Chicago Sports

Two potential OL targets for the Chicago Bears in free agency are now off the board

With the Chicago Bears out of the playoff race here in late December, the focus of the franchise and fans has shifted to the offseason.

The Bears will a Top 2 pick if they lose out and at least a Top 7 pick if they win one more game. Plus, they will have over $120M to spend in free agency. Those are two reasons why the fans should be excited about this offseason in a key year for the rebuild.

But while that might be the case, the Bears have several key positions to fill. And that includes likely a minimum of three on the offensive line. On Friday, two big targets that many believed would be free agents now won’t hit the open market and instead have re-signed with their current teams.

Elgton Jenkins agreed to a long-term extension with the Green Bay Packers, as the franchise locked up the versatile lineman who has played well the past few years. And minutes later, the Cleveland Browns locked up tackle Jack Conklin to a four-year deal.

The news is disappointing for Chicago Bears fans as both were thought of a pieces to spend money on and improve the offensive line. Instead, it takes two big targets off the board for Ryan Poles and his staff.

There will be other options available for the Chicago Bears including potentially Orlando Brown or Dalton Risner, but it still hurts not being able to land two guys like this to help protect Justin Fields next season.

This will be a very interesting offseason for Poles and it’s starting to feel like one where he almost has to bat .750 to really turn things around. And lets hope he can do just that in a few months.

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The Chicago Bears reveal Chase Claypool’s status against Bills

The Chicago Bears, who designated Chase Claypool as doubtful Thursday, will be severely shorthanded against the Buffalo Bills on Christmas Eve. The Bears, who already had some of their best playmakers on injured reserve before practice started this week, added two more starters to the injured reserve Friday. The inactive list for Saturday includes two starting wide receivers and two offensive linemen.

According to the inactive list released by the Bears Saturday morning, wide receivers Chase Claypool and Equanimeous St. Brown will be out against the Bills. With Darnell Mooney lost for the season to injured reserve, the Bears will be without their top three options at wide receiver. Teven Jenkins and Cody Whitehair are out as well, so the Bears will be without three of their starting offensive lineman. (Lucas Patrick is on injured reserve.)

Bears inactives for Week 16

WR Chase ClaypoolWR Equanimeous St. BrownOL Teven JenkinsOL Cody WhitehairDL Angelo BlacksonQB Tim BoyleTE Trevon Wesco

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The Chicago Bears were short-handed Saturday

The Buffalo Bills came into their Christmas Eve matchup against the Chicago Bears tied for the AFC’s best record. The Bears came into Week 16 holding onto the NFL’s second-worst record. For most of the game, the Bears held their own with the Bills, even though they had several important starters inactive or on injured reserve.

The Bears folded in the second half of a game played in extremely cold temperatures. After trailing 10-6 at halftime, the Bills took the lead on the first drive of the third quarter and pulled away to win 35-13. The Bears played conservatively with their depleted roster. It appeared at times like the coaching staff didn’t want to take advantage of Josh Allen’s shaky performance (he threw two terrible interceptions) Saturday to protect their draft position.

Here are three studs and duds from the Bears’ loss to the Bills.

Chicago Bears Studs

Kyler Gordon

Kyler Gordon had a lot asked of him Saturday. With Jaylon Johnson and Kindle Vildor placed on injured reserve Friday, Gordon had to cover Stefon Diggs. He did well with the assignment, as Diggs was mostly a non-factor against the Chicago Bears. Diggs finished with two catches for 26 yards.

Gordon snagged an interception by Allen in the endzone during the first quarter. Allen made an ill-advised throw into double coverage, and the rookie made him pay for it. The interception was Gordon’s third of the season and his second in two consecutive weeks.

Trenton Gill

Trenton Gill had a great day punting the ball for the Chicago Bears. Gill punted four times for 197 yards, averaging 49.3 yards per punt. His longest was a 63-yard punt which was downed at the Bills’ two-yard line. It was one of his best overall games, and he did it in frosty conditions.

Cairo Santos

Cairo Santos was bad last week against the Philadelphia Eagles. He was much better this week against the Bills. He made both of his field goals and knocked in his extra point. Santos didn’t attempt a longer kick than 37 yards, but he drilled what he was asked to do this week. His performance was much better overall than pretty much the rest of the roster. That’s where the newest version of the “Spare Bears” are at this point.

Chicago Bears Duds

Jaquan Brisker

Jaquan Brisker is going to have a hard time watching the film of his performance against the Bills. He made one great sack and finished with seven total tackles. Brisker’s second half was costly for the Chicago Bears. He gave up two touchdowns. On the first touchdown, the rookie safety attempted a terrible pursuit angle on running back Devin Singletary, allowing Singletary to earn a 33-yard rushing touchdown. He later allowed Allen to run one in for a score.

The Chicago Bears’ box defense

The Bears’ front seven against the Bills resembled more of a U-Haul box left in the rain than a box meant to stop a run. They crumbled against the Bills rushing attack, surrendering 254 yards rushing. It was a dismal performance by the defensive line and linebacking units. They both struggled to get off of blocks. The linebackers didn’t show much agility when trying to tackle.

Chicago Bears running attack

The Bears rushing attack was awful against the Bills Saturday. It didn’t help the Bears had several starters on the offensive line injured for the game. However, they needed to run the ball with the frigid temperatures; this was the healthiest they’d been in the backfield in weeks.

With Khalil Herbert back from injured reserve and a healthy Fields and Montgomery playing, the Bears managed just 80 yards rushing. That didn’t help the passing game. Fields finished 119 yards passing for the game. But he did finish with a 92.5 rating, over 21 points better than Allen did against a much worse defense.

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The margins were small for the Bulls in their previous two games, but they won both.

Their 10-point win against the Heat was the largest margin of victory for coach Billy Donovan’s team during the three-game winning streak, the Bulls’ longest of the season, that was snapped by the Rockets on Monday. Against the Hawks and Knicks, the games could’ve gone either way, and that’s something Donovan didn’t shy away from.

“Obviously, Ayo [Dosunmu] made a great play at the end [of the Bulls’ 110-108 victory against the Hawks],” Donovan said. “The Knicks situation, [Jalen] Brunson misses two free throws at the end. We would’ve had the ball back, potentially down three. We’ve been in some of those situations, Orlando particularly, where we’re up by two with free throws and miss the free throws.”

Donovan doesn’t necessarily like the small margins of victory, but he was pleased with how his team is competing on both ends of the floor. Just over a week ago, that was a glaring concern as the Bulls opened a four-game trip giving up 150 points to the Timberwolves, a franchise record for Minnesota.

That brings up Donovan’s lingering concerns. They start and end with his team’s defense.

“Offensively, we’ve gotten better,” Donovan said. “I’m a little bit concerned defensively. I think that’s gone the other way. There was a time when we were seventh; we were pretty consistent. Then when you give up 150 points, that’s going to crush your rating.”

The Bulls’ 112.7 defensive rating had them 17th in the league with a tough stretch coming up, including a home game against the Bucks, two games against the Cavaliers, a home game against the Nets and road games against the 76ers and Celtics.

Injury bug

Forward Javonte Green was a game-time decision after going through shootaround Monday morning feeling well, but he was eventually ruled out against the Rockets.

Donovan said the nagging swelling and soreness in his right knee that has sidelined him for eight games had subsided, but the Bulls’ medical staff wanted to assess him after his pregame routine.

Donovan didn’t know the exact timetable for guard Alex Caruso’s return but had a promising update on his status after he suffered a concussion and sprained his right shoulder against the Hawks last Wednesday.

“He’s gone through a series of concussion-protocol stuff, which he has passed,” Donovan said. “The next part of him passing the concussion protocol is him doing some form of contact.”

Caruso’s shoulder sprain has limited his ability to participate and take contact. So it’s his shoulder that’s holding him back more so than the concussion, Donovan said.

Donovan didn’t elaborate but added that Caruso was experiencing concussion symptoms in New York. He didn’t begin tests until the team returned to Chicago.

Two bigs

Donovan went with a fresh pairing in the 118-117 victory Friday over the Knicks, using Andre Drummond and Nikola Vucevic on the court together for the first time.

There were two factors that went into Donovan’s decision: injuries and the Knicks thrashing the Bulls on the boards in the teams’ previous meeting. The Bulls allowed the Knicks to score 14 points on 15 offensive rebounds in the second of their back-to-back losses to Tom Thibodeau’s team.

It doesn’t sound like a pairing Donovan will be using often, however.

“I don’t know if that lineup is necessarily something we would have done if they would have played with four guards or a power forward that’s a little bit smaller,” Donovan said. “The way it worked out, we were able to do that.”

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There was high energy in the tunnel outside the locker rooms Monday night.

Music blared, and players laughed as game time neared. Unfortunately for the Bulls, it was the Rockets who were enjoying themselves, and they continued to have fun for four quarters. The Bulls struggled to keep up.

Coach Billy Donovan’s team, which had won three in a row and seemed to have turned a corner, was slapped back down by the Rockets, who cruised to a 133-118 victory at the United Center.

“We have to find ways to sustain, have the stamina to do it night after night after night,” Donovan said. “You have to be able to collectively rely on your defense to give yourself a chance every night. Going back to Minnesota, it was 150. Tonight, it’s 133. It’s hard to overcome those numbers.”

As the Bulls tried to erase a deficit that had ballooned to 18 points at one point, a fan in Section 117 repeated, “Chase them into the locker room!”

Zach LaVine responded by scoring eight points in less than a minute, including a dunk reminiscent of his days before knee management.

He sent the Bulls to the locker room with a three-pointer at the buzzer.

Before the last two minutes of the second quarter, LaVine struggled to get anything going. He went 0-for-5 from the field in the first quarter and was hit with a technical after a no-call on a drive to the rim.

Donovan has often expressed concern with his team’s defense. With three of their best defenders sidelined with injuries, the Bulls have struggled to stop opponents.

They’re allowing 28.9 points in the first quarter. They allowed 36 against the Rockets, who shot 66.7% from the field. The Bulls shot only 40% in the first quarter.

DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls with 31 points, nine assists and five rebounds. LaVine had 22 points and went 9-for-19 from the field.

The Bulls allowed 60 points in the paint and 15 points off turnovers. Kevin Porter Jr. went 14-for-22 from the field and had a game-high 36 points for the Rockets. Alperen Sengun scored 25 points, missing only two shots, and Jalen Green added 24.

The Rockets have the worst field-goal percentage in the league at 44.3% but shot 55.6% against the Bulls.

“They clearly started the game as the aggressors,” Donovan said. “The ball went wherever it wanted to go. For guys like Green and Porter, they get going early, and it’s hard to turn them off. They weren’t under any duress.”

With four minutes left and the Bulls trailing by 15, the 300 level at the United Center tried to get everyone involved in the wave. Their efforts were as futile as the Bulls’ attempts at a comeback, and fans started to head for the exits three minutes before the final horn.

The Bulls are 4-1 against the top three teams in the Eastern Conference but have a bad habit of playing down to their opponents. The lowly Rockets made a mockery of the Bulls on their home court, dropping them to 14-19 on the season.

“They just played freely,” DeRozan said. “Doing whatever they wanted to do. Give credit to them, they hit a lot of tough shots, but, for the most part, we let them get on a run. A team like that, they don’t know any better. Once they see a couple go in, they’re going to shoot anything.”

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MIAMI – One win wasn’t going to cure what ails the Bulls.

Especially a win against an undermanned Heat team that sat Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry, allowing the visiting team to strut out of the FTX Arena with the 113-103 win.

There’s a difference between masking the dysfunction and curing it, however, and the Bulls are about to find out which direction this is going to go.

Prior to the four-game losing streak coming to an end for the Bulls, a source told the Sun-Times that there was a locker room incident at halftime in the embarrassing loss to Minnesota, with the focus of that blow up being the poor defense being played, especially by Zach LaVine.

Not the only issue going on with the 12-18 underachieving Bulls, but one that coach Billy Donovan even confirmed happening without offering up details.

All three members of the “Big Three” discussed it afterward, and all three did what they’re supposed to do – downplaying it.

“Something that happens all the time in our locker room,” LaVine said. “Multiple guys talking, multiple guys frustrated. That’s what’s supposed to happen, it’s a basketball team. Not the first time, not the last time, it’s just you guys hear it. It’s nothing new to us.”

Maybe so, but it didn’t seem to be an issue last season, even when the Bulls were going through frustrating moments in the second half.

Obviously the biggest change was the five-year, $215 million contract for LaVine, but the two-time All-Star wasn’t having any of that.

“There’s big responsibilities with everything,” LaVine said of the premise. “I hold myself to a standard, not on a contract, and I’ve done that since Day 1.”

Maybe, but there was also a report that LaVine and fellow All-Star DeMar DeRozan were going through an on-court disconnect. DeRozan played that off somewhat, but also didn’t flat-out deny it.

“Every great relationship is a work in progress,” DeRozan said. “When you appreciate it and it’s something you want to be a part of, you gotta go through the good and the bad with it. It’s not necessarily the bad is a bad thing. It just comes with it. I’ve never seen nobody in a long-term relationship be all smiles and giggles every single day.”

There were a lot of smiles and giggles coming out of Tuesday’s locker room. That was very evident, as gone was the finger pointing, in was the focus, especially on the defensive end, as the Bulls wasted little time erasing a 57-52 deficit.

A LaVine driving layup, an Alex Caruso steal and then two free throws, a DeRozan lay-up, Nikola Vucevic at the rim, another Caruso steal … it was a defensive onslaught not seen since the Bulls dismantled Milwaukee before Thanksgiving.

Within five minutes of that third quarter, the Bulls turned the deficit into an eight-point lead, and weren’t even close to done.

The Heat were forced to call a timeout with 4:14 left, down 15 thanks to the 30-7 run.

Once the smoke cleared and the stanza came to an end, the Bulls still held a comfortable 88-77 lead, and never looked back.

But now they have to look forward, and make sure that bad feelings don’t linger. Vucevic didn’t see that happen, and if they did?

“If you’re sensitive and soft, yeah,” Vucevic said. “But if you’re really about winning, if you really care about doing the right thing, then no. If something goes on and guys get to arguing, it comes from a good place. It’s never personal so I don’t think that’s going to be the case here. I think guys are tough enough to take it and respond. That’s just part of it.

“I’ve been around it a lot of times. It happens. You move on. That’s it.”

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Glenbrook South’s Nick Taylor crashed to the floor hard three or four times Tuesday at Lake Forest. The 6-7 junior was a force in the post in the Titans’ 62-57 victory against the Scouts.

The contact Taylor endured on his way to a hard-earned 25 points might hurt more in the morning than it did immediately after the victory.

”I’m feeling great,” Taylor said. ”I try to be as physical as I can and put in as much effort as possible.”

Lake Forest (4-5) surprised the Titans (9-3) with a 1-3-1 defense, and it worked initially. But Glenbrook South adjusted, and Taylor took advantage of the small player in the back of the defense to score all 13 of the Titans’ points in the second quarter.

The post points were vital, given that Glenbrook South was 0-for-9 from three-point range in the first half and trailed by two at halftime.

”I was pretty scared because Lake Forest had a decent lead at one point,” Taylor said. ”I didn’t think the game was over, obviously, but I was a little worried when we were missing all of those shots.”

The Titans were excellent from the free-throw line, finishing 20-for-22, and were 4-for-5 from three-point range in the second half.

”We pride ourselves on our shooting,” Glenbrook South senior Gaven Marr said. ”We were getting open looks in the first half, and they just weren’t falling. We came out confident in the second half.”

Marr scored 19 points on 6-for-8 shooting. Junior Nate Kasher added 16 points for the Titans, all in the second half. Glenbrook South outrebounded Lake Forest 24-11.

The Titans were one of the best teams in the state last season and had the best season in school history. The stars of that team graduated, but most members of the rotation this season were on that squad.

”It’s been a brand-new dynamic for everyone,” Marr said. ”Role players from last year are stepping up and filling scoring roles. We are adjusting really well, but there is obviously room for improvement.”

The early results have been promising. All three of Glenbrook South’s losses have been to ranked teams (New Trier, Rolling Meadows, Evanston), and two of them were close.

”Obviously, we aren’t as talented as the last few years,” Titans coach Phil Ralston said. ”But I’ll go to battle with this group any day of the week. This is one of the most enjoyable groups I’ve had. They are phenomenal kids, and they work hard. They want to learn and get better, and they have fun.”

Glenbrook South has quality victories against Oak Park, Stevenson and Crystal Lake South and should be an under-the-radar threat next week at the Jack Tosh Holiday Classic at York.

”We can be just as good as last year’s team,” Marr said. ”We’ve taken some close losses early on, but those were games where we still didn’t play very well. If we keep improving, I think we can fulfill our destiny and do what we couldn’t do last year.”

Clemson recruit Asa Thomas led Lake Forest with 26 points, and junior Tommie Aberle added 15. Thomas injured his ankle after making a long three-pointer in the final seconds and was helped off the court by his teammates.

Both teams are off until the Jack Tosh, which starts Monday.

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MIAMI – Billy Donovan was an underrated defender back in his days at Providence.

There was more than a glimpse of that on Tuesday, as the Bulls coach defended the hell out of Zach LaVine.

The Sun-Times reported that according to a source, there was a half-time incident during the embarrassing loss in Minnesota in which there were several loud blow-ups that led to a coach having to come into the locker room.

Donovan confirmed the incident before the Heat game, but also said that he was not in the locker room when it happened, only informed about it afterwards.

The genesis of those words being said?

The constant defensive breakdowns that had been happening over the previous five games, but specifically taking place in that first half against an undermanned Minnesota squad. While LaVine wasn’t named in the call-out, it was said to be directed at him.

Not that it would come as a surprise.

Forget the fact that LaVine was given a five-year, $215-million max contract last summer. While those numbers might somewhat factor into frustration from teammates, it’s the defensive numbers that have reportedly riled the locker room up.

Especially when LaVine has proven to be able to defend at a much higher level, and all but promised last season – a contract year – that he would.

He showed that with Team USA in the 2021 summer, and then again with the Bulls throughout training camp and into the first six weeks of that regular season.

At one point in late November, LaVine’s defensive rating was 103.4, which ranked him 79th in the NBA among starters – as high as LaVine had ever been ranked. Then the left knee started acting up, and the rest of the 2021-22 campaign was history. LaVine ended that season still carrying that poor reputation on that end of the court, finishing with a career-worse 116.1 rating.

With the knee surgically repaired and the contract extension no longer a concern, the hope was he would get back to being that willing defender. That hasn’t happened.

Donovan was asked if he felt LaVine was currently unable to defend at a high level because of the knee or because he simply won’t, and that’s when the coach did his best to get into a stance and defend his star. Sort of.

“Some of the things he has referenced to you guys is he’s trying to get his legs underneath him, so I think that has an impact on it,” Donovan said of what he was seeing on film from LaVine defensively. “But I think clearly our entire team the last five games, everybody is capable of being better defensively. Not only Zach, but Vooch [Nikola Vucevic], DeMar [DeRozan], Alex [Caruso], everybody. We’ve got to be better collectively, and as a coaching staff we’ve got to help them as well.”

When asked specifically what the coaches could do to help LaVine improve his defense, Donovan said

“There’s situations where guys are getting blown-by off the dribble, there’s not communication on the back-side … I don’t think you can sit there and point at every defensive breakdown and say, ‘Hey, that’s on Zach.’ Or ‘It’s all DeMar.’ No, it’s all of us,” Donovan said. “We’re all together. And we as coaches play a part in it too, as constantly trying to create the clarity for him as in, ‘This is what we’re doing and can we do it at a high enough level?’ ”

Green with injury

Javonte Green missed his fifth game with knee soreness, and while he’s progressing according to Donovan, he’s also experiencing pain in the knee when they ramp up his rehab activity.

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Tuesday, December 20, 2022

CATHOLIC LEAGUE – BLUE

Loyola at Mount Carmel, 7:00

INTERSTATE EIGHT

Plano at Kaneland, 7:00

Sandwich at LaSalle-Peru, 6:00

Sycamore at Morris, 7:00

NOBLE LEAGUE – GOLD

Noble Academy at Johnson, 5:30

Rowe-Clark at ITW-Speer, 7:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE BLUE-SOUTH

Carver at Hirsch, 5:00

RIVER VALLEY

Grant Park at Gardner-So. Wilmington, 6:45

SOUTHLAND

Thornridge at Thornton, 6:30

Thornwood at Rich, 6:30

UPSTATE EIGHT

Bartlett at Glenbard South, 7:00

East Aurora at Glenbard East, 6:30

Elgin at West Chicago, 7:00

Fenton at South Elgin, 7:00

Streamwood at Larkin, 7:00

NON CONFERENCE

Amboy at Leland, 5:30

Beecher at Coal City, 6:45

Bogan at Evergreen Park, 6:00

Bradley-Bourbonnais at Morgan Park, 7:00

Bremen at Lincoln-Way East, 5:00

Bulls Prep at Fenwick, 7:00

Chicago Military at Perspectives-MSA, 6:30

Chicago Tech at Ellison, 6:30

Clifton Central at Prairie Central, 7:00

Collins at Tilden, 5:00

Comer at Marist, 7:00

Crete-Monee at Andrew, 5:30

Cristo Rey-St. Martin at Waldorf, 5:30

Disney at Raby, 7:00

Farragut at Kenwood, 5:30

Fenger at Dunbar, 5:00

Glenbrook South at Lake Forest, 7:00

Hancock at Goode, 5:00

Harlan at Jones, 6:30

Harvard at Belvidere, 6:30

Herscher at Kankakee, 6:00

Illinois Valley Central at Dixon, 7:00

Intrinsic-Downtown at Washington, 6:30

Juarez at DuSable, 5:00

Lakes at Cary-Grove, 7:00

Lisle at Aurora Central, 7:00

Marian Central at Warren, 7:00

MCC Prep at Steinmetz, 5:00

Momence at Wilmington, 6:45

Newark at Seneca, 7:00

North Boone at Durand, 7:00

North-Grand at Manley, 5:00

Perspectives-MSA at Chicago Military, 5:00

Prospect at Glenbrook North, 6:30

Proviso West at Bowen, 5:00

Rauner at Excel-Englewood, 5:30

Richards at St. Laurence, 7:00

Ridgeview at Dwight, 7:00

Shepard at Manteno, 7:00

Southland at Reavis, 4:30

St. Edward at Riverside-Brookfield, 6:00

St. Ignatius at Lane, 5:00

St. Viator at Crystal Lake South, 7:00

Tilden at Collins, 5:00

UC-Woodlawn at Little Village, 5:00

UIC Prep at Kennedy, 6:30

Urban Prep-West at Longwood, 5:00

Vocational at Julian, 5:00

Wheaton Academy at Christ the King, 6:30

Woodland at Lexington, 7:00

FORRESTON

Pearl City vs. Forreston, 6:00

River Ridge vs. Orangeville, 7:30

Newman vs. Oregon, 7:30

Stockton vs. Byron, 6:00

MESA MOUNTAIN VIEW (AZ)

Benet vs. Pinnacle (AZ), 2:30M

WATSEKA

Westville vs. Hoopeston, 5:00

Iroquois West vs. Watseka, 6:15

McNamara vs. Milford, 7:30

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Two-time All Star, Zach Lavine the Chicago Bulls appear not be best of buddies, per reports

News making the rounds in the windy city of Chicago suggests that all is not well between two-time All Star, Zach Lavine and the Bulls organization.

Amidst the windy city team’s 11-18 season, Shams Charania and Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic reported Tuesday that “multiple league sources and sources close to the organization say LaVine and the Bulls are not seeing eye to eye. Over the past few weeks, there’s been a palpable feeling across various parts of the franchise of a disconnect over LaVine’s situation in Chicago.”

Charania and Mayberry added the Bulls “have held multiple team meetings to try to work out their issues, and that has included one-on-one, face-to-face sit-downs” with LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.

Quite disturbing in the current season is Chicago’s -5.4 net rating when its two best players are on the court together. Both have yet to find chemistry together, making obvious the disconnect between the All Stars.

Zach LaVine is coming back from offseason knee surgery and hasn’t quite looked himself so far this season. He’s lost some of the explosiveness that once made him the NBA Dunk Contest cham. His points per game have also dipped to 21.8, the lowest of his career since 2017-18, and he’s shooting just 44.3% from the field, also the lowest in six seasons.

Moving forward, the direction of the Bulls looks clouded per the fact that they still owe the Orlando Magic a top-four protected first-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. By potentially pivoting from competing for a playoff and Play-In Tournament spot into a full rebuild, the Bulls’ front office would risk still being out of the top four and thus giving Orlando its pick.

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