The Charter: A Chicago Bears Podcast

On today's podcast JJ Stankevitz is joined by John "Moon" Mullin as the Bears return from their off day. First, it's another limited day for Adam Shaheen (0:33). Wideouts like Marvin Hall had a great day, but Anthony Miller or Taylor Gabriel have yet to "flash" (02:00). However, JJ has yet to see any ill-effects from Trey Burton's off-season surgery in his play (02:40). Also, Kyle Fuller and Kyle Long combined for one of the funnier moments of practice (04:00). Moon doesn't think the passing game is in rhythm, but the run game looks solid (07:00). JJ recaps Eddie Pineiro's day kicking (07:50), why special teams coordinator Chris Tabor wants crowds to be quiet again after kicks (08:25), and why it's important for both Fry and Pineiro to kick at Family Fest this Saturday at Soldier Field (10:10). Plus, why it wouldn't be terrible if the Bears ended up starting a kicker that got cut by another team (13:50). Finally, the jersey of the day contest comes down to three finalists today (15:35). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

JJ Stankevitz and Cam Ellis share their thoughts after the "first chunk" of training camp concludes. So, after five practices, who's gotten off to a strong start? And who's looking to improve after an off day on Wednesday? Adam Shaheen has missed three-straight days of practice with a lower-back issue (1:00), is it time to be concerned about his multiple injury problems in his short career? On the positive side, the kicking competition has been tight-- in a good way (03:15). However, one missed kick did get a kid to yell, "Parkey!" (04:05) Could the Bears' future kicker still be on another roster (06:05)? Emmanuel Hall is also dealing with nagging injury problems, which was his biggest knock heading into the draft (07:40). Another WR fighting for a roster spot, Javon Wims, has impressed by catching seemingly everything thrown his way (09:35). Plus, how Allen Robinson has helped Wims during camp. It may not be fair, but for the sake of having a third stock down, Bradley Sowell's transition to tight end hasn't gone perfectly (12:20). Meanwhile, Mike Davis has looked great running the ball, and has already started to develop a good rapport with Trubisky catching the ball (14:30). The final stock up goes to Allen Robinson's role in the offense as he's getting a lot of targets and the Bears are clearly trying to get the ball in his hands (15:30). Finally, JJ reveals the jersey of the day (17:15). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

JJ Stankevitz and Cam Ellis go over a crummy day in Bourbonnais in this episode of the Under Center Podcast. Elliott Fry missed a couple kicks in the rain, but Matt Nagy wasn't going to let the weather be an excuse (0:50), however Fry did make several good kicks, too. The rain wasn't going to shorten practice, either, because Soldier Field is often a nasty place to play (2:25). Guys in the middle of the depth chart enjoyed good days at practice (3:35), plus, is Mike Davis running under the radar with all the focus on Tarik Cohen and David Montgomery (7:05)? Then, the training camp jersey of the day is revealed (10:20). In the second half of the podcast, JJ joins David Kaplan and David Haugh to interview Akiem Hicks (12:40). Hicks explains how success can be harder to manage than failure (13:20), why he decided to sign with the Bears in 2016 (14:35), the advice he got that helps him take care of his body (16:35), his Madden rating (19:50), how Ryan Pace prioritizes high-character players (22:05), and much more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

JJ Stankevitz and John "Moon" Mullin dive into David Montgomery's "welcome to the NFL" moments, (0:30), Sunday's training camp jersey of the day (6:00), update the kicking competition with Eddy Pineiro's showing (8:10) and look at what's leading to the overwhelmingly positive vibe in Bourbonnais over the weekend (10:50). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

JJ Stankevitz and John "Moon" Mullin look at Elliott Fry's big day in front of a big crowd in Bourbonnais (0:20), digest an interesting chat with Danny Trevathan (2:30), look at how much of an impact Mitch Trubisky is already making (5:00) and shout-out the thousands of fans who showed up on Saturday (9:00). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

JJ Stankevitz and Cam Ellis run down Friday's action from the Bears' first training camp practice of 2019 (0:20) and dive into Trey Burton's return to the field (1:30) and why he and Adam Shaheen are so important to the Bears' success this season (2:45). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

JJ Stankevitz and Cam Ellis check in from Bourbonnais as the Bears players report to training camp. The duo discusses the enthusiasm among the group as camp begins (:45), any lingering effects over how last season ended and where expectations stand (2:30), a disciplined Mitch Trubisky entering his 3rd year in the NFL (4:00), and how good Khalil Mack thinks Roquan Smith can be (6:00). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

JJ Stankevitz, Cam Ellis and Paul Aspan wonder if we should be concerned about anyone going on PUP (3:00), then dive into their final training camp preview with a look at how the players around Mitch Trubisky can make him better (4:30) and then what the Bears’ QB needs to do to make sure he takes the necessary step forward in his development (25:52). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

JJ Stankevitz, Cam Ellis and Paul Aspan are back with their training camp preview of the Bears' defense, looking at if it's fair to expect this group to take a step back without Vic Fangio (2:00) or if it's possible to repeat as the league's No. 1 defense (10:00). Plus, the guys look at which players the Bears need to improve to remain one of the NFL's best defenses (15:15), debate if Leonard Floyd can be better (20:00) and look at the future of the defense as a salary cap crunch looms after 2019 (25:00). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

JJ Stankevitz, Paul Aspan and Cam Ellis kick off their "State of the Bears" training camp preview series with a look at how Ryan Pace's front office has performed (2:00), what improvements the guys want to see from Matt Nagy (12:30) and if there's any hope for the team's kicking woes in Bourbonnais (25:10). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.