Revisiting the questions we wanted answered before training camp | Take The North
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Bears fans, this is Take the North. What's the reason, Doc? It's here. With your hosts. All these guys. Dan Wiederer and Mark Grody. We're going to take the North and never give it back. Hello again, everybody, and welcome in to the Take the North podcast, along with Dan Weider of The Athletic. I am Mark Grody of 104.3 The Score.
Dan, how are you? Grody, we did it. We did it. We survived another offseason. We have now made it to the doorstep of 2026 Chicago Bears training camp. I feel excited. I feel energized. I feel excited to answer your question of how I'm doing. Energized and excited are the two adjectives I would go to.
Oh, that's awesome. Me too. Like I had a little bit of time off and it was the first time I can remember in a long time where I actually used days off to refresh myself, like sleep in, got to catch up with some people that I haven't been able to hang out with for a while, but I felt for once in my life, healthier after some time off. So yeah, we are both pumped up. We are on the verge, man. The Bears season is beginning. People say it's training camp. The NFL season is about to begin. We are on the eve of legitimacy for training camp and hearing from all the powers that be at
on the take the north podcast but dan i thought i would let you kind of lead us through today's episode because we thought it would be a good time to revisit the five things we wanted answered before camp this is amazing and i had a lot of fun going back and listening to that episode this episode that we're talking about was recorded in mid-february it was after the super bowl had been played it was before we had gone to the combine to get answers from the bears uh head coach, general manager and others about where the direction of the team was headed. And so there were questions that you and I asked each other about what questions do we need answered before we have report date at House Hall?
Well, report date at House Hall is coming. It is right here for us. And so now it was like, OK, let's go look. Stop by stop at the five questions that back in February we wanted answered, and we'll figure out what answers we got and maybe some that we didn't. Okay, so you're on board for that? You're getting on the train?
I am down with it. I am pumped up. Let's rock it out, buddy.
You know, if we're going to do this like I just said, the train, maybe we make the sound of the L. Oh, as long as it's not the band train. No, that's a whole other episode. I don't have time for that today. We're done with those episodes.
No more screwing around. No more silly music.
There'll be time sometime in August for us to get to one of those. But the sound of the yellow doors, ding! Next stop, left tackle, all right? This was the first question we wanted answered before training camp began. And if you remember, we were at a point where we did not know in February where the Bears were going to turn. Were they going to go get a rookie in the draft? Were they going to find a one-year bridge option? Were they going to try to mix and match from within? And so we were curious back in February. I did want to play you this sound bite from the episode that we did a little more than five months ago about the left tackle, and we'll pick up the discussion Look, if I'm Ben Johnson, I don't want to step into training camp in late July trying to run it back with a three-man competition for my starting left tackle job.
Tried, didn't work. Things just never really got the momentum that they needed them to get at that position in 2025. And so I think you have to be really, really... determined, I guess, to get the answer to this question. I'm okay with there being a competition. I'm okay with there being a pecking order. But I think you need to step foot in that first team meeting at training camp with clarity on where you want this thing to head, certainly much more so than a year ago and definitely more than we have right now with all the questions that we have about all the players you mentioned. So, Mark Grody, do we have clarity at left tackle as we walk into training camp?
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–5:28
2
What are the five preseason questions the hosts will revisit before training camp?
5:28–11:20
3
Do the Bears have clarity at left tackle entering training camp?
11:20–17:18
4
Could Braxton Jones hold the starting left tackle job and what are the backup options?
17:18–23:36
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Rahimi & Grote Show
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