GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A man upset over state-ordered coronavirus restrictions was sentenced to just over six years in prison Wednesday for planning to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a significant break that reflected his quick decision to cooperate and help agents build cases against others.

Ty Garbin admitted his role in the alleged scheme weeks after his arrest last fall. He is among six men charged in federal court but the only one to plead guilty so far. It was a key victory for prosecutors as they try to prove an astonishing plot against the others.

Garbin apologized to Whitmer, who was not in court, and her family.

“I cannot even begin to imagine the amount of stress and fear her family felt because of my actions. And for that I am truly sorry,” the 25-year-old aviation mechanic told the judge.

In his plea agreement, Garbin said the six men trained at his property near Luther, Michigan, constructing a “shoot house” to resemble Whitmer’s vacation home and “assaulting it with firearms.”

This file photo provided by the Kent County Sheriff, shows Ty Garbin.AP

The government, noting Garbin’s exceptional cooperation, asked U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker to give him credit for helping investigators reinforce their case against his co-defendants. He’s likely to testify at any trial.

The government sought a nine-year prison term, but Jonker went lower at 6 1/4 years.

Garbin “didn’t hold back,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler said. “He would come out and say, ‘We planned to do this and I was knowingly a part of it.’ He sat for hours answering all of our questions.”

Indeed, defense attorney Gary Springstead told the judge that Garbin “is going to be a star witness” against the others.

“Ty Garbin testified in front of the grand jury in support of the indictment that got him indicted. He is truly, generally and sincerely sorry,” said Mark Satawa, another defense lawyer.

When the kidnapping case was filed in October, Whitmer, a Democrat, pinned some blame on then-President Donald Trump, saying his refusal to denounce far-right groups had inspired extremists across the U.S. It added even more heat to the final weeks of a tumultuous election season.

Whitmer wrote a victim impact statement to the judge, saying, “things will never be the same.”

“Threats continue,” she said in June. “I have looked out my windows and seen large groups of heavily armed people within 30 yards of my home. I have seen myself hung in effigy. Days ago at a demonstration there was a sign that called for ‘burning the witch.'”

Last year, Whitmer put major restrictions on personal movement and the economy because of COVID-19, although many limits have since been lifted. The Michigan Capitol was the site of rallies, including ones with gun-toting protesters calling for the governor’s removal.

“The plots and threats against me, no matter how disturbing, could not deter me from doing everything I could to save as many lives as possible by listening to medical and health experts,” Whitmer said. “To me it is very simple: this had to be the priority.”

___

White reported from Detroit.

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Federal jurors in New York have now heard a week of emotional and graphic testimony in the racketeering trial of R&B superstar R. Kelly, including from two alleged victims who are the first to ever testify against the singer in a criminal proceeding.

The jury listened to explicit allegations of sexual abuse, violence and edicts known as “Rob’s rules.” It also heard about the alleged 1994 bribery of an Illinois government worker in exchange for a fake ID so singer Aaliyah Haughton, then 15, could marry Kelly, then 27.

But in opening statements, Kelly defense attorney Nicole Blank Becker warned jurors, “don’t assume everybody’s telling the truth.” And as the trial has unfolded, Kelly’s defense team has done its best to undermine the credibility of people who have taken the stand.

Doing so could mean striking a difficult balance when it comes to Kelly’s accusers, though. While Kelly’s lawyers and supporters have longed for the opportunity to reveal the women as unreliable groupies hoping to profit off their connection to the singer, an aggressive attack on their credibility in front of the jury could backfire.

“You can’t just get in their face and just start screaming at them,” said Terry Ekl, a veteran Chicago-area defense attorney. “The jury will start to sympathize with that person.”

Kelly, 54 and born Robert Sylvester Kelly, faces allegations that he ran an “enterprise” made up of his employees and others who helped him recruit women and girls for illegal sex, as well as to produce child pornography.

His federal trial in Brooklyn comes 13 years after a Cook County jury acquitted Kelly of child pornography charges in 2008. Jurors in that case pointed to the purported victim’s refusal to testify after finding him not guilty.

In this courtroom artist’s sketch made from a video screen monitor of a Brooklyn courtroom, defendant R. Kelly, left, listens during the opening day of his trial, Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021 in New York.AP

In the Brooklyn case now underway, Jerhonda Pace last week became the first alleged victim of Kelly’s to testify against him at trial, telling jurors her sexual relationship with Kelly began in May 2009, when she was 16. She testified that when she revealed her virginity to him, Kelly said he wanted to “train her” sexually and told her to call him “Daddy.”

Pace, who appeared in the Lifetime documentary series “Surviving R. Kelly,” faced cross examination from defense attorney Deveraux Cannick, who questioned her about her age during her relationship with Kelly, the past lies she told in order to attend Kelly’s 2008 child pornography trial, and about whether she had once burglarized Kelly’s home.

“You wrote a book, am I correct?” Cannick also asked.

“Yes, I did,” Pace replied.

“And any compensation for the book?” Cannick asked next.

Pace acknowledged she made money from the book, which she self-published.

Crucial testimony also came from former Kelly tour manager Demetrius Smith, who testified under an immunity order and made clear he didn’t want to participate in the trial. He told jurors he paid the $500 bribe to secure a fake ID for Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash in 2001.

The feds say Kelly married Aaliyah to prevent her from testifying against him after he came to believe she had gotten pregnant.

On cross examination, Cannick asked Smith, “Now, Robert never had anything to do with you bribing anyone to get a marriage license, am I correct?”

“No, he didn’t,” Smith said.

When Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Cruz Melendez had a chance to ask follow-up questions, she asked whether Kelly was present for a discussion about the bribe.

“I’m pretty sure,” Smith said. “I think so but I’m not, I’m just not positive. Even if I said it before, I’m just not positive. I just don’t see that in my head right now.” He later added, “I don’t remember if Robert was there.”

Smith also insisted that, “Aaliyah should be left alone. I shouldn’t be talking about Aaliyah.”

A second accuser took the stand this week, and more are expected to follow. To effectively cross-examine such witnesses, Ekl said defense attorneys hope to show bias. It helps when attorneys are able to point out testimony from a witness that contradicts previous comments, or even to a past admission of bias made to another witness.

But corroborating evidence can be used by prosecutors to support the testimony of an otherwise flawed witness. And now, 13 years after a purported victim’s refusal to testify led to Kelly’s acquittal, the multiple accusers in the Brooklyn racketeering case may wind up corroborating each other through similarities in their testimony.

“That becomes powerful evidence,” Ekl said.

Contributing: Associated Press

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Patrick Wisdom has had some incredible home runs in his breakout rookie season. But there may not be one as impressive as the one hit launched in Game 1 of Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Rockies.

The Cubs were looking for a big swing from their third baseman in the 5-3 win over Colorado and he provided one in the fifth inning. With the game tied at 2, the offense went on the attack. First baseman Frank Schwindel tripled into the left field corner followed by a Matt Duffy walk and bringing Wisdom to the plate.

“I knew his name coming through the minor league system,” said Zach Davies, who threw 4 2/3 innings in Game 1. “Especially being in the same division, knowing what type of player he is, and finally getting an extended opportunity to prove that he’s a big-league player. … “That guy in the lineup at any moment can change the game.”

Wisdom hadn’t had the best afternoon up to that point against Rockies starter Austin Gomber with a pair of strikeouts in his first two at-bats on sliders. Gomber had a similar approach in the third at-bat and with a 1-1 count he challenged Wisdom with another slider. But this time, he didn’t miss it.

The Cubs’ third baseman crushed a hanging slider onto Waveland Ave. and nearly hit the building across the street. The 438-foot blast would not only give the Cubs a 5-2 lead, but it was also the game-winner.

“I think the power is real. We’ve talked about that a lot,” manager David Ross said. “21 homers now and has been holding down the middle of my order for a while with really big hits. … He’s doing a lot of good things in a lot of different moments.”

The three-run shot added to Wisdom’s NL rookie lead in homers with 21. While it will be tough to catch Reds second baseman Jonathan India, he’s certainly given himself a chance to finish in the Top-5 of NL Rookie of the Year balloting.

Ross doesn’t have a vote for the award, but he isn’t hiding who he’d cast his ballot for if he did.

“I really had a vote, I’d vote for my guy,” Ross said with a smile. “If it was yours, I would probably be unbiased, but if it was actually mine, I would imagine I’d vote for Wisdom.”

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RICHMOND, Va. — A federal appeals court Wednesday upheld Dylann Roof’s conviction and death sentence for the 2015 racist slayings of nine members of a Black South Carolina congregation, saying the legal record cannot even capture the “full horror” of what he did.

A unanimous three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond rejected arguments that the young white man should have been ruled incompetent to stand trial in the shootings at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.

In 2017, Roof became the first person in the U.S. sentenced to death for a federal hate crime. Authorities have said Roof opened fire during the closing prayer of a Bible study at the church, raining down dozens of bullets on those assembled. He was 21 at the time.

In his appeal, Roof’s attorneys argued that he was wrongly allowed to represent himself during sentencing, a critical phase of his trial. Roof successfully prevented jurors from hearing evidence about his mental health, “under the delusion,” his attorneys argued, that “he would be rescued from prison by white-nationalists — but only, bizarrely, if he kept his mental-impairments out of the public record.”

Roof’s lawyers said his convictions and death sentence should be vacated or his case should be sent back to court for a “proper competency evaluation.”

The 4th Circuit found that the trial judge did not commit an error when he found Roof was competent to stand trial and issued a scathing rebuke of Roof’s crimes.

“Dylann Roof murdered African Americans at their church, during their Bible-study and worship. They had welcomed him. He slaughtered them. He did so with the express intent of terrorizing not just his immediate victims at the historically important Mother Emanuel Church, but as many similar people as would hear of the mass murder,” the panel wrote in is ruling.

“No cold record or careful parsing of statutes and precedents can capture the full horror of what Roof did. His crimes qualify him for the harshest penalty that a just society can impose,” the judges wrote.

One of Roof’s attorneys, Margaret Alice-Anne Farrand, a deputy federal public defender, declined to comment on the ruling.

All of the judges in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers South Carolina, recused themselves from hearing Roof’s appeal; one of their own, Judge Jay Richardson, prosecuted Roof’s case as an assistant U.S. Attorney. The panel that heard arguments in May and issued the ruling on Wednesday was comprised of judges from several other appellate circuits.

Following his federal trial, Roof was given nine consecutive life sentences after pleading guilty in 2017 to state murder charges, leaving him to await execution in a federal prison and sparing his victims and their families the burden of a second trial.

Last month, however, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a moratorium and halted all federal executions while the Justice Department conducts a review of its execution policies and procedures. The review comes after a historic run of capital punishment at the end of the Trump administration, which carried out 13 executions in six months. A federal lawsuit has also been filed over the execution protocols — including the risk of pain and suffering associated with the use of pentobarbital, the drug used for lethal injection.

President Joe Biden as a candidate said he’d work to end federal executions. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in March that he continues to have “grave concerns” about it.

Biden has connections to the case. As vice president, Biden attended the funeral for one of those slain, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, who also pastored the congregation. During his 2020 presidential campaign, Biden frequently referenced the shooting, saying that a visit to Mother Emanuel helped him heal in the aftermath of the death of his son, Beau.

Roof’s attorneys could ask the full 4th Circuit to reconsider the panel’s ruling. If unsuccessful in his direct appeal, Roof could file what’s known as a 2255 appeal, or a request that the trial court review the constitutionality of his conviction and sentence. He could also petition the U.S. Supreme Court or seek a presidential pardon.

___

Kinnard reported from Houston.

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Firefighters responded to a call or a person in distress who had fallen in the water Sunday near the 1000 block of West Pratt Avenue.

By

Sun-Times Wire

Updated

Aug 25, 2021, 3:12pm CDT

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WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that as many as 1,500 Americans may be awaiting evacuation from Afghanistan, a figure that suggests this part of the U.S.-led airlift could be completed before President Joe Biden’s Tuesday deadline. Untold thousands of at-risk Afghans, however, are struggling to get into the Kabul airport.

Blinken said the State Department estimates there were about 6,000 Americans who wanted to leave Afghanistan when the airlift began Aug. 14, and that about 4,500 of them have been evacuated so far. The 6,000 figure is the first public estimate by the State Department of how many Americans were seeking to get out when the Taliban completed its takeover of Afghanistan.

“Some are understandably very scared,” Blinken told a State Department news conference.

About 500 Americans have been contacted with instructions on when and how to get to the chaotic Kabul airport to catch evacuation flights.

In addition, 1,000 or perhaps fewer are being contacted to determine whether they still want to leave. Blinken said some of these may already have left the country, some may want to remain and some may not actually be American citizens.

Of the 1,000, the number who are “actively seeking assistance” to leave Afghanistan “is lower — likely significantly lower,” Blinken said.

The Biden administration has stressed that American evacuees are its first priority, even as it attempts also to airlift Afghans who worked for the U.S. government or military or to build Afghan civil society during the 20-year war as well as what it calls “vulnerable Afghans” — those who believe they face retribution from the Taliban for their role in opposing the insurgency.

The Tuesday deadline aside, Blinken said, “There is no deadline on our work to help any remaining American citizens who decide they want to leave to do so, along with the many Afghans who have stood by us over these many years, and want to leave, and have been unable to do so. That effort will continue, every day, past August 31.”

Biden said Tuesday he has asked his national security team for contingency plans in case he decides to extend the deadline.

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul has been evacuated; staff are operating from the Kabul airport and are to leave by Aug. 31.

However, refugee groups are describing a different picture when it comes to many Afghans: a disorganized, barely-there U.S. evacuation effort for Afghan allies that leaves the most desperate to risk beatings and death at Taliban checkpoints

Some Afghans are reported being turned away from the Kabul airport by American forces controlling the gates, despite having approval for flights.

“It’s 100% up to the Afghans to take these risks and try to fight their way out,” said Sunil Varghese, policy director with the International Refugee Assistance Project. “Those with young children and pregnant are willing to take those beatings to get out.”

His group is one of several working with the U.S. government, and communicating with clients and colleagues on the ground, to get out those Afghans most in danger from the Taliban. Those include Afghans who formerly worked with Americans, as well as journalists, women’s rights advocates and others.

Just days are left before the U.S. military is to start shutting down its anchoring role in a massive operation that the White House says has evacuated 82,300 Afghans, Americans and other foreigners on a mix of U.S., international and private flights. The withdrawal comes under a 2020 deal negotiated by President Donald Trump with the Taliban.

Taliban leaders who took control of Afghanistan this month say they will not tolerate any extensions to the Tuesday deadline. But Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen tweeted that “people with legal documents” will still be able to fly out via commercial flights after Tuesday.

U.S.-based organizations, speaking on background to discuss sensitive matters, cite accounts from witnesses on the ground as saying some American citizens, and family members of Afghans with green cards, still are having trouble pushing and talking their way into the Kabul airport for flights.

Kirby said the U.S. military will preserve as much airlift capacity at the airport as possible in the coming days, ahead of Tuesday’s deadline. The military will “continue to evacuate needed populations all the way to the end,” he said. He added that in the final days and hours there will have to be a balance in getting out evacuees as well as U.S. troops and their equipment.

Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor, the deputy director of regional operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. forces had conducted another helicopter mission beyond the perimeter of the airport to pick up people seeking to evacuate.

He said the operation happened in Kabul during the night and that the people were now safely at the airport awaiting an evacuation flight.

Taylor provided no other details, but Germany’s top military commander, Gen. Eberhard Zorn, said separately that 21 German citizens had been extracted by the U.S. helicopter. He said the helicopter crew was American and that German troops picked up the evacuees.

In White House news conferences and remarks during the airlift, Biden has offered varying degrees of commitment to getting former Afghan translators and others most at risk from the Taliban included in the airlift.

U.S. military and diplomatic officials appear to still be compiling a list of eligible Afghans but have yet to disclose how — and how many — they may be getting out, private Americans and American organizations said.

“We still have 1,200 Afghans with visas that are outside the airport and haven’t got in,” said James Miervaldis with No One Left Behind, one of dozens of veterans groups working to get out Afghans who worked with the U.S. military during America’s nearly 20 years of combat there. “We’re waiting to hear from the US. government and haven’t heard yet.”

Marina LeGree of Ascend, a U.S.-based nonprofit that worked to develop fitness and leadership in Afghan girls and young women, described getting calls from U.S. officials telling the group’s interns and staffers to go to the airport for evacuation flights, only to be turned away by American forces keeping gates closed against the throngs outside.

One Afghan intern who went to the airport with her family saw a person killed in front of them, and a female colleague was burned by a caustic agent fired at the crowd, LeGree said.

“It’s heartbreaking to see my government fail so badly,” said LeGree, the group’s American director, who is in Italy but in close contact with those in Kabul.

The number of U.S. troops at the airport has dropped by about 400, to 5,400, but the final withdrawal has not begun, Kirby said Wednesday.

He said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will consult directly with Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of Central Command and overseer of the evacuation operation, before McKenzie moves ahead with the final withdrawal.

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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 partly sunny with a high near 92 degrees, heat index values as high as 101 and a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms. Tonight will be mostly cloudy with a low around 74 and a 30% chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms. Tomorrow will be partly sunny with a high near 87 and a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms.

Top story

Lightfoot forges ahead with Oct. 15 vaccine mandate for city employees, despite opposition from all four police unions

Mayor Lori Lightfoot today forged ahead with an Oct. 15 vaccine mandate for all city employees over strenuous and united opposition from all four police unions.

“As cases continue to rise, we must take every step necessary and at our disposal to keep everyone in our city safe and healthy,” Lightfoot was quoted as saying in a press release.

The press release doesn’t say what would happen to city employees who refuse to comply with the vaccine mandate. It simply says the new policy “applies to all city employees and volunteers” and will take effect on Oct. 15.

Employees “can apply for medical or religious exemptions” and those requests would be reviewed the city’s Department of Human Resources on a “case-by-case basis.”

Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara has been at loggerheads with Lightfoot over all things law enforcement before hammering out an eight-year contract that ended the longest labor stalemate in Chicago history.

This time, Catanzara is not alone.

“It ain’t just our guys. It’s the sergeants, lieutenants and captains. This is a united front. All four of the unions. It’s no longer John Catanzara’s big mouth, like they like to spin it all the time,” Catanzara said today.

Fran Spielman has more on the mandate and police opposition to it here.

More news you need

Gov. J.B. Pritzker quietly extended the state’s eviction moratorium last week, pushing the enforcement of those orders into the middle of September. Pritzker’s executive order, signed last Friday, extends the moratorium to Sept. 18.

The owners of a now-shuttered metal shredding and recycling plant in Lincoln Park have agreed to pay a $500,000 fine for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act, according to the EPA. The General Iron plant, which was on the North Side for decades, operated without a key permit and without the required “emission capture and control equipment,” the EPA said.

A former worker for Abbott Laboratories is claiming that the pharmaceutical giant targeted African American workers in a layoff that led to her firing. She also alleges that white men who ran the company were more comfortable with helping white men succeed there.

More than 1,200 K-12 schools throughout Illinois have signed up to use a COVID-19 saliva test developed by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The test last year helped the college system’s downstate and Chicago campuses avoid major outbreaks of the virus.

Kanye West fans planning to attend tomorrow’s public listening event at Soldier Field for his upcoming “DONDA” album can expect minimal COVID-19 precautions. While seating capacity for “The Donda Album Experience” will be capped at 38,000, attendees won’t be required to show proof of vaccination or negative COVID test results.

A VH1 docu-series that looks into the lives of America’s Black diaspora in cities across the country now features an episode explaining the nuances of life in the city for Black Chicagoans. You can stream “Growing Up Black: Chicago,” which premiered yesterday on VH1’s YouTube Channel, here.

Nia DaCosta’s “Candyman” is gory and haunting, yet strikingly beautiful, socially relevant and just plain entertaining, writes Richard Roeper in his 3.5-star review. Billed as a spiritual sequel to the 1992 original, “Candyman” opens in theaters Friday.

A bright one

‘Dr. Seuss Experience’ opening at former Macy’s Water Tower site

Fans of Dr. Seuss books can dive into a whole new chapter of Theodor Seuss Geisel’s world with the Chicago engagement of “The Dr. Seuss Experience,” a 25,000-square-foot immersive attraction opening Oct. 8 at Water Tower Place in the former site of Macy’s on Michigan Avenue.

The Chicago engagement follows runs in Toronto and Houston.

Presented by Kilburn Live and Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the event is a multisensory “journey” through nine Seuss books brought to life including “The Cat in the Hat,” “Horton Hears a Who!,” “The Lorax,” “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!,” “There’s A Wocket in My Pocket!,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and more.

The centerpiece of “The Dr. Seuss Experience” is an interconnected maze comprised of hundreds of balloons (inspired by “Oh the Places You’ll Go!).Kilburn Live

The pages of the books are brought to Instagrammable life via state-of-the-art audio/video, sculptures, larger-than-life sets and real-life characters in various storybook “rooms.”

While the centerpiece of the experience remains an interconnected maze comprised of hundreds of balloons (inspired by “Oh the Places You’ll Go!”), the Chicago edition will also feature the premiere of new optical illusions and an original work by School of the Art Institute alum Michael Murphy.

You can find more information on the upcoming attraction here.

From the press box

Your daily question ?

What do most non-Chicagoans get wrong about our city?

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: How would you describe the taste of Malort to someone who’s never had it before? Here’s what some of you said…

“It’s a baby aspirin wrapped in a rubber band rolled in pencil shavings and covered with bug spray.” — Tom Kief

“It’s like if shame and regret were left to ferment before being distilled through an old, sweaty shoe.” — Nora Rose Allen

“Pure, unbridled hatred. Like skittles drenched in gasoline, stuffed into a sock. Then someone beats you to death with that sock. Like how getting dumped in high school feels.” — Mike Amarilio

“Sweat squeezed out of hockey pants then aged for 5 years the poured on hockey pants squeezed out and aged another 5 years in a keg tub left over from a frat party that a cat drowned in.” — Mike Smolarek

“Imagine rotten grapefruit with the lingering after taste of a tire fire. Pretty much that.” — Karen Rose

“When I was a kid in the 60s we would chase the bug sprayer truck and inhaled the DDT. It tastes like that mixed with licorice.” — Thomas McInerney

“I did several shots of this one trip and decided it’s tastes like a forest fire, if the forest was made of ear wax.” — Brittany Benson

“It tastes like you mowed the lawn with your face.” — Nick Wright

“It’s like french-kissing a desk from Ikea.” — Lindsey Monroe-Bougher

“Tastes like the Chicago River.” — Patrick John Kane

You can read more responses here.

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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Determination and gratitude aren’t enough to make an NFL roster. But wide receiver hopeful Rodney Adams is throwing some solid preseason stats on top of that to strengthen his case as the Bears get ready to make their final cuts Tuesday.

Adams, 27, has persevered through four tumultuous seasons since the Vikings drafted him in the fifth round out of South Florida and cut him midway through his rookie season. He retired for two years before trying to restart his career with the Colts and Bears last summer.

But if the Bears keep six receivers, as expected, Adams has a shot to stick thanks in large part to seven catches for 146 yards and a touchdown over the first two preseason games with ample playing time likely coming Saturday against the Titans.

“Given what I have gone through, just getting to this point is a huge,” Adams said after practice Wednesday. “Huge goal and accomplishment for me… Not a lot of people are strong enough to stay the course, to get to this point. I’m just really blessed to be here.”

Adams celebrated his 73-yard touchdown catch from Andy Dalton against the Bills on Saturday by pantomiming rocking a baby. His daughter, Brexleigh, was born the night before.

With the top five receiver spots essentially locked in, Adams’ main competition is Javon Wims and Riley Ridley.

Wims, a seventh-round pick in 2018, has played a minor role on offense and never had more than 56 yards receiving in a game. Ridley, a 2019 fourth-rounder, has 10 career catches and played 4% of the snaps last season.

Adams’ motivation to cling to his career has been driven by the death of his mother, Michelle Scott, who passed away when he was in college.

“My mom would’ve wanted the world for me,” he said when asked why he persisted when others might not have. “Just honoring her and fighting back [to be] in the NFL. It’s all for her, [and] now she has to share that spot with Brexleigh. But just staying strong.”

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At least once a day during training camp, Bears head coach Matt Nagy will walk into general manager Ryan Pace’s office and stare at the depth chart board on the wall.

“It’s a good feeling when you know you have some guys that, unfortunately, you’re going to have to cut that could make your roster,” Nagy said Tuesday.

It has to happen by the league’s new deadline to whittle rosters from 80 players to 53 — Tuesday at 3 p.m. The date is four days earlier than recent years as a result of a restructured offseason.

The Bears’ roster is mostly set, though they’ll evaluate some of the final cut candidates in Saturday’s exhibition finale against the Titans. Here’s how we project their roster to shake out:

OFFENSE (25 players)

Quarterbacks

Starting: Andy Dalton

Making the team: Justin Fields, Nick Foles

Biggest camp development: Fields is ahead of schedule and will push Dalton for the starting job sooner than the Bears first believed. Foles’ impassioned speech at the start of camp didn’t drum up interest from teams looking to trade for a quarterback, though the Bears would still like to move him.

He said it: “We’ve talked about that process and the one thing that I’ll say about Justin is he completely understands it. … The support that he has in this plan, the support that he has for Andy, is pretty neat.” — Nagy

Running backs

Starting: David Montgomery

Making the team: Damien Williams, Khalil Herbert, Ryan Nall, Tarik Cohen*

Outside looking in: Artavis Pierce

Biggest camp development: After starting camp on the Physically Unable to Perform list, Cohen still doesn’t seem close to returning to game action after having October knee surgery. If the Bears start the regular season with him on PUP — and that’s the bet here — he’ll have to sit out six weeks.

He said it: “[Montgomery] runs with a chip on his shoulder. I want to ask him, like, ‘What have you got going on personally you know, that makes you run like this?'” — Williams

Wide receivers

Starting: Allen Robinson, Darnell Mooney

Making the team: Damiere Byrd, Marquise Goodwin, Dazz Newsome, Rodney Adams

Outside looking in: Javon Wims, Riley Ridley, Jon’Vea Johnson, Isaiah Coulter, Chris Lacy

Biggest camp development: Veterans Wims and Ridley haven’t flashed, but Adams has. Adams’ 146 receiving yards ranks second in the NFL through two preseason games.

He said it: “His skillsets are starting to show..” — receivers coach Mike Furrey, on Adams

Tight ends

Starting: Cole Kmet

Making the team: Jimmy Graham, Jesse James

Outside looking in: J.P. Holtz, Jesper Horsted, Scooter Harrington

Biggest camp development: Signed on the eve of camp, James has produced all preseason long; only two tight ends in the NFL have more receiving yards than his 92. Holtz’s versatility makes him a likely practice squad player if the Bears cut him.

He said it: “I like his size. I like his hands. And he’s a smart guy. … He definitely knows what he’s doing out there.” — Fields, on James

Offensive line

Starting: Jason Peters, Cody Whitehair, Sam Mustipher, James Daniels, Germain Ifedi

Making the team: Elijah Wilkinson, Alex Bars, Larry Borom, Teven Jenkins

Outside looking in: Lachavious Simmons, Arlington Hambright, Dieter Eiselen, Adam Redmond, Tyrone Wheatley Jr.

Biggest camp development: The Bears scrambled for a left tackle before signing the 39-year-old Peters, a future Hall of Famer, with hopes he’ll stay healthy. Jenkins, who had back surgery last week, must start the season on the 53-man roster to be eligible to return from injured reserve later this season.

He said it: “The camaraderie and the chemistry are going to come because… I’m not holding his hand, I’m blocking my guy.” — Peters, on helping teammates

DEFENSE (25 players)

Defensive line

Starting: Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman, Bilal Nichols

Making the team: Angelo Blackson, Khyiris Tonga, Mario Edwards*

Outside looking in: LaCale London, Daniel Archibong

Biggest camp development: Hicks, who has refused interviews all camp, is entering the final year of his contract and wants a new deal. Edwards is suspended for the first two games because of a performance-enhancing drug violation and doesn’t count against the 53-man roster.

He said it: “Tonga is everything I love about a player. He’s tough, he’s physical. He wants to learn, he’s eager to learn.” — Nichols

Inside linebackers

Starting: Roquan Smith, Danny Trevathan

Making the team: Alec Ogletree, Christian Jones, Joel Iyiegbuniwe, Josh Woods

Outside looking in: Caleb Johnson

Biggest camp development: A free agent when camp began, Ogletree has played well enough to make the team and be its best insurance policy against Trevathan or Smith going down during the season.

He said it: “”Depending on where Danny is — status-wise, health-wise, etc. –we feel good with the way that ‘Tree’s played.” — Nagy

Outside linebackers

Starting: Khalil Mack, Robert Quinn

Making the team: Jeremiah Attaochu, Trevis Gipson,

Outside looking in: James Vaughters, Charles Snowden, Sam Kamara

Biggest camp development: The Bears have been cautious with Quinn’s back dating to the spring, and he missed time after hurting his ankle against the Dolphins. But he’s looked good when he’s been on the field one year after totaling only two sacks.

He said it: “[Quinn] has a certain expectation for himself and he’s got high goals. And for him, he didn’t find last season acceptable.” — outside linebackers coach Bill Shuey

Cornerbacks

Starting: Jaylon Johnson, Kindle Vildor

Making the team: Duke Shelley, Thomas Graham Jr., Desmond Trufant, Artie Burns

Outside looking in: Tre Roberson, Xavier Crawford

Biggest camp development: Vildor and the Trufant are rotating snaps in the only open starting job on the team, but there’s a complicating factor. Trufant has been gone the past week because of the death of his father, whose funeral was Wednesday.

“I know it’s been difficult for him,” Nagy said. “He wants to be here … We all support him with that. I just think that the one thing that he has is, he has that experience, and we know that.”

He said it: “Obviously we’ve been rotating pretty much the whole camp and everything like that, so I know nothing’s gonna be given to me.” — Vildor

Safety

Starting: Eddie Jackson, Tashaun Gipson

Making the team: Deon Bush, DeAndre Houston-Carson

Outside looking in: Marqui Christian, Teez Tabor

Biggest camp development: Jackson [hamstring] didn’t practice for the first time until Aug. 10 and Gipson [groin] missed two weeks. Both are back, though, and played 33 snaps side-by-side in Saturday’s preseason loss. Christian has been impressive in camp and has a chance to stick.

He said it: “[I want to] just be real thoughtful about where [Jackson] is on the field, be real thoughtful about how people are trying to attack us on defense. And try to get him in some spots where he can use his skills to the best of his ability.” — defensive coordinator Sean Desai

SPECIAL TEAMS (3 players)

Starting: K Cairo Santos, P Pat O’Donnell, LS Patrick Scales

Outside looking in: K Brian Johnson

Biggest camp development: Johnson has made both his exhibition game field goal tries, including a 54-yarder. He’ll be cut unless the Bears are motivated to keep a practice squad kicker in case of a coronavirus outbreak.

He said it: “Having another guy here saves me a little bit of my leg, him getting reps. But I know that every rep that I get, I make it count.” — Santos

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