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It was difficult to foresee Bill Lazor being this much of an asset when Bears coach Matt Nagy hired him as offensive coordinator in 2020. He’d been out of the NFL for a year, and the two had never worked together.

Then there’s defensive coordinator Sean Desai, a semi-risky hire at 37 and with just two seasons of experience as a position coach, who was charged with reengineering a defense that still had some of the stars from its glory days but suffered some tough personnel losses in the offseason.

But both of them have done well, and along with veteran special teams coordinator Chris Tabor, they’ve prevented this season from sliding deeper into the sludge under Nagy.

Nagy has struggled throughout his four seasons to deliver on his reputation as a quarterback whisperer and offensive mastermind. While the Bears have still scored the eighth-fewest points in the NFL during his tenure, Lazor was instrumental in getting them somewhat near the respectable range at No. 22 last season.

This season has been a lost cause, but again it was Lazor who helped the Bears find an offensive identity — led by David Montgomery in a power running attack — that at least worked some of the time.

Offensive coordinator has been a difficult job to fill for Nagy, who started with former Oregon coach Mark Helfrich in 2018 and fired him after two seasons.

Lazor, however, gave Nagy a necessary push toward the ground game. The season before his arrival, Nagy set a franchise record for fewest run plays in a game with seven during a blowout loss to the Saints in which he had Mitch Trubisky throw the ball 54 times.

The Bears averaged the third-fewest yards per carry in the NFL that season at 3.7. Lazor helped bump them to 4.2 in 2020 (19th) and 4.4 this season (11th).

So at least they have something. In 2019, they had nothing. And it’s not hard to imagine how things would be going with Nagy and Justin Fields, because everyone saw that dysfunction in a 26-6 loss to the Browns that was so disastrous it forced Nagy to give up play calling for a second consecutive season.

As Nagy stumbled through various course corrections offensively, he had the tremendous luxury of an elite defense to cover for him. He has won an astounding eight games in which his team scored 19 or fewer points.

And as things started to slip on that side of the ball and Nagy’s safety net frayed, he hoped Desai could bring back some of the ferocity they had under Vic Fangio in 2018.

But the catch was that Desai would have to do it without any proven cornerbacks other than Jaylon Johnson. Desai’s charge was to unleash a pass rush that was so overwhelming it would minimize the dependency on pass coverage, and one of his key pieces in that front was outside linebacker Robert Quinn — coming off the worst season of his career.

And Desai did a decent job pulling off that magic trick for most of the season, even while losing Khalil Mack after just seven games. Quinn has had an all-pro-worthy resurgence, and the Bears rank fifth in sacks.

The downside is that when opposing quarterbacks have been able to get the ball out, they’ve had a field day. The Bears have allowed the third-highest passer rating (104.5), 10th-highest completion percentage (66.7%) and seventh-most yards per pass (7.5).

Nonetheless, they still ranked near the middle of the NFL in most metrics before the season completely collapsed with losses to the Cardinals and Packers last month. And there’s no doubt that if the Bears clean house this offseason, Desai won’t be out of work long.

It’s been far from a heroic performance by Lazor and Desai, but there’s only so much they can do. And they’ve done it.

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Chris Fleming doesn’t know when or where, but the Bulls acting head coach knows the team will be at full strength sooner than later, and yes, that included Billy Donovan returning to his head coaching duties.

“I think Coach is getting pretty close,” Fleming said on Friday. “He feels good, and I think he’s raring to go, so I think we’ll get him back in the next couple days.”

The same can be said for guards Lonzo Ball (health and safety protocols) and Alex Caruso (mid-foot sprain), and then things get interesting.

Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu have been solid fill-ins for the short-handed backcourt the last week, which was especially key for White, considering all he’s been through since the end of last season.

The former first-round pick (No. 7 overall) from the 2019 draft, White went from losing his starting point guard job, to offseason shoulder surgery that cost him an entire summer to working on his game, to finally getting back in mid-November, only to go in the protocols after just nine games.

So the fact that he started the last handful of games, including one of his best passing displays as a professional in the Wednesday win over the Hawks with 12 assists, says a lot about White continuing to adapt.

But here’s the upcoming dilemma for White and the Bulls: They are obviously still in the business of developing players, but they also can’t let White play through mistakes like they have in years past. Minutes will be tough to find once Ball and Caruso return, and then there’s also the emergence of Dosunmu.

The Illinois standout is a better defender than White, and also brings an energy and ability to impact winning that White lacks.

So what then?

“The depth of our roster is something that’s helped carry us through these times, and there’s certainly always decisions to make going into a game, but for Ayo and for Coby there’s always going to be minutes there with what both of those guys give us,” Fleming said. “And both of them bring very important qualities to the team on the development side that helps us in the present.”

Maybe, but White especially, needs playing time to find some consistency in his game, and also to showcase his talents if the Bulls do opt to make him a trade piece come February.

“I feel like I’m getting better,” White said of what he’s shown lately. “I just feel like I gotta get reps under my belt. For me, it’s just continuing to get in the gym and play with these new guys and just playing off those main players and be the best player I can for my team.

“I know who I am as a player. I’m going to stick to that. I know I can bring a lot to the court more than putting the ball in the basket. I’m going to continue to be me.”

Fleming and the coaches were counting on that.

“I think everybody sees the long game, and we’ll continue to develop all of our guys, not just Coby,” Fleming said. “I think we’ve got to be a little patient with that. He’s moving in a good direction.”

Skeleton crew

Even with 17 players and a head coach in the protocols since November, the Bulls opted to travel very light for the back-to-back in Indiana and Washington.

That meant scaled back personnel in the travel party, as the Bulls were taking no chances with further spread of the coronavirus.

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The 2021 College Football Playoff gets underway on Friday as four teams battle to reach the championship game to be played on January 10th in Indianapolis, Indiana. While a few familiar names like Alabama and Georgia are in it, two programs are making their very first appearance.

Both Michigan and Cincinnati are in the party for the first time ever after the Wolverines stunned Ohio State and then beat Iowa in the Big Ten Championship Game. The Bearcats completed an undefeated regular season and became the first non-power five school to reach the playoff in its existence.

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The Bears will go back to where they began: Andy Dalton is resuming his role as starting quarterback Sunday against the Giants.

Their best option would be rookie Justin Fields, who needs as much as experience as possible, but he was unable to fully practice this week because of an ankle injury. He also missed the game against the Seahawks, when Nick Foles started.

Dalton was out for that game because of injuries to his non-throwing hand and groin muscle. He was also coming off having the coronavirus.

Bears coach Matt Nagy said Foles will be the backup, but he did not rule out Fields. Instead, he listed him as questionable, just like he did when Fields was inactive last week in Seattle.

Dalton will make his first start since throwing four interceptions in a loss to the Cardinals in Week 13. For the season, he has completed 64.1% of his passes for 1,017 yards with six touchdowns and six interceptions for a 79.9 passer rating.

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When he discussed what the Blackhawks hope to see from forward Jujhar Khaira when he returns to the lineup, interim coach Derek King referenced a famous Oscar-winning Tom Hanks movie.

“I’m looking forward to having him back,” King said. “I know the team is, but he can’t just go out there and… I call it a ‘Forrest Gump’ game. He needs to just simplify his game and keep it very simple and easy and shorten his shifts and really manage his game.”

King clarified what a “Forrest Gump” game is.

“If you watch the movie ‘Forrest Gump’ he gets so much in [2 1/2 hours],” King said. “I don’t need him going out there doing a ‘Forrest Gump,’ trying to be the hero and solve our problems all in three periods. He’s got to play his game and manage it.”

Perhaps it’s apt to mention that prestigious drama that swept the Academy Awards and became a pop-culture icon, because life around the Hawks and NHL these days is like a box of chocolates. Nobody knows what they’re going to get, and the Hawks experienced that uncertainty again on the last day of 2021.

On Friday, the Hawks announced that goalie Kevin Lankinen has been placed in the COVID-19 protocol. Lankinen joins Marc-Andre Fleury in the protocol, probably leaving the Hawks with netminders Collin Delia and Arvid S?derblom for the Saturday matinee in Nashville against the Predators.

Before Friday’s practice, King said Fleury is still not ready and had another test to do.

“I doubt he’s available for us right away,” King said.

Delia, Saturday’s likely starter, has appeared in 24 NHL games but none this season. In six appearances last year, Delia had a 3.59 goals-against average and .902 save percentage.

In the era of COVID-19, changing on the fly is part of life that everybody must handle. On Saturday, the next adjustment will come for the Hawks as they play in front of Delia and try to move closer to a Western Conference wild card.

“I think you’ve got to be ready for anything, especially nowadays,” forward Dylan Strome said. “Two years of this now, so we’re adjusting on the fly. [Delia] has played some games before, he’s been good for us, he’s worked hard in practice and it’s good to see.”

It will be especially good for the Hawks to see Khaira back on the ice in a game.

Khaira hasn’t played since Dec. 7 when he was leveled by the Rangers’ Jacob Trouba and stretchered off the ice in front of a scared United Center crowd. Activated off injured reserve Thursday, the Hawks are eager to get a boost from Khaira’s return after what he went through.

“It’s going to be huge,” King said. “Even just when he first practiced with us, came back on the ice and guys saw him around the locker room, you could see the guys light up.”

Khaira’s teammates haven’t played much recently because of COVID-related postponements. Saturday’s game against the Predators is the Hawks’ first since a Dec. 18 overtime loss to the Stars.

Since then, they’ve wondered what’s next, practiced and waited for their next chance to play against another team, which will finally arrive Saturday.

“It’s been a while, obviously,” Strome said. “Long break, got some good practice days, got a little vacation. Well, not really a vacation but Christmas. It’s been good, so I think everyone’s itching to get back out there. A lot of games coming up the next couple months. I think [January’s] our busiest month, so ready to get going.”

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The Bears took defensive lineman Akiem Hicks off the reserve/COVID-19 list on Friday, setting the table for him to play Sunday against the Giants. How much he’ll play, though, is up for debate: Hicks had symptoms while he was out with the coronavirus.

The Bears put Hicks on the reserve list Dec. 23.

It’s becoming clear that some players who return off the reserve list need to build themselves back up, physically, to be able to play in games.

When the Bears took receiver Allen Robinson off the reserve list earlier this week, he detailed the ravages of the virus. He lost 10 pounds and was still struggling to get his lung capacity back up. Right tackle Larry Borom returned last week; Bears coach Matt Nagy said Friday he didn’t start in part because the team was unsure exactly where he was, physically.

Hicks, who is in the last year of his contract, has appeared in eight games this season.

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LA Clippers coach Tyronn Lue has entered the league’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols, it was announced Friday.

Brian Shaw will serve as acting coach during Friday’s game against the Toronto Raptors.

Lue joins Doc Rivers (Philadelphia), Michael Malone (Denver), Monty Williams (Phoenix), Billy Donovan (Chicago), Chauncey Billups (Portland) and Mark Daigneault (Oklahoma City) as NBA coaches who are in the COVID-19 protocols.

Frank Vogel (Lakers) was cleared Friday to return from protocols. Alvin Gentry (Sacramento) and Rick Carlisle (Indiana) had already returned from the list.

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The NBA and National Basketball Players Association have agreed on new health and safety protocols that would further shorten the timetable for asymptomatic and vaccinated players to return to play after a positive COVID-19 test, league sources told ESPN on Friday.

Previously, such players could be cleared from protocols after seven days if testing data showed that their cycle threshold (CT) levels were above 35, but the new protocols would allow players to return after five days if their CT levels are above 30, league sources said.

CT levels can help indicate how infectious an individual might be, and a CT level of 30 is considered fainter than, say, 20.

The move should help replenish rosters that have been decimated by COVID-19 as the omicron variant rages through the league. As of Friday morning, 260 players total have entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols this season, including 247 in December alone. Nine head coaches have also entered protocols in December, and 11 games have been postponed.

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