Liev Schreiber voice: The fourth episode of “Hard Knocks” is a lot like the fourth preseason game: it’s on the schedule and it has to be played.
So let’s meditate with our singing bowls, turn up the Chief Keef and move on to the reviews.
Overall takeaways
Greenberg: This wasn’t the most exciting episode of television I’ve ever seen, but it had plenty of pathos, courtesy of Adrian Colbert’s childhood car accident story and Ian Wheeler’s untimely knee injury. It had some humor courtesy of running backs coaches Chad Morton and Jennifer King and the three Bears’ backup QBs (two-thirds of whom were cut Tuesday). It also had some arm wrestling, courtesy of Travis Bagent.
Wheeler performing Chief Keef’s classic “Faneto” was a fun moment. How often do you see a shirtless future doctor signing a drill music classic in front of a bunch of millionaires?
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But while the episode was pretty boring up to a point, watching Wheeler and his mom deal with his ACL tear in the Chiefs’ game was tough and it provided a telling glimpse into the life of a fringe player trying to make an NFL team, which is obviously a big part of the show’s formula. Credit the producers for staying with what must’ve been the longest sad, post-injury hug in “Hard Knocks” history. Wheeler seems like a great guy and now the formerly anonymous running back has a lot of fans. Bears general manager Ryan Poles’ talk with Wheeler in his office was a meaningful moment.
Mom’s love lifts you up ❤️️#HardKnocks pic.twitter.com/LqaRxUAaSJ
— NFL Films (@NFLFilms) August 28, 2024
Fishbain: It can be brutal to watch, but the way that “Hard Knocks” shows the human side of the game is one of its best features. We get so programmed in the transactional nature of the sport. “Ian Wheeler was placed on IR with a torn ACL,” and then you move on, but HBO allowed us in to see his journey, the emotional moment with his mother and something the Bears are proud of, how the man in charge will be there for an undrafted rookie on injured reserve.
What I loved from last week — getting to see inside moments we already knew about — was an unfortunate omission this week. When Gervon Dexter tackled Wheeler to the ground, there was a pretty big dust-up. We barely saw it. The next play in that sequence led to the one and only fight of training camp. Maybe there were too many curse words that HBO had to bleep out to show it? Maybe the Bears didn’t want it in, because — and it’s true — it’s not reflective of all of the camp. But we saw some fireworks that day, and unless they’re saving it for the finale, I’m surprised it didn’t make it.
Similarly, we saw Gerald Everett’s touchdown at the end of that same practice, but only through the perspective of the backup quarterbacks’ celebration, not the coaches arguing over inbounds versus out of bounds.
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Funniest scene
Greenberg: While I enjoyed lineman Ryan Bates making fun of Theo Benedet for buying Clorox Wipes as a substitute for Dude Wipes (“I understood it’s not ideal…”), the easy answer is fourth-string QB Austin Reed’s pep talk in the huddle at the end of the Chiefs game as the Bears were wrapping up a perfect preseason.
“Hey, we talk about legendary teams, listen to me, listen to this,” he said. “We talk about the Patriots, bro, the Legion of Boom, we talk about the ’85 Bears. They’re going to talk about the ’24 preseason Bears for the rest of our lives! You feel me? Come on!”
Everyone got a chuckle out of it, including me. The 2024 Preseason Super Bears will always have “Hard Knocks” to look back on to remember their history-making achievement.
Quarterback Austin Reed could make the Bears’ practice squad, but if the preseason finale was his last game in a Chicago uniform, he made the most of it. (Denny Medley / USA Today)
Fishbain: I’ll stick with Reed, whose reaction to standing in the Sears (or Willis, whatever) Tower Skydeck was pretty funny. Professional athletes, they’re just like us. I also chuckled at the line from Rome Odunze and John Jackson during their shopping spree, that people might think they’re going to a kid’s birthday — nope, just rookies getting candy for the veteran football players.
Favorite moment
Greenberg: Probably Chiefs receiver Mecole Hardman giving Bears quarterback Caleb Williams a hard time for saying he doesn’t get nervous before games. Hardman (and Bears receiver Keenan Allen) assured Williams he’ll be nervous before the season opener and Williams didn’t break character, telling Hardman he’ll let him know how it goes.
Also, I want to buy those singing bowls that Adrian Colbert uses for cleansing and healing. I feel like I could use them to get my mind right. Colbert had his spotlight episode and he seems like a really interesting dude. Unfortunately, he also got cut Tuesday. Bad timing!
Fishbain: The cinematography going back and forth between Colbert’s singing bowls and Travis Bagent’s arm wrestling tournament was “Hard Knocks” editing at its best. I also thought it was cool to see Tyson Bagent and Williams tell each other how much they’ve learned from each other this summer.
The Bears want to see this as a showcase of what they do and who they are, and from a football standpoint, that could also be seen through the meetings with Harrison Freid, the director of research and analysis. I’m guessing we’re seeing only a morsel of some of these conversations, but it was cool to see how they have an entire conversation about how to spike the ball, with a highlight from a game of what not to do.
Least surprising scene
Greenberg: Assistant GM Ian Cunningham reading out the number of players they have on the roster at each position to Poles as they ruminate on cuts. An NFL executive joked to me that Poles deserved his SAG card for a scene last week and this one felt pretty forced as well.
Fishbain: I guess we should have assumed that there would be a field trip to the Skydeck downtown, but otherwise we didn’t get any cliche Chicago scene. Considering that we’ve gotten rookie karaoke each week, we had to know someone was up this week. But with Wheeler, Reed, Williams and Odunze done, is there anyone left for the finale?
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Looking forward to the season finale…
Greenberg: With one episode left, it’s clear we’re not getting an inside look at the McCaskey family or that “day in the life” footage of Kevin Warren waking up before the roosters crow. While we’ve learned a lot about Williams by watching him interact with his teammates and coaches, I hope we get a more in-depth look at the QB in the final episode.
Fishbain: One of the things HBO has done is introduce us to Williams without actually sitting down with him for one of those confessionals. That may be by design to keep Williams’ schedule clear, but it would be nice to get a little more from the No. 1 pick who’s been a focus … without being directly involved. I’d like to get some footage from wheeling-and-dealing Poles making those trades from this past weekend. I wouldn’t be surprised to see HBO’s cameras chronicle Reed’s cut, considering how prominent he’s been, especially if he re-signs to the practice squad.
Chicago sports media cameos
No Chicago sports media cameos this week, just the voices of the TV and radio crews. Next week, maybe we’ll get ESPN 1000’s Marc Silverman and Tom Waddle interviewing Williams in their Halas Hall studio. If Dan Katz gets some TV time interviewing Caleb, shouldn’t the hosts of the team’s flagship radio station? (No, Silvy isn’t making me write this.)
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(Photo of Ian Wheeler: David Eulitt / Getty Images)
