Bears News: QB2 or QB3? Tyson Bagent just wants to compete and learn

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 7 hours ago

CHICAGO - The undrafted quarterback out of Division II Shepherd is now going into his third season in the NFL and once again finds himself competing for the No. 2 quarterback spot.

However, Tyson Bagent is in the presence of some stiffer competition with the Bears signing veteran Case Keenum.

“The competition aspect, I’ll be surprised when that’s not the case year-to-year. Every year, just competing with somebody and I’m always competing. No matter who’s in the room, that is not going to change how I operate and what I do on a daily basis,” Bagent said. “So, it’s been great in that sense and what a guy (because) him bringing what he brings to the room, really just an encyclopedia of information. With somebody that’s been in every role that a quarterback could possibly be in in the NFL and I’ve just been trying to take advantage of that. Really any question that I have, if he’s around or if I got my phone on me, want to ask him basically, whatever it is that’s going on and he’s been great with answering every question that really everybody in the room has so far.”

Despite competing with him, working with Keenum is a bit of a full-circle moment for Bagent. Back in 2019, Bagent attended his first NFL game when Washington was playing the New York Giants. Keenum came into the game and led Washington on a 99-yard drive.

Despite the Giants ultimately coming out with the win, that drive is something Bagent has always remembered.

“The first NFL game I ever went to - Redskins versus Giants - end of the season. I don’t think either team was going to the playoffs. Dwayne Haskins, RIP, he hurt himself. Case Keenum goes into the game,” Bagent said. “I’m about five rows up behind the end zone and they’re backed up on their own one and he kind, he just manufactured a 99-yard drive and really the one throw that sticks out - he dropped back, foot was probably an inch from being out of bounds out of the back of the end zone and threw an over route to Crowder, I want to say, and just the angle and the drive that followed was just something that I didn’t forget and that was back in 2019.”

Regardless of whether Bagent ends up as the No. 2 or No. 3 quarterback, he will learn a lot from being exposed to Ben Johnson as the new head coach and offensive play caller of the Chicago Bears.

Johnson helped revive Jared Goff’s career during his time with the Detroit Lions and appears to have a knack for helping quarterbacks develop.

“It’s been a dream come true, especially for somebody like me that just loves the game and loves the hustle aspect of it. It’s been very intense and kind of overloading us with information, which I’m a fan of. So, it’s been wonderful. He’s got a good mixture of making sure we’re locked in, having fun, laughing and also just being really intense. So, it’s been great so far,” Bagent said. “I think he’s doing a great job of trying to create culture in a place that’s been asking for it for a while and with that comes being unwavering in what you say and how you act and I think that has been the case so far. He hasn’t taken a step back from any claims that he’s made up until this point.”

One consistent remark about Ben Johnson that Bagent echoed was how detail-oriented Johnson is. He is obsessed with the details and perfection. However, that is not limited to the offense.

While he may be an offensive coach, Bagent said Johnson has also demonstrated considerable knowledge of the defensive side of the ball.

“I like how thorough he is. I think that he can go down the rabbit hole of every situation in football with every position in football, which I think has been most impressive. Usually, you get an offensive-minded guy or a defensive-minded guy at the helm of the team and I think, obviously he is an offensive guy,” Bagent said. “But, you can kind of see him going down the rabbit hole with the defense in team meetings of what he’s expecting on the defensive side of the ball and really the most impressive thing is when he does that, he speaks that same language that the defense is speaking. So, that’s been what I’ve noticed. With the o-line, he’s about as good of a position coach as every position coach that’s on our team. So, I think that’ll do wonders for us going down the line just because it’s very crystal clear the expectations at every position.”