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At first, Andy Dalton wasn’t Russell Wilson.

Then he wasn’t Justin Fields.

All along — from when he signed a one-year deal in mid-March, past when his team drafted the rookie quarterback and throughout training camp — Dalton been the Bears’ starter. And this is what he’s had to show the court of public opinion over almost six months: 33 ho-hum preseason snaps.

That changes Sunday when the Bears play the Rams.

“There’s a lot that’s gone on since March, but all that’s led to this point right here,” Dalton said Wednesday. “Regardless of everything that’s gone on, we’re here at Week 1, and this is exactly what I wanted. I wanted this opportunity, and now we’re looking forward to making the most of it.”

Bears coaches — and fans — will judge his performance Sunday at SoFi Stadium against what’s behind door No. 2. That’s Fields, whose standout training camp has hastened the timeline for a quarterback transition. To what extent, the Bears aren’t saying. Dalton figures to keep the job as long as he plays well, but that’s no guarantee for a quarterback whose passer rating last season was almost identical to Mitch Trubisky’s career mark.

Dalton starting in Week 1 caps a stressful offseason for Bears fans. In the week leading up to NFL free agency, the Bears made a monster trade offer for Wilson — but the Seahawks decided they couldn’t part with their quarterback. The Bears told Dalton — who also considered the 49ers, among other teams — would be the starter when he signed a one-year, $10 million contract. Six-and-a-half weeks later, they drafted Fields.

Dalton’s start Sunday is set against that backdrop — though he can’t let himself think that way.

“That’s the worst thing you can do, is, look over your shoulder,” he said. “So. I think that’s understanding that is key. …

“We’re talking about tuning out the stuff you don’t need to focus on and knowing where you need to put your time and effort and all that kind of stuff. I think that’s just where I’m at. You don’t worry about all the other stuff.”

Even as they gush about Fields’ potential, the Bears have been pleased with Dalton in practice.

“I’ve seen his play speed affect the offense,” offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said. “I’ve seen his cadence affect the offense, his tempo in and out of the huddle affect the offense. And there’s no doubt that his confidence has affected the offense.”

There’s hope at Halas Hall that Dalton’s experience alone gives them an upgrade over what they had in Trubisky and his skillset is an uptick above Nick Foles. At walk-throughs, when the Bears send complicated blitzes at their offenses as a mental exercise, Dalton has been unfazed. He’s seen it all.

“There tends to be very little panic from a guy who’s faced it before and has had success,” Lazor said. “That’s just kind of what he brings to the table. That gets pushed onto everybody when he’s calling the plays. Or even when something gets messed up he can say, ‘Wait a second, we can do it this way’ — and he has an answer ready.

“He’s learned the language and the different tools we have to respond to problems and he’s ready to apply them. And, again, a lot of it is because he had to before.”

He hasn’t seen many defenses like the Rams, though — no one allowed fewer points per game or yards per play last year.

“This is going to be a good test to start the year,” he said.

For the Bears — and more so for Dalton.

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Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a 5-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.

This afternoon will be mostly sunny with a high near 78 degrees. Tonight will be partly cloudy with a low around 57. Tomorrow will be mostly sunny with a high near 76.

Top story

Class action lawsuit against CPD alleges racial profiling in stop and frisk practices

When he was 18 years old, Rashawn Lindsey was stopped, handcuffed and frisked by a Chicago police officer while walking home with a friend in 2015.

The officer began going through their pockets and demanded to know if either had marijuana on them. They didn’t.

“I felt like a criminal,” Lindsey, now 24, said. “They had no reason to stop us. We were just walking. The problem was it was at night and we got our skin.”

Attorneys at Romanucci & Blandin, LLC and Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge, LLC allege Lindsey’s “stop and frisk” was a violation of his Fourth Amendment rights.

Now, Lindsey is one of two million people involved in a class-action lawsuit certified by Judge Andrea Wood on Aug. 31.

According to the lawsuit, the Chicago Police Department’s stop and frisk practice targeted young and middle-aged minorities without the required “reasonable suspicion” that a crime has been or is about to happen.

The lawsuit alleges that in 2014, more than 715,000 stops were conducted. More than 70% percent of those stops happened to Black residents and more than 15% to Hispanic residents, according to the lawsuit. But there were no recoveries of illicit contraband, according to attorney Antonio Romanucci.

With the class action certified, Romanucci said there is a possibility of a trial, although they would prefer an agreement of change be manufactured through talks with the mayor and CPD.

Cheyanne M. Daniels has more on the suit and the impact of stop and frisk policies here.

More news you need

Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office announced today it will investigate the Joliet Police Department for evidence of a pattern of civil rights abuses. It’s a move that comes more than a year after a man died in police custody.

Lake Central High School in northwest Indiana was put on lockdown this morning after reports of an active shooter, but police said no shots were fired and no one was injured. Two students were taken in for questioning, according to the school.

A Lincoln Park woman was upset that her son would miss school when she falsely claimed a bomb was on a plane at a South Florida airport after missing her flight, her family says. Marina Verbitsky, 46, was arrested and charged with falsely reporting a bomb, and a judge set her bail at $10,000 — which she posted yesterday.

Former Sen. Adlai Stevenson III died Monday at his North Side home at age 90. For the better part of a century, his name was a household word in politics as a member of a political dynasty that included those who served in the White House and those who sought to but fell short.

A $122 million project to modernize apartments for low-income renters at the former Lawson House YMCA won crucial support from aldermen yesterday. A city loan of up to $17.59 million was approved to back the renovation of the Art Deco building at 30 W. Chicago Ave.

Veterinarians at Brookfield Zoo started administering COVID-19 vaccine doses last weekend to gorillas, sloths and other animals considered to be at high risk for contracting the virus. Shots at Lincoln Park Zoo will begin over the next few weeks.

For more than two years, teens from Belmont Cragin Youth Leadership Council have fought for bike lanes in their community, hoping to avoid tragic accidents. Finally, in August, their fight bore fruit, as new bike lanes started sprouting in the Northwest Side neighborhood.

An inflatable slide that looks like the sinking Titanic keeps popping up at Chicago events, including one this past weekend. Unlike most bounce houses, this one references one of the worst maritime disasters in history.

A bright one

West Side partnership to provide free legal aid, social services to juveniles, young adults

Four West Side nonprofits have formed a coalition in hopes of strengthening public safety through free legal aid and wrap-around social services for children and young adults.

“For decades we have spent billions of dollars policing, prosecuting and incarcerating primarily Black and Latino communities in Chicago,” Cliff Nellis, executive director of the Lawndale Christian Legal Center, said at a news conference Tuesday.

“This has led out to … the massive numbers of permanent debilitating criminal records [and] lengthy prison sentences — and exacerbated the cycle of poverty, the cycle violence and racial inequity in our city.”

That coalition, Justice Rising: Project 77, aims to break those cycles.

Yolanda Fields (from left), executive director at Breakthrough, speaks to Lawndale Christian Legal Center employees Diamond Texas, Carli Taylor and Asha Grayson yesterday.Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

One member of the coalition, the Lawndale Christian Legal Center, 1530 S. Hamlin Ave., will be assigning one attorney to be on site at each of the other three nonprofits in the coalition: Breakthrough, 3219 W. Carroll Ave. in East Garfield Park; BUILD, 5100 W. Harrison St. in Austin; and New Life Centers of Chicagoland, 3908 W. Hirsch St. in Little Village.

Those three attorneys will provide free legal help to potential clients who have cases pending in Cook County’s juvenile and adult courts.

Yolanda Fields, executive director of Breakthrough, said their organization has had a lot of success with providing services for families but access to quality legal aid is something that has been missing. Just because someone has had a run-in with the law, she said, doesn’t mean they should be forgotten.

“We believe that redemption is possible and that redemption doesn’t absolve us but it creates an opportunity for hope,” Fields said. “We are not just helping young people, but we are helping our community. We are restoring hope, we’re repairing and we are providing opportunities for harm to be reconciled and healed.”

Manny Ramos has the full story on the partnership here.

From the press box

As good as the White Sox have been this season, we’ve never seen them go on a tear that shows what the team looks like when clicking on all levels, Steve Greenberg writes.
Justin Fields is as talented as everyone thought, so now what do the Bears do? The answer is rooted in where they want to go — and how methodically they want to bring him along, Patrick Finley writes.
Andy Dalton is starting Sunday, but Rams coach Sean McVay says his team is preparing for the possibility that the Bears use Fields as well.

If the Cubs want a quick rebuild, starting pitching needs to be a priority, Russell Dorsey writes.

Your daily question ?

What’s some of the best advice you’ve ever received?

Email us (please include your first name and where you live) and we might include your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

Yesterday, we asked you: When does summer feel officially over to you? Here’s what some of you said…

“When I am outside and that first wave of a breeze from the northwest flows around me. I love it!” — Joyce Newcom

“Well, everyone says Labor Day but for me is when I’m officially done with open water swimming which is usually late Sept, early Oct.” — Erika Hoffmann

“When school starts summer is officially over for students and teachers.” — Carolyn Denny

“When the leaves are down on the sidewalks and the crunching of them beneath my shoes can be heard.” — Juliana Pelaez

“First time I have to clear frost off the windshield.” — John Krein

“When Mother Nature turns on the air conditioning.” — Charlotte Abel

“This year, I’d say around Week 6 when the Bears are 2-4 and Nagy in desperation to save his job, starts Justin Fields.” — Christopher Bouloukos

Thanks for reading the Chicago Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.

Sign up here to get the Afternoon Edition in your inbox every day.

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The Blackhawks on Wednesday announced that ceremonies for four longtime players will be held this season.

Patrick Kane’s milestone of 1,000 NHL games played — which he achieved last season without fans in the building — will be honored Oct. 21 against the Canucks, two days after the regular-season home opener against the Islanders.

Additionally, the Hawks will hold “legacy nights” to honor the recent retirements of Andrew Shaw, Brent Seabrook and Niklas Hjalmarsson later in the season.

Shaw’s ceremony will be Jan. 13 against the Canadiens, his other former team, while Seabrook’s will be Jan. 31 against the Canucks. And March 3 against the Oilers, Hjalmarsson — the most recent of the three to retire — will don a Hawks sweater for the first time since his 2017 trade to the Coyotes.

The NHL flipped two April home games earlier Wednesday: the Hawks now host the Kings on April 12 and the Sharks on April 14. The Sharks game will include a celebration of the career of retiring play-by-play broadcaster Pat Foley.

Other notable 2021-22 special nights include Native American Heritage Night (Nov. 7 vs. Predators), Military Appreciation Night (Nov. 12 vs. Coyotes), Hockey Fights Cancer Night (Nov. 28 vs. Sharks), a St. Patrick’s Day celebration (March 8 vs. Ducks) and Pride Night (April 12 vs. Kings).

The team’s often popular training camp festival will not be held this season. The preseason starts Sept. 29 against the Red Wings.

Single-game tickets will go on sale next Tuesday, Sept. 14, at noon. All fans ages 12 and older will need to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test to enter the United Center this season.

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Starting Friday, Sept. 17, the Sky will require all fans to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test taken within 48 hours prior to attending a game at Wintrust Arena. This mandate is for fans ages 12 and older.

The continued rise in COVID-19 cases and breakthrough cases prompted the Sky’s front office to reevaluate their policy. Ultimately the decision was made to align with other large indoor venues, like the United Center, in making these requirements.

This new policy is in addition to the statewide mask mandate requiring all fans to wear masks.

“We have a lot of young people that come to our games,” Sky President/CEO Adam Fox said. “They are young people that can’t get vaccinated. We want it to be a safe environment for everyone attending our games.”

The Sky’s entire front office with the exception of two employees is vaccinated. The WNBA announced early in the season that 99% of its players are fully vaccinated. Despite the league’s almost perfect vaccination rate players have still tested positive for COVID-19.

Dallas Wings forward Isabelle Harrison and Las Vegas Aces center Liz Cambage both tested positive last week and were placed in the league’s health and safety protocols. Both players are fully vaccinated.

These requirements will affect Sky games and not Wintrust Arena or the McCormick Place campus.

The Sky clinched their third straight playoff berth on Sunday, beating the Aces 92-84. Their remaining three games are all at home and will determine seeding. Currently sixth in the league the Sky will host the No. 7 seed if they stay locked in this spot.

The WNBA playoffs’ first and second rounds are single elimination. The top two teams in the league, currently the Connecticut Sun and the Aces receive a bye to the semifinals.

In the first round, the No. 5 seed hosts the No. 8 seed and the No. 6 seed hosts the No. 7 seed. In the second round, the No. 3 seed hosts the lowest-seeded first-round winner and the No. 4 seed hosts the other first-round winner.

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The state’s legislators are too far from Chicago for the city’s inhabitants to really care, giving city leaders more power and Downstate politicians more room to hide.Read More

As I sit here contemplating all the things that could go right or wrong for the Bears this season, I can’t shake the nagging suspicion that there should be more to my life. That somewhere along the line, a man of so many accumulated years must have gotten seriously off track to be this concerned with what are, in the grand scheme of things, trivial matters. That while other people wrestle with the really important, really adult stuff — health insurance, the hereafter, black shoes and brown belts (fashion sin or fashion revelation?) — I wonder if Allen Robinson is OK. Is the wide receiver’s head in the right place? Has he been wronged contractually too many times by the Bears?

Such questions give a person pause about the trajectory of his life. Then the person says to himself, “If the Bears’ defense doesn’t have gap control this season, all is lost.”

Most of the “expert” predictions for the 2021 season have the Bears going 7-10, 8-9 or 9-8. Those predictions are based on the team’s 8-8 record each of the past two seasons and the idea that very few of the new additions to the roster offer hope that things will be much different this year. The NFL’s tacking on of a 17th game only means that the Bears can’t be the numeric definition of mediocre anymore.

So they’re going to have to make do with what they have, starting Sunday night against the Rams. And that’s how the question of likelihood elbowed its way into my thoughts. I wondered what was more feasible — all the dice landing right for the Bears this season or the opposite, which is to say, everything going down the drain.

Let’s start with the positive, a scenario in which all that the team touches turns to gold. What would that look like? It would look like a very good quarterback, something the Bears haven’t had in … I believe the word is “forever.” That means either veteran Andy Dalton has close to a career year or his replacement, rookie Justin Fields, is the exciting, productive quarterback so many Bears fans are sure he is.

The possibility of that happening is tied to the offensive line thriving. It’s tied to the idea that the left tackle, 39-year-old Jason Peters, can still protect the quarterback’s blind side. It’s incumbent on the line, which didn’t play well in preseason games, getting its act together. We’ve seen it happen before, where an O-line gels as a season progresses, going from a hands-over-the-eyes horror story to a well-choreographed success.

The everything-goes-right scenario has Robinson and Darnell Mooney turning into the best receiver combo in the league. It has running back David Montgomery turning in his best season to date, the Bears’ clot of tight ends playing well and whoever is calling the plays from coach Matt Nagy’s playbook turning into a creative genius.

It has the Bears’ defense bouncing back from an underwhelming 2020 and getting back to being its excellent self.

Ten victories and a taste of postseason success, baby!

The odds of all that happening?

Um.

Er.

Not good.

Let’s look at the likelihood of everything going wrong for the Bears. It would entail Dalton being so bad that Fields takes over almost immediately and struggles like a rookie quarterback might. It would entail Peters looking every bit like a beat-up 17-year veteran and right tackle Germain Ifedi looking every bit like Germain Ifedi. It would entail the offensive line backing up Pro Football Focus’ appraisal that the Bears have one of the worst units in the league.

In this empty glass scenario, the defense continues its downward trend, Khalil Mack falls off even farther as a pass rusher and opposing offenses take advantage of new coordinator Sean Desai.

It means five to seven victories and a pair of powerful binoculars to watch the playoffs from afar. Bears chairman George McCaskey finally gives Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace the heave-ho. (What does a true-blue Bears fan root for here?)

Given the so-so talent level on the roster, the odds of all that bad stuff happening are better than the odds of everything going right for the Bears.

A football season isn’t an either/or proposition, of course. The likeliest scenario is the middle ground of those two extremes. It’s what happens when an unexceptional team asks a first-round draft pick to make everything better. Maybe Fields can do that eventually, but it’s hard to see it happening this season.

An 8-9 record sounds about right. It sounds unexciting. It sounds like a recipe for having the GM and the coach back for another season.

As I said earlier, how does a person get to a point where these are the issues that dominate his thoughts, especially when there are so many other weightier topics to ponder? Like the economy.

And special teams.

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