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Billy Donovan has worn a lot of hats lately.

So therapist is nothing new for the Bulls coach.

That’s what it had to feel like the last few weeks, as Donovan and his coaching staff have been dealing with a roster that was decimated by the league’s health and safety protocols, and a lot of players pretty frustrated with the entire situation.

“We’ve talked about it a lot,” Donovan said on Sunday, discussing what’s gone on behind the curtain with all the recent downtime. “These guys have been great in dealing with not only what we’ve had to deal with, but what everyone has had to deal with around the league. I think there was a hope and an expectation that when the season started we would slowly be moving out of this, with the fans coming back in the building, some of the vaccination rules, the masks being off, and you thought you’d be getting back into more of a regular season.

“I think it would be very easy for our guys to get frustrated or down. But I think our guys have handled themselves really well, and I really, really appreciate their professionalism and the way they’ve conducted themselves. The thing we’ve talked about it listen, we’ve got to be able to manage and control our frustration, anger, disappointment … that’s just not going to serve anyone well. It’s just not. These are the situations, we’re not making a lot of these decisions, the league is.

“We’ve got to follow protocols and try and keep each other safe. What we can really control is our attitude, our disposition, our approach each day, and how we do that is we’ve got to be productive. We need to be productive with what we’re allowed to do.”

Easier said than done for the Bulls since last weekend.

They not only had two games postponed during the week, but had the practice complex shutdown from all team activity except one healthy player, one basket, one coach to work with.

That changed on Saturday, when the league allowed the first practice of the week, and Donovan was able to get the likes of DeMar DeRozan, Javonte Green and Coby White some much needed practice time.

Derrick Jones Jr. was able to get a little work in, as well as work on his conditioning during the Sunday shootaround, but the coach was still not close to having a whole roster, let alone having players that aren’t frustrated by everything that’s gone on.

“The train is going to keep on moving,” Donovan said. “We just have to roll with some of these punches and deal with it.”

Final Four?

The last group of players hit were Zach LaVine, Alize Johnson, Troy Brown Jr., and Ayo Dosunmu. Donovan said the other day that they could all miss games until after Christmas, and that hasn’t changed.

“You also have to feel comfortable putting them on the floor and being able to play with enough of a buildup where they feel they have some kind of base and foundation before they feel like they can come back to playing,” Donovan said.

Coach questions

What’s amazed Donovan throughout the last few weeks is while 10 players and two broadcasters have been put into the protocol, not one coach on his staff has been hit.

“I asked that exact question two days ago to our medical people,” Donovan said. “Why? We’re around these guys, we’re together, we’re in locker rooms, we’re in planes and buses. We’re in huddles. And the response I got was, ‘Count yourself lucky.’ So I don’t think there’s anything we’re doing as much as we’ve been very fortunate.”

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Well that was a rough week. My plan for the last few days was to cover St. Patrick vs. Notre Dame, Evanston at New Trier and DePaul Prep against Benet. Only one of those games happened, which is the way things are going these days. About 40 games were canceled over the weekend.

Make sure to triple-check that a game is actually happening before you head out to one this week. Twitter is probably the best source for that, especially with a lot of the schools already out for the holidays.

This week is pretty quiet. The Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic starts up on Tuesday and the Jacobs Tournament continues.

Marian Catholic and Oak Forest both dropped out of the rankings. The Spartans lost to Tinley Park and Brother Rice, two talented teams. Richards beat Oak Forest.

Larkin and Benet, two teams that have done nothing but win this season, join the rankings. The Redwings have only lost to Proviso East and Larkin’s loss was the first week of the season to Rockford East.

Super 25 for Dec. 19, 2021

1. Glenbard West (10-0) 1

Off until York

2. Kenwood (8-2) 2

Three-win week

3. Simeon (6-1) 3

Split in South Dakota

4. Glenbrook South (8-1) 4

Hosts Morgan Park Wednesday

5. Young (4-2) 5

Lost to Oak Hill

6. Curie (12-0) 6

Off till Pontiac

7. Hillcrest (8-1) 7

Favorites at Big Dipper

8. Bolingbrook (9-0) 8

Beat Bradley-Bourbonnais

9. Bloom (7-2) 9

At Thornwood Tuesday

10. Brother Rice (9-1) 10

Surpassing expectations

11. Orr (6-0) 11

Knocked off Lincoln Park

12. Mount Carmel (10-0) 12

Hosts Comer Tuesday

13. Oswego East (11-0) 13

Beat Yorkville Christian

14. DePaul Prep (9-0) 14

Benet game postponed

15. New Trier (12-1) 15

Won title in Arizona

16. Lake Forest (7-2) 16

Alex Forowycz can score

17. Thornton (5-2) 17

Major contenders at Big Dipper

18. Riverside-Brookfield (9-1) 20

Beat St. Francis

19. Leo (4-1) 21

At Bremen Monday

20. Evanston (6-2) 22

In Centralia next

21. Wheaton Warrenville South (9-0) 23

Handled Wheaton North

22. Proviso East (7-0) 25

Dark horse at Proviso West

23. St. Rita (8-3) 25

Turned it around last week

24. Benet (7-1) NR

Six consecutive wins

25. Larkin (10-1) NR

Demolishing teams

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The Bears placed cornerback Jaylon Johnson and safety Tashaun Gipson on the reserve/COVID-19 list Sunday, further depleting their already short-handed roster for Monday night’s game against the Vikings.

With the addition of Johnson and Gipson, the Bears have 14 players on the reserve/COVID-19 list. That includes their entire starting secondary — cornerbacks Johnson and Artie Burns, safeties Gipson and Eddie Jackson and nickel cornerback Duke Shelley, who is on injured reserve and had returned to practice Thursday before being put on the reserve/COVID-19 list Friday. Cornerback Kindle Vildor, who started the first 10 games before being benched in favor of Burns, is active.

Vaccinated, asymptomatic players on the reserve/COVID-19 list can still be activated for the game under relaxed return-to-play rules recently negotiated between the NFL and the NFL Players Association. But it is less likely that players who were put on the reserve/COVID on Sunday would be able to meet the requirements.

The Bears’ reserve/COVID-19 players also include wide receiver Allen Robinson, right tackle Larry Borom, quarterback Andy Dalton, tight end Jesse James, defensive end Joel Iyiegbuniwe and defensive end Mario Edwards.

The Bears’ biggest issue, pending the availability of reserve/COVID-19 players, is in the secondary. With safety DeAndre Houston-Carson (broken arm) and cornerback Xavier Crawford (concussion) out for Monday night’s game, the only available secondary players on the roster are cornerbacks Vildor and Teez Tabor and safeties Deon Bush and Marqui Christian.

The Bears likely will have to dip into their practice squad pool to fill in. They have four defensive backs on their practice squad: Cornerbacks Thomas Graham, Jr., Michael Joseph, Thakarius Keyes and Dee Virgin.

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KEY MATCHUP

A week after going toe-to-toe with Packers wide receiver extraordinaire Davante Adams, Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson gets another major challenge against Vikings emerging star Justin Jefferson in a battle of second-year players.

Jefferson, who was a second-team All-Pro selection as a rookie last year when had had 88 receptions for 1,400 yards (15.9 avg.) and seven touchdowns, has been even better this season — 85 receptions for 1,288 yards (15.2 avg.) and eight touchdowns in just 13 games.

Jefferson has had 140 or more receiving yards in three of his last five games — nine catches for 143 yards and a touchdown against the Chargers; eight catches for 169 yards and two touchdowns against the Packers; and 11 catches for 182 yards and a touchdown against the Lions.

Jefferson had eight receptions for 135 yards against the Bears at Soldier Field in his only match-up with Johnson last season (Johnson missed the re-match with a shoulder injury). But with Kyle Fuller in Denver, Johnson has emerged as a player who shadows the other team’s top receiver. So the battle is on.

TRENDING

As much as Matt Nagy has struggled to beat the Packers in his four seasons (1-7), he’s had much better success against the Vikings (5-1).

The Bears shut down Vikings running back Dalvin Cook in the first three of those victories — 34 carries for 86 yards (2.5 avg.) They lost their grip on Cook last year, though — Cook had 30 carries for 96 yards in the 19-13 victory at Soldier Field and finally broke out with 24 carries for 132 yards and a touchdown in a 33-27 Bears victory at U.S. Bank Stadium.

PLAYER TO WATCH

Bears rookie Teven Jenkins is expected to get his first NFL start in place of injured left tackle Jason Peters. Jenkins, a second-round pick who was slated to be the starting left tackle before undergoing back surgery in August, replaced Peters in the first quarter against the Packers last week and had four penalties and allowed a strip-sack of Justin Fields that led to a turnover.

Jenkins has more advanced notice this week — though the Bears did not practice live because of a coronavirus outbreak — and will be playing at home. The Vikings lead the NFL in sacks with 41, but also are 29th in total defense, 27th in rushing defense and 25th in passing defense, so there’s also opportunity for success.

X-FACTOR

The Bears have had a difficult week with 13 players and all three coordinators in coronavirus protocol. Wide receiver Allen Robinson, safety Eddie Jackson and right tackle Larry Borom are among the players on the reserve/COVID-19 list. The Vikings have their own issues — starting cornerback Bashaud Breeland was waived Saturday after a verbal altercation with coaches and teammates — but didn’t have nearly the tumult the Bears have had to deal with this week.

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The NBA has postponed the Nets‘ next two games because of the COVID-19 surge that has decimated Brooklyn’s roster.

Brooklyn’s home games Sunday against the Denver Nuggets and Tuesday against the Washington Wizards have been postponed, the NBA announced Sunday.

The Nets currently have 10 players in the league’s health and safety protocols, including stars Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving.

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The Cavaliers and Hawks had their Sunday game postponed as well after Cleveland had five players test positive for COVID-19 on Sunday. The Pelicans‘ game Sunday against the 76ers and the Magic‘s game Monday against the Raptors also were postponed.

In total, the NBA has postponed seven games this season. The Chicago Bulls had two games postponed last week but are scheduled to be back in action Sunday night at home against the Los Angeles Lakers.

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The NBA has postponed Sunday’s game between the Denver Nuggets and Brooklyn Nets amid the surge of positive COVID-19 cases around the league, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Nets have 10 players in the league’s health and safety protocols, including stars Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving.

It’s the second game scheduled for Sunday to be postponed. The Cavaliers and Hawks had their game postponed as well, sources told ESPN, after Cleveland had five players test positive for COVID-19 on Sunday.

In total, the NBA has postponed four games this season. The Chicago Bulls had two games postponed last week, but are scheduled to be back in action Sunday night at home against the Los Angeles Lakers.

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