CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears are expected to turn to Tyson Bagent as their starting quarterback against the New York Jets, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports.
Coach Ben Johnson had not publicly named Caleb Williams’ replacement for Week 4, but sources told Rapoport that Bagent received most of the first-team practice reps during the week. Case Keenum is expected to serve as the Bears’ backup.
The video in the player above is from a previous report.
Williams will miss his second consecutive game while recovering from a Grade 2 hamstring strain. Rapoport and ESPN’s Adam Schefter report that the quarterback’s recovery is expected to take three to four weeks.
Bagent’s most recent start came in 2023, when he led Chicago to a 16-13 victory over the Carolina Panthers. By Sunday, 1,059 days will have passed since that game. During his rookie season, Bagent started four games while then-Bears quarterback Justin Fields was sidelined by a thumb injury. Chicago went 2-2 in those starts.
Bagent suffered a concussion late in the fourth quarter of Chicago’s 9-3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 20, after Williams exited with an injury. He did not clear the NFL’s concussion protocol until last Sunday and practiced just once before the Bears faced the Philadelphia Eagles, which kept him from starting in Week 3.
After the Bears secured their second win of the season, Johnson again emphasized that Bagent had been designated the team’s backup quarterback at the end of training camp “for a reason.”
Johnson said earlier in the week that Chicago had a preferred “direction” at quarterback, though the possibility of riding Keenum’s hot hand would factor into the decision.
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“There is such a thing as playing the hot hand,” Johnson said Friday. “That is real. We’re certainly taking that into consideration. And yet, there’s a body of work that goes into it as well. There’s a lot of factors at play, and we certainly have talked about it as a coaching staff. Honestly, it’s split. If you just ask each coach one-on-one what they think, it’s split. I don’t know that there’s necessarily a right answer or a wrong answer in terms of how we go about this thing. Both of them are well prepared to play and win a game for us here, so I’m excited about that.”
Bears LT Braxton Jones on IR; Theo Benedet to start vs. Jets
The Bears have placed left tackle Braxton Jones on injured reserve after he injured his right knee against the Eagles in Week 3.
Jones is considered “week-to-week” and did not practice before Chicago’s Week 4 matchup with the Jets. He can become eligible to return Nov. 2 at Seattle.
Theo Benedet, who shared left-tackle duties with Jones during the first three weeks, will take over as the starter, Johnson said.
“We’re still working out Ozzy just to make sure that the confidence is back,” Johnson said. “He’s looking better each and every week. He was one of those guys in Wednesday night’s practice in pads. He stood out in a good way.”
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