In the midst of general manager Ryan Poles’ roster teardown that has left the Bears with a dearth of proven players, there was a brief flicker of hope Tuesday when No. 96 was spotted doing calisthenics with teammates on the far practice field behind the Walter Payton Center.

Could it be? Could Poles have thrown Bears fans a bone and re-signed defensive end Akiem Hicks to fortify a no-name defensive line?

Alas, it was not to be. It turned out that No. 96 actually was LaCale London, a second-year defensive end who spent most of last season on injured reserve and the practice squad.

That No. 96 was Akiem Hicks last season and is LaCale London this season is a fitting illustration of just how big of a transition the Bears are going through from former general manager Ryan Pace to Poles.

Gone are Hicks, linebacker Khalil Mack, wide receiver Allen Robinson, guard James Daniels, nose tackle Eddie Goldman and defensive end Bilal Nichols among others. In are a bunch of draft picks and a nondescript group of free agents.

At least three rookies — cornerback Kyler Gordon, safety Jaquan Brisker and wide receiver Velus Jones — will be given every chance to start in 2022. The free agent haul had zero star power — defensive tackle Justin Jones, center Lucas Patrick, wide receiver Byron Pringle, , linebacker Nick Morrow, defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad and tight end Ryan Griffin among others. All were signed to no-harm, no-foul contracts that won’t strap the Bears if things don’t work out.

Though Poles’ offseason moves haven’t excited the masses, it’s arguably the most prudent approach to the rebuild. While Poles didn’t sign any big-name players, he also avoided signing past-their-prime veterans to prop up the roster and get in the way of developing player — like Pace did with safety Antrel Rolle and wide receiver Eddie Royal in 2015.

The roster purge has cleared a path toward 2023, when Poles will have much more salary cap space and better draft capital, and left the Bears trying to find The Sweet Spot of Bad in 2022 — losing enough games to garner a top-5 draft pick while still keeping Fields healthy enough to develop into a future star.

The Sweet Spot of Bad can be a high-wire act, but with the right quarterback has a big payoff. The Colts set the standard with rookie quarterback Peyton Manning in 1998. They went 3-13, but Manning started and finished every game and was sacked only 22 times — the second-fewest in the NFL. The Colts drafted Miami (Fla.) running back Edgerrin James with the fourth overall pick in the draft and were on their way to a long run of success, including Super Bowl XLI over the Bears after the 2006 season.

Even with pitfalls, a team of destiny can find The Sweet Spot of Bad. Just two years ago, the Bengals went 4-11-1 with rookie quarterback Joe Burrow getting sacked 32 times in 10 games (a 16-game pace of 51) and suffering a season-ending knee injury in Week 11. But even while going 2-7-1 as a starter, Burrow made progress. The Bengals took LSU wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase with the fifth overall pick of the 2021 draft — and Burrow and Chase sparked the Bengals to the Super Bowl last season.

Are the Bears set up to find The Sweet Spot of Bad? Poles’ teardown of the roster is a good starting point. The Bears have just five players on their 90-man roster who have started the last three seasons –linebacker Roquan Smith, defensive end Robert Quinn, guard Cody Whitehair, safety Eddie Jackson and running back David Montgomery. Only three players on the roster have made the Pro Bowl — Quinn (three times), Jackson (twice) and Whitehair (once).

The big questions are obvious: Can the Bears protect Fields with a newly assembled offensive line where Whitehair is the only returning starter at the same position he played in 2021? And do the Bears have enough weapons to give Fields a chance to develop?

The Bears are putting their faith in Poles on the first one –and in offensive coordinator Luke Getsy on the other.

“So fired up that our GM is a former offensive lineman,” Patrick said Tuesday after the Bears’ offseason practice, “because I think he gets it to the core — what it takes to build an offensive line. It’s tough, competition, smart. Just guys who love football and just want to compete. I think it’s great.”

As it often is with an offensive line, the Bears will need their offensive weapons to be greater than the sum of their parts for Fields to succeed — wide receivers, tight ends and running backs. But don’t discount Getsy getting that done. Take it from Patrick, who called his belief in Getsy “unshakable.”

“Every time I’ve seen him work with players, I’ve seen them progress,” Patrick said. “In the wide receiver room he started with in Green Bay –a bunch of studs that he made better. He went to the QB room and I’m pretty sure that guy [Aaron Rodgers] won an MVP.

“Now he’s coming to be our OC. Everything he does, he does well. He’s a really good person and it’s really easy to go and run through a brick wall for a coach you believe in.”

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An MRI has confirmed that former Chicago Bears running back Tarik Cohen suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon during a training session being livestreamed on his Instagram account. a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Tuesday.

The hard-luck player, released in March by the Bears because of past injuries, grabbed the back of his leg after going down during the workout on Tuesday. The incident was seen on Instagram Live, with Cohen falling to the floor after backpedaling.

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Cohen, now a free agent, played three full seasons with Chicago but made it to only three games in 2021 before tearing knee ligaments. He missed the rest of that season and then was released by the Bears.

A fourth-round draft pick in 2017, Cohen had a strong rookie year as a running back and kick returner. He made All-Pro as a punt returner in 2018, when he led the NFL with 33 run-backs for 411 yards.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson could use some help.

He was reliable in his first two seasons, but the rest of the secondary was the opposite. It got particularly bad last season, when the Bears allowed the fifth-most yards per pass, third-most touchdown passes and highest opponent passer rating — all while their pass rush ranked fourth in sacks.

Johnson was the only proven cornerback on the roster going into last season, and that problem flared up immediately in the opener against the Rams. It grew into a full-on blaze over the rest of the season with costly lapses against the Steelers, Ravens and Packers.

It’s no wonder new general manager Ryan Poles instantly identified that as a disaster and went to work on the rebuild by drafting Washington cornerback Kyler Gordon and Penn State safety Jaquan Brisker in the second round.

And it’s no wonder Johnson would like to see them get first-team snaps from the jump rather than gradually work their way up from the bottom of the depth chart.

“I’d throw ’em in the fire,” he said. “I mean, they’re our first two draft picks. We’ve got to know what they can do right now. And then we can know what the attitude and what the vibe is heading into camp.

“If I was the coach, I wouldn’t ease them into it. I would throw them out there.”

The Bears almost certainly will.

Poles is hoping Gordon and Brisker will be long-term answers, but he also needs them right away. Without major contributions from then, the Bears likely will have many of the same troubles that hurt them last season.

After Johnson, the next corners on the depth chart come with question marks. Duke Shelley is still trying to establish himself as a starting-caliber player, Kindle Vildor got benched last season and Thomas Graham spent most of his rookie year on the practice squad.

So the secondary’s chances still hinge largely on Johnson continuing his ascent at 23. He proved himself as a No. 1 cornerback last season, and the Bears are counting on that holding true.

Johnson has allowed just 58% completions whentargetedthe last two seasons. He was the only Bears cornerback to hold quarterbacks under 65% in 2021.

The only real disappointment has been that he has just one interception in 28 starts. He’s eager to change that as coach Matt Eberflus endeavors to shape the Bears into a fearsome crew of ballhawks.

Eberflus described Johnson as “still a work in progress” who needs to keep improving like any other young player and added, “just keep working, and we’ll see where he goes.”

Johnson didn’t seem to mind the challenge of proving himself to the new staff.

“It’s a complete reset,” he said. “Everything I’ve done in the past with the other coaches… it really doesn’t mean anything. The film is not going to lie to you, but… they want me to show them what I can do in person, moving forward.”

At this point, though, there’s no doubting his capability.

He spent his rookie season as an understudy to former all-pro Kyle Fuller, then grew into the Bears’ leader at the position last season. The next step is climbing into the NFL’s elite, and judging by the way he reacted gleefully to Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander’s record-breaking $84 million contract this week, Johnson sees himself reaching that level.

“I feel confident as ever,” he said. “There’s nothing I can’t do.”

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Two people were wounded in a shooting near an elementary school in Little Village Tuesday afternoon.

The shooting happened just after 3 p.m. in the 2300 block of South Western Avenue, down the street from Finkl Academy, Chicago police said.

A 17-year-old boy suffered a gunshot wound to the hand and went to Mount Sinai Hospital, where his condition was stabilized, police said.

The second victim, a man, went to the same hospital, according to police.

Officials have not released any information on his condition or any details about the shooting.

This is a developing story. Check back for details.

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