Life moves pretty fast in the NFL, especially for a backup quarterback like Tyson Bagent. In Week 4, he guided the Chicago Bears to a second straight victory without Caleb Williams, but in the next he threw two picks and eventually got benched in a disastrous loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Many Bears fans expected that to be the end of the Tyson Bagent experiment in Chicago, but it doesn't seem like the Bears have lost faith in their backup quarterback. According to Sean Hammond, a Bears reporter for the Chicago Tribune, Bagent took the second-team reps in Thursday's practice behind Caleb Williams, who was listed as a full participant again in the Bears' Thursday injury report.
This is significant for two reasons. First of all, if Caleb Williams does return from injury in Week 6, Bagent will likely serve as the backup quarterback. Second, if Williams is still not cleared to play on Sunday, then it is likely that we will see Bagent make his third consecutive start, his second on the road.
Bears fans will have to continue to trust Ben Johnson if Tyson Bagent plays
Some Bears fans won't like to hear that, and one can hardly blame them. Bagent was flat-out awful in Week 5 and was, in some ways, the biggest reason why Chicago couldn't even get close to Green Bay. According to Pro Football Network, he had -0.41 Expected Points Added (EPA) per dropback and earned just a 65.9 impact grade.
However, if anyone in Chicago has earned the benefit of the doubt by now, it's head coach Ben Johnson. His list of accomplishments is already long for a guy who's only been the head coach here for 22 regular season games, and it includes Chicago's first playoff victory in 15 years. He also went 2-1 without his starting quarterback, which is pretty impressive considering neither backup quarterback had started a regular season game in three years.
Sunday's game is still a few days away, and maybe Case Keenum gets the second-team reps in the Bears' last practice. But it's currently looking like Bagent hsa retained his backup quarterback job. If that is the case, then that is because Johnson believes he gives the Bears the best chance to win. And if Johnson believes that, then that should be good enough for Bears fans.
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