Bears OTAs are here, which raises a question: What does Justin Fields eat for breakfast?Steve Greenbergon May 31, 2021 at 3:43 pm

This You Gotta See: Fields vs. Dalton, Cubs hit the West Coast, White Sox battle inside the division.

It’s organized team activities time at Halas Hall. Those of us in the know like to call them OTAs. But enough stalling: Let’s talk about Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields.

Will he roll out of bed Tuesday a better player than veteran Andy Dalton? How long are we going to have to suffer through this song and dance about Fields not being the starter? Oh, and how does he take his eggs? Can we fetch him some coffee?

Even dyed-in-the-wool Bears cynics will monitor Bears OTAs with expectations of rave reviews of Fields as he pumps iron, soaks up the playbook and heaves the pigskin around. Confidence in the No. 11 pick is so high, it’s easy to forget he was the fourth quarterback selected on draft day. Why did that happen again? Come to think of it, let’s pretend it didn’t.

Fields, 22, comes in bigger and stronger than Dalton, 33, and that’s the case in the arm department as well. The latter player is, at best, a caretaker QB. A placeholder. A seat warmer. Media will watch the goings-on with one question drowning out all others: When? When will coach Matt Nagy end this charade — which, in fairness, hasn’t even started yet — and give Fields the ball?

But it’s only OTAs. It’s not like we’re talking about training camp. When camp rolls around, Dalton vs. Fields will be cranked up from 1 to 10 on the obsess-o-meter. And it’ll be beautiful.

Meanwhile? Here’s what’s happening:

TUE 1

Lightning at Hurricanes (6:30 p.m., NBCSN)

Can anybody stop the champs’ lights-out power play? Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Alex Killorn already have combined for eight postseason tallies with the man advantage.

Padres at Cubs (7:05 p.m., Marquee)

Lefty Ryan Weathers, all of 21, takes the bump for the visitors 20 years after dad David pitched for the Cubs. And who could forget the David Weathers era?

Mercury at Sky (7:30 p.m., ESPN)

Is this when Candace Parker — out with an ankle injury since the season opener — debuts at Wintrust Arena? The Sky have lost four straight without the key to the whole operation.

Trail Blazers at Nuggets, Game 5 (8 p.m., NBATV)

Maybe neither of these teams — tied 2-2 — is a true Finals contender, but sometimes a fan just has to revel in the spectacular. Pull up from anywhere, Damian Lillard. And don’t ever stop doing you, Nikola Jokic.

Lakers at Suns, Game 5 (9 p.m., TNT)

Maybe both of these teams — tied 2-2 — are good enough to win the whole stinking thing. LeBron James is in serious danger of losing in the first round for the first time since never.

WED 2

White Sox at Indians (12:10 p.m., NBCSCH)

Is it too soon to call it a two-team race in the AL Central? Because — just saying — it’s a two-team race in the AL Central. And that’s assuming the Indians are actually in the race.

Hawks at Knicks, Game 5 (6:30 p.m., TNT)

After all the love Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau has gotten this season, here he is with his team down 3-1 and his back against the wall. The man needs more help than Derrick Rose alone can give him.

Mavericks at Clippers, Game 5 (9 p.m., TNT)

Some of us are old enough to remember a time when the Mavs took two games at Staples Center and looked likely to bounce the Clips from the playoffs. It’s 2-2 now — a real pain in the neck for Luka Doncic.

THU 3

Cubs at Giants (8:45 p.m., Marquee)

It’s Game 1 of a wicked seven-game swing through San Francisco and San Diego. Time to see how the best division in baseball lives.

FRI 4

Tigers at White Sox (7:10 p.m., NBCSCH)

Just when everyone assumed the Tigers were terrible, they swept the Yankees last weekend. As you know, the Sox were recently swept at Yankee Stadium. Also, in related news: The Tigers are terrible.

SAT 5

North Carolina at Red Stars (1 p.m., Paramount+)

Mallory Pugh is crushing it for the Red Stars, but so far she hasn’t gotten a lot of support from her mates. Time for the home team to step up at SeatGeek.

Sky at Sparks (2 p.m., Ch. 7)

Is this when Allie Quigley — out with a hamstring injury since the season opener — gets back on the floor? There’s a shorthanded overtime loss to the Sparks to make up for.

Belmont Stakes (4 p.m., Ch. 5)

Essential Quality? Hot Rod Charlie? Preakness winner Rombauer? They’re the three horses everyone is talking about heading into the 153rd running of this event. Somewhere, Bob Baffert and Medina Spirit will be choking on their oats.

Cubs at Giants (6:15 p.m., Fox-32)

Kris Bryant? Javy Baez? Anthony Rizzo? They’re the three horses everyone is wondering if the Cubs will hang on to. Look, it’s our job to remind you as often as possible of this sad story line.

SUN 6

Tigers at White Sox (1:10 p.m., NBCSCH)

The Tigers actually have been hovering around the .400 mark, a high point for them in the last five years. Did we say “terrible”? So sorry about that.

MON 7

Cubs at Padres (9:10 p.m., Marquee)

San Diego shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. leads all of baseball in home runs per at-bat and RBI per at-bat and is tops overall in OPS. Other than that, he’s really blowing it out there.

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