndre Swift did have, I want to say he had at least one double-digit run during the game. I know Roshan Johnson didn't because the math says, he didn't because he had five carries for six yards during the game. Yeah, that's just not enough. You averaged 1.2 yards a carry. Pretty got awful. Man, it is sad looking at that box score. I know. I don't want to do it anymore.

Do you game plan against the box score last week? You could theoretically. Yeah. But the Falcons, as we told you, they're not going to give you the run. They're fourth in the league in allowing the run to happen. So how are you going to build your play action? How are you going to build that that bootleg game that maybe you want to see? You got Trayvon Dexter and Brandon Darius just sitting there

on the line for pressuring and stopping the run. You really want the Bears run defense against Vijon Robinson with no Montes-Watt? Like that's the thing. Yes, yes, Montes-Watt is not performing to his salary level, but I still would rather

have him in there than backups. Yeah, this will be the real test, too, for the defense. Because I was the one yesterday saying, I'm not ready to say based on two bad defensive games, the Carolina game and the Green Bay game, that the Bears defense is bad. But now look what you got coming your way. How are we doing secondary? Here comes Drake London, who's coming off a seven-catch, 118-yard game. He'll get you some points in fantasy football.

Yeah, he will. Although I don't play fantasy. He has zero TDs this year, 488 yards. No touchdowns. He had, speaking of Green Bay, Drake London, 194 yards against the PAC, 96 against the Saints. So you got him going. You got Kyle Pitts you got a deal with.

You got Bejohn Robinson you got a deal with. You got Jahan Dotson you got to deal with right there. But, you know, the Falcons are still beatable. So frustrating to see what the Packers did against the Falcons. And the Bears couldn't do that to the Packers. So frustrating to see how the, Vikings had that come from behind win against the Packers in week one, and they can't. What is it all mean?

I'm still going to be mad. I'm going to be mad about this game for a while. I might do the Ben Johnson, where I just never stop being mad about this game. That's okay. If you're going to have lingering anger over a game, it should be a loss at Lambo to the Green Bay Packers. So carry on. I have lingering anger over many games. Do you know what game still bothers me a lot?

The first game of the Marlin series. The one that went 12 innings? Oh, yeah. Don't act like you didn't know when I said the Marlins series. Oh, I knew what you're talking about. I'm like, ah, you lost the wild card with that bloody game. Yeah, that was rough. That, yeah, that was terrifying.

Yeah, I mean, if we want to do a segment on what games I still have lingering anger over, yeah, I've got several. Of all sports, really. Yeah, I was going to say, all sports, you got a Bulls one? Yeah, because there's a-Hawks and Predators, 2016, I'm looking at you. What happened in that game? They just lost a series they shouldn't have. Okay. I would like that list, actually.

I think that would be a Layla's anger list of games that are, if you talk through it. Loyola in Illinois in the NCAA tournament. But then again, Loyola did well, so no. But like that was a game that essentially made Andre Kerbello transfer. Like, no, I've got quite a few. Yeah. Does it help talking about them to get them out of your brain?

No, I just relive the anger. Oh, no. We don't want that. I think that's why I'm in sports talk. Before Chicago takes on Atlanta, tune in Sunday morning from 9 to noon for your local foreign dealers pregame show right here on 104-3 the score. Olin Croots, Patrick Manley and Zach Zademan,

will get you set for the game live from Jared Payton's flagship on the Fox in St. Charles. I wonder if that means Jared Peyton will be hanging out there as well. Then immediately following the game, they'll have instant reaction on the Timber Tech Decking and Railing Postgame Show presented by the Rorman Automotive Group, home with a $50 oil change. Visit them online at Rorman.com. This week's postgame show can be seen exclusively on YouTube

and on Twitch. How are the, let's keep the Bears talk hot. How are the Bears viewing defensive end, Austin Booker? We have some interesting takes to share with you next on Rahimi and Grotie on 1043, the score. Rahimi and Grody My name is Leila Rahimi And I love sports

And I don't care who knows We like sports And we don't care who knows Midday 10 a.m. to 2 on the score A couple weeks ago He was telling me that you You weren't really satisfied

With your current role on the team You want a more responsibility Since then you've had Three sacks and four TFLs Have something changed with your approach No I think You just When you see the

Snap count go up You see the production go up. And I think that's all there is to it. Come on! This is where we rock out. This is for Lela Rahimi, everybody. A little bit of Motley crew on your Thursday. I really just need metal as a rotator on my alarm.

Sometimes it's work by Rihanna. Work, work, work, work, work. Come on now. Wicking up for work. I get it. Kickstart my heart is always good. Always. Your kickstart my heart, I'm shot of the devil. I mean, both great songs, though.

Great songs. I love it. It's beautiful. We got Park Park coming up at the top of the hour, by the way, Danny Parkins. We'll join us and we'll audit him. Shout out to the texters who are chiming in about the games they hate and then also the Andre Kerbello discussion. Yeah, that was great. Getting a little taste of what goes through Layla's brain about bad games that have been played in the past that are sticking with her. That sucks, though, to have your brain cluttered with bad games.

My brain's cluttered with all sorts of unnecessary things. I get it. Some people call it ADHD. Well, no, it's good, though, that you have this forum to express yourself and allow those things to come out. I think we're working. That's right. We're working through stuff here on Rahimi and Grotie on 104-3, the score. We're open to 312, 644, 67, you could always text us. We got the Twitchers.

What's going on, Twitchers? Sometimes I look at the Twitch line and I get accused of not paying enough attention and participating in the Twitch chat. I love you all. I see you all. I read you all. you guys are fantastic. I get accused of not paying attention to the show because I'm reading the Twitch chat.

But that does happen to and that's part of why I can't respond to everything that goes on on the show or else I'll go crazy with text and Twitch and X and all that. The bottom line is the line I did not always have the best game plans in the tournament.

That's really what this is about. They got far though. I'll L. Cameron Crartwig had a great game though. No, I can't do this. I can't think about this. Stop yourself. All right.

I'll put the train. train back on the track here. I have a weird affinity for Illinois. Hey, man, we're in Illinois, so your affinity is absolutely justified. As in North Texas, a lot, I feel like we identify. Okay, good. Good. That's why you are perfect, right?

You are, Laylor, Amy, you are right where you are supposed to be in your life, right here on Rehemi. Do you know what? Do you know who I do think that applies to, actually? I'm offended actually by the look you. Because I'm shocked. I don't know that that's the truth. You know who I do think it is the truth for is Austin Booker?

Like, and I'm not doing this just in the spirit of the segue. Nice move right there. But I'm not. Think about it. The numbers have led us to this point, correct? He's leading the team in sacks. There's four. Two of them were on the same drive before the half against the Grime Packers.

But he was the only one who had those. And then the snap count was one behind Montez Sweat. Sweaty. And then who's the person you think of? is probably having to step up with sweat being out. Well, obviously, Austin Booker. And we've got to get the opportunity. And we've talked about a bunch of different names.

Yeah. But no, he's the obvious choice. He is the one the credible. As much as I love saying, Jamry Croma and Daniel Hardy and the like, it's of course Austin Booker, who, as you heard the bite coming in, I know we were all motley crew in it,

but that was the idea that Austin Booker has wanted more. He has wanted more snaps, that he's getting that opportunity. And I'd love to see it because it's like the forever question. Could Austin Booker get to double-digit sacks? Why don't we share a little bit of audio with the class here right now? Grady Jarrett met with the media yesterday.

Old Grady Jarrett. Oh, Grady Jarrett, who is going back to Atlanta, man, his old home. he discussed his observations of oh okay standby we're going to get to that here in a second well what about old Ben Johnson old Ben Johnson he's older than Grady Jarrett that's is he yeah I guess he is

yeah Grady Jarrett's only 32 to tell you the truth but he's been in the league for 10 plus years I think Grady's 33 now so that's all right which is still really young here's Grady Jarrett talking about Austin Booker I think Austin's been extremely consistent in his work ethic whenever his numbers called he shows up

and I think he's just having an opportunity to shine a little more and show what he can do when matchups are favorable for him. And he's a young guy that's only going to continue to get better. And he's hungry to be a top player as a position, not only on this team, but in the entire league. And I'm excited for him to continue to get the opportunity that he's getting to show that weekend and week out.

And I think the thing with him is just being consistent every day. You know what I'm saying? Doing a job being where you're supposed to be where you need to be, whether it's in a run game, past game, and doing what we need to do to be the best for this team. And I think he'd definitely be up for the challenge. Yeah, keep being more consistent. And obviously he's right.

He's hungry and he should be hungry. It is nice to hear, though. I feel like Grady is going to be such a focal point for the game on Sunday, just because of the return. Obviously, the Bears need him to step up. I do feel like he has been this year. Yeah. I don't have any requests out of him.

Yeah, no, he's had a good season and he needed to. I mean, he had a bad year last year, some of which was because of the knee. So that was out of his control. but even when he was healthy, he wasn't particularly effective last year. So you're getting more out of Grady. We thought that this was pretty interesting as well. Bears head coach Ben Johnson was asked this question regarding Austin Booker's comments earlier in the week about wanting to play more snaps.

What had been holding Booker back from getting more snaps? I think we've been pretty clear on that, just the consistency of his overall game. Ben didn't even let Phil finish the word snaps. Was he angry? Do we have to add that to the list of angry Ben Johnson questions? I didn't see that one coming. And then there it was. So I don't know if Ben had heard or maybe it was in real time that he's hearing about

Austin Booker being desirous of more snaps. That was interesting right there. Unless we're misreading. It sounded like Ben Johnson was kind of pissed off right there. You've covered a lot of Ben Johnson press conference. I tend to defer to you whenever there is a question about intent. Well, and if he likes a guy, even on defense, we hear him rave about guys like he did Jordan Vandenberg. Like he did Luther Burton.

He bought stock and Luther Burton. But then there's always the love for Tyson Bayesian. That's the one I hate to is that he has to wear that whole one of 32 comment. You know, that's part of what... You think it's over for Bayjant? I don't know. It's just, it's really, like, think about what we're faced with right now. And I maintain the hamstring injury that has been iffy and two games in a week,

and one of them being that Thursday game where you can really be in some pain as a healthy player. I just wonder if the Bears had won or if Tyson Bay. If they had lost by like four in Green Bay, would this be, would Caleb Williams be in a different position? It's a great question. It really is. I got to get Mitch. Mitch, you got like 60 seconds here. It's Rahimi and Grody.

What's happening, man. What's on your mind? What's on my mind is that we have two tackles. You need tackles to collapse the pocket. And that did not happen. Because if you look at all great teams, they have tackles. We have Jaden Loving. We have Vandenberg.

I think Grady is getting older. Well, we need to collapse the pocket. And, you know, because Booker can do anything he wants, but he has to circle too much to get to a quarterback. if he steps off. Well, if you look at great, they act great tackles. Thanks, Mitch. Appreciate you hanging in there, man.

I'm all for a defensive line play, but I still think that if you really want to pass rush into collapse the pocket, you got to go edge. Like, there's a reason those guys get paid the most. No doubt. I completely agree with you, and Jaden Loving has not played a snap yet this year, nor has Jamry Chroma. We shall see, though, anxiously awaiting the injury report. We're going to talk to Herb Howard at 1.25?

Yeah, about 25. 30 minutes from right now. We will get a full Bears report. We'll see what's going on with Caleb. It is expected to speak today. So it's a big day at the hall. We'll get out there in a little bit. But coming up next, our guy, former score star and current FS1 guy, Danny Parkins. You never know what's going to be on Parkinson's mind. We will find out next on Rahimi and Grotie on 104. The score. Obviously. What's happening, everybody? It is Rahimi and Grotie on 104-3, the score.

Thanks for joining us on a Thursday. We'll go to Hallis Hall in about 25 minutes from right now to talk to Herb Howard and find out all the ongoings out there and what's juicy at Hallis Hall. But we are excited, as always, weekly, to talk to our guy, Danny Parkins. Yep, check them out today, if you'd like. On First Things First OT from 4 to 5 p.m. on FS1.

Danny is also joining us on our video stream to watch, search the score, Chicago on Twitch and on YouTube, and you could see Danny. Danny, boy, what's going on, man? How are you? Grody, Layla, great to be with you. Caleb Williams is back. He's speaking in an hour and 40 minutes.

It's a glorious day. It really is. See, okay. There it begins. You know, we had a lovely conversation about backup quarterbacks. Well, I just, Danny, I'm living in Worrytown today because with the Sunday and then Thursday game, I wonder if.

The Bears hadn't lost to Green Bay the way they did. Would we be clamoring for Caleb Williams as much? And would the Bears be clamoring for Caleb Williams as much? I don't think so. I don't think. I don't think I think he's too important to like let that sort of thing. I think if he wasn't ready to play, they wouldn't play him. And I think if he was ready to play last week, they would have played him.

You know, based on the reports of the pregame workout last week, you know, he's doing the jumpman throws and running around and going full speed. it sounds like he was pretty close to being able to go last week. So, you know, I don't anticipate this being much of an issue. You know, they didn't put him on IR, which means they never thought it was going to be a four-week situation. It's been three. He's back for four. And so I think that they are fully prepared and confident that he'll play against Atlanta, and then he'll play four days after that against New England.

Yeah, and that's kind of where I was, Lail and I were kind of at odds. in the beginning of the show today where I'm like in the weird precarious spot of trusting the Bears medical staff and trusting the Bears that Caleb is healthy enough to be out there without re-agravating and Layla's kind of on the side of

you got and it's a sound argument that next week you've got the Thursday game as well so it's the fast turnaround. You don't have concerns about that that you have that Patriots game on Thursday? Listen, I don't think you play scare And I don't think that guys are ever 100% in the NFL. Like, yes, you would like, I mean, listen, ideally the bi-week would have fallen in this period of time when Caleb was hurt, right? But like the schedule is what it is.

And, you know, I don't think that you have that luxury. And, you know, I've talked to you guys about this before. I said it on the show all the time. Oh, no. We lost Danny. Danny. Danny's audio cut out. Danny.

Where did Danny go? Oh, no. Now Danny's whole feed cut out. Oh, my God. We really lost them. I think we're actually going to lose. Danny Park. You back, Danny boy?

I'm here. Okay. Sorry about that, Dan. I never left. Okay. We weren't hearing you. I'm sorry. No, listen, I think that like, the NFL is great because you can follow these things with action.

Like, who has guaranteed money? Who doesn't? You know, it doesn't always work this way. the Chiefs did not put Jeffrey Simmons, their left tackle on IR, and then he has missed more than four games. And so, you know, that was a miscalculation there. But, like, I think that they clearly thought that Caleb was going to be able to be back. And I don't think that they would play him if he wasn't healthy and able to be played. So, like, could he re-aggravate it?

Of course. And then that will open themselves up to criticism for being wrong. but I don't you know scared money doesn't make money and so I don't I don't think that you can you know operate from a fear-based place here and if he's ready to go you play him where does this put in your mind Danny Tyson Bejant in terms of the evaluation that ben Johnson who we all trust we all love Ben Johnson but Ben Johnson did call Tyson Tyson Bejant one of the best 32 quarterbacks in in the league you think that bagels is a shot in this league or was Ben Johnson just dead wrong about

about Tyson Baygent. Well, listen, last week was bad. Yeah. Yeah. You know, last week was a bad data point for Tyson Baygent. Obviously, he was, I think that this is just totally psychologically profiling from afar, so, you know, take it, take it with a grain of salt if you want. I think against the Jets, everything went so well. And then the, it seems like the film room critique from Ben was, hey, man, there was, chunk plays a lot. available. You were just going to the checkdown so quick. You were going to the outlet so quick. Like, we believe in you let it rip that Tyson like overcompensated. And he took that coaching note like a little too extreme. And it was like, yeah, I am going to let it rip. Like I could do the same things

that Caleb does. And I am going to throw it into the team meeting. And I do have the arm that can thread the needle into a double team. And it's like, no, no, no, no. I don't want you to do that. And so, like, I wouldn't give up on Tyson Baygent long term as a quality backup because he pressed in a big spot. You know, because I think that's what, like, he wanted to play in that Philly game. He was hurt. Then in the Jets game, he won it easily, and it was largely due to the run game. Like, he didn't need to do much. And in fact, his mistakes got taken off the board.

And then he probably knows, okay, Caleb's coming back. He's getting close. So this is my shot in a big game. Packers, like, this is my statement opportunity. My coach is telling me to let it rip. Oh, we lost Danny. We're compensated in the other directions. Yeah, Danny, you're breaking up a little bit.

Yeah, I'm sorry about that because this is, actually, I think he's, I think he has a really good point here when it comes to the balance of trying to make both happen. You know, I do think that that is a reasonable explanation for a lot of what we saw when it came to reading the field yesterday. Oh, yeah. Or yesterday, Sunday. But here's the other thing. don't know if we get Danny back in time to talk about this part of it.

The forcing into double coverage to his favorite receiver has been something that is any problem. When we saw it in the game against, yeah, Danny, I was talking about, I think it's a reasonable understanding to say that, you know, any of us, if we were put in that position, we got those two different pieces of advice would kind of be in a similar position when it comes to decision making and try to figure that out real time is hard. But I also think that you make an excellent point when it comes to the forcing the ball into the double and triple coverage.

You know, he really seemed to force that issue a bit on the drive, even at the end zone, against the Vikings. You know, we saw the force ball to Luther. Like, there are times where you can, do you think you've got the accuracy and make those throws into double and triple coverage? And I feel like he was working with that concept a little bit too much in the past three games. I've seen him in, even the partial one against the Vikings. Yeah, yeah, I think that's fair.

You know, and again, I don't know if it's my under year, and so I apologize on that guys. but I would just say that, like, I wouldn't give up on Bejant long-term. Keenham is not the long-term answer. It was bad enough against Green Bay that if Caleb wasn't able to go this week, I do think that it's very likely that Ben would have gone back to Keatnam, like in the short term. But hopefully that's all moot now, right? And that's like, you know, Caleb plays the rest of the year,

and that's not a concern. But I just, I think that Bejant clearly pressed because it was his, like, last big shot to make a statement this year. And that's not an excuse because you don't want your quarterback to do that. But I do think it's an explanation for what happened with him last week. And again, hopefully, you know, Tyson-Bagent doesn't have to take another snap the rest of the year. Yeah. How do you feel, Danny, about this matchup? What do you think about the Atlanta Falcons and going into ATL against this two and three Atlanta team, which has kind of had a bit of a weird season starting 0 and 2 with

Cooper Rush and they win two in a row against Green Bay in New Orleans and then they lose an overtime to the Ravens with Kyle Hamilton picking it off for the win. Yeah, you know, Pennix is an interesting player. There's not many quarterbacks, if any quarterbacks like him,

because he's got a very strong arm. He has very little mobility because he's had three ACL surgeries in his career. He's a lefty, so it just looks different. And when he plays, their big play capability opens up because he is willing to force the ball down the field. But he doesn't do a ton of stuff over the middle of the field because a lot of outside the numbers stuff.

So, you know, Drake London is a – he's much more dangerous with Michael Pennix than he is with Tua because he can hit him on all three levels outside the numbers. And Drake London is a great receiver. He's not that fast, but he is a great receiver. Kyle Pitts, who's been very, very, very disappointing. Like when he came on at the end of last year, it was with Pennix, and he's been a little bit better recently, got into the end zone. You know, so it's like maybe Kyle Pitts becomes more valuable. Obviously, Bejohn Robinson, like, I think Bejon Robinson is actually a little bit better than

Jemier Gibbs. I think he's the best running back in football. Gibbs is the most productive so far this year, but I think he's got more things going for him on that offense. Bejohn is just a really, really special talent. And so, like, that's a huge problem for the Bears. and every team that plays them. The Falcons defense is interesting.

Their run defense is way better than people expected this year. And then, you know, their pass rush hasn't gotten home with sacks, but their pressure numbers are pretty good. But then Tyler Huntley did put up 30 on them last week. So maybe that was small sample size and early season success. Like, they're a good but not great team. I would expect this to be a very high scoring game. I would expect it to take, like, 27 points or more to win.

So, like, if Caleb is rusty, that's a problem because I think that Michael Penix and Bejan Robinson are going to be able to move the ball against the bad and injured Bears defense. What about the Bears' offense, Danny, aside from the quarterback, which we know makes a huge difference, but just schematically, what about the Bears' offense? Would you like to see more of that we haven't seen in this first five games? The obvious answer is Loveland, right? I think that that's just a weird one because we know he's good. We know that Ben loves him.

He was his first draft pick. And we know that him and Caleb have a good rapport because of the target volume, he got down the stretch of last season, including in the playoff games. So, like, I don't exactly have a good explanation as to why Loveland hasn't been more involved, but it does feel like that is there. And I think the most likely explanation is that we've only really seen. one representative game of this offense. Now, this is, I'm not saying that they're going to be an offense that scores 59 points,

but like they played Carolina week one. Everything was working. Loveland just didn't happen to get terribly involved. But Caleb's few misses in that game actually were to Loveland. Then the Vikings game happens, and you're playing a Brian Flores defense in horrible weather and horrible field conditions and really nothing worked on offense. Sam Rouse dropped the would-be touchdown. Caleb gets hurt.

The Andre Swift fumbles at the goal line, like all the things that, like you scored three points, you've got to live with it, but I do think that that offensive output should have probably been, call it 14 points instead of three. Not great, but enough to win the game. And then Caleb gets hurt. And so, you know, I'm hoping that the explosiveness will come back to the offense with Caleb returning. Obviously, you want the Andre Swift in the run game to get going.

But, like, the number one piece, like, I thought that Colson-Levelin had a chance to be, you know, 120 target tight ends this year. you know, thousand yards, double-digit touchdowns, all of those things. And it's through a third of the season that just hasn't been there. Talking to Danny Parkins of FS1, former score guy as well on Rahimi and Grotie right here on 104-3, the score. What do you say about the Vikings and the rest of the division right now? You think the Vikings are a legit 5-0?

I mean, not really. I think that they're getable. Their offense obviously looks terrible. But, you know, we see teams get carried into the playoffs. by dominant one side of the ball, offense or defense, right? I mean, the Texan's offense was terrible last year, but they were in the playoffs because of their defense. You know, the second Peyton Manning Super Bowl with the Broncos, he wasn't very good.

Their defense was unbelievable. The 2019 Broncos with their defense, like there are teams that can get carried by a dominant defense, and so it's certainly on the board that they're the best defense this year. defenses fluctuate year to year. But I would think that just given how terrible their offense is, that that will catch up to them at some point. So I don't think that they've won this division or wrapped up the division by any means. Like I said, call me a homer.

But like I genuinely think if Caleb doesn't get hurt or if the weather was better, the bears would have won that game against Minnesota three weeks ago. No, I think it's a fair assessment. And Danny, we haven't talked to you. since the news of Coach Dicca passing that came on Friday morning. So just this is your time to share some thoughts about Mike Dicca. Oh, well, I mean, yeah, it was actually it was an honor to, you know, I got to share thoughts with, you know, with Collard and do and do some time on this.

So like the day he passed. So like that was, it was just kind of an honor to be able to do that on a, on the national stage and all that. You know, listen, I Dittka, everybody has said everything that can be said about him. I would say, so I'll just make it more personal than more like obituary style. So it's right there on the script.

Make this, make this personal. So it's perfect. Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, make it personal. Yeah, right, right. The obituaries have been done. But I would say,

like, it was, so my, my old agent was Dittka's agent. And when I used to do stuff for Bet Rivers, in Chicago, Ditka was a Rivers guy, and they had an idea of doing this thing called Ditka Diaries,

which they basically wanted Coach to do like a podcast series and go through like each stage of his wife and like tell his story and his own words. And so there was like, there was just a day that, you know, I got dressed up and went into a hotel room

and then in came the coach. And we did two and a half hours together, and it was just totally surreal. It's amazing. You know, talking to him about Aliquippa and his parents, you know, his father, a Marine, and, you know, he was an altar boy, and he thought he was going to be a dentist, and, you know, Pitt versus Notre Dame versus Penn State, and where his academic career took him, and getting traded away from Chicago to Philly,

and then drinking too much and not taking his leg, seriously and saying that Tom Landry saved his life and writing the letter to George Hallis to recruit him back to be the coach of the Bears and like making amends with that and like you know it was just it was a very cool experience

to like kind of go through this legend's life and talk to him about all of the different things and his place in pop culture and SNL and you know the cheers finale and it was a very cool thing to do and

And my dad, you know, was born in 1944s from Wisconsin, he's a Packers fan. So, like, when he was growing up, Bears Packers, like, he was on the Ray Nitchke's side of the Bears Packers, Dicka Packers rivalry. But, like, my dad really loved, you know, Polish guy. My dad really loved the, like, the Grabowski's and, like, the Dickka toughness and all that stuff. And my dad had dementia. And so, like, but when I told him and showed him a picture of me with Dicka, he was just like, wow. Like, you know, he thought it was so cool, you know, like it, and it still resonated in that way. So it was, you know, again, I mean, Dan Pompey's piece was amazing.

There are more qualified people than me to eulogize Mike Ditka. But, you know, I know what he meant to the city. I know what he meant to my dad. And I know how cool it was to spend a few hours in a hotel with him a couple of years ago. Danny, it's great stuff, but we do have to go. Shaw's Crabb House has arrived. Everybody's lining up in the hallway as we speak right now. We're going to get the scraps

and we don't let you go right now. So thank you, Danny. Listen, free food plays in TV just like it does radio. I get it. You get it. Salad optional. Get the shellfish. I get it. Thanks, Danny. Thank you, Danny. You're the goods, man.

We appreciate you. All right. See you guys. There goes Danny Park. That's right. Yeah, thanks to our friends at Shaw's crab house. They are here. There's all this commotion going out in the hallway right now. And they come in so nicely dressed and they have this lovely spread that they just came out with. And then they're showing us the lobster rolls.

Like, thanks, Shaws. Thanks for, thanks for also having lovely presentation in addition to your excellent food. I mean, the afternoon show is sprinting down the hallway right now to get in that line. Well, because one of the Let Us Entertain You partners went to school with Matt Spiegel, went to high school with him. Okay. I think that's so cool. I guess he is entitled to that. But thanks to them for the delicious spread for lunch here at the score.

Visit Shaw's in Schaumburg, actually, in downtown Chicago. I've been there from menus and more. Go to shaws crabhouse.com. And I want to tell you about this because this is really cool, and I'm very happy to be part of this. The score and Redfin early access. Want to know which bar or restaurant you love to watch Chicago football games at and give that business a chance to be featured on the score with me, Mark Grody.

And one lucky business will even be chosen. to host a live score broadcast with the midday show of Rahimian Grody. To enter or for more information, visit the scorechicago.com presented by Redfin Own the Dream. And shout out to Bill, who went to high school with Speaks. Bill. Bill and Speaks. Nice job, Bill.

Nice job. Tanny, don't take all the lobster rolls. I see you. Lobster. I see you. I see all of you guys out there. All right. We will take the break right now.

When we come back, we're going to Bears. We're going to Hallis Hall. with Herb Howard next on Rahimi and Grody on 1043 The Score. Bears, it's Raheimian Grody on 1043 The Score. Let's get to the North Shore and indeed bring in Herb Howard Bears reporter for 1043 The Score. Herb is joining us on our video stream to watch The Shores the Score Chicago on Twitch and on YouTube.

Herb, what's a happening, man? Good day up here at Halas Hall, as you know, from yesterday, a little bit of a different cadence than we're used to on a Wednesday, Thursday we kind of settle back into our normal routine. I heard from the coordinators earlier today. Got to talk to the defensive assistance a little bit as well. She has to go out to practice, kind of see who's going to get out there early, at least in the practice.

And then we'll hear from Caleb Williams is the expectation. After practice, we'll have Caleb Williams press conference at the podium and then open locker room as well. So pretty busy Thursday per usual up here at Alice. Does that tell you, do you think that Caleb was playing? Like, would they be putting him up at the podium if they didn't plan on playing him? Heard, what do you think? Yeah, no, as soon as they let us know, you know, early this morning, first thing,

they were like, you know, Caleb's going to speak at the podium after practice. I said that's the sign that he's most likely going to start on Sunday. And so it's a really good sign for the Bears that he's back and ready to go. And hopefully he's completely healed up and able to play at the form. We're used to him performing it. It sounds like Dennis Allen played the All Request Hour for us today, Herb. There was a lot of popular topics that we wanted answers about. So take us through what he addressed.

Yeah, it's always interesting in talking to DA on Thursday lately because he's not really interested in ever going back to the previous week's game. And I can understand it for him, right? Thursday, the game happened on Sunday. And in the NFL, that may as well be a month away. But it's still the first time we get access to him since that game. And so, of course, we still have questions about how you guys gave up 31, how you guys gave up so many explosive players. And he doesn't want to talk about it anymore. They buried it on Monday.

So I understand his stance. But I hope he understands ours because we certainly had a ton of questions, starting with the performance. of the struggles lately of one Jalen Johnson, I believe it was Courtney Krona who asked him about it. Here's what D.A. had to say about Jalen. I know last week you said that playing corner in this defense is like being a window washer. Just how tough that can be if you have a hard day. Jailen's had a couple of hard days recently. What do you attribute some of, you know?

Yeah, look, I mean, I think this. I think, you know, every play, there's 11 players out there that can affect the game. And so I think we all try to, you know, pinpoint one player in particular. particular and that's where the challenges occur and there's a lot of things that go into playing defensive football and like I said there's 11 guys that affect the play on every single play call is a factor on that so look our guys need to just go out and play to the best of their ability and try to do everything you know the way that the scheme calls for it to be done and and have a next play mentality and that's that's really that's our thought process that's

It's our mindset. It's the next play mentality. It's the next game mentality. And so that's what we're doing, and we're moving forward to Atlanta. We've got a tough challenge this week against these guys. You know, they're exceptional at being able to run the football. Both the runners, both Robinson players are really good runners, different styles, but really good runners. They do an excellent job with this stretch zone running scheme. I think they've been a different offense since Michael Pennix has taken over. They've really, they've been explosive in what they've been able to do.

So really our focus is on getting ready for Atlanta and the things that we have to do to try to win this game. Robinson's are dangerous, especially the bejean of the robinsons. But I'm thinking about Jalen Johnson still in the Drake London factor here, Herb. Yeah, I'm thinking about that as well. And, you know, that's a very general answer that he gave us. He didn't really get into any of Jalen's struggle specifically. And he was kind of like that with the entire defense. because right after Courtney Cronin's questions,

I came with another question about the confidence of the secondary and whether or not they're struggling with it. Because when I saw the film from Sunday's game against Green Bay, I saw some corners who were in actually better position than they thought they were to make a play on the football and they just did not. And so to me it says, you're not very confident that you are where you think you are in terms of your coverage or your position.

I look at what Dylan Thineman was unable to do on the touchdown play on the end zone. That was another for Jalen Johnson where they were in much better position than they thought they were, made no play on the ball. I asked DA about the confidence of their secondary. A couple of those deep balls coach kind of looked like guys were in better position than maybe they thought they were. Do you feel like confidence is kind of being a factor into those guys, like not necessarily believing that they are in as good a position as they are,

not turning to the final ball? You look at the one with Dylan in the end zone. There was another one with Jaylen where he was in a better position. Again, we're not going to spend a ton of time talking about all the things that happened last week. I know this is my first opportunity to talk to you guys since that game. We've kind of digested it. We've kind of gone through the things that we need to try to do to be better. And then we've got to move forward.

Look, we had a first game of the year. We didn't play exceptionally well. We came back and played pretty well in three games, and then we had another poor game. It's kind of the life of the NFL. You know, there's some ups and downs throughout the season, and the most important thing for us is to stay the course, continue to work to improve.

There's nothing you can do about anything that's happened to the past. You've got to look forward and go on to the next play, go on to the next game, and figure out how we can be better. And that's all of us. That's coaches, that's players. That's everybody, you know? Like, we're all involved in this thing. He'd hate me, Herb, because I'd be like, well, what did you digest since there were 31 points scored?

As if they're not going back and watching the film. They don't just move forward. Clearly, it's like, oh, yeah, we need to learn nothing about ourselves from that game. No, there's no lessons to be had. year the falcons are a completely different team they're actually playing a different sport like i know you're dealing with this on a day and day out basis but it's just you're trying to figure out the path around all of this can be harrowing to me to me it seems very simple just move the coordinators up in the week right have that conversation on monday maybe they can do the zoom

monday like we do with coach johnson and just have that conversation then because as i said earlier i understand that they have moved on right i understand that they've now completely turned their attention to the Atlanta Falcons. They have to. That's the speed of the National Football League. I understand that. However, the Bears media and the Bears fans still have questions and concerns about what happened in the previous game. It's not our fault that we haven't talked to you until four or five days after that's already taking place. And so to me, the simple solution to that would just be to move the availability of the coordinators up so that they can have the conversation at the appropriate time. And then we don't have to bring it up once you've moved on to the coming

week. So I don't know, maybe. No, you're right. It's, I liken it to any activity that somebody has or an action they take. Well, I've moved on. Well, that's nice that you've moved on, but I still have to talk to you about this thing you did. Like, you could say it about anything. Right. No, I'm with you on that.

You still owe me an apology. No. Exactly. Oh, I've moved on. Yeah, I'm sure you have. We need closure, please. I'm sure you did move on from that. The problem is nobody else has.

No, that's a real thing. And so other thing in the secondary that's going on is, obviously, you know, been a hot topic for the entirety of this season, even going back into the spring and the summer is Kyler Gordon. And so as he's, as his 21 day practice window draws near its end, which doesn't actually end until, until next week, more questions about the potential of Kyler Gordon's return. With Kyler, this 21 day practice window, has it also been about testing his commitment as much as his body physically? Well, look, I mean, Kyle has missed a lot of time. So I think, you know, he's been, he's been, he's

been working extremely hard. He's been great around the building. He's been doing everything that we've asked him to do. I've been impressed with what I've seen. You know, and then really it's just about can you continue to do that, you know, day in and day out. And as you prove over an extended period of time that you're able to do that, then those opportunities will come for him. As a coordinator, has a lot of injuries on that side of the ball there. Are you injured to get Calder back out there being put in this defense, or are you able to... said this before, I think Kyler can help us win games. You know, so when that time comes where he's able to be out there on the field and participate

and help us win games, I'm looking forward to that time. Feels like now more than ever, too, based on what we just saw from the Bears secondary, what we've been seeing from the Bears secondary, and what's coming at the Bears this week in Atlanta? Any chance to do? What do you think, Herb? You've had a pretty good beat on Kyler Gordon as good as anybody throughout this whole thing. What's your thoughts on whether or not he'll play? Well, I'm right there with DA.

I think he can certainly help them win if he's out there on the field. I understand the thought process of saying we've got to go through this full 21-day practice window to make sure, one, he's physically ready to be out on the field in a game situation, but two, that he's committed and ready to join this team on a day-in, day-out basis. And so I understand that thinking, but now you've gotten to a space where, one, you're coming off a game where the secondary was exposed. And then you're also dealing with some injuries. And so if Tyree Stevenson isn't able to go, he's listed this day-to-day,

we'll see what his official designation, is when the injury report comes out today. But if he's not able to go, then you maybe you kick Malik Muhammad out. You slap Kyler Gordon into that nickel spot. And so maybe the injury situation forces you to expedite this process and instead of carrying it out for the full 21 days, maybe you just say, okay, 14 days or so is enough. And he's been here and he's been committed.

You heard DA say he's done everything they're asking to do. Maybe he's ready to go and able to contribute with them because they would certainly need him. That's just on the back end. If they're going to have any chance on the back end, they have to first figure out how to deal with this Atlanta Falcons running game, which is number two in the National Football League behind the Chicago Bears. Bajan Robinson is playing as good a football as any running back in the National Football League. We asked the DA his thoughts on the Falcons Star running back.

You had three previous experiences going against Bichon. What left him a freshman year? You're planning for him and then seeing it up. Yeah, look, I mean, I think he's a bigger player than you think when you watch it on tape. but just his speed and his transition, his ability to make cuts and accelerate is exceptional. And so, you know, you're watching play, and when there's space in the defense,

he can really exploit that, you know. And so it's going to be a hell of a challenge for us. I certainly think he's, if not the, one of the best backs in our league. league right now. And when he's going, they're playing at a really high level. I think what we hear there is somebody who respects the power that Bijan Robinson has to turn a small running lane into a very successful running lane. They better shut him down early lately because they can't afford to give him small running lanes

because like he said, he can turn those small runs into huge runs. So if you let him get a full head of steam coming out of that backfield and he gets to the line of scrimmage or two yards beyond the line of scrimmage and he hasn't been touched yet. The likelihood of him being stopped at that second level with one defender is not very high. So they've got to have population to the football. They've got to surround them early and often. And they've got to give them down to the ground because it's equally capable of breaking tackles in the hole as he is of taking it to distance. Herb, you gave us just what we needed, man.

And anything else? I know you got a lot of day left and there's some interesting things coming soon at Hallis Hall. But anything else for us before we let you go. Just looking forward to getting out into the. locker room and talking to some of the guys, since we didn't get a chance to do that yesterday. It was some cool things that came from H.T.'s press conference talking about the special teams. He talked about Xavieron Thomas. They actually had the near kickoff return touchdown.

In talking about that, he said that there needs to figure out ways to do more with less opportunities. Obviously, he had a ton of opportunities in the Green Bay game, giving them 31 points. He said they got to do more with less opportunities. He commented the guys who put in a lot of extra work, he said. He said they were watching a lot of extra film. They were texting him late, trying to figure out what their assignments were so that they can break one of those touchdowns. They're close to getting into the end zone.

They've got to be able to do that on a consistent basis. And I know you go with the flow with the question Q&A's with Caleb Williams, but what's your top question for Caleb Williams if you get a crack at it today? Main thing for me is his return predicated solely on his hamstring being 100% or is there any factoring, you know, the team needs him to come back sooner, right? And so to me, what the team needs right now should not factor into this equation. The sole reason for him to come back right now should be his hamstring is 100% and he's ready to go. And so to me, if that's the case, then that kind of nullifies the conversation about, well, what about the quick turnaround on Thursday?

To me, I'm not making it that far because to me, you don't put him on the field if he's not 100% in terms of recovering from that hamstring. It's not just about week six in Atlanta. It's not about week seven at home against the Patriots. This is about the short term and long term future of this franchise. You don't want to further injure your star quarterback. So to me, it's all about are you coming back because you're completely healed or are you coming back to trying to help? I hope it's because the injury is completely gone. Love it, Herb.

Thank you so much. Great stuff as always. We'll talk to you later, buddy. Appreciate you. Thank you. Good luck out there. Yeah, keep it going, man. That's very interesting.

Herb Howard. Bears reporter for 104. The score, you should follow him on X if you want all that good information. He is at Herb Howard 411. What would happen if Ben Johnson was asked about the Bears Hallmark movie? because there were questions asked about the Bears Hallmark movie. I saw a red carpet and Caleb Williams was out there. He was out there for the red carpet.

Everybody's, he's got to be really excited about it, right? We will hear what Ben Johnson, the Bears head coach, is saying about the Hallmark movie. Next on Rahimi and Grotia, 1043, the score. My name is state your name. That's Ben Johnson, the Bears head coach talking about the Hallmark movie. It's out. Holiday Touchdown, A Bears Love Story.

I'm not allowed to watch it, apparently. Why are you not allowed? Because I haven't seen the other guys. Yeah, okay, so I did suggest us going to see Holiday Touchdown, A Bears Love Story, and then being like, psych, it's the other guys. You're going to have to watch it now. I'm not allowed to play with the rest of the kids

until I watch them. You guys all get to go out and watch the movie together and eat popcorn and tell stories and drink and be merry. But I have to watch the other guys. Yes, I do. It's not that you have to No, I know. It's that it's going to change your life.

I'll get references. I'll understand what people are saying. It is 100% your sense of humor. Not 98. 100. You know what I don't think is your sense of humor? Holiday touchdown, a bear's love story. I don't know if it's Ben Johnson's either.

Like which happens first? Is it the touchdown? Is it the love? I need answers. Is it actually running right now? Is it up and out? No, I think it's out on the 16th. Okay.

I would love for the touchdown. bears to score more touchdowns. I believe it's, I think it might be Saturday, but let's confirm that. Yes, you are correct. Saturday, October 17th at 8-slash 7 Central or 7 p.m. in some listings. We're going to build it up right now. We got an advanced copy of it.

Do you know that they film this publicly in the summer? So these people were wearing winter clothes in the summer. Oh, man, that's acting right there. It is. So Ben Johnson met with media yesterday and was asked about the upcoming debut of holiday touchdown, a bear's love story. Sorry to take a left turn with this question. Did you attend the holiday touchdown premiere yesterday?

Not a chance. What? We obviously know you have a cameo, so what can we expect when it does stream this weekend? I have no idea. I have no idea. It sounded like a couple of our guys made it out there, so it was good. It was good.

What was the process like filming and doing all that? Did you enjoy it? Yeah, I tell you, the best part for me was just seeing, in another profession in their element. I have a ton of respect for the lead actors and actresses and how they interacted and then the director taking control. I thought it was pretty cool to see behind the scenes just how that all took place. Because honestly, there's some similarities to what we do here in a lot of ways.

Just being able to choreograph a bunch of individuals to get on the same page so that, you know, there's urgency, there's, and yet you still want to see it all come together. at the end, so it was fun to watch. Okay, so I'm looking at some of the pictures here. He's trying. Look at this. Come over here. Look at this picture of Colston Loveland and Dan Hampton and one of the main characters of

this movie. Oh my goodness. Like you're going to have to look. I'll come on over here. I like how Ben Johnson tried to compliment. Look at this. Oh my God. Are you ready? Are you ready? Look at Dan Hampton in this. Oh, that is acting. He's got like a... He has an NFL shirt on. It says NFL. It says NFL.

Colson Lovell actually looks like he's acting. I like that bear's jacket he's got. The all orange and the blue. Colson Loveland is a fashionable guy. Yeah, apparently. So a lot of these were taken like on Michigan Avenue and there were listeners who were tagging me in some of the still frames like the pictures on Instagram too, just showing us pictures of the creation of the event. I did think that was nice of Ben Johnson to be like it's cool to see people in their element. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Like he finally acquiesced and gave an actual answer because the reporter was asking the questions. Well, also, what I heard there was Ben Johnson say there are a lot of parallels that the Hallmark moved to, the Hallmark movie makers and what the bears do at Hallis Hall. What I'm hearing is Ben Johnson, future movie director. Oh, yeah. He did have a lot of respect right there. Who's his rival movie director? Is it James Cameron? And does he, like, do the quick handshake with James Cameron when they have a movie playoff?

Hell yeah. He's right up there. The name is Stephen Spielberg. James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, and Ben Johnson. And like at the Oscars, it's a showdown. Oh, yeah. You know? I love it.

As usual. Hampton looks great in this picture, doesn't he? He does. There's a reason I wanted to show you. I love that Hampton. He's into the acting of it, which I think is lovely. Unless he looks like a movie star. He is a very photogenic guy.

Like, he communicates well on camera. It's like 6'5 and handsome. He's got all the hair. still. He does have all the hair. All the hair. And the bone structure. Yeah, and the bone structure.

He is just a handsome man for sure. And yes, of course, now I'm getting crushed again. The fact that you haven't seen the other guys is blasphemy. Oh, my God. That's rough. Mark, you don't have to watch it. You get to watch it. I mean, I'm glad you guys are ganging up on blurting with me.

Thank you for supporting my causes. Today, thank you for supporting all of my causes. Clauses today. Caleb Williams' his health and also the other guys harassment for Grody.

Do I do the big stick that? Yeah. Oh yeah. Okay. All right. You know, what if Biggs acted?

That would be the best thing ever. Morning boys. I love that so much. Merry Christmas. What's going on? Merry Christmas. I love Santa Claus. But I bet he's got some acting chops.

There will be a score, an official, there will be a football pregame show on the score on Christmas Eve. Oh. Because there is a Bears game on Christmas Eve.

So Brad Biggs will be on the score on Christmas Eve. So we will get some sort of Christmas greeting, right? Morning boys, love Rudolph, the red nose reindeer. Holiday touchdown of Brad Biggs story. Morning, boy, go ahead. Biggs joined. The spirit of Christmas. He was on with Hawn Peyton like he is.

And this morning, they were discussing the possible return of Kylie Gordon, and then David Haw followed up with this question. Do you touch base with Dr. Moe this week? I know you guys are talking. I have not, we have not been in contact this week. You did talk to it at one point, though, right? Yeah, and he was... Might be worth a follow-up.

Just saying. He's busy. But, hey, if Kyler's time spent training with Foot Dr. Moe, got him physically and mentally in the right space where he needs to be, that'll be a benefit. That'll be a benefit for Kyler. fit for the pairs. Is he in your phone has just Mo or is he with foot Dr. Mo? Neither.

I get too many numbers in my phone. You talked to everybody. I just want to know. Does it come up Mo? Do you know another Mo? Maybe not. I don't know. I don't know. Bigs didn't want to play. I love it. Haas got the stick. Poked him and just didn't want to play.

Friends, when a man tells you you're doing something wrong in your Instagram DMs, it's not novel. It's common. Don't put them on your payroll. also it appears that according to the photos of this holiday touchdown that they tried to recreate the chris kindled market remember when we were all supposed to go to the chris kindle market and bring dates and robbie was going to be an elf and hold all of our hot cocoa and write everything down yeah and that's what drove him to go work for danny parkins was the threat of the chris kindle market yeah that never came together look at hilton and cullsson lovelin to the chris kind of market here they probably can't call it oh yeah are they actually there well they recreated it recreated. I gotcha. They look good together.

Somebody's carrying a giant stuff, dear. I might need to watch this even though I hate this type of thing. We need to put a bow on this puppy. When we come back, it is... Down with love. Time for the next show. Unless it's football live. Spiegel and Holmes are here.

We will transition with them next on Rahimi and Grotie on 1043. The score.