Booker, Robinson get another chance to show the Bears their pass rush is set
At noon today the Bears will play their third preseason game. They have yet to sign a veteran free-agent defensive end to supplement their pass rush.
For instance, 2023 Bear Yannick Ngakoue remains available.
The Bears reportedly wanted to trade for the Patriots’ Matthew Judon, but he went to Atlanta instead.
They seem to like rookie Austin Booker and second-year man Dominique Robinson — but especially Booker — to back up Montez Sweat and DeMarcus Walker, but they don’t seem confident Booker and Robinson are ready. It’s a big responsibility at a very important position.
“I think he’s earned that, now we have to talk about that as a staff,” coach Matt Eberflus said Thursday about the possibility Booker will play with the starters today. “We definitely rotate those players. Who do we see as the rush group, you’re rotating at least six of those guys during the course of the game if you have eight up and active for the game. He’s really shown well in terms of that.
“Like I said he is a natural rusher, real instinctual, doesn’t predetermine prior to — and you saw that today again. Some guys just have natural slip to be able to turn the corner and he’s got that. H’s improving and the most important thing he has is motor. He throws his fastball every play and that’s what a good D-lineman does.”
Booker and Robinson have another chance today to change some minds on the coaching staff. The spotlight is on them today, almost as much as it’s on rookie quarterback Caleb Williams.
Moving on:
On Monday the Chicago Fire announced that Georg Heitz, the clubs’ sporting director the past five seasons, will leave at the end of the season “for personal reasons.”
Fire fans won’t miss him.
MLS is one of those leagues that makes it as easy as it reasonably can for teams to make the playoffs, then makes it a little easier still. Mediocre teams make the playoffs, only truly bad teams don’t.
The Fire hasn’t made the MLS playoffs since 2017.
On Wednesday the Fire followed the announcement that Heitz is leaving by announcing it agreed to “mutual termination” of the contract of Swiss midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri. Shaqiri was the headline acquisition for Heitz, the player who would lead the club back to the playoffs, and more.
Instead Shaqiri was a bust. The team played worse when Shaqiri, one of the highest-paid players in the league, was on the field.
Now the Fire will try to find someone who can restore the club to its pre-2010 glory. The club might turn to former USMNT and Columbus Crew coach Gregg Berhalter to lead soccer operations. And with Shaqiri gone, whoever is in charge will have an open designated player slot to fill.
Good decision:
Kudos to the IHSA for changing the dates of the boys and girls state golf tournaments. Originally scheduled for Oct. 11-12, when it conflicted with Yom Kippur, state golf will instead be played the following weekend, Oct. 18-19.
“We recognize that these changes were not easy to facilitate from a staffing and planning perspective for our state final courses and communities, so we greatly appreciate their partnership in helping provide the best experience possible for high school golfers in the state,” IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson said in a news release.
Welcome, Edgy Tim:
Saving the best for last, we are thrilled to have welcomed football recruiting analyst “Edgy” Tim O’Halloran back to the Daily Herald this week.
We’ve known Edgy Tim for many years, and he’s the best in the business in Illinois. He knows the suburbs well, of course, but he puts a lot of miles on his car with trips outside the Chicago area too. He’ll be writing for us twice a week during the football season, and he’ll continue during the off-season also.
We hope you’re as excited about this addition to our pages as we are.
Daily Herald Sports Editor Orrin Schwarz can be reached at oschwarz@dailyherald.com.