On the day after the White Sox were essentially eliminated from playoff contention, they looked like a team that was never really in it, losing 8-2 to the AL Central leading Guardians Wednesday at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Lance Lynn allowed six runs over six innings but three of the runs were unearned. And from the get-go, the Sox looked flat at third base where Yoan Moncada was involved in three negative results at a hot corner.

Moncada, who has played good defense this season, took his time on Amed Rosario’s ground ball that the hustling Rosario beat out for a hit in the first inning. After Lynn walked Josh Naylor, Moncada almost made amends stepping on third and throwing across his body for an attempted double play but Jose Abreu couldn’t glove the throw on a bounce, allowing Oscar Gonzalez to reach first. Andres Gimenez then bounced an infield single off Moncada.

In the third, left fielder Andrew Vaughn charged in as Moncada peeled off on Josh Naylor’s pop up but dropped it, starting a three-run inning.

Moncada did homer against Triston McKenzie, who struck out 13 and walked none over eight innings of two-run ball. Steven Kwan homered against Lynn and Naylor homered against Jose Ruiz.

The Sox (76-73) dropped to six games behind Cleveland (82-67) with 13 to play.

Cairo learning on the job

Miguel Cairo was hard on himself after the Sox, needing a three-game series sweep against the Guardians to stay in contention, lost 10-7 in 11 innings Tuesday. Perhaps too much so.

“When you win, the players win,” Cairo said Wednesday. “When you lost, I lost. It’s my job to put them in the right, best position to succeed and I didn’t do that. So it was my loss. They battled [Wednesday], they fight, we just came up short. Today’s a new day.

“This is my first time managing so I’m learning a lot.”

The Sox are 13-7 under Cairo and lost two games in a row for the first time since Cairo took over Tony La Russa’s duties.

Robert not in lineup

Luis Robert, who is playing with discomfort in his left wrist when he plays, did not start.

Robert’s wrist gets increasingly sore as games go on from swings, but Cairo said he can’t do more damage to it by playing.

Anderson “will play” before end of season

Tim Anderson, recovering from surgery on the middle finger of his left hand, tracked pitches from Lucas Giolito and moved closer to being activated. It seems more likely Anderson will join the Sox with a minor league rehab assignment, and Cairo said he will definitely play, and play regularly when he returns, this season.

Cease in select company

Dylan Cease, who pitched six innings of one-run ball in a 10-7 loss to Cleveland in 11 innings Tuesday, allowed one earned run or less for the 22nd time this season, the most among MLB starters. Julio Urias of the Dodgers ranks second with 19.

Cease’s 22 starts allowing one earned run or less are one shy of Wilbur Wood’s club record of 23 in 1972. The last MLB starter to allowed one earned run or less 22 or more times was Tampa Bay’s Blake Snell in 2018 (23).

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Roquan Smith misses Wednesday practice

Chicago Bears linebacker Roquan Smith had a rough game in Week 2 against the Green Bay Packers. The All-Pro linebacker didn’t look his usual self as he settled for tackles way beyond the line of scrimmage. Reports from Wednesday’s practice clarified what is going on with the Bears’ defensive leader this week.

Per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune,  Smith missed practice with a hip injury.

It is currently unclear if Smith with play in Week 3 against the Houston Texans or when he sustained the injury. Head coach Matt Eberflus didn’t discuss the injury in his press conference before Wednesday’s practice. The Bears need their best players on the field as the team struggled on defense against the Packers.

Roquan Smith has missed a lot of practice since training camp started

The Bears gave up over 200 yards rushing to the Packers. Smith, who missed much of training camp due to a holdout, has not been a terrific defender for the Bears this year. He’s the team’s worst defender through the first two weeks, according to PFF’s ratings. Smith is trying to play well this season to request a heftier contract. Even if Smith does play in Week 3, missing practice will put him further behind in this defense.

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The Lonzo Ball injured knee saga took yet another turn on Wednesday, as the Bulls announced that the point guard would have surgery next week in Los Angeles, and be re-evaluated in four-to-six weeks.

This was the same left knee that Ball injured last January, and after it was initially called a bone bruise, the hope was he would be back in weeks.

Weeks turned to months after further testing showed he needed a meniscus tear repaired, but the organization still held out hope that he could be back for a last week of the season and into the playoffs.

That hope quickly faded when he had to continually be backed-up in the rehab process, dealing with pain when he reached the sprinting and lateral movement parts of the program.

The plan this summer was rest and then get Ball ramped up again, but it was almost a rinse and repeat of what happened in the winter and the spring.

He would reach a certain portion of the program and experience pain.

According to a source, Ball and his camp – with consent from the team – went and got second and third opinions on what was going on, and the latest doctor he saw felt that an arthroscopic debridement would be the best path.

Basically, a cleanup to remove some debris.

With the schedule they have given Ball to be re-evaluated, that would mean the Bulls would have a better timetable for his return in November. However, that doesn’t mean Ball would be close to returning then. As the Bulls have learned with the 24 year old, timetables have been very relative through his first five seasons in the NBA.

Ball, who was acquired in a sign-and-trade last summer with New Orleans, has never played a full NBA season since being drafted No. 2 overall by the Lakers in 2017. Before going down with the latest knee injury, he was playing at a high level in his first season with the Bulls, averaging 13 points while shooting a career-high 42.3% from three-point range.

While a clear plan has not been laid out as far as a replacement in the starting lineup, the Bulls did sign veteran Goran Dragic in July.

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The Blackhawks’ awful start last season –one win in their first 12 games –shattered their spirit and unity in the locker room.

The Hawks may well have to endure another awful start this season. That awful start might turn into an awful middle and awful end, too.

But they can’t allow that misery to shatter their spirit and unity again. And it’ll be up to Luke Richardson, as the Hawks’ new head coach, to foster a culture with enough cohesion, stability and trust to ensure that.

“You want to keep the highs really rolling high,” Richardson said Wednesday. “And then when it spikes down low, we want it to spike right back up, not hit down low and stay there for a while.

“‘Success’ for this team might be a different meaning for us and fans and [media]. But as long as it’s an upward trend, and the downward trends are really nipped in the bud early and turned around quickly, those are the signs of a team growing.”

Richardson accepted this position, his first NHL head coaching gig, knowing it would be difficult.

He has embraced the fact that his job –to help the Hawks play their best –and the biggest goal of his boss, general manager Kyle Davidson — to acquire the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s NHL draft –stand somewhat in opposition to each other. Although Davidson has shied away from explicitly referring to “tanking,” the funniest exchange Wednesday between Richardson and Davidson hinted more than subtly at it.

“I told Kyle right off the hop that we’re going to make his job the toughest job possible and try to win as much as possible,” Richardson said, drawing some laughs.

Davidson interjected with a smile: “Having said that, I want to win.”

But difficult might be an understatement.

The 40-odd players who will enter Fifth Third Arena for the first on-ice sessions of training camp Thursday –camp technically began Wednesday with fitness testing, medical evaluations and photoshoots but nothing on-ice –will include some of everything.

There will be Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, the powerful, somewhat disgruntled veterans entering their final seasons under contract. They’re going to vacuum up almost all the attention given to the Hawks this season. Richardson said he talked to them “the most” of anyone this summer, but it’ll be crucial that they and he build and maintain a strong working relationship.

There will be a surprisingly sizable number of other veterans, some of whom are new this season, hoping to re-prove they can make big impacts (Max Domi, Andreas Athanasiou) or be NHL regulars (Colin Blackwell, Jack Johnson) or stay healthy (Connor Murphy, Tyler Johnson, Jujhar Khaira).

There will be plenty of young, semi-established guys hoping to take the next step (Taylor Raddysh, Philipp Kurashev, Sam Lafferty, Caleb Jones, Riley Stillman).

There will be even more prospects –a group headlined by Lukas Reichel but with far too many members to list here –vying for available NHL roster spots.

There will be the two presumptive NHL goaltenders, Petr Mrazek and Alex Stalock, attempting to stay afloat and prove themselves, too, despite appearing on paper to be arguably the league’s worst duo.

And there will be Seth Jones, in a category all to himself. The 27-year-old defenseman is entering the first year of his eight-year whopper of a contract on track to be the Hawks’ next captain but also on track to wait into his 30s for his next playoff appearance.

Richardson will somehow have to bring all those groups together.And he’ll have to do so quickly, before October and its inevitable discouraging moments rolls around.

The 53-year-old former Canadiens assistant brings a calm, honest, positive demeanor to the job –and believes those traits will rub off on others around him –but this situation will certainly put his immaculate league-wide reputation to the test.

“The first step, before we talk about success on the ice, [is] we have to have success … jelling this team together and finding some chemistry together,” he said.

“Even skating around before and after practice, talking to guys about certain drills [or about] plays in games from the night before, that’s huge. It’s going to take some time to get around to everybody and for everybody to feel comfortable with us. But I’m confident [we’ll get there] with the personalities that we have on the coaching side.”

Richardson’s staff is impressive. His three assistant coaches are all experienced former players with similarly rational, steady personalities. Kevin Dean will oversee the defensemen and penalty kill, Derek Plante will orchestrate the power play and Derek King will work alongside Richardson doing general game prep and opponent scouting.

Beyond those assistants, the public’s extremely low expectations for the Hawks this season might theoretically be one more thing working in Richardson’s favor, but he won’t want to rely on that. His own expectations for himself and his new team, after all, are quite a bit higher.

“It’s always been in my nature to be competitive, to win in this league,” Richardson said. “There’s really no timetable. It might take some time. But I’m an optimist, and I think we can cut that time and make it go quicker. If we do, that’s great, and everybody [will be] happy because we’re going in the right direction.”

Notes

Davidson reiterated Wednesday there have been no trade discussions — nor, for that matter, contract extension discussions –with Kane or Toews. The two veteran players are expected to speak to the media Thursday.Kane and Domi will start camp on a line together. Richardson suspects Domi’s speed will complement Kane well.The Hawks remain “definitely open” to weaponizing their salary-cap space in a trade, Davidson said, if another team wants to shed an oversized contract before opening day.Read More

Mayoral allies regrouped Wednesday and won City Council passage of a zoning change that allows the Chicago Fire soccer club to build an $80 million training center. The vote was lopsided on a plan Mayor Lori Lightfoot pushed but came after an impassioned debate.

The Fire’s plans for a Near West Side location, formerly part of the ABLA Homes, would provide an economic boost for the area while adding soccer pitches for local youth, backers argued. Critics said the nearly 26-acre site should be set aside for the Chicago Housing Authority to meet its commitment to build new units.

The Council approved the plan on a 36-11 vote. For about 45 minutes, alderpersons debated the issue, touching on topics such as the CHA’s track record on delivering new housing, the wealth of Fire owner Joe Mansueto, and alderpersons’ control over zoning. Several alderpersons said they backed the project because it had the support of Ald. Jason Ervin, whose 28th Ward includes the site.

Ervin said the Fire’s project had the backing of Near West Side neighbors, citing community benefits from the team’s investment. Others chimed in with a defense of what’s called aldermanic prerogative, or control over zoning decisions.

“We are in the system where the alderman is the one who represents and knows what’s best, that he or she is the person that comes to this body, advocates for their communities and is expected to answer back to them,” said Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th). “That’s on each and every one of us to make that decision.”

Other alderpersons praised the project as an investment in an area with an overload of poverty and vacant land. “This is a gift for this community,” said Ald. James Cappleman (46th).

Opponents focused on how the CHA-owned vacant parcel could have been used to meet the agency’s backlog of housing commitments dating from its demolition of high-rises. Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) said the community wasn’t getting much from Mansueto, a business leader whose net worth Forbes has estimated at nearly $5 billion. “Mansueto is worth a lot of money. We should be getting a lot more” in the deal, Ramirez-Rosa said.

Ald. Edward Burke (14th) responded with an account of Mansueto’s generosity in funding a charter high school in his ward. Mansueto is executive chairman of the Chicago investment research firm Morningstar, which he founded.

The team’s proposal has strong backing from Lightfoot but was sidetracked Tuesday when the council’s zoning committee rejected it on a 5-7 vote when many committee members were absent. With better attendance Wednesday morning, the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards reconvened to pass the matter 9-5 and immediately reported it to the City Council, setting up final passage.

Ald. Tom Tunney (44th), the committee chairman, backed the project, saying it would make the neighborhood more attractive for residential growth.

The property is generally bounded by Roosevelt Road, Ashland Avenue, 14th Street and Loomis Street.

Tunney said the development would provide income for the CHA to build and improve its housing. He said two citizens panels that advise the CHA have endorsed the project.

In testimony to the committee Tuesday, aldermen heard that besides paying $8 million upfront, the Fire will pay an annual rent to the CHA starting at almost $800,000, with increases in future years. The CHA’s chief development officer, Ann McKenzie, said the lease extends 40 years with two 10-year renewal options.

She said the Fire’s upfront payment will cover the estimated $4 million cost for environmental work needed at the property.

Jhamie Chin, spokesman for the Fire, said the club would like to start construction soon but must await approval of the lease from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights said the CHA and a private developer, Related Midwest, have delivered just 245 of 775 promised units to date at the former ABLA site, now known as Roosevelt Square.

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Everything in the NFL is about contending for a championship, or for a rebuilding team like the Bears, taking steps toward it. And nothing is more important in that venture than figuring out whether Justin Fields is the quarterback who can get them there.

When he’s throwing 11 passes in a game, as he did in the loss to the Packers, that’s not accomplishing anything. That’s not the way to win now, nor does it provide any insight into whether he should be the focus of the Bears’ future.

Matt Eberflus warned against overreacting to the Bears minimizing Fields’ opportunities, saying it’s only two games into the season, but he has thrown the fewest passes of any NFL starter. That type of conservative game plan by offensive coordinator Luke Getsy makes it harder for him to grow.

“Yeah, maybe, but my No. 1 priority in my job is to run the plays like I’m taught to and to execute them at the best of my ability and to ultimately win games,” Fields said Wednesday. “So, if our offensive coordinator thinks the plays he’s giving me are going to help us win games, that’s all I care about.”

He gave some version of that at every turn. He pointed to his coaches’ experience and said he trusts them. He said stats don’t matter.

He mentioned “selflessness,” too. But reality is that whatever is best for Fields is also best for the Bears. They’re not going anywhere, this season or over the next couple, if he’s not flourishing and outright winning games for them.

Case in point in Green Bay: A game in which he throws 11 times is not a viable template. Great teams aren’t going that route. Eberflus seemed to agree and insisted that an even balance of run and pass plays is “what we need to have… and we’ll get that.”

“It’s so early in the season right now,” he said. “Let’s let this thing move forward and continue to grow.”

Continue? Growth needs to begin first.

Fields completed 7 of 11 passes for 70 yards with an interception for a 43.8 passer rating against the Packers.He got 30 of those yards on a flea flicker on his fourth snap of the game.

Eberflus said he embraces and even insists on Fields’ having a say in the offensive game plan, but Fields didn’t speak up about wanting to throw more.

“In terms of when we’re going to call a play, how many passes, how many runs we’re going to call, that’s Luke’s job, and everybody in the building knows that Luke knows what he’s doing,” Fields said. “We put full trust in him knowing that he’s gonna put us in the best position to win.”

He also didn’t interpret the game plan as a sign that Eberflus and Getsy lack faith in him.

“Not at all,” he said, citing the robust running game.

But Fields is just 15 of 28 passing for 191 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for a 69.2 passer rating. That’s the lowest yardage total and third-lowest completion percentage and passer rating of any NFL starter. No other starter has thrown fewer than 20 passes in a game, which Fields has done twice.

Regardless of how the Bears ended up there, it’s concerning.

If Fields is struggling because his opportunity is so limited, that’s mismanagement. If Eberflus and Getsy are doing it because they’ve seen enough in practice to worry them, that’d be equally troubling.

The upside for the Bears, as Eberflus noted, is that there’s still time to change course. But assessing Fields is the most pressing matter facing this organization. Urgency trumps patience in this situation.

The Bears’ next two games are against teams that went 4-13 last season — Sunday against the Texans and Oct. 2 at the Giants — and while both are decent on pass defense, neither is overwhelming. It’s the perfect time to finally let Fields step fully into his job.

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The White Sox are watching the Cleveland Guardians beat them and everyone else in American League Central.

Watching the youngest team in the majors win a totally unexpected division title has been an eye-opening experience.

And one that makes them angry.

“Embarrassing” is how one player characterized seeing a team with a $66.4 million payroll — ranked 27th in the major leagues and last in the division – close in on the AL Central crown. The Guardians have a five-game lead over the Sox with 14 games to play, including Tuesday’s game at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The Sox’ total team payroll this season, per Spotrac, is $196.6 million, their highest ever. It ranks seventh in the majors and was appropriated for the purpose of winning one of “multiple championships,” as general manager Rick Hahn has said multiple times.

Perhaps that will still come to fruition. But after making the playoffs for the first time since 2008 as a wild card in the COVID-shortened 2020 season and wining the division last season and positioning themselves as World Series contenders in 2022, the Sox fell flat on their faces this season, leaving questions about the direction of the franchise and how much of the core group and coaching staff, including manager Tony La Russa, will stay intact going into 2023.

Cleveland went into the season not even trying to contend.

But it won by pitching well and applying relentless, energetic pressure on opponents that was palpable for a Sox team watching them on the other side of the field. The Guardians looked across and saw an injury-riddled team that was encouraged to go easy on the bases to protect their legs.

One Sox player said of the Guardians this week that “it [ticks] me off they’re winning and didn’t even intend to.”

By putting the ball in play, putting pressure on their opponents defense with aggressive speed and playing better defense than the Sox – and having lights-out closer in Emmanuel Clase, a top-three MVP candidate in Jose Ramirez and a manager of the year candidate in Terry Francona — the Guardians made the Sox look like foolish spenders in 2022.

“That’s a great team over there,” said Kendall Graveman, whose $8 million salary to pitch in relief would be the Guardians’ second highest salary after Ramirez. “That’s a team we’ve seen allyear. Terry Francona and their staff have done a good job with a young group of guys they’re teaching the game of baseball to and they play a good brand of baseball.

And it’s competitive for us every time we play them.”

Competitive to the tune of a 10-7 record against the Sox following a 10-7 win in 11 innings Tuesday that clinched the tiebreaker and essentially gave them a six-game lead over the Sox.

“I’d like to give some respect on that end, too, because they’ve played good all year,” Graveman said. “They’ve surprised a lot of people because a lot of people didn’t pick them and they have that chip on their shoulder.”

The Guardians figure to be vastly below the Sox in payroll again next season, and you wonder if the Sox will be able to compete with them. The Sox’ roster is heavily imbalanced with two of their three first baseman, Andrew Vaughn and Gavin Sheets, doing their best but struggling to cover ground playing the outfield, and needs will have to be filled at second base, the starting rotation, outfield and catcher with Yasmani Grandal trending in the wrong direction in the third year of his four-year, $73 million contract.

In any event, these salaries top the books for next season: Lance Lynn ($18.5 million), Grandal ($18.25M), Yoan Moncada ($17.8M), Liam Hendriks ($14.3M), Tim Anderson (club option for $12.5M), Eloy Jimenez ($10.3M), AJ Pollock ($10M, player option), Luis Robert ($9.5M), Joe Kelly ($9M), Graveman ($8M) and Leury Garcia ($5.5M).

The Guardians’ top salaries for 2023?

Ramirez ($14 million), Myles Straw ($2.9M), Bryan Shaw ($4M) and Clase ($1.9M).

Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, the man who writes the paychecks, has to be green with envy.

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The latest rankings of Illinois high school football teams in each class, according to an Associated Press panel of sportswriters.

Class 8ASchool W-L Pts Prv

1. Loyola (14) (4-0) 140 1

2. Lincoln-Way East (4-0) 125 2

3. Warren (4-0) 110 3

4. Glenbard West (4-0) 94 4

5. O’Fallon (4-0) 73 6

6. Bolingbrook (3-1) 37 NR

7. Maine South (2-2) 35 7

8. York (4-0) 34 NR

9. Glenbrook South (4-0) 26 NR

10. Edwardsville (3-1) 24 9

Others receiving votes: Neuqua Valley 22, Lyons 17, Naperville North 11, South Elgin 11, Plainfield North 6, Marist 5.

Class 7ASchool W-L Pts Prv

1. Mount Carmel (14) (4-0) 140 1

2. Prospect (4-0) 126 2

3. Jacobs (4-0) 110 4

4. St. Rita (2-2) 83 5

5. Pekin (4-0) 64 6

6. Geneva (4-0) 56 8

7. Wheaton North (3-1) 55 3

8. Batavia (2-2) 47 7

9. Hersey (4-0) 35 9

10. Hononegah (4-0) 32 10

Others receiving votes: St. Charles North 10, Yorkville 10, DeKalb 1, Downers North 1.

Class 6ASchool W-L Pts Prv

1. East St. Louis (14) (2-2) 144 1

2. Simeon (1) (4-0) 133 3

3. Lemont (4-0) 120 4

4. Prairie Ridge (3-1) 84 2

5. Chatham Glenwood (4-0) 75 6

6. Crete-Monee (2-2) 68 5

7. Notre Dame (3-1) 59 7

8. Kenwood (3-1) 47 8

9. Carmel (4-0) 36 NR

10. Wauconda (4-0) 17 NR

(tie) Cary-Grove (3-1) 17 10

Others receiving votes: St. Ignatius 11, Crystal Lake South 9, Normal West 2, Grayslake North 2, Belvidere North 1.

Class 5ASchool W-L Pts Prv

1. Morris (7) (4-0) 141 1

2. Kankakee (7) (3-1) 123 2

3. Mahomet-Seymour (1) (4-0) 113 3

4. Sycamore (4-0) 106 4

5. Peoria (4-0) 85 6

6. Morgan Park (4-0) 72 7

7. Glenbard South (4-0) 55 8

8. Nazareth (1-3) 41 5

9. Highland (3-1) 32 10

10. Sterling (3-1) 24 NR

Others receiving votes: St. Patrick 20, Rockford Boylan 5, St. Viator 4, Mascoutah 3, Decatur MacArthur 1.

Class 4ASchool W-L Pts Prv

1. Joliet Catholic (9) (4-0) 144 T1

2. Sacred Heart-Griffin (6) (4-0) 139 T1

3. Richmond-Burton (4-0) 112 4

4. St. Francis (4-0) 109 3

5. Rochester (3-1) 85 5

6. Stillman Valley (4-0) 73 6

7. Wheaton Academy (4-0) 64 8

8. Carterville (4-0) 38 9

9. Genoa-Kingston (3-1) 21 7

10. Macomb (4-0) 14 NR

Others receiving votes: St. Laurence 11, Breese Central 7, East Alton-Wood River 3, Columbia 2, Coal City 1, Murphysboro 1, Freeburg 1.

Class 3ASchool W-L Pts Prv

1. IC Catholic (13) (3-1) 148 1

2. Williamsville (1) (4-0) 122 2

3. Reed-Custer (1) (4-0) 120 3

4. Princeton (4-0) 107 4

5. Byron (3-1) 86 5

6. Mt. Carmel, Ill. (4-0) 73 6

7. Fairbury Prairie Central (4-0) 63 7

8. Eureka (4-0) 54 8

9. Paxton-Buckley-Loda (4-0) 19 NR

10. Seneca (4-0) 12 NR

(tie) Tolono Unity (3-1) 12 10

Others receiving votes: Peotone 5, Durand-Pecatonica 4.

Class 2ASchool W-L Pts Prv

1. Wilmington (12) (4-0) 138 1

2. Decatur St. Teresa (2) (4-0) 128 2

3. Maroa-Forsyth (4-0) 106 3

4. Bismarck-Henning (4-0) 97 4

5. North-Mac (4-0) 88 5

6. Knoxville (4-0) 63 6

7. Rockridge (3-1) 47 7

8. Downs Tri-Valley (3-1) 39 8

9. Johnston City (4-0) 20 10

10. Carmi White County (4-0) 11 NR

Others receiving votes: Nashville 9, Pana 9, El Paso-Gridley 5, Vandalia 5, Mercer County 4, Farmington 1.

Class 1ASchool W-L Pts Prv

1. Lena-Winslow (15) (4-0) 150 1

2. Athens (4-0) 123 2

3. Colfax Ridgeview (4-0) 121 3

4. Camp Point Central (4-0) 99 5

5. Hope Academy (4-0) 87 6

6. Fulton (3-1) 70 4

7. St. Bede (5-0) 42 NR

8. Shelbyville (4-0) 35 NR

9. Gilman Iroquois West (4-0) 34 T8

10. Ottawa Marquette (4-0) 20 NR

Others receiving votes: Greenfield-Northwestern 18, Moweaqua Central A&M 11, Tuscola 8, Forreston 6, Dakota 1.

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Bears coach Matt Eberflus and his defensive staff spent much of the offseason, training camp and preseason instilling the H.I.T.S. principle that focuses on hustle and intensity and aggressiveness. But let the record show, the “T” in H.I.T.S. is for takeaways, not tackling.

So two weeks into the regular season, the Bears had a tackling issue in their 27-10 loss to the Packers on Sunday at Lambeau Field. Poor tackling helped pave the way for the Packers to gain 414 yards, including 203 yards on the ground. According to Pro Football Focus, Jones forced 13 missed tackles by himself. Depending on your definition of a missed tackle, the Bears had 20 or more against Packers.

Is that a red flag? Or just an early season hiccup for a defense playing at regular-season game speed for only the second time? Eberflus wasn’t going to accept that excuse. But he wasn’t going to freak out about it, either.

“You’re not tolerant [of that] at all,” Eberflus said. “It’s something we have to correct and we’re going to work tirelessly to get that done. But a lot of times it happens early in the year.”

Eberflus has been here before. In 2019 — his second season as the Colts’ defensive coordinator — poor tackling was the culprit when the Colts allowed 435 yards (7.4 per play) in a 30-24 overtime loss to the Chargers in the season opener.

“It was early in the season and you just gotta get guys to get up on the runner and get their pads on them at the proper level and then have a strong wrap and run your feet. A lot of times, missed tackles happen because you’re lunging and not getting up on the runners. So, we’re going to work on that [in] individual [Wednesday] and just get better at it.”

Eberflus seemed to get his point across after that 2019 opener. The Colts responded with a sharp performance against the Titans –allowing 243 total yards (4.3 per play) in a 19-17 victory.

So it figures that the Bears will be on-point defensively against the Texans on Sunday. The Texans are averaging 266.5 yards through two games (4.2 per play) — 29th in the NFL –and 78.5 rushing yards, which ranks 27th.

“We’ll be better at it,” linebacker Nick Morrow said. “We were in the gaps [against the Packers]. We were there. We fitted up. We just didn’t make the play. That’s execution. I don’t think it’s a mental focus thing. We just didn’t execute well enough.”

Generally, teams that tackle well respond quickly. But in Week 3 of the first season under Eberflus, the Bears have not yet established that they tackle well.

“You’ve got to get back to your fundamentals,” Morrow said. “Sometimes you just want to go in there and hit a guy and you may get too high, a guy bounces off of it, or spins off of it. They’re paid to break tackles, too. You’ve got to be good in your technique and your fundamentals and constantly work it.”

Eberflus echoed that sentiment. “We are tackling too high right now. We’ve got to tackle lower,” he said. “We’ve just got to do a better job of executing the way we tackle.”

The Bears spent extra time in individual drills working on tackling. “It’s always emphasized, but it was more overly emphasized [Wednesday].

“I think it could turn around pretty quick,” Eberflus said. “It’s about the fundamentals of it, but [just] as importantly, it’s about determination. It’s about the front-seven really committing to it, the linebackers and d-line and the secondary … committing to not giving up the big play in the running game.”

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