Chicago Sports

Bears coach Matt Eberflus espouses the next-man-up philosophy like every football coach ever. But he couldn’t ignore the obvious. The next man up in this case won’t be as good as Roquan Smith.

“Obviously you have a Pro Bowl player that is leading the NFL in tackles — I’m not sure you do really replicate that,” Eberflus said. “So you shift guys around, and put guys in place and next man up — he plays and it’s gonna be good for that locker room, getting experience and more playing time.”

He sure sounded like he was talking about Jack Sanborn, the undrafted rookie from Wisconsin and Lake Zurich. Veterans Joe Thomas and A.J. Klein also are candidates to fill the snap-count void left by Smith’s departure — with Nick Morrow likely moving into Smith’s weak side linebacker position. But Klein, who has started 81 games in 10 NFL seasons with the Panthers, Saints, Bills and Ravens, just arrived Wednesday.

And Sanborn seems to have leap-frogged Thomas in the linebacker pecking order. In fact, with his 13 snaps on defense against the Cowboys last week (while Thomas played eight snaps) it’s almost like he was being primed for the opportunity that was about to come.

Sanborn was an immediate hit in training camp and was impressive in the preseason on special teams and in a reserve role on defense. The Bears could use a veteran to help stabilize a defense that not only is missing Smith but allowed 42 points to the Cowboys last week. But, in full rebuild mode, it’s probably more prudent to give Sanborn, 22, a chance to play, learn and grow — an opportunity he’s earned in the eyes of the coaching staff.

“[Because of] the way he practices,” defensive coordinator Alan Williams said when asked what he likes about Sanborn. “He plays hard. He plays physical. In terms of the H.I.T.S. principle, he does hustle. He is intense. Those are the first two steps. When he got a chance to play in the preseason, he did turn the football [an interception and fumble recovery].

“So I would say, ‘What’s there not to like about Sanborn. He just needs a chance to get on the field and perform.”

The 6-2, 234-pound Sanborn, a first-team all-Big Ten linebacker at Wisconsin last season, is ready to go. Though he went undrafted, he’s had the look and demeanor of a player who deserves to be here.

“It’s definitely an opportunity,” Sanborn said. “I’m sad to see Roquan gone. It’s tough. But you gotta keep going. Everybody’s got to keep moving forward and try to get better.”

Sanborn has acclimated quickly to the NFL and the bigger challenges it presents.

“You’re a professional,” he said. “You’ve got to come in every day and be a professional –that’s what it’s about. It’s different than college. It’s different than high school. There’s more to it –more expectations … I don’t want to say pressure, but you’re doing it not only for yourself but a lot more people –everyone that works here. Doing it for Chicago. So a lot more goes into it. It’s definitely bigger. But at the same time, it’s still football.”

Read More

The Bears are eager to see what new wide receiverChase Claypoolcan add to their offense, but they intend to work him in gradually. With just three practices before his debut, he’ll likely be limited against the Dolphins on Sunday.

“We’ll give him as much as he can handle, and at the end of the week we’ll determine, ‘OK, we have X amount of plays for Chase,'” wide receivers coachTyke Tolbertsaid. “You don’t know when those plays will come up… He could have anywhere from 10 to 30 snaps depending on how many times [offensive coordinatorLuke Getsy] calls those plays.

“He’s a smart enough guy to know what the play concept is, but knowing how to line up and shift in motion is the most important thing… He won’t be expected to know the whole playbook this week, but he’ll have his specific plays and hopefully give us some good quality snaps in the game.”

Concerns in secondary

As the Bears prepare to take on one of the NFL’s best passing attacks, two of their top defensive backs are in question.

SafetyEddie Jacksonand cornerbackKyler Gordonwere limited in practice again Thursday because of hip injuries they suffered in the 49-29 loss to the Cowboys. Both have been on the field for 98.6% of the Bears’ defensive snaps this season.

If they’re out or working at less than full speed against the Dolphins on Sunday, that’s problematic as the Bears try to manage wide receiversTyreek Hill(No. 1 in the NFL in yards receiving) andJaylen Waddle(No. 4), as well as tight endMike Gesicki.

“Everybody says Tyreek, but they have another guy,” Bears defensive coordinatorAlan Williamssaid in reference to Waddle. “Both of those guys, andGesicki, 88… You have to make sure they’re not just running through. When you let them do that, they’re dangerous.”

Led by quarterbackTua Tagovailoa, the Dolphins average 292.5 yards passing per game, trailing only championship contenders Buffalo and Kansas City. And that’s with backupTeddy Bridgewaterand rookieSkylar Thompsonplaying significantly. Tagovailoa leads the NFL with a 112.7 passer rating and is third in completion percentage at 69.9.

The Bears are fresh off getting scorched byDak Prescottand the Cowboys for 11.9 yards per completion, and that was with their full secondary available. Prescott lit them up for a 114.5 passer rating.

Offensive line shifting

Bears right guardTeven Jenkinswas full-go for practice Thursday after a back injury limited him Wednesday, but right tackleLarry Boromremained out because of a concussion.

The team also is hoping to have left guardCody Whitehairback after missing the last four games with a knee injury. Whitehair is practicing, but needs to be activated from injured reserve by Saturday to play.

Dolphins updates

Dolphins left tackleTerron Armstead, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, missed practice Wednesday because of a toe injury and was limited Thursday. He missed the team’s Week 6 game against the Vikings but played every snap the last two and is likely to start Sunday against the Bears.

The Dolphins picked up former Broncos Pro Bowl pass rusherBradley Chubbat the trade deadline, and he went through his first full practice Thursday. He’ll debut for the team against the Bears, as will former 49ers running backJeff Wilson.

Read More

There was no getting past the comparison of general manager Rick Hahn’s demeanor Thursday when he introduced Pedro Grifol as the White Sox manager to when Tony La Russa was named two years ago.

Grifol was clearly Hahn’s top choice this time, not the handpicked selection of chairman Jerry Reinsdorf as La Russa was, and it started to become clear during a first interview intended to last 90 minutes but extended to more than three hours.

Hahn emphasized Grifol’s diversified experience and characterized him as “a modern baseball thinker.”

In other words, someone who won’t intentionally walk a hitter with a 1-2 count or leave a struggling starting pitcher in for five innings hoping to earn him a win as La Russa did. Hahn praised Grifol’s “excellent” communication skill, game planning skill and “high energy and detail-oriented approach to leadership.”

“He is committed to building an inclusive and cohesive clubhouse, and we could not be happier to have Pedro leading our club,” Hahn said.

“Today is a pretty exciting day around here. You may see me smiling a little bit more than you have over the past year and gushing a little bit more than I have in the past year and that’s because it’s a little difficult for me to contain the excitement that many of us feel being able to present Pedro Grifol to you all as our new manager.”

Hahn spearheaded an exhaustive search, which started with 30 names. Eight were interviewed, seven of them from outside the organization. Hahn, assistant GMs Jeremy Haber and Chris Getz and Daniel Zien of the baseball operations department were in on the first interviews before Hahn and executive vice president Ken Williams met with “a few candidates.”

The final round with chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, Williams and Hahn took place in Arizona. Reinsdorf told Hahn a couple weeks into the search that the process reminded him of when Bulls executive Art?ras Karni?ovas was hired.

“That made me proud,” Hahn said.

Grifol was the second candidate interviewed, and one hour into it “it became very clear that the bar had been risen,” Hahn said, “and that the rest of the group that we were going to be meeting with over the course of the following week or 10 days had a high standard to meet based on what Pedro presented that day.”

Grifol had interviewed for manager’s jobs five times, including the Royals and Marlins this year. With the Sox, “there was a quick connection,” he said.

“I hadn’t said that before in other interviews. We talked about baseball. We just talked about how we can implement things that are going to help these guys maximize their talent.”

Former Jays manager Charlie Montoyo will serve as Grifol’s bench coach, and pitching coach Ethan Katz and assistant pitching coach will return. Gone from this year’s staff are third base coach Joe McEwing, hitting coaches Frank Menechino and Howie Clark, bench coach Miguel Cairo and coaches Shelley Duncan and Jerry Narron. First base coach Daryl Boston could return.

Grifol will have a say in who fills the open spots.

“We sit here today and with the hiring of Pedro feel like we are taking a major step of putting ourselves back on track,” Hahn said.

Hahn still views the Sox core as “championship caliber” and is confident Grifol can lead the team back to it.

“After Jerry, Kenny and I sat down with Pedro, it was very clear to all three of us he would be the unanimous choice to address some of the things we needed to improve in,” Hahn said. “I could go on for the next two hours about how Pedro fits.”

Read More

As first impressions go, Pedro Grifol flashed more home run power than the 2022 White Sox. To say he hit his introductory press conference as the team’s new manager out of the park Thursday might be a stretch, but it’s safe to say he had a very good first day at the plate.

A former catcher with hitting coach experience on a diversified resume, Grifol said many of the right things forward-thinking baseball minds like to hear, things like “controlling the strike zone on both sides of the plate.” He talked up the value of analytics. He came as advertised as a strong communicator and let it be known he’ll demand the same energy and commitment from his players that he promised to bring.

There was a significant curiosity factor with Grifol, a low-profile pick and baseball lifer who spent the last three years as Royals bench coach, when Grifol donned a White Sox cap and jersey No. 5 – an ode to Royals great and friend George Brett – at the press conference at Guaranteed Rate Field and during a later meeting with beat writers. A significant part of a fan base hadn’t even heard of him when it was learned Tuesday that Grifol, 52, would be the man to replace Tony La Russa.

Observed was a baseball lifer who, before saying anything else, thanked his wife and three daughters, all of whom were present, for their sacrifice allowing him to follow his dream. Grifol then discussed his life in baseball and what he has in mind for the Sox, appearing comfortable and polished enough to be the daily management face of the organization.

“Extremely emotional day for me,” Grifol said.

“I’ve been wanting to do this for a long, long time, but I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”

Grifol never played in the majors but knew he wanted to manage when he played in Triple-A.

“A dream come true,” he said. “Managers are hired because most of the time [the team is] in a rebuilding situation and really they’ve got some time to kind of set things. This is a place where everybody’s expecting us to take the next step, and the next step is October baseball. The core to do that is here.”

Following the 78-year-old La Russa, Grifol will bring a welcome presence and refreshing perspective for a team who’s “fire” was questioned by veteran Johnny Cueto last season. The Sox finished 81-81 after entering the season with World Series hopes.

“Every single day, I’m going to bring the energy,” Grifol said. “I guarantee you our staff is going to bring the energy every single day and that’s going to permeate through that clubhouse. And if it doesn’t to the individual, we’ll have a conversation because we need 26 guys pulling in the right direction with that type of energy every night.”

A Cuban-American born and raised in Miami, Grifol joins the Sox after a 10-year stint in Kansas City (2013-22). He will be the fourth Latino manager in the majors, joining Boston’s Alex Cora, St. Louis’ Oliver Marmol and Washington’s Dave Martinez.

Prior to his three seasons as bench coach, Grifol’s roles with the Royals included quality control and catching coach (2018-19), catching coach (2014-17) and special assignment and hitting coach (2013-14) and Arizona Rookie League hitting coach (2013).

Grifol spent 13 seasons (2000-12) in the Mariners organization before joining the Royals, including one as manager at Class A High Desert in 2012. He also worked as director of minor league operations, coordinator of instruction and major league coach with Seattle and managed four seasons in the Venezuelan and Dominican Winter Leagues.

“We will be fundamentally sound, we will play with passion, pride for this uniform,” Grifol promised. “This means something. We will respect the game, our fans, and earn their trust.

“We will work hard and play winning baseball every night. We will definitely hold each other accountable. I truly see great things happening here. I’m really excited to be a part of it.”

Read More

Asked for his thoughts this week about how the Bears handled the Roquan Smith situation, Alex Brown thought back to his playing days with the team.

“That particular system, when we saw [linebacker] Lance Briggs come in at 230, 235 pounds, you knew he was going to be an All-Pro that year,” said Brown, a defensive end in 2002-09. “When he came in at 245, 248, you knew it was going to be a struggle all year trying to get him down so he can be that player.

“Roquan could fit in this system if he got his body right. He needed to lose 10 pounds, 12 pounds maybe to be a superstar in this defense. He’s a tackling machine, and this is what the ‘Will’ linebacker is, make tackles in space. Absolutely Roquan can do that. He is a phenomenal player.”

But he won’t be for the Bears after general manager Ryan Poles traded him to the Ravens this week. Still, Brown said the Bears handled the situation correctly.

“When you look at Roquan, coming in as a rookie, he held out. This year, held out,” Brown said. “If you don’t think your close on a contract, you franchise him, you can bet your butt that he’s going to hold out and not come play until he absolutely has to. Do you want to go through that, or is it better for the team to get a second- and a fifth-[round draft pick] and move on from that big contract?”

That’s the kind of commentary viewers of NBC Sports Chicago’s “Football Aftershow” have come to expect from Brown, who has been a part of the network’s Bears postgame coverage since 2016. But he’s standing out this season after Olin Kreutz’s departure from the show.

Kreutz had become the de facto lead analyst for his biting commentary, but an incident in May at CHGO Sports prompted NBCSCH to remove him from the cast. The show goes on with host David Kaplan, former Bears coach Dave Wannstedt, Briggs and Brown.

Brown leans on his playing experience to put the current Bears in perspective. His career ran the gamut, from playing for a four-win team in 2002 to playing in Super Bowl XLI. He endured a rebuild, as well, when then-GM Jerry Angelo hired Lovie Smith to coach in 2004.

Brown lives in Atlanta and is an executive sales representative for Traffic Tech, a logistics company based in Chicago. He follows the Bears throughout the week and flies in the day before a game. The arrangement allows him to spend time with his wife, son and three daughters.

When he played, Brown respected those who worked in the media, calling them the bridge between players and fans. He said he knew he wanted to join them after his career.

“I love taking to people, and I love football,” Brown said. “If somehow I could convince someone to pay me to talk about football, it’d be awesome. That led me down that path.”

Brown had a stint at 120 Sports, which morphed into Stadium, and he appeared on radio shows. He hasn’t had any broadcast training, but he had plenty of practice answering questions as an athlete.

“At about 14-15 years old, I was starting to get interviewed after football games and basketball games, and you start to understand,” Brown said. “You hear the question, you think about it briefly but quickly and then you give an answer that you won’t mind hearing two, three hours later.”

Brown said the hardest part of starting out as an analyst was speaking critically of former teammates who were still playing.

“You have to be honest and evaluate them,” he said. “When they didn’t play well, you have to say that. And then you’re going to dinner with them afterward and they’re looking at you funny. But now that all those guys are gone, you can truly be as unbiased as you can without piling on.”

As much as he enjoys his job at NBCSCH, Brown has other aspirations. Remember, he’s from Florida, and he played at the University of Florida.

“I like talking about teams that I love. I love the Bears, and I love my Florida Gators,” Brown said. “I love the SEC. I’d love to do the Bears or the SEC Network. That’s the only way I would ever stop everything and go down to the SEC Network if they called me. That would be my dream job.”

If Brown keeps this up, he just might live that dream.

Read More

Patrick Finley and Jason Lieser pick their winners for Sunday’s Bears-Dolphins game and dissect the team’s state of mind after a tumultuous week.

New episodes of “Halas Intrigue” will be published regularly with accompanying stories collected on the podcast’s hub page. You can also listen to “Halas Intrigue” wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Luminary, Spotify and Stitcher.

Read More

In an age of streaming video, radio is still important in sports, particularly to the Bears.

“We don’t have regional television broadcasts like the other teams in town,” said Scott Hagel, the Bears’ senior vice president of marketing and communications. “That hometown call, that’s the only place you can get it. And so that continues to be a very important part of our plan.”

Now, ESPN 1000 is a part of that plan. The Good Karma Brands station will carry Bears games starting next season under a multiyear deal. Audacy-owned WBBM-AM (780) chose not to continue as the Bears’ flagship when its contract expires after this season for financial reasons.

“We’re happy with the work that Audacy’s team has done,” Hagel said. “But when the opportunity came to see what the potential was elsewhere, candidly, Good Karma just did a phenomenal job of showing enthusiasm for how to bring Bears football to life on ESPN 1000 and their other platforms. It excited us.

“They did a great job of not just necessarily selling us, but really showing us who they are and how they operated, and they gave us a great deal of comfort to make a move like this. It’s a big deal, and we did not take the decision lightly.”

The big question on fans’ minds is whether longtime voices Jeff Joniak and Tom Thayer will remain on the broadcast. The answer: That’s everyone’s intention.

“We’re interested in keeping the same play-by-play team, but we have to wait till the season ends to make any sort of announcement,” said Keith Williams, ESPN Chicago market manager and GKB senior vice president. “They’re under contract. I can’t comment further than that.”

Another concern for fans is ESPN 1000’s signal, which is weak in parts of the area. Williams pointed to the station’s HD signal at 100.3-HD2 and the ESPN Chicago app as alternatives. He said the station had no plans to add an FM channel like WBBM did with WCFS-FM (105.9).

Hagel said the Bears also were drawn to GKB for its distribution. After adding the White Sox for the 2021 season, the company grew the team’s network from eight affiliates in 2020 to a record 25 this year, extending coverage across the Midwest.

ESPN 1000 is now firmly back on the local-rights scene. Until the Sox came aboard, the station hadn’t carried a team from the four major professional leagues since 2016, when it had the Bulls.

“From our standpoint, having the Bears and the White Sox and ESPN, we’re a one-stop shop,” Williams said. “We just have to continue to entertain and inform our fans. It’s all about making sure our advertising partners are getting the results they need, too.

“Our full intent with these play-by-play partnerships with the Bears and White Sox, this is pretty much 12 months out of the year that you’ve got some kind of live game happening. It’s hard to find audiences that are engaged today as they are with live sports.”

Read More

The Bears’ offense has been clicking lately, and it could step up another level when wide receiver Chase Claypool debuts Sunday against the Dolphins. Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said Claypool will play, but he’s not sure how expansive his role will be with such a limited time to learn the playbook.

Nonetheless, he sees a lot of potential.

“[He] had an unbelievable rookie season and shows a really cool, unique set of skills to be able to move around the field,” Getsy said before practice Thursday. “A guy who can do a lot of different things is really important for us in how we attack the game, so I’m really excited to see how far he can take it. I’m sure it will be one of those things where each week he’ll be able to get a little bit more [of a role].”

The Bears traded a second-round pick to the Steelers for Claypool on Tuesday, and he practiced shortly after arriving Wednesday.

He had 32 catches for 311 yards and a touchdown in eight games for the Steelers, which was a drop in production from his first two seasons. Over 2020 and ’21, Claypool had 1,733 yards and 11 touchdowns on 121 catches.

The Bears averaged just 16 points per game over the first four, but have scored 22.8 points per game since. They set a season high with 33 points in a win over the Patriots, then followed with 29 in the loss to the Cowboys last week.

Quarterback Justin Fields has been at his best over the last four games, too. He has completed 64.1% of his passes, averaged 182 yards per game, thrown five touchdowns against two interceptions and posted a 97.6 passer rating. He also rushed for 69.3 yards per game and scored two touchdowns.

Read More

No one was going to replace Lonzo Ball.

To a man, the Bulls organization was adamant about that throughout training camp and into the start of the regular season.

Leave it to the kid from Chicago, however, to at least try pulling off a pretty good imitation.

Former Morgan Park High School standout Ayo Dosunmu went into Thursday’s off day with somewhat pedestrian stats. In his 30-plus minutes a game, he was averaging 12.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and a 13.99 player efficiency rating.

But his sophomore season playing for his hometown team isn’t just about numbers. It’s about growth, both in the idea of becoming a two-way player, and a vocal leader.

Go ahead and check both of those boxes.

“You know what he brings to the table, but he steps up to the challenge all the time,” All-Star guard Zach LaVine said of his teammate. “Ayo, even in his second year, is a vocal leader on our team, and he helps pick up our energy, offensively, defensively, just the way he carries himself.”

That was again on display in the 106-88 Wednesday blowout of Charlotte, but his signature game of the young season came a night earlier, when Dosunmu finished with 17 points in the win in Brooklyn, but more impressively handcuffed future Hall of Famer Kyrie Irving into by far his worst performance of not only this season, but a few years.

Irving came into the showdown with the Bulls averaging 30.1 points per game in the first month of the season, but went 2-for-12 for four points, and mostly with Dosunmu shadowing him.

“[Irving] has so many counters, the most offensively-skilled player the game has ever seen, and I just wanted to use my length, try and beat him to the spots,” Dosunmu said. “Test all his shots. Once he gets to his pivot [foot], the game really starts. I just tried to contest as many shots as I could.”

A performance very Ball-like.

What Dosunmu also did the last few games was finally getting his fellow starters to understand the urgency of playing hard from the opening tip. A lingering issue through the first nine games, even in the five wins.

That’s the part of Ball’s game that has been a huge hole.

In the 35 games Ball did play before the left knee first started becoming an issue, the Bulls were 22-13, but were also a very good team from the first whistle.

Ball was a plus-35 in plus/minus just in the first quarters alone as evidence of that.

The story was quite different with Dosunmu now running the point this season as Ball continued rehabbing, but the last two games that’s starting to change.

“That’s really been something we’ve been focusing on,” Dosunmu said of better first-quarter starts. “We’ve been talking about that a lot. The games we won, the games we lost, we always come out [and go down] 12-2, 12-4, and then we have to fight back. If we have to have that fight anyway, why waste it? Why not come out strong, come out and throw that first punch, and then later in the game when we do make that run, rather than it bringing us back from 19 or 10, now it’s giving us an eight-point lead.”

In Dosunmu’s mind, the best way to make sure his team is engaged early? His mouth, but also his defense.

“The offense we have, the shots are going to come,” Dosunmu said. “I just want to be that vocal leader that can come out and harp on guys, keep harping on them, ‘Let’s come out strong [on defense].’ ”

Ball would be proud.

Read More

The Chicago White Sox have officially tabbed Pedro Grifol as their 42nd Manager.

As reported few days back, the Chicago White Sox have officially hired Kansas City Royals bench coach, Pedro Grifol as the team’s new gaffer, replacing Hall of Famer, Tony La Russa.

The White Sox announced the move Thursday after Grifol agreed to take the job earlier in the week.

General manager Rick Hahn mentioned in a statement the 52-year-old Grifol’s experience in a variety of coaching and scouting roles at the major and minor league levels. He also cited the fact that Grifol is bilingual and called him a “modern baseball thinker.”

“He is an excellent communicator and an experienced game planner who brings a high energy and detail-oriented approach to leadership,” Hahn said. “He is committed to building an inclusive and cohesive clubhouse, and we could not be happier to have Pedro leading our club.”

Grifol spent the past 10 seasons in a variety of coaching roles with Kansas City under former managers Ned Yost and Mike Matheny. He was part of teams that captured back-to-back pennants and won the World Series in 2015.

The 52-year-old will try to lift a team coming off of a disappointing season. The White Sox finished second in the AL Central at 81-81 and missed the playoffs after running away with the division in 2021.

La Russa missed the final 34 games because of health problems and announced he would not return, ending a disappointing two-year run with the franchise that gave him his first job as a big league skipper.

Follow us on Twitter at @chicitysports23 for more great content. We appreciate you taking time to read our articles. To interact more with our community and keep up to date on the latest in Chicago sports news, JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP by CLICKING HERE

Read More