Tag: Hard Knocks

How will Mike Tomlin’s Steelers respond with ‘Hard Knocks’ cameras in their faces?

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a more formidable opponent to contend with on the horizon: HBO film crews in their faces.

Forget the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns. The Pittsburgh Steelers have a more formidable opponent to contend with on the horizon: HBO film crews in their faces full-time for the first in-season rendition of “Hard Knocks.”

Though Mike Tomlin was not asked at his press conference this week about the forthcoming distraction for the Steelers, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh commented on it from Baltimore’s perspective.

Harbaugh said in his press conference on Wednesday that he’s considered how the Ravens will handle having the HBO cameras around full-time at Under Armour Performance Center after their Thanksgiving Week matchup with the L.A. Chargers.

We’re not going to do anything different. We’re just going to be us; that’s how we’re going to handle it. We’re going to be very genuine. It’ll be real.

While it’s Tomlin’s first “Hard Knocks” rodeo, he’s been a head coach for longer than many young fans have been alive and acts accordingly. Tomlin will undoubtedly have his Steelers take a similar approach to Baltimore’s: Don’t do anything different.

This is also Harbaugh’s first “Hard Knocks” rodeo. The Ravens last appeared on the hit docuseries in the pre-Harbaugh era (2001).

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So…the Bengals on ‘Hard Knocks’ this year should be pretty interesting

Don’t forget the Bengals are on Hard Knocks next month…and recent events mean it should be pretty interesting, right?

Given how wild this season has been so far, it’s a little easy to forget the Cincinnati Bengals will be featured on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” soon.

Forgot, right?

HBO will debut a new effort called “Hard Knocks: In Season with the AFC North” on Tuesday, December 3 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.

The decision stems from last year’s AFC North, featuring all four teams ending the season with winning records.

And the Bengals should be absolute must-see material on the show for a bunch of reasons:

  • Another slow start and potential rebound
  • Joe Burrow’s MVP performance
  • Ja’Marr Chase’s contract drama
  • Possibly Trey Hendrickson’s contract drama from over the summer
  • Tee Higgins’ franchise tag and two different injuries
  • Key miscues, like play-calling and the infamous missed field goal against the Ravens
  • Multiple instances of scrapped gameplans at the last second and once due to…
  • ….the Jermaine Burton saga, which culminated in his missing the walkthrough this past Saturday, getting a gameplan around him ruined and Joe Burrow mad.
  • Whatever the team does or doesn’t do at the trade deadline

Granted, the show will feature four teams, not just one, and wants to zero in on the playoff race and into the postseason.

But some of the above topics and whatever else happens will likely come up, too.

By the time the show debuts, the Bengals will have played three more AFC games. They’ll either be right back in the race or we’ll be questioning if this is the end of the Zac Taylor era after wasting a year of prime Burrow.

The show was already must-watch material. Now? It’s slowly morphing into a show fans might grimace while watching.

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When does HBO ‘Hard Knocks: In Season’ featuring Steelers start filming?

Christmas comes a little early this year for Pittsburgh Steelers fans.

NFL fans are in for an extra treat this season. HBO announced in June that there would be an in-season AFC North production of their wildly popular “Hard Knocks” documentary — a first for the blockbuster show since it began in August 2001.

We’re nearly one month away from the Dec. 3 premiere of “Hard Knocks: In Season,” but according to ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, filming begins next week.

And it couldn’t come at a more opportune time. The Pittsburgh Steelers are the only team in the AFC North that has yet to face a divisional opponent. They’ll face their rivals six times in eight weeks, starting with the Baltimore Ravens in Week 11 on Nov. 17 and closing out the regular season with the Cincinnati Bengals on Jan. 5, 2025.

Baltimore, nipping on the heels of the Steelers’ narrow lead in the North, has just acquired Pittsburgh’s former top-producing receiver, Diontae Johnson.

Oh, and the Cleveland Browns offense got a little better after Deshaun Watson’s premature exit and the return of four-time Pro Bowl running back Nick Chubb.

The Bengals are a struggling 3-5 team right now, but we all know records are thrown out the window when rivals play.

Christmas comes a little early for Steelers fans this year.

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Joe Schoen revealed where the Giants stand on Daniel Jones in a mic’d-up comment to Bears GM

Thanks to Joe Schoen’s hot mic, we know exactly what the Giants think of Daniel Jones.

The last episode of this season of Hard Knocks cast an interesting and very different light on two different NFL general managers.

From the Chicago Bears’ perspective, it allowed us to see a more human side of Ryan Poles. In a delicate moment, Poles cried while regrettably cutting Adrian Colbert. It showed us that NFL executives aren’t as heartless as some might assume.

From the New York Giants’ perspective, Joe Schoen inadvertently revealed how Big Blue feels about sixth-year quarterback Daniel Jones. How? He congratulated Poles for not having to scout quarterbacks — because Caleb Williams is in Chicago — while both hung out on the Georgia-Clemson sideline last weekend.

That means Schoen and his scouting team have clearly already laid out a foundation of work to find New York’s next signal-caller. Mind you, this is before the 2024 Giants and Jones have even played a single game.

When the writing’s on the wall, you probably shouldn’t ignore it:

https://twitter.com/montecri5to/status/1831180763909296384

It’s not surprising to learn Schoen and the Giants are already scouting quarterbacks. Heck, if the Giants had a better first-round pick in this past April’s draft, they probably would’ve tried to jump up and get someone rather than hang around and draft receiver Malik Nabers at No. 6 overall. With multiple high-profile quarterback prospects available, it was an awful year to be outside the top three if you needed a new signal-caller.

Plus, nothing about Jones’ career to this point suggests he is a guy you can win with in the long term. He’s had half a decade to prove otherwise and has failed at nearly every turn. The ride on this carousel only isn’t over because the Giants don’t have any other options. It’s that simple.

Still, if you’re Jones, it can’t be great to see your GM on national television indirectly note that he’s looking at quarterbacks before your new season has begun. It’s a sign of the times ahead of what might be a brutal year in New York.

Bears GM Ryan Poles actually left the room to cry before cutting Adrian Colbert on Hard Knocks

The Bears GM has a heart of gold.

Don’t let anyone ever tell you that NFL executives only see data spreadsheets and numbers while doing their job. There is a distinct and crucial human element to running an entire franchise as a general manager. One that will inevitably crush you here and there because it’s just the nature of a cruel business.

Bears general manager Ryan Poles was a classic example of this on the last episode of this year’s Hard Knocks.

On final cutdown day, journeyman safety Adrian Colbert — who conducted himself like a consummate professional in Chicago — was released by the Bears. But a combination of Colbert’s inspiring story where a car tragically hit him as a child along with his steadfast dedication to playing football appeared to really move Poles.

While knowing he still had to make the tough decision of cutting Colbert, Poles left the meeting room to cry and compose himself for a moment as soon as their conversation began.

https://twitter.com/MySportsUpdate/status/1831351152975220859

That’s special right there.

That’s a GM who cares about his team and his players first and foremost. That’s the tough balance of doing what’s best for everyone as a leader while the emotional human being inside of you tugs and pulls at your decision. It’s not easy, and it never will be.

Thanks to Caleb Williams and a young, exciting roster, the Bears have a lot of warranted hype entering this new NFL season. If you’re a Bears fan, you should feel even better about the team’s prospects after seeing how invested your GM is.

Bears GM Ryan Poles revealed on Hard Knocks why he ultimately passed on a Matthew Judon trade

Bears GM Ryan Poles really did his homework about Matthew Judon.

With Caleb Williams in the fold, the Chicago Bears arguably have one of the NFL’s better rosters on paper. But if there’s a place where the Bears might still have a glaring hole, it’s that they don’t have a No. 2 edge pass rusher to pair up with franchise player Montez Sweat.

The Bears almost rectified this need with a trade for ex-New England Patriot Matthew Judon … before the Atlanta Falcons swooped in to finish the deal.

During the latest episode of Hard Knocks, Bears general manager Ryan Poles explained his apprehension behind making a move for Judon and why he ultimately passed on pulling the trigger for the difference-making veteran:

Everything about Poles’ thought process is sound and reasonable for a GM trying to build a consistent Super Bowl contender in Chicago.

Even at the age of 32, the Bears knew that Judon probably still had plenty left in the tank and that he would’ve wreaked a lot of havoc in their defense. But they weren’t sure if he would agree to a long-term extension with the organization. They had apparently even included a key provision in their trade proposal that the deal would revert Judon back to the Patriots if he didn’t sign on the dotted line with Chicago.

While a third-round draft pick for Judon sounds enticing at first glance, it’s ultimately a lot to give up for a potential rental for a Bears team that’s trying to win now but probably isn’t ready to compete for a championship just yet. Instead, riding with the developmental trajectory of promising rookie Austin Booker for four cost-controlled years makes much more sense. The Bears traded a future fourth-round draft selection to acquire the young defensive end from Kansas in April’s NFL Draft.

Poles did his due diligence to check on the possibility of a Judon addition. He did even better to remember the Bears have a long-term vision and that it’s better to let his current roster grow before he starts pushing all of his chips in.

Hard Knocks mics caught Caleb Williams hilariously asking for a ref’s approval after his absurd scramble pass

Caleb Williams is already working the refs.

Perhaps the biggest reason Caleb Williams really might be the superstar quarterback Chicago Bears fans have been waiting for is his confidence. The No. 1 overall does not shy away from criticism or the spotlight, and he practically oozes charisma without even trying.

The latest episode of Hard Knocks gave us a perfect example of Williams’ swagger after he made a magical scramble pass against the Cincinnati Bengals in a preseason matchup last weekend.

After Williams dropped a perfect downfield dime to Rome Odunze on the move, cameras caught the quarterback trying to get a referee’s attention, asking him for his approval of the highlight reel play.

Even the official couldn’t deny what he just saw from Williams:

It’s one thing to make the highlight reel throw — which is ridiculous to watch again and again. It’s another thing entirely to ask one of the people on the field who is supposed to be impartial whether they liked watching a play.

Williams is a different kind of cat.

And I have to imagine Bears fans are so excited to see the gifted signal-caller finally make his NFL debut in just under three weeks. Little funny moments like this with refs are just the tip of the iceberg.

Titans’ Levis plans to watch Hard Knocks ahead of Week 1

Titans quarterback Wil Levis admits he hasn’t watched the Hard Knocks episodes featuring the Chicago Bears, but he plans to watch them before Week 1.

The Tennessee Titans have one more preseason game. On Sunday, they’ll travel to Louisiana to face the New Orleans Saints in an attempt to continue their winning ways. No one is looking past that game, but the Titans face the Chicago Bears in the first regular season game of 2024.

The Bears participated in Hard Knocks this year, but Titans quarterback Will Levis hasn’t seen it yet, something he admitted when he appeared on “Good Morning Football.”

“Chicago, you know, they’re gonna be ready for us, and they’re going to be jumping at the first game of the season. The hype around them with Hard Knocks and all that, we’re going to lean into it, and we’re excited to go out there and just do our best to get our season started off on the right note. I need to go back and watch the Hard Knocks, I haven’t gotten started on it yet. But it will be fun to watch that leading up to Week 1.”

Yes, Levis, you should probably watch Hard Knocks as you prepare for the Bears. There won’t be any crazy information given out on the show that most people don’t already know, but he can still gain some insight into the team itself and how it functions.

The first episode aired on Aug. 6, so only a few episodes have been released, but it’s still a good idea to watch before the Titans face the Bears.

Max explained why the latest episode of Hard Knocks was late to platform

Can’t find the latest Hard Knocks episode on Max? The streamer provided an explanation for that.

For NFL fans who wondered where the latest episode of Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Chicago Bears is on Max was on Tuesday at its scheduled time, the streamer had an answer for that.

The annual NFL documentary series didn’t premier its latest episode at its planned post time on Max on Tuesday night, sparking the instant question of when it’d become available on the streaming platform.

Well, Sports on Max confirmed the delay on social media and said that the latest episode “will be available soon.”

The episode reportedly aired on HBO as scheduled, meaning that it’s in the can and ready to share. It’s just a matter of when it’ll be ready to stream on Max at this point, which could hypothetically be at any time.

Update: After more than an hour, we finally have the newest episode of Hard Knocks on Max. Enjoy!

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Jonathan Owens teased a Simone Biles-inspired celebration this season on Hard Knocks

Jonathan Owens wants to use the Bears to honor Simone Biles.

At the Paris Olympics, Simone Biles further cemented herself as the greatest American gymnast of all time, taking home three gold medals and another silver. Biles’ success understandably brought about a lot of pride from her husband, Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens, who traveled to Paris to support Biles during the early portions of the 2024 Olympics.

With the Olympics over, Owens is firmly focused on the upcoming Bears’ season. As a new teaser from Hard Knocks shows, he’s already thinking about creative ways he can celebrate his incredibly talented wife after he gets an interception during the season.

As the partner of an all-time great athlete, these are the things you absolutely have to have a plan for in advance:

Honestly? A little backflip and salute from Owens if he gets a pick is perfect. No notes. Everyone will know he’s referencing Biles’ greatness right away. And given the nature of unfortunate injuries in the NFL, don’t be surprised if he gets the opportunity.