When Ben Johnson first was asked about the possibility the Bears could trade backup quarterback Tyson Bagent, he pretended to go into a coughing fit during the NFL Scouting Combine. He put his right hand to his mouth and let out an answer, emphatic and guttural.
“No!” he said.
The preseason is the time when Bagent typically shows the rest of the world what Johnson sees on the practice field and in meeting rooms. As a rookie out of Div. II Shepherd University, he beat out veteran P.J. Walker, to whom the Bears had just pledged more than $4 million. In his second season, he posted a preseason passer rating of 119.9. Last year, it was 106.6. His showing while playing the first half of the Bears’ 34-10 win against the Browns on Saturday wasn’t as flashy — he went 13-for-22 for 169 yards and a 79.5 passer rating.
There wasn’t much for the Bears to be upset about as they walked off the soggy Soldier Field turf. They had just two penalties — coach Ben Johnson wasn’t sure he’d ever seen so few in a team’s first preseason game. They boat-raced the Browns in the second half, scoring the final 34 points.
Bagent, though, expected better from himself.
When Titans third-stringer Will Levis claimed earlier this month that he was among one of the best 32 quarterbacks in the NFL, many rolled their eyes. Bagent considers himself one of the best 32 — and probably has a better case.
“In order to be a successful quarterback in this business you have to have an unrealistic confidence about yourself,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, there was a lot of success in that first half — but there was also a lot of unacceptable things that took place, to where, if I am going to be one of those 32 guys, I gotta play at a higher level. …
“Obviously I’ve got to improve on that if I am going to be one of those guys in the near future.”
That day will come, eventually.
Johnson valued Bagent so much that last year the Bears gave him a two-year, $10 million contract extension that kicks in this year. The money gave Bagent a more comfortable life — at the expense of delaying his starting quarterback dreams for at least a year.
The 26-year-old is more valuable to the Bears than he would be anywhere else, though. He’s wired like his head coach — intensely obsessed with the position. He knows the offense inside and out. And he’s proven to be proficient, at least in the preseason. As a rookie, he went 2-2 as a starter.
Bagent is what lets the Bears know they’re not one Caleb Williams ankle sprain away from becoming the team that milled about on the east sideline at Soldier Field on Saturday. The Browns started Deshaun Watson, who posted a 98.2 passer rating and managed 10 points in his first NFL start in almost two years. Shedeur Sanders struggled in relief, and Dillon Gabriel was even worse.
Since the Bears drafted Williams, the No. 1 overall pick has yet to miss a meaningful snap. Bagent has taken just 27 snaps and thrown six passes in the past two seasons.
Bagent’s opportunity, then, comes every August.
“I’ve spent a lot of time on the sideline watching the game — the past two years especially,” he said. “So when my name is called upon, [I’m] being able to give confidence to the coaches that I know what I’m doing and am able to be a coach on the field for these guys, be successful and keep the chains moving and put points up on the board.”
In practice, Bagent will often criticize his own throw before Johnson has a chance to. Saturday, he walked into Soldier Field wearing Brenton Doyle’s White Sox jersey — the two went to college together — and left wearing a hair shirt.
In the Bears’ preseason opener last year, he went three-and-out on the first two drives before throwing a touchdown to receiver Maurice “Hard Time” Alexander on the third. He vowed to start faster — and on Saturday went three-and-out twice before throwing a touchdown to Alexander.
“Nowhere close to my standards,” he said.
In the second quarter, he threw late over the middle to tight end Stephen Carlson and was intercepted by cornerback Michael Coats Jr.
“Complete slappy move on my part,” he said.
There were good moments, too: a 41-yard completion to Kaden Davis on play-action to start the second quarter was his longest pass of the game. With 1:24 left in the first half, he engineered a 53-yard drive that ended in a 51-yard Cairo Santos field goal at the gun.
Perhaps this offseason, some NFL team watches Bagent’s film and makes the Bears an offer they can’t refuse. In the modern NFL, every team with postseason aspirations needs a reliable backup quarterback — and the Bears have theirs.
“You never know when a moment’s going to arise,” Bagent said. “So I think being able to attack each rep last it’s your last and really steward it the best you can is the only way to operate. That’s what I try to do.”
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
