Bears general manager Ryan Pace spoke to play-by-play announcer Jeff Joniak on WBBM Newsradio 780 AM and 105.9 FM prior to Saturday's preseason game against the Chiefs. The following is a transcript of that interview.
On preseason injuries:
"We know it's part of it. Fortunately, we've been pretty healthy throughout training camp. We've had a couple recently. It's part of the game. Fortunately with Leonard, nothing long term. We think he's going to come back from this pretty quick and play with a cast initially. And Shaheen we're just getting some more work on, a couple other opinions, and then we'll go from there."
On players playing with club casts:
"I think you can play with it. Our Week 1 opponent had a guy a couple of years ago who played with a club on and was productive. You've seen it with Pierre-Paul. You've seen it with a handful of guys that are still productive. They've just got to adjust their game a little bit. And again, I think with Leonard this is not going to be something that long term he's going to have to play with. It's more of a short term thing he'll have to deal with and we'll go from there."
On coach Matt Nagy facing his former team and Chiefs coach Andy Reid:
"You can tell there's a lot of mutual respect back and forth. He was there for a long time, and obviously Coach Reid is very impactful on him. There's been some jokes this week about some surprise onside kicks and whatnot, but this will be a fun game for Matt."
On Roquan Smith's status:
"I just think the biggest thing is us being smart with how we build him in, and I think some of that is protecting him from himself. You know how Roquan is. He wants to roll, and we're just being cautious with it. We're focused on the regular season and making sure we have an impactful player for the season."
On what he hopes to see in Saturday's game:
"Execution, details, first downs, turnovers on defense. Those are the things we're looking for. Again, we had a really good week of practice, and just carrying that momentum into this game."
On scouting Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes:
"Incredible arm strength, that's the thing that jumps out. Big-time arm strength. You saw it throughout at Texas Tech. We did a lot of work on him. He can make a throw from anywhere on the field. He's athletic too. He'll surprise you with his mobility. But again his arm strength strength, he has rare arm velocity arm strength."
