👋 Good morning!
My commute home from Halas Hall took nearly three hours last night.
A car fire on the exit ramp toward 88 left me in absolute gridlock on 294. I didn’t move for more than an hour.
How did I kill the time?
I signed up for ALLCITY Draft Expert Fran Duffy’s free weekly draft newsletter. You’ve seen him on the CHGO Bears podcast, and now you can see him in your inbox every Friday.
Do yourself a favor and sign up, familiarize yourself with the draft board and be as prepared as you can be once the offseason rolls around.
Poles Speaks
Bears GM Ryan Poles spoke to members of the media at Halas Hall on Wednesday morning, addressing the club’s acquisition of DE Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, the dwindling depth at defensive end, and more.
Poles on Joltin’ Joe: “Excited about the player. Real athletic. … I think he can help us.”
Poles on what he liked about JTS: “Athleticism, the length, really more of the tape from Tampa. He didn't get a lot of time in Cleveland, but the tape that you saw, there were a lot of traits to help us both in the run game and the pass game. Loved the effort and the motor, the range that he has. Very similar style — a few more traits than (Dominique Robinson) — but like a similar style to Dom. Reliable, dependable.”
Tryon-Shoyinka on his fresh start: “It's an amazing opportunity (to) go out and play. Amazing defense with some of these dudes on his defense. We're all trying to get to that next game. We got a lot in front of us, but it's one game at a time right now. I’m trying to just find my identity with this team and fit in where I can.”
The Big Fish: The Bears reportedly expressed an interest in New York Jets DE Jermaine Johnson II before pivoting to Tryon-Shoyinka.
Poles couldn’t confirm specifics about players on other teams, like Johnson, Raiders DE Maxx Crosby or Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson, but did say he and his staff “turned pretty much every stone” before Tuesday’s trade deadline.
Poles said Wednesday: “All I can say is we made calls across the league, and I checked up on all of the guys you would imagine just to see the availability. You get different answers. … The timing worked out where we got the extra week to see (Austin Booker) get going again. And I think it reminded us back to the momentum he had going in the preseason. You saw those flashes, and we expect those to continue to come.”
So Quit Askin’: Poles was asked about QB Caleb Williams’ development through his second year but deferred to coach Ben Johnson’s evaluation.
Poles said: “I’m not going to get into that today. I think we can all say that our head coach has done a great job informing you all with where he’s at. And I have agreed with everything he has said.”
Ben Johnson said Wednesday: “I do think he’s getting better every week. There’s ups and there’s downs. And some weeks are better than others, which we knew. But he’s in a lot better place now with his process than he was to start the season. The week isn’t necessarily smooth sailing always but I think that’s to be expected with Year 1 in a new system. So he’s learning and he’s spending a lot of time at it, so I’m very pleased with his approach.”
For anybody interested, it’s pronounced: “TRY-on show-YEEN-kuh.”
Blackhawks 5, Canucks 2: And to think I almost went to bed after the second period when it was still 0-0.
The Blackhawks turned on the jets in the third period after getting severely outplayed in the second. Tyler Bertuzzi tallied a hat trick in a nine-minute span. It was the fourth hat trick of Bertuzzi’s career.
Spencer Knight was three minutes away from an incredible 40-plus save shutout before Aatu Raty scorched a wrister blocker side to get the Canucks on the board.
Evander Kane brought it within two a minute later before Connor Bedard sealed the Blackhawks’ sixth win with an empty-netter.
Honored: Bears TE Colston Loveland earned NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his massive six-catch, 118-yard and two-touchdown performance against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 9.
Loveland is the first Bears rookie to earn the award since RB Jordan Howard ran for 100 yards in Week 8 of the 2016 season. RB Anthony Thomas also earned the honors as a rookie in Week 14 of the 2001 season.
Loveland said on Wednesday: “That was cool. Such a blessing. Such a blessing.”
The Return II: SoxFest is officially back Friday, January 30th, through Saturday, January 31st. The two-day festival, returning to the Ramova Theatre in Bridgeport for the second straight year, will be open exclusively to season ticket holders on the first night, with general admission and VIP tickets available for the second day.
So Long, Farewell: The Cubs are not expected to pursue OF Kyle Tucker in free agency this offseason, per Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers.
Acquired by the Cubs last December for 3B Isaac Paredes, 3B Cam Smith and RHP Hayden Wesneski, Tucker had an OK season, slashing .266/.377/.464 with 22 home runs.
But injuries derailed his hot start, ultimately affecting his mechanics and skewing his results. From June 29th through August 21st, Tucker slugged just one homer in 40 games.
N-V-P! N-V-P! N-V-P!
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Talk to you tomorrow!
– P.N.
