It was quite the stat line for Alex Caruso on Sunday.

The guard went a dismal 1-for-11 from the field, including an 0-for-6 from three-point range, but had 11 rebounds and 11 assists, while finishing with a plus-15 in the plus-minus category.

“You still know he’s doing other things out there to impact the team,” coach Billy Donovan said of Caruso’s performance.

What hasn’t impacted the team so far this season, however, has been his offense.

Caruso came into training camp letting the media know that he wanted to be more of a threat on that side of the ball, especially with all the attention being thrown at his teammates like DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine.

Donovan was all for it.

“We had talked over the summer and one of the things he really tried to put a huge focus on was improving his shooting,” Donovan said. “He felt that was something he could help the team with, with Zach and Vooch [Nikola Vucevic], and just the ball being sprayed out to him.”

That part of the equation is working, with the ball being sprayed in his direction. The issue is the making it part for Caruso.

After shooting 39.8% from the field last season, as well as 33.3% from three, through the first 11 games in the 2022-23 campaign Caruso was at a career-low 32.7% from the field and 30% from three.

A concern for Donovan? Not with such a small sample size.

“I don’t want to read too much into it,” Donovan said. “I like the shots he’s getting, I like the shots he’s taking, he just hasn’t shot the ball well.”

Donovan was asked if Caruso had tweaked anything with his mechanics, and didn’t think that was the case.

“I know he’s worked hard on it, and he puts the time in,” Donovan said. “He shoots before practice, after practice, so he’s had some good looks and we’ve got to continue to encourage him to take those shots when they’re there.”

The good news for the Bulls is Caruso has proven to be streaky throughout his career. In the 2019-20 season with the Lakers, he shot 41.2% from the field and 33.3% from three, and then came back a season later and went 43.6% and 40.1%, respectively.

The training room

There was momentum building before the game with the Raptors that Andre Drummond could make his return from a sprained left shoulder, but by the time the veteran big man tried to get through the pre-game warm-up that momentum halted.

The range of motion was still an issue, forcing Drummond to miss his sixth-straight game with the injury.

The good news was he was moving closer to a return, with Donovan eyeing Wednesday as a decent chance.

The same couldn’t be said for Coby White, who was still working through a deep thigh contusion, and didn’t have a timetable for a return. Monday was the fifth-straight game White missed.

“You can’t hold your head at all,” DeRozan said of all the early-season injury issues. “Nothing ever goes as ideal as you want it to go. That’s just part of life. We’re a team and everyone has to have the approach that nobody is going to feel sorry for us.”

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LAS VEGAS – As much as the Cubs’ farm system has improved in recent years, it has also sustained its share of injuries to top prospects.

On Monday, at MLB’s GM meetings in Las Vegas, Cubs vice president of player development Jared Banner provided updates on outfielders Alexander Canario and Brennen Davis, shortstop Ed Howard and catcher Miguel Amaya.

Canario, who broke his left ankle and dislocated his left shoulder a couple weeks ago in the Dominican Winter League, underwent surgery on his ankle last week and is scheduled for shoulder surgery this week. It will be Canario’s second left shoulder surgery in about two years. In November of 2020, he had his labrum repaired, following shoulder dislocation.

“He had a really amazing season in many respects, and to see him go down like that, it hurt us all.” Banner said of Canario, who led the farm system with 37 home runs this season, the second-most in the minors. “I know it is devastating to him as well. But at this point, we have some of the world’s best doctors and rehab people, and we’ll get him back to where he was in due time.”

Banner did not have a specific timeline for Canario’s return but said the outfielder wouldn’t be ready to start next season.

Canario was the second Cubs prospect to sustain a freak injury running through first base this year. Howard, the first, underwent season-ending hip surgery in May and is rehabbing in Arizona. Banner said the Cubs hope Howard will progress to light baseball activities after Thanksgiving.

Both Davis and Amaya were originally scheduled to play in the Arizona Fall League, but Amaya sustained a Lisfranc fracture in his left foot in September, and Davis was sidelined after five AFL games with what Banner called “general soreness.” According to Banner, the Cubs don’t believe it was connected to the sciatic pain for which Davis underwent back surgery in June and missed much of the season.

“Brennen’s pretty close to 100% now,” Banner said, adding that Davis is expected to be fully cleared by spring training.

Amaya, who hit in 40 games this year but has not played catcher since before undergoing Tommy John surgery a year ago, is also on schedule for a normal spring training.

In lighter AFL news, Cubs first base prospect Matt Mervis and pitcher Bailey Horn were selected to the Fall Stars Game. Mervis, who also was invited to the home run derby, hit a two-run homer and was named the Fall Stars Game MVP.

“There’s the consistency no matter where he goes, what level he’s at with what state he’s, Banner said of Mervis, “if it’s an All-Star game, regular season game or Fall League game, he’s finding a way to hit and do damage.”

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White Sox ace Dylan Cease was named one of three finalists for the American League Cy Young award Monday, along with the Astros’ Justin Verlander and Blue Jays’ Alek Manoah.

Cease, 26, went 14-8 and was second in the AL with a 2.20 ERA over 32 starts and a career-high 184 innings. He was second in the AL in strikeouts (227) and opponents average (.190) and third in strikeouts per nine innings (11.10).

Verlander, 39, is the heavy favorite to win his third award after going 18-4 with an AL best 1.75 ERA and 0.829 WHIP. Manoah was 16-7 with a 2.24 ERA over 31 starts.

Cease’s strikeout total was second in the AL behind the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole (257).

The award is voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

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New Bears wide receiverChase Claypoolhad a quiet debut with two catches for 13 yards against the Dolphins, but his role should grow rapidly.

Claypool arrived Wednesday morning after the Bears traded a second-round pick to land him from the Steelers, and based on his limited grasp of the playbook, he got just 26 snaps. CoachMatt Eberfluswouldn’t put a number on it, but it’s likely the Bears are looking to double that Sunday against the Lions.

“Just keep building more and more and more, and what he can handle in the game plan, we’re gonna give it to him,” Eberflus said, “He’s an exciting guy for our future here, and we’re excited for where he is.”

Claypool played 86% of the Steelers’ snaps before being traded.

It was an eventful first game with the Bears despite minimal production.

Claypool drew a pass-interference penalty on the opening drive to gain 28 yards and take the Bears into scoring range.Justin Fieldsalso threw deep for him with the game on the line in the final minutes, and Claypool couldn’t make the catch as Dolphins cornerbackKeion Crossenwrapped him up before the ball arrived.

Eberflus said “the whole stadium saw the tug and all that before the ball came in there,” and thought it was an obvious penalty by Crossen.

Kmet sneaks

The Bears opted for a direct snap to tight endCole Kmeton a third-and-one against the Dolphins rather than send Fields through the pile on a quarterback sneak, and there’s a good chance they’ll do more of that going forward.

Not only is it a way for the Bears to get Kmet the ball more, which has been a struggle this season, but it saves Fields some wear. It’s also a decent idea given that Kmet is 6-foot-6, 260 pounds, compared to Fields’ leaner frame at 6-foot-3, 228.

“It’s fun,” Kmet said. “Now I realize what Justin goes through on those sneaks. You get popped on those things. So, anytime you can take some hits off Justin in those situations, that’s a good thing as well.”

Kmet also had a season-high five catches for 41 yards and two touchdowns. He has 19 catches for 200 yards and three touchdowns this season.

Clean play

In addition to disagreeing with the non-call on Crossen against Claypool, Eberflus reiterated his frustration with the pass-interference flag against safetyEddie Jacksonthat handed the Dolphins 47 yards in the fourth quarter.

Tua Tagovailoachucked it deep forJaylen Waddledown the right sideline, and Jackson was penalized for bumping into Waddle as both players went for the ball. Eberflus brought it up unsolicited Monday.

“Eddie played that really nice,” he said. “I can’t really coach him up any better than that… He’s got a right to play the ball and he did play ball.”

He said the Bears would contact the league about both plays in question.

Roquan’s farewell

Former Bears linebackerRoquan Smithdebuted for the Ravens on Monday, a week after general managerRyan Polesdealt him for a second-round pick.

Before the game, Smith released a letter thanking Bears fans and the organization. He mentioned his appreciation for former chairmanGeorge McCaskey, general managerRyan Pace, legendDick Butkusand even the cafeteria staff — not a word about Poles and Eberflus.

“When my career is over, we’ll reminisce on all the good times we shared together in Chicago,” he wrote to fans. “I’m forever grateful for those memories.”

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Justin Fields and the Bears’ offense reached a new level in Sunday’s 35-32 loss to the Dolphins — with Fields setting an NFL record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 178 on 15 carries, and throwing three touchdown passes.

But it never fails with the Bears — any offensive renaissance seems to come with an equal decline from the defense. It was uncomplimentary football at its worst on Sunday. While Fields was creating one highlight after another, the Bears’ defense allowed 379 yards, 7.2 yards per play and four 75-yard touchdown drives on the Dolphins’ first five possessions.

Even the Bears’ normal second-half defensive excellence failed them Sunday, as the Dolphins drove 75 yards for a touchdown on their first two possessions of the second half to take 35-25 lead, before the defense rallied in the fourth quarter to give the Bears a chance to win.

And the Bears’ special teams also sprung a leak, with Jaelan Phillips’ blocked punt leading to Andrew Van Ginkel’s 25-yard return for a touchdown that ended up being the difference.

But it’s the defense that is most problematic with eight games remaining in the regular season, as the Bears try to right a listing ship after losing both its captains in the last two weeks — defensive end Robert Quinn and linebacker Roquan Smith.

So while the Bears have scored 94 points in their last three games — second in the NFL in that span — they also have allowed 98, which ranks 31st. It’s reminiscent of the dreaded 2013 season, when the Bears improved from 16th to second in scoring with Marc Trestman at the controls, only to have the defense fall from third to 30th.

The difference this time is that the Bears’ defense is suffering more by design. In 2013-14 under Trestman and defensive coordinator Mel Tucker, the Bears were in an awkward transition from the Lovie Smith era, trying to maintain Smith’s defense as key players neared the end of the line or broke down –or both.

This is the exact opposite, a clean rebuild with most of the players hand-picked by new general manage Ryan Poles for coach Matt Eberflus’ defense. In fact, 10 of the 13 players who played 40% or more of the defensive snaps against the Dolphins are newcomers. Four of them are rookies — cornerback Kyler Gordon, safety Jaquan Brisker, defensive end Dominique Robinson and linebacker Jack Sanborn.

There’s room for a lot of growth. And Eberflus’ record as defensive coordinator with the Colts from 2018-21 indicates they’ll eventually make progress. Eberflus inherited a defense ranked 30th in points allowed in 2017 and finished 10th or better in three of his four seasons.

The timing of losing Quinn and Smith while facing two of the NFL’s most potent offenses with their starting quarterback healthy — the Cowboys and Dolphins –is a factor in the Bears dropping from seventh to 21st in points allowed and from 12th to 18th in yards allowed the past two weeks. But Eberflus’ expectations have not been lowered.

“It just comes down to execution,” he said. “Those guys [the coaches] were in the meeting and they spelled it out for them. They went through every their-down assignment … every first down with the same thing.

“They all looked at each other and said, ‘Hey guys, this is execution.’ That’s the position coaches, the coordinator and myself, right I’m the head coach. And the players. We gotta do it together and we gotta get better.”

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This is what “Be you” really looks like.

The Bears are finally letting quarterback Justin Fields play his way, and he delivered a record-breaking performance that provided a lot of promise despite a 35-32 loss to the Dolphins on Sunday.

Fields is no longer being coached counter to his skill set. Instead, the Bears are embracing and enhancing it.

He ran for 178 yards, the most by any quarterback in a regular-season game, on just 15 carries. His 123 yards passing left much to be desired, but he was efficient with 60.7% completions and a 106.7 passer rating.

The old-school measurements don’t matter for a new-school quarterback. The bottom line was Fields gave the Bears a combined 301 yards and four touchdowns between his running and throwing. Regardless of how he arrived at those totals, that’ll work.

A performance like that makes his rookie season with Matt Nagy so much more irritating than it already was. Nagy’s motto was “Be you,” but evidenced in his counterintuitive coaching and ill-fitting play calls for Fields and even Mitch Trubisky, what he meant was, “Be what I want you to be.”

Fields had more yards rushing (424) in the first eight games than he had all of last season under Nagy.

Fields running like that isn’t a gimmick. It’s a big component of what has made him great at every level of football, and it didn’t make sense to scrub that from his game and think he could flourish.

The prevalent concern about injury is valid, but there’s little point in putting restrictions on him just for the sake of preservation because then the Bears would be preserving a reduced version of him. If he’s their guy, they need to let him do his thing.

Fields took the NFL lead in rushing yards by a quarterback (602) with his spectacular game Sunday, though Ravens star Lamar Jackson went into his game Monday night trailing by just 49. After those two, it’s the Bills’ Josh Allen, the Giants’ Daniel Jones, the Cardinals’ Kyler Murray and the Eagles’ Jalen Hurts.

Those are impressive names. Jackson has an MVP on the shelf, and it seems inevitable that Allen will get one. Hurts is among the frontrunners this season.

Jackson is the gold standard of dual-threat quarterbacking, and inexplicably the Bears always seemed to discourage Fields from following that model. He could run, sure, but don’t take it that far. Why not?

That seemed to click for coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy during the layoff before the Patriots game, and they actually plagiarized one of Jackson’s plays.

Jackson has never shied away from running, and he has missed time because of it, but not too much. The contingency is to develop a backup quarterback who plays a similar style, as the Ravens have with Tyler Huntley.

Between passing and running, Jackson produced an average of 273.5 yards over the first eight games this season. Over the last five games, Fields is at 261.2.

In that span, 34.8% of his total yardage has been as a runner, and that would drop if he put up bigger numbers passing. Jackson got 36.7% of his production by rushing as a rookie, but that settled to 25.3% over his next four seasons.

Jackson didn’t change his style, steadily averaging around 10 runs per game throughout his career. He just got more out of his passing ability.

Fields is at that same juncture.

He’ll always be a great runner, but he won’t always run for the NFL record. And on days when he runs for more modest totals, like the 53 yards per game he averaged before Sunday, he knows 123 yards passing will be insufficient.

But this is just the beginning for a guy with 19 starts. He just began sketching the outline of what he can become. Now it’s time to start filling it.

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A look at quarterback Justin Fields’ touchdowns from the Bears’ 35-32 loss to the Dolphins on Sunday:

The run

The highlight of the game –if not the Bears’ season — came about four minutes into the second half. On third-and-eight, the Bears split three receivers right and put running back Khalil Herbert to Fields’ left.

Fields dropped back into the pocket, stepped up between center Sam Mustipher and left guard Cody Whitehair and ran up the left hashmarks. About five yards behind the line of scrimmage, Fields pump-faked. He slipped between Dolphins linebacker Jerome Baker, who converged from Fields’ right and got within a yard of him, and linebacker Duke Riley, coming from the left.

Fields ran up the left sideline. By the time he reached the end zone 61 yards later, he’d sprinted past six Dolphins players. He ran 20.33 mph, per NFL Next Gen Stats.

“You can kinda tell by his demeanor: ‘All right, get out of his way and let him do his thing,'” said tight end Cole Kmet, who motioned into the right slot before the snap. “On that one touchdown, he just blew right past me.”

The run was the longest by a quarterback in franchise history, passing Vince Evans’ 58-yarder in 1980. Mooney, who ran up the right seam, thought Fields had been tackled.

“He kept going and kept his balance …” Mooney said. “He’s special. He does special things with the ball in his hand. Every Sunday I’m amazed by what he does.”

Credit play-caller Luke Getsy for incorporating planned quarterback runs into the playbook. But Fields is still most dangerous when he’s unscripted. He has scrambled 42 times for 411 yards this season — both are NFL highs. He’s averaging a league-best 188 rushing yards over what is statistically expected on those scrambles, per NFL Next Gen Stats.

“It’s nuts,” Kmet said. “When you see him run like that and then be able to execute in the pass game the way he did, it’s pretty special.”

Selling the fake

From the Dolphins’ 18 on the first play of the second quarter, Fields masterfully sold a fake handoff left to Herbert, turning his back to the defense and switching the ball from his right hand to his left. When Herbert ran past Fields, he extended his empty right arm toward the end zone with his back still to the defense, pivoted and rolled right. That caused Dolphins linebacker Jaelan Phillips to pause just long enough to have to chase Fields toward the right sideline on a naked bootleg.

Fields dumped the ball off to Kmet, who had run a crossing route, in the right flat at the 13. He followed Equanimeous St. Brown’s block up the right sideline for a touchdown.

“When you’re able to run the ball– we’ve been able to run the ball the past couple weeks–you’re able to get good run sell,” Kmet said.

The Bears installed the play in training camp.

“We’re just working on that ball-handling, and of course, you know, just selling the fake,” Fields said. “The running back has to sell it, too. Khalil did a great job on that. Something we talked about earlier in the week. Just great execution all the way around.”

The touchdown capped the most creative drive of Getsy’s Bears tenure– a 15-play, 75-yarder that took 7:41 and managed to play keep-away from the Dolphins’ high-powered passing attack.

Four different people ran the ball on the possession: Fields, Herbert, David Montgomery and Kmet. The tight end took a fly sweep for eight yards and then motioned under center on the next play, taking a direct snap and plunging forward to convert on third-and-one.

Getsy got the ball to his running backs in clever fashion, too, handing off to Montgomery on a fly sweep — and also up the middle after a fly sweep fake to receiver Dante Pettis. Fields even ran a college-style speed option play left, pitching to Montgomery for one yard.

“I think those creative ways are really good at stretching the width of the field, certainly on those plays,” coach Matt Eberflus said. “And those things open up things on the inside, too, in the play-action pass game.”

Throwing a dart

It was supposed to be a trick play. On second-and-10 from the Dolphins’ 18 with 2:23 left in the first half, Fields took a shotgun snap, faked a handoff up the middle and pitched the ball backward to receiver Darnell Mooney, who was running an end around from left to right.

Fields then took off up the left flank, darting between left tackle Braxton Jones and left guard Cody Whitehair and looking back toward Mooney.

Mooney was supposed to run right, pull up and throw it. Had he done so, it would have been a touchdown — Fields was wide open. Pressure from the right side, though, made Mooney keep the ball for a two-yard run.

“He didn’t have time,” Fields said. “I was definitely looking for the ball. I was hoping I would see the ball come up from behind the line of scrimmage. Of course, he did the smart thing on that play and just ran the ball.”

The Bears found the end zone on the next play– this time on a pass from Fields to Mooney, not the other way around. On third-and-eight, Fields lined up in the shotgun with three receivers left. Mooney was the closest inside.

Before the snap, Fields saw the Dolphins were in man coverage with star Xavien Howard, a three-time Pro Bowl cornerback, shading him toward the inside. That’s what they wanted to see. At the snap, Pettis ran a skinny post to keep safety Javon Holland stationed in the middle of the end zone.

That opened up Mooney one-on-one on a corner route. Fields looked up and saw Mooney glancing over his right shoulder, not his left. He put the ball there for an 18-yard touchdown, which was Mooney’s first score of the season.

“Really couldn’t ask for a better play call in that situation,” Fields said.

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Two former Bears will be active for the Saints on MNF

The New Orleans Saints are figuring out their offense after several injuries derailed their roster this season. Wide receiver Michael Thomas has been shut down for the season. Running back Mark Ingram II will be out against the Baltimore Ravens Monday with a knee injury. With those gaps in the roster, the Saints turned to two former Bears to be active for their contest Monday.

According to Field Yates with ESPN, the Saints signed Kevin White to the 53-man roster. Jordan Howard has been elevated to the practice squad.

White was the Bears 2015 first round draft choice. Injuries plauged his time in Chicago which in ended after the 2018 season. White spent time with the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers before signing with the Saints in 2021. He has two receptions for 102 yards for the nine games he’s appeared in for the Saints since last season.

Howard was signed by the Saints to their practice squad in the middle of October. Monday night’s game against the Ravens will be his first regular season appearance for the Saints. The two former Bears will be set to play against the recently traded linebacker Roquan Smith. Smith was traded by the Bears to the Ravens last week for draft capital.

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