Poles talks Bears-Jets on pregame radio show

This kid’s tough, flat out he’d want to play no matter what. He thinks he’s got a little bit of an ‘S’ on his chest. So you have to sometimes protect the player from himself.

Yeah, absolutely and I think he talked about it in his press conference, you remember that that big national championship game he had, where he had ribs and a hip going on, and he kept fighting through it. In our background, as scouts, that box was checked in terms of being a competitor and being tough. And I think that’s why it’s so important to, yes, take the information from him, but we’re also going to lean on our medical stuff as well.

Any level of concern on the cumulative amount of hits he’s taking?

You always want to protect your quarterback. Moving around and being athletic and moving the chains with his feet is always going to be a part of his game. It’s been a part of his game since high school, but it’s also our job and the coaching staff’s job to put him in a position where he doesn’t get compromised too much. So, I actually took the time to make sure we weren’t doing anything crazy. Luke’s designed runs, get him out to the sidelines and the majority of the time actually, he’s getting out of bounds and fairly clean. Even on the touchdown last week, he walked in untouched. So we want to keep that up and then in protection, we want to protect him more than what we’ve been doing. And then at the same time, part of maturing as a quarterback is getting rid of the ball and avoiding some of those big, big collisions when you can and he’s growing in that area. I think he’s getting better, but there’s also a long way to go as well.

Waiting in the wings is Trevor Siemian, smart veteran, Northwestern product. This would be his sixth start in four years. How has he looked? How has he helped Justin over this time?

Yeah, he’s been a big part of Justin’s growth process. One of the reasons we brought him in is all the wealth of information and experience that he’s had, not only in playing but also being behind some really good quarterbacks in his time. And he’s always ready, he’s always prepared. The way he gets going every week is acting as if he’s going to play, so he’s wired in the right way … I’m confident he can help our team.

Does this team need a break? It’s not going to come until after next week’s Packers game, but the latest break in the league for four teams, you’re one of them. This week at practice, a little lighter one, you know that everybody’s thinking about everybody,…