Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Jen Mueller breaks down what Bears fans can expect from safety Coby Bryant

Episode Date: March 9, 2026

Leila Rahimi, Marshall Harris and Mark Grote were joined by Seahawks Radio Network sideline reporter Jen Mueller to share insight on new Bears safety Coby Bryant, who spent his first four NFL seasons in Seattle.

Rahimi Harrison Grody. I don't want to break time. I want to yell a motion. Can we handle more Anthony Herron? Midday's 10 to 2 on 1043, the score. Rogers, downfield, looking for Austin, picked up by Kobe Bryant. Number eight picks off number eight. And down across the 45-yard line.

Second pick thrown by Rogers today, and Kobe Bryant, who had three of them last season. That is Adam Ameen on Fox Sports. This is Rahimi Harris and Grotie on 1043, The Score. And we go to our hotline. That is where we find Jen Bueller. She is at Jen Talks Sports on X. She is the Seattle Seahawks Radio Network sideline reporter,

the founder of Talk Sporty to me and somebody who inspired me for many years. Jen, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you so much. That's a great way to start this conversation, as if I wasn't already excited to talk a little football. Well, it's true. Got to give the flowers where they're due. Jen, doing things when not a lot of women's sportscasters were out there doing things.

So thank you for that. You are welcome. Thank you. In the meantime, the vaunted Seattle defense is a little less strong today with the signing of Kobe Bryant over to the Bears. What do you make of just him moving and what he meant to a championship season for the Seahawks? Yeah, I mean, he's part of the best defense. defense in the league and one of the best defenses that we have seen in a while. So he was a key piece, and he started 15 games. That is the most time that we have seen him on the field during his career.

He is tenacious. He is gutty. I always enjoyed conversations. I find him to be very thoughtful. He is very intense. He has always had something to prove, and I think that he will continue doing that in Chicago. It's unfortunate you can't keep the entire defense together, but I know that John Schneider and McDonald's, they kind of expected that that was going to be the price to pay for success. Jen, I think you summed up nicely when you talked about the best defense in a while, because that's how dominant this one was on the way to a Super Bowl. My question is this. With him specifically, Kobe White, what impact do you think he'll have?

Brian. Oh, Brian. My bet. Kobe White. You did. I've done it 10 times already. Yes. I'm sorry.

We used to have a basketball player. His name was Kobe White. He just got traded. It's fresh on my mind. because it's quite all right I love basketball so anyway Kobe Bryant

another basketball player but that's not who I'm talking about right now right right his impact off of that team and now on the Bears what do you think

his immediate impact will be on the Bears well again it's just kind of the way that he is able to fly around and he really did grow his game the coolest thing about Kobe

is just the story that the four years in Seattle tells I mean he started as kind of a slot guy. He was so versatile in college that it almost was a challenge in the first couple of years in his career. And what you have seen in the last two years, specifically with Mike McDonald, is how he has handled that safety role, because that is not where he started when he came in as a rookie. And when you take a look at past completions, I think this year they were

completing about 59% of the passes against him. He, you know, has the ability to get those past deflections to have the interception, you had the highlight there. I'd have to study that Bears defense a little bit to know, but here's the thing. And I underestimated this early in my career, and I don't now. When you get somebody who has been there and done that, you have been through the playoffs, you have been through the battles with some of the best teams in the league, you know, in your division, you have won a Super Bowl. There is part of that that you just can't put a number on and you can't put a price on,

and it's really hard to explain what it's like. you have somebody in the locker room who knows what that feels like and knows that should look, what that should look like. His leadership skills are going to be as important as anything that you see on the field on game day from him. No, that's huge. I mean, Bears fans listening right now. You should love that because the Bears just had two really good locker room guys and Kevin

Byard and Jaquan Brisker, who as we speak right now, are still available. And to Jen's point, yeah, like you look at his career, Kobe Bryant's career in 2022 as a rookie, He's 17 games as a DB. He was a cornerback in 2023 where he played it in 11 games. The last two years are interesting because he was a strong safety, Jen, in 2024, and then he became the free safety in 25, and he has the four interceptions. You didn't have three interceptions last year as a strong safety. What's his best position, like, and why the change?

Well, the change happened with Mike McDonald's and just finding a single spot for him on the field. And I think what really helped him was having Julian loves. I mean, I think you guys are familiar with Julian. He's from the Chicago area. But he had a similar trajectory in his career, but he played all over in the, you know, kind of the back end of a defense. And so when he got to Seattle, he really worked with Kobe and said, look, here's the mindset you have to have. Here's how you stay sharp.

Here's how you make this work to your advantage. And that's where things, you know, kind of took a step in that next direction for him. I think also when you look at Kobe, you're playing alongside some pretty special guys. You moved him to safety because now you've got Devin Witherspoon who can play, you know, inside and can be that cover guy on the slot. And you've got Nick and Worry now who's listed as a safety. Granted, he can play at all three levels. But I think some of that was just the pieces that you had on defense. I think you saw everybody take a step under Mike McDonald in year two just because of how talent was deployed for.

all different spots on the field. We're talking to the Seahawks Radio Network sideline reporter Jen Mueller here on Rahimi Harrison Grotian, 1043, the score. And just to digress a little bit, because he is an Aligni guy, Devin Witherspoon, he proved to be such a special pickup and really was deployed excellently in that Seattle playoff, Ron. Yeah. Yeah.

And I love how talented he is. I think I love how he talks more than anything. I mean, he never stops talking. He is supremely confident in his skills. I am sure he gets under the skin of a lot of guys. But you're right. When he hits like he does and he's just got these natural instincts. And in some ways, Spoon reminds me of Earl Thomas from the Legion of Boom Days.

But here's the difference. Earl Thomas would sniff out of play and he would just leave his zone wide open. And people would be like, what are you doing, man? And I remember a point in time where the coaches told Earl, you cannot do that because you haven't communicated to everybody else. Boone is instinctive, but he plays within that system really, really well. And I do love the fact that they decided to send him on those blitzes early against the Patriots. He's got the ability.

They just weren't doing it very much. And because there's versatility, you know, you knew it was going to be unlikely that you keep Kobe and keep all of those guys. You're also going to have to pay Spoot in a couple of years. And I'm sure that all of that weighs into the decision to allow Kobe to get a chance to go and win with the bears. Well, and also just to follow up, we were looking at some of the stats on Kobe Bryant, Jen,

and it is comparable. You know, Kevin Byrd, of course, had seven interceptions that led the NFL in the regular season, but Brian had four to his name, and that just goes to show he's got a nose for the ball. Well, yeah, and remember, you've got so many guys that made plays on defense. I think you're going to see another level of Kobe Bryant,

because everybody was kind of splitting those plays and those highlights, as is evidenced by the Super Bowl, right? This is not a knock on Ken Walker, the Super Bowl MVP, who just went to the Chief. He was amazing down the stretch. But really, it's that defense and the fact that they were so unselfish. They didn't care who was making the plays. Kobe easily could have had more interceptions. And I think you are going to see those numbers go up because he will be given a chance

to be in a larger role in to shine. Jim Miller, joining us here on Rahimi Harrison Grody. She is the Seahawks Radio Network Sideline Reporter. She's also a founder of Talk Sporty to me. I understand she is also a cooking host. She does it all and she's cooking with us right here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. I got to ask you, as the team kind of takes its next step, the Seahawks I'm saying, you're losing guys because that's what happens every year, but especially when you're successful.

What do you think the Seahawks will look like? What do you think the biggest difference will be a year from now without guys like Kobe, not white, but Bryant on the team. It is going to be interesting because you do have versatile pieces. You know, I would expect just right now, straight across the board, without making any other moves, right? You're going to slide a guy like Ty Okata is to play that role. That's what happened earlier in the year when there were some injuries.

He's a guy out of Montana State. He proved to be more than capable of holding down that job, and they just re-sign him. So they have somebody in the building who can play. play that role. Of course you want to add on and you still want to have pieces, but what's interested is how Mike McDonald talked about a guy like Nickyman Worry. Again, listed as a safety, played at all three levels of the defense. And he said, look, if we determine that the best spot is playing corner, he could play corner for it. Like, it would take drafting a couple of

other guys and having, you know, just kind of some moving pieces. But we could do that. I would feel comfortable with his capability and skill set. I do think you have guys. that allow you to kind of pick and choose best available for the overall skill set, not just the position. And I know from talking to John Schneider in the past, they have run into trouble. He personally says this. When he reflects on kind of the things that he has done, you try to pigeonhole like the one for one, right? We lost the safety.

We got to go out and get the exact same guy. No, you don't. You need to go out and find best talent for the defense so that you can keep doing the unique things that you're going to be doing. So I don't know that it ends up looking that much different. I think when the pieces across the front start moving and those edge rushers, I think that's where you start to have a different look and feel to the defense in general. John, one more question from me, back to Kobe Bryant. The bear's brand new safety three years and $40 million can play strong safety and free safety. It also looks like he's a very willing tackler. I know

people are like, well, duh, he's, you know, he's a safety. But we've seen, I mean, Eddie Jackson was here. He was great, but he was not a willing tackler. I see a 70 tackle season, a 73 tackle season, a 66 tackle season. Is that indicative of the way he plays? Yes, absolutely. He will put his nose in there, along with his shoulder, his, you know, arms and all of those things.

You were going to get somebody who scraps, who fights. He is not going to give up easy yards. He's going to be a sure tackler. And that goes back to his days at Cincinnati. right? That's not a surprise. That didn't change in the NFL. That has always been one of his strong suit and something you can consistently count on from Kobe. Jen, this has been really informative. We thank you so much for joining us today. Thanks, Jen. Oh, no. Do we lose Jen? There you go. Sorry, you broke up, Jen one more time.

Jen, you inspired all of us, not just Layla. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah, thanks for giving me a chance to talk football today, guys. We're happy to do so. That is Jen Mueller. She is the Seahawks' sideline reporter. She is at Talk Sporty to me. If you want more of her work, you can find it on X. And yeah, she does do the cooking shows. I forgot about those. She does everything. Where? I'm very much impressed. Like YouTube thing or something? Or I'm not sure. Jen is everywhere in all medias. But I want to know where I could find her cooking show. Longtime Mariners host as well. Why, you going home and cooking something like, Grotie?

You know what? I think I saw Jen because the White Sox broadcast was or on C. HSN, they were using the Seattle broadcast, and I think I saw her in the booth. Yeah, she was Mariners until at least, I think, last year or a couple years ago, because their broadcast changed hands as well. Okay. They were root.

Oh, so their MLB run now? I'm not entirely sure off the top of my head. There's like 15 teams. We got to sort that out. We do. Did you figure out where it's not on the food network, is it? I'm looking at clips on her Twitter page. She's good about Twitter. So, you know. She still cares

Twitter. You can find everything Jen does as well on YouTube at Talk Sporty to Me. Talk sporty to me. Is that a poison song? Talk dirty to me? Yes. Yes, it is. I do think musically.

You're right, Leila. And Angel got its wings today. Mark got a song. Oh, my God, man. Is that song by Whale? Oh, yeah, whale. No. Polk it out.

Polk it out. I thought it was whale. man there were a few years where I thought Walee could do no wrong I felt like he was just producing hit after can he do wrong now or is he just kind of done his thing and you know how music moves on no he's still I mean he's still an amazing artist I don't think 40s 30s 40s not 40s right

I have no idea at the top of my head Waleigh full Irene I'm doing it right now he's 41 years old 41 okay Lyle is 41 yeah I said late 30s I was a little bit off my bad good for Waleigh good for Waleigh congratulations up being 41 Seriously. Good job. I don't make it to 41.

Also, everybody reacting to the Mike Evans news, you are appropriate to do so. That also happened. Mike Evans reportedly going to the 49ers. So he was a free agent for about 35 seconds. We got some. Adam Schaefter. Look at that. Wouldn't you see there that I probably had a correct assumption that they needed to do something

about linebacker? According to Adam Schaefter, former Browns linebacker, Devin Bush, reached an agreement today on a three-year $30 million deal that includes $21 million guaranteed with the Chicago Bears. That's per agent. Tell me if you've heard this name before. Drew Rosenhouse. Three years and 30 is not nothing. Okay.

There it is. Devin Bush, Young, he's 27 years old, played in 17 games this year with the Cleveland Browns. He had a career with Cleveland. Our internet today in our studio has lost it. On all of the days, even our wired internet has been woefully behind. Yeah. So that's been a lot of fun. And three interceptions for 164 yards is something that he had this year.

I was concerned about linebacker and it looks like I wasn't the only one. Thank you. 2019 first round pick. I guess we can talk about it more on the other side. 125 tackles. Yeah, we should talk about it more on the other side. Two sex. More on this pickup.

And if we have time, A familiar phrase entered the chat over the weekend next.