Justin Fields gave the Bears something they’ve been needing to see: Proof that he can be a competent NFL quarterback.

But let’s not make more of that than it was.

He certainly was good against the Vikings on Sunday, and it was by far the best he has played in the new offense, but that game needs to be something that will be viewed in retrospect as merely one step in a climb to greatness. If that performance was the high end of what Fields can do, it’s not enough.

“That’s not gonna be the best I ever play in mylife,” he said. “For sure.”

He’s sure, but everyone else will need some convincing. And a perfect opportunity awaits Thursday night against the Commanders for him to strengthen his case that he’s the franchise quarterback.

No matter what opponent Fields was facing after the Vikings, it’d be imperative that he progressed, but the Commanders are a particularly favorable matchup. Not only are they 1-4 with their only win being a squeaker against the Jaguars, but they have one of the NFL’s weakest pass defenses.

The Commanders are begging Fields to light them up.

The short schedule presents a challenge for the young quarterback, but this defense does not.

They have allowed a 103.7 passer rating this season, just three points better than the league-worst Raiders, and they’ve intercepted just one of 163 passes they’ve faced. Three of the quarterbacks they’ve played — Cooper Rush, Jalen Hurts and Jared Goff — put up their best game of the season.

Fields is just days removed from completing 15 of 21 passes for 208 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions for a career-high 118.8 rating. He also ran eight times for 47 yards.

His day would’ve been even better if not for another 64 yards rushing wiped out by penalties and two drops by wide receiver Dante Pettis that cost him another 27. Imagine, too, what Fields might’ve done with a few more chances at the end rather than watching from the sideline after Ihmir Smith-Marsette got stripped.

Beyond the numbers, Fields’ aesthetics were good.

His throws were accurate with minimal exceptions. He also showed a much better awareness of where pressure was coming from and had the patience to sidestep it rather than hit the eject button and take off running prematurely.

“It’s not good enough yet, but I think [he’s] showing signs of growth there,” offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said. “[He’s] showing signs of being willing to sit in there and go through progressions. He’ll keep getting more comfortable. It’ll feel a little bit better for him each and every week.”

But again, the goal is to treat that game as a baseline and build on it. And while it was clear from Fields’ tone that he felt good about how he played, he also saw quite a bit that he left on the table.

“No matter how good you play, I feel like there’s always gonna be room to improve,” he said when askedabout his filmreview of that game.

The Bears need him to maintain that level of efficiency for an entire game, which will lead to increased production. His 208 yards passing against the Vikings felt like a million for the sputtering Bears, but two dozen quarterbacks are averaging more than that.

Fields played very well against the Vikings. That’s undisputed. He’s had other games like that, against the Steelers and Raiders last season, but hasn’t been able to stack them. The question is what significance it carries in the big picture, and he can start piecing together the answer with another sharp game Thursday.

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Jaylon Johnson is back.

The Bears cornerback — and perhaps their second-best defensive player, behind Roquan Smith — did not have an injury designation in Wednesday’s practice, clearing the way for him to start Thursday night against the Commanders.

The Bears held walk-throughs on Monday and Tuesday; they said he would have practiced in full had they held practices on those days.

“He’s looking better and better and better,” coach Matt Eberflus said.

Johnson has missed the past three games since hurting his quad in practice Sept. 22. His return will give a beleaguered Bears defensive backfield a boost after Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins went 32-for-41 for 296 yards and a 94.7 passer rating in Sunday’s 29-22 loss. Cousins completed his first 17 passes.

A second-round pick out of Utah in 2020, Johnson has started all 30 games in which he’s been healthy. Quarterbacks have had a 72.9 passer rating throwing toward Johnson this season. Teams actively avoided Johnson through the first two games, throwing in his direction only four times, and completing two passes.

Receiver N’Keal Harry also had no injury designation. Safety Dane Cruikshank is questionable because of a hamstring injury. He practiced in full Wednesday.

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One month after putting him on the reserve/non-football illness list because of mononucleosis, the Bears returned Raiders offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood to practice Wednesday.

Leatherwood has three weeks to return to the active roster. He’s unlikely to do so Thursday night, when the Bears host the Commanders at Soldier Field.

Leatherwood could eventually develop into a starting option for a Bears offensive line that is playing without starting left guard Cody Whitehair, who went on injured reserve last week after hurting his knee against the Giants.

The Raiders drafted Leatherwood in the first round out of Alabama last year and pegged him for tackle. When he struggled early in the season, the Raiders moved him to right guard in Week 5. He started there for the rest of the year.

The Raiders’ new brass released Leatherwood on cut day. The Bears claimed him and inherited his three-year, $5.9 million contract. The Bears put him on the NFI list on Sept. 14.

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The Chicago Bears might be in the market for a punter

The Chicago Bears added important value to their special teams in the draft. General manager Ryan Poles used critical draft capital in the third round with return specialist Velus Jones Jr. and the seventh round with punter Trenton Gill.

Gill has performed well as a punter in his rookie season. He has the seventh-highest punt average (49.2 yards), but he ranks in the lower tier in the NFL for punts inside the 20-yard line. Gill is ranked as the 16th-best punter on Pro Football Focus, with an overall score of 69.7.

Even with Gill playing decently well at punter, the Bears are keeping an eye on other players at the position. According to Aaron Wilson with the Pro Football Network, the Bears tried out punter Ryan Anderson this week.

Anderson won awards in college

Anderson punted for Rutgers in college. He made first-team All-Big Ten honors in 2017. Anderson won The Eddleman-Fields Punter of the year as well in 2017. The New York Giants signed him in 2019 for their rookie minicamp, but he was later waived in August of that year. It’ll be intriguing to see if the Chicago Bears would like to take a chance on the former Big Ten star punter.

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Former Bulls player Ben Gordon was arrested at LaGuardia Airport in New York after he allegedly struck his 10-year-old son.

According to a report by TMZ, an airline employee told police she saw Gordon hit the child Monday night. Authorities took the child to a local hospital and arrested Gordon. The TMZ report also said Gordon violated a restraining order by taking the child out of Illinois.

But a former girlfriend of Gordon’s named Ashley Banks told the New York Post that the Gordon did not hit the child. Banks claims Gordon was targeted with a false accusation because he is a celebrity.

“The problem is the child was traumatized,” said Banks, who dated Gordon from 2016 to 2020 according to the Post.

“The child saw his father being arrested, taken away,” Banks told the Post. “He was waiting in custody until his aunt picked him up. So that is the worst part of it, you know, and so we want to really protect him.”

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Lenee Beaumont has been around basketball about as long as she can remember.

Her dad, Mike, has coached in the boys program at Glenbard South for more than 20 years.

“As soon as I’d leave preschool, he’d have to take me to practice,” Beaumont said. “I’d be on the sideline, dribbling around and trying to shoot.”

All that practice has paid off in a big way. Today, Beaumont is a 6-foot point guard at Benet, heading into her senior season as one of the top players in the country. Ranked No. 81 in the class of 2023 by espnw/HoopGurlz, Beaumont is committed to Indiana.

Like a lot of athletes who played through the pandemic, Beaumont had an interesting trajectory in recruiting. She picked up her first Division I offer the summer before her freshmanyear, which was spent as a reserve learning from a talented upperclassgroup.

“I didn’t play too much on varsity as a freshman,” Beaumont said. “Our team was loaded.”

Indeed: the Redwingswent 29-3, led by Division I recruits Brooke Schramek (Wisconsin), Kendall Moriarty (Nebraska) and Kendall Holmes (DePaul).

Those veterans’ mentorship proved invaluable, Beaumont said:”Brooke Schramek, we had a big sister-little sister thing.”

After the pandemic eased, interest in Beaumont increased. First came offers from smaller schools, then the ACC, SEC and other Power Five conferences came calling.

“I went on a bunch of visits. I was really planning on waiting it out through AAU,” Beaumont said of her commitment.

But after visiting Indiana and getting to know the program and coaches, the timeline changed.

“I don’t know why I’m waiting,” she recalled thinking. “I knew I wanted to go to Indiana. I loved them the first time I stepped on campus.”

The Hoosiers have been a power under coach Teri Moren, reaching the Elite Eight in 2021. Beaumont got a sneak peek into what to expect playing for Moren over the summer, when she took part in the USA Basketball Women’s U18 camp where the Hoosiers coach was an assistant.

All that is in the future. For now, Beaumont is focused on her senior season. Benet was fourth in Class 4A last season, winning the program’s fourth state trophy in six seasons while competing in a conference (the East Suburban Catholic) that also featured 3A champ Carmel and 3A runner-up Nazareth.

Beaumont wouldn’t have it any other way.

“There’s a lot of good teams, which makes it fun,” she said. “I live for the moments, the close games.”

Benet coach Joe Kilbride appreciates having Beaumont to call on in those matchups.

“She’s so skilled,” he said, noting her career 45% accuracy from three-point range. Plus, he added, “she’s done a really good job in the weight room.”

Kilbride expects Beaumont to take her game to another level by looking more for her own shot this season,

“She’s a very unselfish kid. We’re not asking her to jack 40 shots a game,” he said. “She does need to be more assertive.”

Beaumont is ready to do whatever’s needed.

“I’ve been trying to work on being a leader,” she said. “Going into this year I was really working on my confidence on the court. When I’m not playing well, I lose confidence. [But] I feel like I’m more confident now.”

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The 1985 team remains the Bears’ only Super Bowl champion, and even though Rivera wasn’t a key player, he’ll still be viewed by many through the ’85 prism when Rivera leads the Washington Commanders into Soldier Field for Thursday night’s game.Read More

Ex-Cubs pitchers Scott Effross and David Robertson are going to miss time with injuries

The Cubs bullpen was solid during the first half of the regular season. Most of the praise was for the back end of the bullpen that featured the funk of Scott Effross and closer David Robertson.

At the trade deadline, The Cubs shipped both of them off. Effross was traded to the Yankees for one of their best prospects in pitcher Hayden Wesneski. His MLB debut season was electric (2.18 ERA). The future is bright for Wesneski as he continues to grow. On the hand, Robertson was traded to the Phillies for another pitching prospect in Ben Brown.

Both the relievers continued their strong seasons with their new teams. Heading into the postseason, Robertson and the Phillies defeated the Cardinals in the Wild Card round. Robertson pitched one scoreless inning, striking out two. However, while celebrating a home run by fellow teammate Bryce Harper, Robertson injured himself.

It’s a huge loss for a Phillies team that does not boast a strong bullpen. Hopefully, Robertson gets a chance to pitch again in the postseason as the Phillies stole a win from the defending champs.

The Yankees claimed Game 1 of the ALDS against the Guardians. However, they will be without one of their top bullpen options in Scott Effross. Sporting a 2.13 ERA with the Yankees, he was lights out. News broke out that he needed Tommy John surgery which will sideline Effross for at least a year.

It’s a tragic outcome for a pitcher who was having a brilliant season. Hoping for a speedy recovery to both him and Robertson.

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Ex-Cubs pitchers Scott Effross and David Robertson are going to miss time with injuries

The Cubs bullpen was solid during the first half of the regular season. Most of the praise was for the back end of the bullpen that featured the funk of Scott Effross and closer David Robertson.

At the trade deadline, The Cubs shipped both of them off. Effross was traded to the Yankees for one of their best prospects in pitcher Hayden Wesneski. His MLB debut season was electric (2.18 ERA). The future is bright for Wesneski as he continues to grow. On the hand, Robertson was traded to the Phillies for another pitching prospect in Ben Brown.

Both the relievers continued their strong seasons with their new teams. Heading into the postseason, Robertson and the Phillies defeated the Cardinals in the Wild Card round. Robertson pitched one scoreless inning, striking out two. However, while celebrating a home run by fellow teammate Bryce Harper, Robertson injured himself.

It’s a huge loss for a Phillies team that does not boast a strong bullpen. Hopefully, Robertson gets a chance to pitch again in the postseason as the Phillies stole a win from the defending champs.

The Yankees claimed Game 1 of the ALDS against the Guardians. However, they will be without one of their top bullpen options in Scott Effross. Sporting a 2.13 ERA with the Yankees, he was lights out. News broke out that he needed Tommy John surgery which will sideline Effross for at least a year.

It’s a tragic outcome for a pitcher who was having a brilliant season. Hoping for a speedy recovery to both him and Robertson.

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

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We start our Central division preview with the Indiana Pacers

Basketball is just a week away, after an off-season that seemingly flew by. For Bears fans, I wrote a preview of all the teams in the NFC North, and I wanted to pay it forward to Bulls die-hards to look at the other teams in the Central division of the Eastern Conference. Today, we preview the rebuilding(?) Indiana Pacers.

2021-22 Recap

Record: 25-57 (13th in East)

vs. Bulls: 1-3

Memorable moment: Trading for Tyrese Haliburton, keeping Myles Turner over Domantis Sabonis

2022 Off-Season

Traded Malcolm Brogdon to the Boston Celtics

NBA Draft: Selected Bennedict Mathurin 6th Overall out of Arizona University

2022 Preview

A team seemingly stuck in the middle of the Eastern Conference for years, the Indiana Pacers are on the verge of a full-fledged rebuild(?). Last year, Indiana and the Sacramento Kings shocked the NBA world at the trade deadline when they agreed to a trade sending Guards Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield to Indiana in exchange for a package highlighted by Center Damontis Sabonis.

Haliburton, only 22 years old, is now the cornerstone for the Pacers (at least for this season), and they have enough talent on the roster to hang around the play-in tournament if their players remain healthy. The question is, will the Pacers want to stay competitive, and if so, why?

 

Direction / Wenbanyama

The Pacers are notorious for not tanking, a thought process led by owner Herb Simon. Indiana is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, basketball states in the country and the Pacers are very important to their community. It’s hard to tell people that love basketball so dearly that you’re going to intentionally suck for a year.

This is the year for that to happen.

Indiana is the only team in the Central division to not have much incentive to win this season, therefore they are the only team of the five in the Victor Wenbanyama sweepstakes, potentially. Wenbanyama is worth all the hype +10, and he’s going to historically alter the landscape of whatever franchise he joins. So, how can Indiana give themselves the best shot at drafting him #1?

Trade Assets

Foward-Center Myles Turner has been on the trade market for at least 2-3 years, and the Pacers have been almost comically unsuccessful in dealing him. Guard Buddy Hield, is also a valued asset for any team who could use shooting (looking at you Lakers).

Indiana and Los Angeles have been linked for months, a potential Turner-Hield for Russell Westbrook swap that would surely involve one or both of the Lakers’ 2027 and 2029 first-round picks. If the Lakers start the year off poorly, they might panic and eventually pull the trigger on that trade, clearing the way for a Pacers tank job.

Youth

In terms of the on-court product, Indiana actually has young players worth watching. Haliburton, yes everyone loves him. Bennedict Mathurin, their first-round pick from the 2022 NBA draft, Center Jalen Smith, whom they acquired from Phoenix last February, and Forward Oshae Brissett, all should get plenty of runs. The front office should have a better knowledge of what they really have and who they want to keep when they decide to make a run in the now-loaded Eastern Conference.

Prediction

Turner and Hield will be gone by the trade deadline and this team will finish last in the Eastern Conference, joining the Spurs, Jazz, and Thunder as the teams with the best chances to get Wenbanyama. Tyrese Haliburton will be awesome to watch until he gets shut down for the season due to “knee soreness”.

 

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