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At the end of 2018, after Patrick Mahomes led the NFL with 50 touchdown passes, 9.6 yards per attempt and dozens of gasp-worthy plays in his first full season, an AFC West rival made a bold move.

Deciding they needed the league’s best defensive mind to try to counteract the Chiefs quarterback, the Broncos gave Bears coordinator Vic Fangio the chance that had eluded him throughout his career: a head-coaching job.

Fangio, though, never figured out Mahomes. Todd Bowles did.

The Buccaneers’ defensive coordinator held Mahomes to a 52.3 passer rating and nine points in last year’s Super Bowl. Mahomes was sacked three times and threw two interceptions. The Chiefs had only four plays of 20 yards or more, and they came in the second half when they trailed by 15 or more.

Teams took notice. Bowles was set to interview with the Bears on Saturday, one day after talking to the Vikings. As it becomes increasingly likely that Aaron Rodgers remains in Green Bay to torture the NFC North for years to come, hiring a defensive-minded coach makes sense for both teams.

Unlike Fangio, Bowles has head-coaching experience, uninspiring as it may be: He went 24-40 in four years with the Jets before joining the Bucs. He almost became the Bears’ defensive coordinator after the Jets fired him. In January 2019, former Bears coach Matt Nagy wanted Bowles, who played for Nagy’s father in high school, to be his defensive coordinator, but Bowles chose to follow another friend, Bruce Arians, to the Buccaneers. It was prescient — Bowles improved the Bucs from 29th in points allowed in his first season to eighth last year and fifth this season.

He has little left to prove when the Bucs host the Rams in Sunday’s NFC playoff game. Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, whom the Bears interviewed Thursday, might have more pressure on him, given the attrition that has struck the players surrounding quarterback Tom Brady. Leftwich — whose Bucs have ranked in the top three in points during all three seasons of his tenure — also has interviewed with the Jaguars, who drafted him in the first round in 2003.

The Bears already know Bowles. In addition to their defensive coordinator flirtation, they interviewed him for their head-coaching job in 2015. He was at Halas Hall and scheduled to meet with chairman George McCaskey when the Bears hired general manager Ryan Pace. The GM’s first order of business became talking to Bowles.

“I knew he wasn’t going to hire no head coach on the first interview of the first meeting when he just walked in the building,” Bowles said years later.

This time, the Bears are taking their time — they still have first-round interviews for their GM and head-coach positions scheduled for early next week. If the Buccaneers lose Sunday, though, Bowles and Leftwich will be available for more interviews — and to agree to a contract. The Bears might have to move quickly.

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MILWAUKEE — Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan wants the NBA to consider further discipline for Milwaukee Bucks guard Grayson Allen after he was ejected in the third quarter of Milwaukee’s 94-90 victory for a Flagrant 2 foul on Bulls guard Alex Caruso.

Caruso went up for a layup on a fast break with 5:45 remaining in the third quarter, but Allen hooked Caruso’s right arm, turning Caruso in the air and sending him hard to the floor on his right wrist. Caruso said his wrist was “a little banged up” after the game, but X-rays came back negative.

“Dude just grabbed me out of the air,” Caruso said after Friday’s game. “It’s kind of bulls—. I don’t know what else you can do about it. I’m just glad that I didn’t have any major scary injuries right away.”

Caruso said his wrist continued to bother him in the second half, especially while shooting. He finished 1 of 6 from the field for 3 points in the second half, but said he did not think the injury would linger long-term.

Caruso added that Allen did not come to check on him following the play.

The foul particularly irked Donovan, who is normally mild-mannered and rarely singles out players. But following Friday’s game, Donovan called Allen’s actions dangerous and cited his history playing college basketball at Duke.

“For Alex to be in the air and for [Allen] to take him down like that, he could’ve ended his career,” Donovan said. “He has a history of this. That to me was really — it was really dangerous. I hope the league takes a hard look at something like that because that could have really, really seriously hurt him.”

This was the first time Allen has been called for a flagrant foul this season and the second such foul in his career — although he was tossed from a Summer League game in 2019 after committing two flagrant fouls within seconds of each other.

“I don’t think Grayson’s a dirty player,” Bucks forward Khris Middleton said. “He’s been great with us all season long. Competing. Defending. Never really crossing the line. So I think we’re all disappointed to see him ejected for that foul.”

Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer did not think there was any malicious intent, but he did not argue with the referees decision to assess a Flagrant 2.

“I think it’s a close call,” Budenholzer said. “They went with flagrant 2 and I’m not gonna disagree. It’s right on the border and that’s the direction they went. Just hope for Caruso to be healthy and fine coming out of it. Unfortunate for Grayson, unfortunate for us to have to finish without him. It’s a tough call, but that’s the way they went.”

It’s the first time in Allen’s NBA career that he has been ejected from a game.

“I know this is a physical game and there’s plays at the basket and there’s a lot of contact,” Donovan said, “but there’s a right way you can go up and have physicality when you do that. Not that way in my opinion.”

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Billy Donovan wants the NBA to consider disciplining Grayson Allen for his ‘dangerous’ Flagrant 2 foul on Alex Caruso.Read More

The Wild blew out the Blackhawks at the United Center on Friday. | AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

Seth Jones, Dylan Strome and Kirby Dach returned from COVID-19 but Jujhar Khaira and Riley Stillman suffered new injuries as the Hawks lost 5-1 on Friday.

The Blackhawks entered Friday the healthiest they’ve been in some time.

Hours later, their fortunes turned again — in terms of both health and performance.

Seth Jones, Dylan Strome and Kirby Dach all returned from COVID-19 but Jujhar Khaira suffered lower back spasms and Riley Stillman departed mid-game with a left shoulder injury as the Hawks put up little fight in a 5-1 loss to the Wild.

“They didn’t have to play defense — they were in our end the whole time,” interim coach Derek King said. “They close on players quick. They don’t give you a lot of time and space. And we did the opposite down in our end: we gave them too much time.”

In the first leg of the home-and-home series, the Wild jumped all over the Hawks early, scoring twice in the first five minutes, building a 3-0 first-intermission lead and never looking back. Final scoring chances favored the Wild, 28-18.

“Our start, in general, wasn’t good,” Connor Murphy said. “It didn’t seem like we were ready to compete at the same level they were. [And] we were giving them opportunities in the slot, and that can’t happen.”

Marc-Andre Fleury was pulled from a start for the first time since Oct. 16 after uncharacteristically saving just nine of 13 shots, including one that bounced in off his pad and another that snuck between his arm and torso.

That forced Kevin Lankinen, who remains scheduled to start Saturday’s rematch in Minnesota, into his first action since Dec. 18.

Injury updates

Khaira’s back injury is day-to-day and he’ll likely join the Hawks later on their three-game road trip, King said.

Stillman’s shoulder injury — which left the Hawks down to 16 skaters during the third period Friday, as MacKenzie Entwistle had been ejected earlier for fighting — seems potentially more significant. He’s not expected to come on the trip.

Their setbacks coincidentally come after a week full of good health news for the Hawks, who emptied their COVID-19 protocol list Friday with Dach and Brett Connolly’s activations.

As far as the two players on injured reserve, King said Tyler Johnson (neck surgery) might start being able to take contact next week and Reese Johnson (broken clavicle) might resume skating next week.

Toews backs NHL’s policy

The NHL shifted its COVID-19 testing policy — to only testing symptomatic players starting in February — partially as a result of a large majority of players pushing for the change. Jonathan Toews made it clear Friday he’s part of that group.

“It just makes so much more sense on a lot of levels,” Toews said. “If you’re too sick to play, then you should stay home and take care of yourself and rest. Now we can get back to just not having to jump through all these hoops and the logistics, [which has been] the nightmare for every team.

“Everyone can argue their opinions and different points of view. But you have a lot of guys who have been sitting around for five to 10 days, doing absolutely nothing, and that gets pretty frustrating for everybody.”

That’s certainly true for the Hawks, who have had many asymptomatic COVID cases but only one symptomatic COVID case (Fleury) this month.

Dylan Strome, one of those asymptomatic cases, correctly noted Friday — in response to a lighthearted question — that he “never would have known I had it” if the February policies were already in place.

“[It’s] kind of crazy how that happens,” Strome added. “But the vaccine and the booster work for that reason.”

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The Wild blew out the Blackhawks at the United Center on Friday. | AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

The Hawks iced a nearly full-strength roster Friday but still lost 5-1 in the first leg of their home-and-home series against Minnesota.

The Blackhawks are the healthiest they’ve been in some time.

But their nearly full-strength lineup Friday — bolstered by the returns of Seth Jones, Dylan Strome and Kirby Dach from COVID-19 — put forth one of the most lethargic Hawks performances in some time.

The Wild dominated the first leg of the weekend home-and-home series, routing the Hawks 5-1.

Interim coach Derek King had planned to start Marc-Andre Fleury on Friday, then start Kevin Lankinen on Saturday in Minnesota, yet pivoted to Lankinen ahead of schedule after Fleury uncharacteristically allowed four goals on 13 shots over 31 minutes. It was Lankinen’s first appearance since Dec. 18.

Illinois native and ex-Hawks forward Ryan Hartman, meanwhile, stole the spotlight with two first-period goals. Hartman is enjoying a career year, with 32 points already through 37 games.

The Hawks’ night only worsened when Riley Stillman left with a left shoulder injury, forcing them to play the third period with 16 skaters (as MacKenzie Entwistle had earlier been ejected for fighting).

Jones was fortunate to avoid an injury in his return, too, surviving an awkward crash into the boards during the game’s opening minute and a shot off the wrist a few minutes later.

Toews backs NHL’s policy

The NHL shifted its COVID-19 testing policy — to only testing symptomatic players starting in February — partially as a result of a large majority of players pushing for the change. Jonathan Toews made it clear Friday he’s part of that group.

“It just makes so much more sense on a lot of levels,” Toews said. “If you’re too sick to play, then you should stay home and take care of yourself and rest. Now we can get back to just not having to jump through all these hoops and the logistics, [which has been] the nightmare for every team.

“Everyone can argue their opinions and different points of view. But you have a lot of guys who have been sitting around for five to 10 days, doing absolutely nothing, and that gets pretty frustrating for everybody.”

That’s certainly true for the Hawks, who have had many asymptomatic COVID cases but only one symptomatic COVID case (Marc-Andre Fleury) this month.

Dylan Strome, one of those asymptomatic cases, correctly noted Friday — in response to a lighthearted question — that he “never would have known I had it” if the February policies were already in place.

“[It’s] kind of crazy how that happens,” Strome added. “But the vaccine and the booster work for that reason.”

Johnsons progressing

With the COVID protocol list now empty, the Hawks’ only unavailable players entering Friday were Jujhar Khaira (undisclosed), Tyler Johnson (neck surgery) and Reese Johnson (broken clavicle).

The two unrelated Johnsons are trending in the right direction, too. Tyler Johnson — who has donned a white non-contact jersey for weeks — might “be able to take a little bit of contact” next week, and that’ll be a “big test for him,” King said.

Reese Johnson, meanwhile, made his first public appearance in months Friday, watching morning skate from the bench. He’s expected to begin skating himself next week.

“I’m surprised, [because] I thought maybe he was done for the year with an injury like that,” King said. “He’s feeling good. He’s working out now, [has a] good range of motion, and hopefully we can see him at the end of the season here.”

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It was an ugly game in the box score, made even uglier on a third-quarter Flagrant 2 by Milwaukee’s Grayson Allen, when he all but threw Alex Caruso to the ground and was ejected from the game.

To call Friday’s showdown with Milwaukee ugly would be underselling it.

If the Bulls had any chance to win, however, it would have to be one of those grimy January games that only a defensive-minded coach like Billy Donovan could embrace.

He would have to hold off the hugs for now, as the Bulls lost 94-90.

Where did the first meeting between the Bucks and Bulls of the season sink to? Hard to ask a player like Grayson Allen, especially after he was ejected.

With 5:45 left in the third quarter, Alex Caruso took to the air for a layup, and was met by Allen, who appeared to swipe aggressively at the ball with one hand, but tried sending Caruso into Row 3 with the other. The Flagrant 2 saw Allen exit stage left with the ejection, and seemed apropos to an already muddy game.

“It was really bad,’’ Donovan said of Allen’s play. “For Alex to be in the air like that, for him to take him down like that, he could have ended his career. And he has a history of this. That to me was really dangerous, and I really hope the league takes a hard look at something like that.’’

Veteran forward DeMar DeRozan had a similar take.

“I felt like the refs made the right [call],’’ DeRozan said. “The angles you can take when guys are in the air … it was tough.’’

As for Caruso, he took somewhat of a high road, especially considering he now has a sore wrist to deal with because of the play.

“Didn’t really know what happened during the play, but afterwards looking at it, dude just grabbed me out of the air,’’ Caruso said. “Kind of bulls—t, I don’t know what else you can do about it. Just glad that I didn’t have any major, major, scary injuries right away.’’

Not the only tough watch in the game.

By the way, a game that saw the Bulls shoot 31-for-85 (36.5%) from the field and 7-for-38 (18.4%) from three-point range, while Milwaukee went 34-for-89 (38.2%) from the field and 6-for-31 (19.4%) from three.

A game in which the 6-foot-5 Caruso actually spent some time guarding the 6-11 monster that is Giannis Antetokounmpo.

A game in which the Bulls (28-16) just didn’t have the size up front, and the experience in the backcourt in the end.

Donovan’s young fill-in backcourt of Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White looked overwhelmed in the landscape of another nationally televised game, but this time against the defending World Champions.

Really the first time that the two have played poorly filling in for an injured Lonzo Ball and Zach LaVine.

At least for Dosunmu he recognized his poor shooting night and tried to impact the game in other ways, finishing with five rebounds and six assists.

“I have a pretty good relationship with [Dosunmu’s Illini coach] Brad Underwood, and when the draft took place I spoke to Brad, and Brad never even talked about his game,’’ Donovan said of Dosunmu. “All he talked about was his make-up. Is he a worker, how is he going to handle adversity, how is he going to handle setbacks, how is he going to handle a role, how is he going to be as a teammate? Those are the things that ultimately make to me great players, besides the talent. If people thought he was this unbelievable talent he would have gone in the first round, and probably if the draft was done over again with the way he’s played he would go in the first round.

“When I spoke to Brad all he talked about was his habits, his competitiveness, what a teammate he was. When you start hearing those types of things, that’s what gets you excited, where you feel like, ‘You know what, we got a really good player here.’ Ayo has tried to earn his way.’’

And was still trying to.

But for Milwaukee, this isn’t a roster looking to earn its way. The Bucks are looking to repeat on greatness.

That was on full display in the final seven minutes, as Antetokoumpo gave his team a three-point lead with 7:12 left, and did everything they could to try and take control of the game, getting the lead up to seven with 2:32 left.

The Bulls, however, had one last fight in them, cutting it to two with 1:10 left.

After winning a jump ball, DeRozan had the chance to play hero, but missed the three-pointer with 23.3 seconds left. That ended up leading to Khris Middleton making two free throws with 15.8, all but putting the visiting team on ice.

DeRozan finished with 35, while White went the other way finishing 3-for-15 from the field and 0-for-9 from three.

“The last two games we’ve really battled and scraped,’’ Donovan said. “That’s the disposition we’re going to have to have.’’

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According to coach Billy Donovan, the six-to-eight week recovery timeline will start once Ball has the surgery, but doctors wanted Ball to take a week to strengthen and rehab the left knee in preparation.

Lonzo Ball is in good spirits and feels good about the medical plan for his left knee, according to Bulls coach Billy Donovan.

What the point guard isn’t, however, is on the recovery clock.

The six-to-eight weeks that were attached to Ball’s surgery won’t start until he actually has the surgery, and that might take another week before it goes down.

“They’re going to use about a week here to allow him to kind of almost rehab for surgery and do some strengthening things going into surgery,” Donovan said on Friday. “After he has the surgery that’s when the clock will start on him.’’

The other point that Donovan stressed was that while a tear in the meniscus has been talked about the last few days as the reason for the surgery, the bone bruise is the only thing that’s appeared as a definite in the imaging tests.

“Just talking to our medical people about it the consultation with our doctors, outside doctors, people involved in this, there’s just a feeling where I know there’s been a lot of talk about the meniscus but the only thing that’s really coming out on his image is you can clearly see the bone bruise,’’ Donovan said. “They just don’t have enough image of his meniscus or don’t know. What they really want to do is make sure he uses his time to do some strengthening, they want to do some preparation for surgery, so that’s a reason for the week. His clock really won’t start until he has that surgery.’’

Not the greatest news for the franchise, but still more than enough time to get Ball back and acclimated even if it goes the full two months. That scenario would get him back in mid-March and give him three-plus weeks of regular-season ball to find his rhythm heading into the playoffs.

What Donovan has until then, however, will be options.

There’s not one player that can run the point like Ball, push the tempo, play his defense and hit the open three, but there is a committee.

Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu have each shot well from outside, Dosunmu is proving to be an excellent defender, and most of the Bulls backcourt players understand the tempo they need to play with.

“They’re both competitive guys,’’ Donovan said of White and Dosunmu. “The number of minutes Ayo has played here since Lonzo went out has given him a wealth of experience, which is great for him. And I give Coby a lot of credit for having to come off that shoulder surgery, Covid, trying to find his footing … I give those two guys a lot of credit for their make-up and their mindset.’’

Zach attack

The other left knee concerning the Bulls these days was that of Zach LaVine, and the news continued to improve for the guard.

“He’s doing well,’’ Donovan said of LaVine. “He’s on the court, he’s working. He’s responded well to his treatment. He continues day-by-day to get better. I don’t know exactly his return date, maybe middle to late next week if things continue to track where they are.’’

LaVine will miss the remaining two games of this current three-game road trip, and could return on Wednesday when the Bulls host Toronto.

And the others?

Javonte Green (groin) was still dealing with reaching a certain point in his rehab process, only to have to back it down. Donovan did say there’s been progress, but no timetable has been offered up, while Derrick Jones Jr. was working on the treadmill to get back from his right knee injury.

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A blaze broke out Jan. 21, 2022, in Englewood, in the 900 block of West Garfield Boulevard. | Chicago Fire Department

The blaze was reported about 5:10 p.m., at a home in the 900 block of West Garfield Boulevard.

Firefighters battled a blaze Friday evening in Englewood near the border with the Back of the Yards neighborhood on the South Side.

The fire was reported about 5:10 p.m. at a home in the 900 block of West Garfield Boulevard, according to the Chicago Fire Department. Flames could be seen through the roof of the structure, as smoke billowed over the area.

Fire officials initially said a person was being evaluated for possible injuries, but later added that no injuries were reported and no one was sent to a hospital.

The fire was extinguished by 5:25 p.m., officials said.

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The combination of Khalil Mack (52) and Robert Quinn is a good starting point for the incoming coach to turn the Bears around. | Kamil Krzaczynski, AP Photos

With the potential of QB Justin Fields and some quality holdovers from the one-great defense, whoever takes over the Bears has a shot. It’s not the best opportunity, but it’s also not the worst.

Jacksonville isn’t exactly one of Florida’s dreamiest destinations, but it could be a football paradise for whoever lands the job as the Jaguars’ next coach.

While the organization is coming off a nightmare season in which it fired coach Urban Meyer and piled up losses, it has a lot to offer going forward. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence is widely expected to be a future star even after a rough rookie season, the team has the No. 1 pick in the draft this year and boasts the second-most salary-cap space heading into next season.

No matter how laughable the Jaguars have been, that’s an enticing opportunity.

The Bears are vying for a new general manager and head coach with a situation that’s not quite as glamorous.

There’s no verdict on quarterback Justin Fields after one season, thanks largely to the failures of the previous administration. They’d be eyeing a game changer with the No. 7 overall pick, except Ryan Pace traded it away last year. And significant money has been kicked down the road over the last few seasons, though OverTheCap calculated them to rank 12th in cap space for 2022.

It could be worse, of course. At least the Bears aren’t the Texans.

That’s a low bar, though. Of the eight head-coaching openings, the Raiders, Broncos and Dolphins join the Jaguars as more attractive opportunities than the one they’re trying to fill at Halas Hall. The Vikings, Giants and Texans are at the bottom.

Any coach with leverage will weigh the odds of succeeding quickly with their new team because they know there’s always a small window to show progress.

The Bears’ recruiting pitch to a candidate who is in such demand that he can choose among multiple destinations — Brian Daboll, Dan Quinn and Brian Flores likely will fall into that category — has to start with Fields and the defense.

While it’s difficult to assess Fields after one haphazard season playing in Matt Nagy’s offense and scrambling for safety behind the offensive line Pace assembled, he went into the draft as the most accomplished, polished quarterback other than Lawrence.

That projection will surely be tarnished in some minds after he registered a 73.2 passer rating with seven touchdowns, 10 interceptions and a 58.9 completion percentage. Fields also rushed for 420 yards and two touchdowns, but fumbled 12 times.

Still, there were moments when he showcased exactly the skills teams covet in the modern NFL. He’s accurate on deep shots. He has the speed of a wide receiver. And he showed steady improvement in mastering the offense and reading coverage. He hasn’t arrived yet, but he’s headed the right direction.

It’s the opposite with the Bears’ defense, which arrived in 2018 with one of the best seasons in recent NFL history and gradually slid from elite to good to just OK.

But there are enough quality players, especially up front, to appeal to prospective coaches. And if the Bears move quickly enough, they might be able to keep Sean Desai on board as defensive coordinator.

Desai did a good job this season in spite of being severely hampered by Pace’s personnel mistakes. The Bears went into the opener with one proven cornerback on the roster and spent all season shuffling players who likely would’ve been on practice squads elsewhere.

He made good use of his assets, though. Khalil Mack had six sacks in seven games before going on injured reserve, and Robert Quinn broke the franchise record with 18.5. The team was fourth in the NFL in sacks, up from 17th under Chuck Pagano the previous season.

And even with Akiem Hicks nearly certain to depart in free agency, the defensive line has potential if Eddie Goldman rebounds, Khyiris Tonga continues developing and Bilal Nichols re-signs.

At inside linebacker, the Bears have one of the best in the NFL in Roquan Smith and they figure to make him a cornerstone of the rebuild with a massive contract extension.

Fields’ potential and what’s left of the once-great defense would give the new coach a chance. And considering most head-coaching jobs open up because things have gone horribly wrong, having a chance is pretty enticing.

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