No more games, no more mystery. Bears coach Ben Johnson was straightforward Monday in saying starting quarterback Caleb Williams will be out at least another week and backup Tyson Bagent will be “the guy” Sunday at the Packers.
The timeline for Williams’ return continues to line up with what is generally expected for a Grade 2 hamstring strain. It’s usually at least a month, and the ensuing game at the Falcons would be close to that period for Williams.
And that’s the best-case scenario. The Bears surely will play it safe with a quarterback they believe is the future of their franchise, and it might be more realistic to target the Nov. 2 visit to the defending champion Seahawks for Williams’ return.
Johnson has been tightlipped about Williams’ progress and wouldn’t answer whether he has been able to run or bike yet. He said only that he’s “doing a great job with his rehab” and remains “week-to-week.”
The goal in the interim is to keep the Bears on track for their ambitions of going to the Super Bowl, and so far so good under Johnson’s watch. He started Case Keenum last week against the Eagles and Bagent on Sunday against the Jets, and the Bears never trailed in either game.
Hypothetically, if Williams does come back for the Seattle game, the Bears would be in great shape if they can win two of their next three: at the Packers, at the Falcons and home for a Thursday game against the Patriots. If Bagent got two victories, the Bears would be 5-2 with a healthy Williams incoming.
However many games Bagent gets, it’s a chance to launch his career.
He has spent most of his four seasons with the Bears on the bench behind Williams and Justin Fields, and while the Bears rave about him being a legitimate starter, the rest of the NFL will need to see it to believe it if someone’s going to make a significant trade offer for him in the offseason.
His game against the Jets was a mixed bag, and that shouldn’t be alarming considering he hadn’t started since his rookie season in 2023. It was convenient scheduling for the Bears that his first start was at home against the lowly Jets rather than at Lambeau Field in the thick of the sport’s greatest rivalry.
The Bears beat the Jets 23-12 predominantly with their ground game as running back Kyle Monangai piled up 146 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries, but Bagent was fairly efficient.
He kept the offense moving and met Johnson’s standard for completion percentage by connecting on 25 of 34 throws (73.5%). He was tremendous on third downs: 7-of-9 passing for 102 yards. He took only one sack.
On the other side of the ledger, though, he threw four interceptions. Three of those were negated by penalties and didn’t count, but they’re still very much part of Johnson’s film analysis.
Bagent said passes like those were “100% unacceptable” and the offense needs to be “a lot cleaner” going forward. What he didn’t say was that other opponents will be a lot less likely to undercut themselves on those opportunities than the Jets were, but Johnson was relatively lenient.
“It’s like that when you haven’t played a ton of football in a while,” he said. “He certainly understands how important it is, but we don’t want him to lose his aggressiveness level, either.
“We had some opportunities for some big plays down the field that he didn’t pull the trigger on, so there’s a balancing act. It’s something that we’ll be able to talk to him about, review the tape and learn from.”
The better Bagent plays, the better position the Bears will be in when Williams is back. They’ve been fine without him so far, and if they can stay that way, he’ll get a shot at turbocharging their playoff push.
