Sports

Moments earlier, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas wrapped up a 2-up win over Viktor Hovland and Bernd Wiesberger — a match they trailed 3 down after six holes. With Spieth in the win column, every American contributed at least a point through the first 12 matches.

“Now, in the preseason they had nakeds, but those types of nakeds that he threw back to Jesse James, that’s a dream in the regular season when someone is game planning, as are some of the runs that he had. I think the Browns will have a plan of attack for how they want to rush him and contain him to the pocket. So you’ve got to do things to get him on the edge. That’s where his strength is right now. He’s got a long way to go as far as reading defenses. He missed that easy Sam/Mike blitz against the Bills and he got hit in the face. Matt Leinart did that and had his collarbone broken in Arizona, and that’s like the easiest blitz there is. He missed it completely. So he’s got a long way to go just to be a drop-back guy, and his strength is buying time, creating space with his feet and then running.

“Obviously his was worse, he had a full spiral fracture and all that, but the infection was what caused the problem, and I’m like, man, I’m laying on a dirt field right now,” Adam, 30, recalled Friday afternoon. “So the infection was scary, but then the doctors reassured me that, hey, as long as we avoid an infection this is actually a pretty standard recovery.”

Last weekend, in a home game in which the defense was playing lights out, the Bears offense managed only 13 points on 10 possessions and was only able to squeeze out two field goals from the three short-field possessions the defense provided with takeaways. The second-half output of 83 yards and four first downs wasn’t good enough. On Sunday, on the road, against a quality opponent and with a rookie quarterback making his first start, it’s hard to see the offense finding an instant groove.

“Maybe not baseball-wise at that time, but we were contractually (different), where we are in the timeline of a team,” Hoyer said. “I think that played a huge role in the decision, and we knew that going into the season. We had so many free agents, if we weren’t clearly in the race, that was a decision we might have to make. For (the Cardinals), with their contractual situation, that wasn’t a road they were going to go down.”

Alan Garcia, center, riding Real Solution (1), wins the Arlington Million after The Apache (10), right, ridden by Cristophe Soumillon, is disqualified during the 2013 International Festival of Racing at Arlington International Racecourse on Aug. 17, 2013. (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune)

“I thought we caught a real break,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “It hit him in a spot, part of the muscle, wasn’t sure if it nicked the elbow. But he said he felt good to throw, and I said, ‘You think you can?’ But when you make a throw, you make an alteration, that’s how you get hurt. I said, ‘You can be upset at me if you want to, but that’s not worth the risk.’ ”

“I’m not going to tip my hand on how we feel or talk about our offseason, but they’ve played exceptionally well,” Hoyer said. “By this point they’ve done it for quite a while and not only that, they’ve been really good teammates, and I feel like they’ve played really hard. So we’ll evaluate that this winter. I’m not going to declare anything at this point, that’s not what I would do. But it’s been fun to watch and I’m proud of them.”

“We’ve had a lot of homegrown guys contribute over the course of this season, and they’re all special in different ways, whether it’s a 21st-rounder like Danny Mendick, coming up and contributing to wins, or the numerous first-rounders that added to the success of this team,” general manager Rick Hahn said Thursday. “For whatever reason, Timmy’s just a little bit different, because we’ve all seen how far he’s grown. And different, I mean, in the sense of excitement and pride that we all take in seeing what he’s become, both as a player and a leader in that clubhouse.

Stefanski, of course, brought with him the offense the Minnesota Vikings have used for years. It starts with an outside zone-running scheme and goes from there. The Bears, while they’ve been very good in recent years, have been among the best in the league at stopping the run. Even last season without the premier run-stuffer Goldman, the defense slipped to only 15th in the league.