When Bears coach Matt Nagy told Justin Fields that he would make his first NFL start Sunday in Cleveland, the rookie quarterback was stoic.

Of course he was.

Since the day they drafted him in the first round, the Bears have found increasingly new and creative ways to describe the 22-year-old’s poise. At the start of training camp, general manager Ryan Pace said Fields’ success in high school and college led to a “natural inner confidence.” His preseason performance led the Bears to believe that even more strongly.

“I used to not be this way,” Fields said this week. “I definitely learned from past experiences, past first starts. I still remember my first start in high school, I was nervous as can be. I think being more this way — just being stoic and being even-keeled — I think that just keeps my mind calm and allows me to think more.”

If Fields was nervous in high school, no one noticed.

“I’ve never seen him get rattled,” said Matt Dickmann, his coach at Kennesaw (Ga.) Harrison High School. “That’s just Justin. He’s never shown any weakness.”

Ron Veal, his private quarterbacks coach during his high school years, didn’t see it, either. Fields doesn’t get anxious, he said, because of the work he puts in during the week.

“If he is upset, or if he is happy, he stays in that same frame of mind — same facial expression,” Veal said.

“I’ve never seen him nervous. If he was, he doesn’t display it well — which is a good thing.”

It will be a good thing Sunday when the Bears face the Browns. Like any rookie quarterback, Fields figures to be inconsistent. His mindset won’t be, though. That’s one reason — out of many — the Bears are confident in their rookie.

“There’s nothing wrong with being excited and showing positive emotion with your team — but no one wants to see knees shaking,” offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said. “It’s one of those things where when it’s not a problem, you’re good and you can move forward. When it’s a problem, it’s a problem — and it hasn’t been a problem with Justin.”

Lazor has coached players who are outwardly nervous. That made him skittish, too.

“Guys who are way up and down emotionally, they can tip over the edge sometimes and make some bigger errors,” he said. “I think guys like Justin, who so far have shown to be flat-liners and controlled their emotions and steady, in the long haul are gonna be more successful.”

The matchup won’t be easy — the Browns boast edge rushers Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney, both former No. 1 overall picks — but the stadium should be comforting. A former Ohio State quarterback, Fields has never lost a game in the Buckeye State. Many of the fans cheering for the Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium probably have scarlet and gray jerseys in their closets.

“I don’t think he’s approaching it like, ‘This is my very first start — a lot of pressure,'” receiver Marquise Goodwin said. “I think he’s approaching it like, ‘Hey, I’m a football player. It’s a game I’ve been playing since I was a little boy. I’m just gonna go out there and execute and have fun.'”

Tight end Jimmy Graham noticed the way Fields warmed up before the season opener, when he appeared in five snaps.

“Even in the pregame, just how relaxed he is throwing the ball is pretty impressive to see,” Graham said.

Sunday, he’ll be asked to do more than that. Judging by his composure, no one should be able to tell it’s his first start.

“I like that about him,” Nagy said. “I think that’s going to be a strength for him as he moves forward and continues to learn with every game that he’s in.”

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A man was charged with shooting at Chicago police officers Tuesday night in Rogers Park on the North Side.

Timothy Thomas, 31, was charged with aggravated battery of a peace officer and attempted first-degree murder, police said. He was also given various traffic citations, authorities said.

Thomas was scheduled to appear in bond court Friday.

Thomas was arrested Tuesday night about 11:45 p.m. in the 7600 block of North Ashland Avenue, shortly after firing shots at police officers who were conducting a traffic stop in the 1500 block of W. Jonquil Terrace, police said.

No one was injured and police didn’t return fire.

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A man was fatally shot Thursday night in West Englewood on the South Side.

The 44-year-old was found on the ground unresponsive with gunshot wounds to his torso about 11:45 p.m. in the 6500 block of South Wolcott Avenue, Chicago police said.

He was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

No one was in custody.

A few hours earlier, a 29-year-old man was shot and killed in Lawndale on the West Side.

About 5:20 p.m., he was standing near the sidewalk in the 2200 block of South Kolin Avenue, when he was approached by a man who pulled out a gun and fired shots, police said.

He was struck in the chest, and taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. He has not yet been identified.

A person of interest was taken into custody for questioning, police said.

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Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf was disappointed when the White Sox settled for a Wild Card berth last season when their contention window finally opened after a painful but necessary rebuild.

Through a pool reporter Thursday, Reinsdorf talked to Chicago media for the first time in years after the Sox clinched the AL Central with a victory over the Indians in Game 1 of a split doubleheader in Cleveland.

“First of all, there’s a myth they had to talk me into it,” he said of the rebuild orchestrated by general manager Rick Hahn and vice president Ken Williams. “I wanted to do it just as much as they wanted to do it. It was an easy decision because we were going to be caught in mediocrity and that’s no fun. Going through it, it was painful watching the team lose [95 games in 2017 and 100 in 2018] but I always knew we had a plan and we were working our plan and ultimately the plan was going to work.”

The plan is to win multiple titles, Reinsdorf said. It won’t be easy.

“The real plan is we want to be competitive year after year,” Reinsdorf said. “It’s very hard to win one title, let alone multiple titles. I just want us to be playing meaningful games every October.”

Reinsdorf was criticized when he hired manager 76-year-old manager Tony La Russa, his friend who was fired by then GM Ken Harrelson in 1986, after the Sox lost the Wild Card series to the Athletics last season.

But Reinsdorf said La Russa’s gift for handling pitchers is what the Sox needed.

“I absolutely felt he was the best guy for the job,” Reinsdorf said. “I never had any doubt in my mind. It wasn’t like I hadn’t seen him for 10 years. I saw him, I talked to him. I knew what he had left. What I wanted was somebody that I felt could really handle the pitchers and can relate to the players and I knew Tony could do it.”

To which shortstop Tim Anderson confirmed again Thursday, calling La Russa “a great guy.”

“I’m just pleased with the way that he handled everything and the way he just come in and be a part of the family,” Anderson said.

Reinsdorf remained close to La Russa and knew he missed the competition.

“It killed him to be sitting in the stands or sitting in a suite watching the game,” Reinsdorf said. “That’s why I went to Rick and Kenny and said we should go after this guy.”

Reinsdorf, 85, remains passionate about baseball, his first love. He has one World Series title (2005) to go with six as chairman of the Bulls, and badly wants one more. He congratulated players and staff in the visitors clubhouse after the clincher.

“It’s always a great feeling when you win something,” he said.

“This is all about fans, and everybody associated with the organization. But first and foremost it’s about the fans and the fact we could win this championship, it means a lot. But now there’s a bigger prize and we hope we can bring that home to them.

“Our fans are probably the most knowledgeable fans in baseball. Much more knowledgeable than the fans of some other teams in the other league.”

Any team in the playoffs has a chance to win the World Series, Reinsdorf said, and Sox fans deserve to have their patience rewarded with another one.

“In a short series anything can happen,” he said. “I don’t see why we can’t go all the way, but if we don’t, I wouldn’t be stunned either.”

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There were no big yardage totals or pretty offensive plays to rave about in Mather’s 15-14 win against Hyde Park on Thursday at Winnemac.

It was a game of defense and penalties that was decided by the sheer will of sophomore Jacob Scott and the Rangers’ offensive line and defense.

The Thunderbirds (4-1) entered the game undefeated, on top of the Illini Big Shoulders conference. They received votes in the Associated Press Class 4A state poll this week, technically making them the No. 13 ranked Class 4A team in the state.

But none of those numbers mattered in the final push. Mather’s offense had not done much through three quarters, but it managed to drive down to just inches short of the goal line with 2:27 to play, trailing 14-7.

On fourth-and-goal the teams collided. Rangers quarterback Zeke Irving attempted to punch it in. Seven of his teammates collided with nine Hyde Park players and the battle was on. The Rangers won as Irving stayed on his feet and made it into the end zone.

That made it 14-13. Mather (4-1) had easily made the extra point on its touchdown in the third quarter, a three-yard run by sophomore Jacob Scott. This time the Rangers went for two and the win out of necessity. Their only long snapper was now out injured.

Scott craftily crashed and snuck his way through Hyde Park’s size advantage to give his team the lead and the win.

“I was scared if I didn’t score I would let my team down,” Scott. “It was challenging. They are pretty big. I had good blocking thanks to my offensive line and I didn’t give up and they didn’t give up. We kept fighting.”

Scott had 25 carries for 66 yards and a touchdown. Irving was 6-for-9 passing for 62 yards.

Junior Terence Young had an interception and key knockdown for the Rangers. Senior John Ho came through with an interception on Hyde Park’s final drive to seal the victory.

“I locked it down,” Young said. “They ran trips, which was real bold and they didn’t get anything with it.”

Hyde Park quarterback Quentin Harris was 8-for-18 for 136 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Running back Jaylin Ramseur had 17 carries for 69 yards.

“We came out flat,” Hyde Park coach Keenan Phillips-Riley said. “I think we probably underestimated our opponent.”

A Mather football player lays injured on the field as coaches and a referee look on during the game against Hyde Park. Kirsten Stickney/For the Sun-Times

There were only four officials and no trainer at the game. Several Mather players left the game with injuries and Hyde Park asked for a trainer in the first half.

“Last week we just had three refs,” Mather coach Yanko Jordanof said. “I grew up in CPS and we didn’t have trainers. Rub some dirt in it, put some ice on it. Next man up.

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On the day he died, Simeon High School freshman Kentrell McNeal and a friend went to play some basketball at a gym intended to be a safe space for kids.

But it was filled to capacity, so they went to watch a football game instead and ended up in Hyde Park, where the boys were ambushed in a McDonald’s parking lot and shot Tuesday evening.

Kentrell, 15, died the next day. The 14-year-old with him was seriously wounded.

“They’re not wrong for going to a school football game. They’re kids being kids,” said Carlil Pittman, executive director of the youth group Good Kids Mad City.

Just hours earlier, another Simeon student, Jamari Williams, also 15, was shot and killed minutes after school let out in Chatham. He was on the junior varsity football team and, like Kentrell, had used sports as a refuge from the violence around him.

“When we talk about safe spaces and opportunities for youth, this is exactly what we’re trying to prevent,” Pittman said. “There’s not always the luxury in our communities for children to be children. And the space forces them to be in adult situations at such a young age.”

Shattered dreams

Jamari Williams excelled at sports and dreamed of playing professionally.

“He was a good kid,” said Darryl Smith, who coached Jamari for three years on the Ogden Park Vikings football team.

“He wanted to play a sport he loved. He was one of the fastest kids on the team. His aspirations were to get out, play football and make it to the next level,” Smith said.

“That was his dream,” he said. “But unfortunately his dreams were shattered.”

Jamari lost his father to gun violence within the last year. Smith said the middle school football program was intended to help the children grow into adulthood.

Before every practice, he’d make sure the kids finished their homework before suiting up.

“It gives them a foothold in life,” he explained. “We try to instill discipline in them, instill some kind of work ethic and get them ready for the next stage in their lives, which is high school.”

‘A super group’

Kentrell belonged to a unique basketball program that combined an existing team, Geek Squad Basketball, with guidance from Good Kids Mad City.

“It was like a super group,” Kentrell’s coach Ro Gordon said.

“People looked for [Kentrell] for advice and motivation. I have no doubts that he had a prominent future in coaching. He leaves behind a lot of little brothers in Geek Squad,” Gordon said.

Pittman, the head of Good Kids Mad City, had a child in the basketball program in a younger age group and volunteered to mentor the other kids.

That mentorship extended beyond the biweekly practices and games that took them outside of Chicago. “On these trips, they not only played basketball and traveled the world, they were able to get educated,” Gordon said.

Pittman said the program trained kids in solving problems and taught them building skills.

“They’d always come to my house, or we’d go out of town for basketball games together,” Pittman said. “Kentrell used to come over and play games with the other boys. It was just a pleasure to have him around and get to know him better.”

Kentrell had celebrated his 15th birthday three days before the shooting.

“Around me, all he talked about was basketball. If he wasn’t playing and my son was playing somewhere, he’d call and say, ‘Can I go?’ For him, he was just enjoying his friends and embarking on his journey as a freshman in high school,” Pittman said.

Pastor Charles Moodie provided the court used by Kentrell and his team at Chicago City Life Center, near State and Garfield. He said Kentrell as a “very funny kid” with a “huge heart.”

Moodie’s church holds late night tournaments from 6 p.m. until midnight to give kids a safe place away from the streets.

“It was just a positive thing — a space for them to dream about college,” Moodie said. “It’s just sad to see great potential being taken.”

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A 17-year-old boy was shot Thursday in Chatham on the South Side.

About 4:25 p.m., he was inside a vehicle in the 8400 block of South Holland Road, when he was struck by gunfire, Chicago police said.

He was shot in the thigh, and taken to Provident Hospital, where he is in good condition, police said.

No arrest have been made, police said.

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Amid everything the Bears are navigating as they change quarterbacks, reshuffle the defense and prepare for a road game against one of the NFL’s better teams, they’ve been devoting a portion of their week toward something ridiculous.

In a sport that asks players to break their bodies for every momentous yard, they can lose 15 of them just for clapping. The NFL’s new taunting policy demands that in the most vicious sport, players walk away from the play as though they’re in a library, and the Bears were flagged for violating it in each of their first two games.

Given the nature of football — the physical toll it takes and the dedication of an entire week to get everything perfect on Sunday — it’s unfair and unrealistic.

It’s also unnecessary.

“If you play in between the whistles — hey, he made a good play,” Bears linebacker Roquan Smith said when asked if he thinks taunting is a problem. “I’m going to come back and get him if he does make a good play on me.”

And has an opponent’s taunt ever hurt your feelings?

“Aw, hell no!” Smith snapped.

That seems like a silly question. But if players aren’t complaining about bruised egos, here’s what should really be asked: Who is this rule for?

It’s clearly not for the players, and NFLPA president J.C. Tretter pointed out this week that the league’s competition committee, which implements rules like this, consists of 10 members chosen by commissioner Roger Goodell and one rep from the union.

The rule likely is meant to appease prudish fans who view the game as out of control and wild when players get into it. But this supposed misbehavior is negligible.

There were eight taunting penalties in the first two weeks, and three occurred in Bears games:

– Linebacker Alec Ogletree got one in the opener for standing over Rams right guard Austin Corbett after they tangled at the end of a play. That moved the Rams from midfield into scoring range.

– The refs flagged safety Tashaun Gipson for clapping at wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase after a stop on third-and-five, handing the Bengals a new set of downs.

– Bengals safety Vonn Bell picked one up minutes later for jawing at quarterback Andy Dalton, bailing the Bears out of what would’ve been third-and-12 backed up against their own end zone. Dalton appeared to lobby for the flag, presumably because they’d just penalized Gipson.

Several Bears said during the week they aren’t clear on what meets the threshold for a penalty, don’t agree with the spirit of the policy and don’t think 15 yards is an appropriate punishment. The overly heavy-handed discipline will tamp down some of the emotion and excitement of the game, and Bears wide receiver Marquise Goodwin believes that’s ultimately bad for the league.

“The gestures, clapping in the face and doing all of that — my skin’s too thick for that,” Goodwin said. “That doesn’t really get me going. I’m kind of confused by the rules, but it is the league’s rule.”

That last part means players have to take it seriously regardless of whether they agree with the league. If it can cost them a possession — or even a game — they must abide by it. That’s the point coach Matt Nagy, who agrees wholeheartedly with the intention of the rule, has been stressing.

“Guys are competitive and they’re emotional… but we’re also teaching everybody to move on to the next play,” Nagy said. “When that’s the rules, I listen to them and I believe in them.

“If you think it’s gray at all, you can’t do it — because that can be critical. I understand why the league’s doing it and I support it and I’m going to do everything I can to emphasize it.”

That’s a lot of effort over a rule that never should’ve been implemented.

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A 29-year-old man was fatally shot Thursday in Lawndale on the West Side.

About 5:20 p.m., he was standing near the sidewalk in the 2200 block of South Kolin Avenue, when he was approached by a man who pulled out a gun and fired shots, Chicago police said.

He was struck in the chest, and taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. He has not yet been identified.

A person of interest was taken into custody for questioning, police said.

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When Christa Hamilton walked through the doors of UCAN Chicago (Ulrich Children’s Advantage Network) last week, she became the first African American and first woman to lead one of Chicago’s oldest social service agencies.

Founded as a Civil War orphanage, the 152-year-old North Lawndale organization serves more than 21,000 youth who have suffered trauma, either wards of the state or in the larger community, with a dozen programs supporting youth and families on the West Side and South Side.

Raised in Englewood, Hamilton feels an intrinsic connection to clients served by UCAN in communities impacted by poverty and crime. She was the first in her family to attend college. But now the 40-year-old is a star in the social services sphere.

“In the social services world, UCAN is a big deal. I’m extremely honored to be the person to pivot the history here,” said Hamilton.

“I’m grateful we have a board of directors bold enough to change the trajectory of the leadership and make it reflective of both the community that we serve and our workforce.”

She comes to the role after serving as CEO of Centers for New Horizons for seven years, passed the baton by that 50-year-old organization’s founder and education pioneer Dr. Sokoni Karanja in 2014. She joined Centers in 2011, previously managing its workforce development programs.

Under Hamilton’s leadership, Centers significantly expanded its programming, doubling its budget and staff — from $8 million to $18 million, and from 150 employees to more than 300.

“The services UCAN provides align with what I have done at Centers, the programs that I grew. So I felt qualified to lead this organization into its next chapter,” Hamilton said.

“Understanding its long history — 152 years of not having a woman or African American at the helm — I thought if any time was a great time to be in this position, that time would be now,” she said.

Casting a social safety net long before its more famous peer, the 132-year-old Jane Addams Hull House, UCAN, with a $46 million budget and 650 employees, originally was based on Chicago’s Northwest Side.

It relocated in 2015, building its $43 million, 7-acre Drost-Harding Campus at 3605 W. Fillmore, where it operates the 70-room Diermeier Therapeutic Youth Home for troubled wards.

The agency provides foster and teen parenting programs; transitional, independent living and other housing support; workforce and youth development programs. It runs two therapeutic day schools in Beverly and Humboldt Park.

Its sprawling North Lawndale campus has become a community anchor, with more than 80 groups using meeting space at its Nichols Center headquarters.

UCAN was founder of the North Lawndale Athletic and Recreation Association — community organizations collaborate to provide sports and extracurricular activities for neighborhood youth at its Arthur L. Turner Gymnasium.

And the campus hosts the Circuit Court of Cook County’s lauded Restorative Justice Community Court. First of its kind in Illinois, the initiative weekly brings nonviolent crime victims face-to-face with offenders to work out a resolution in a peace circle.

“Our Governing Board unanimously voted to appoint Christa Hamilton president and CEO. We firmly believe we have chosen the right executive leader for UCAN at the right time, given her demonstrated success as a nonprofit professional and career as a leader who is adept at addressing community needs and program efficiency,” said UCAN Board Chair Markell Bridges.

Hamilton, who holds an M.B.A., spent six years in management at Walgreens corporation, then three years as a workforce consultant with the U.S. Department of Labor, before feeling called to transition into nonprofit work.

“We are proud that Christa is the first African American and first woman to lead UCAN in our esteemed history,” Bridges said. “We believe her appointment is a significant milestone.”

A resident of Chatham and mother of two, Hamilton succeeds Thomas Vanden Berk, UCAN’s president of 28 years, who has served in an interim capacity since December.

Hamilton is zeroing in on violence intervention and prevention programs run by UCAN in North Lawndale and Roseland — two of 15 Chicago communities that account for 50 percent of the city’s gun violence.

Combating that violence is personal for her. Hamilton’s 21-year-old nephew, Jonathan Johnson, was murdered in Englewood in 2014.

“UCAN’s violence prevention programs are what pulls my heartstrings. When my nephew was killed, I saw how it tore our family apart. So I’m laser-focused on violence. I’ve lived through it and the trauma that comes after you leave the gravesite,” she said.

“My vision is: How do I lead in a way that can possibly reduce this violence, that can possibly stop other families from having to deal with the grief we went through?”

The nonprofit leader believes much of Chicago’s violence can be traced to lack of opportunities in those communities.

In North Lawndale, for example, nearly half the population lives below federal poverty level, and its 15.9 percent unemployment rate is double the city average, which doesn’t include the whopping 46 percent of its population considered out of the workforce.

“North Lawndale has high rates of crime and unemployment, and those are two areas that I spent the last five years of my life focusing on,” said Hamilton.

“Ultimately, the people I’ve met who are participating in antisocial or criminal behavior, they want the same things that we want. But they have behaviors that they need to unlearn. That’s where UCAN steps in,” she said.

“When you give them employment opportunities and mental health support, they can ultimately go on to become very productive members of society,” the millennial added.

“I have met too many young people that have been perpetrators of violence, and I have seen many of them change. So I know it can be done. But it really will take relentless engagement on behalf of organizations like UCAN that are out here doing the work.”

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