The Bears’ brimming confidence in backup quarterback Tyson Bagent prompted questions about whether he could one day be a starter. But coach Ben Johnson faced a drastically different question Monday after benching him in the Bears’ 31-7 meltdown against the Packers:
Is Bagent a capable backup?
Johnson replied defiantly that all three of his quarterbacks — injured starter Caleb Williams, Bagent and veteran third-stringer Case Keenum — are winners, but the fact that it had to be asked ahead of the game Sunday at the Falcons showed how sharply the outlook on Bagent flipped after two starts.
Johnson also didn’t answer whether, if Williams remains out, Bagent or Keenum would be his first-team quarterback at practice Wednesday, and his evasion said plenty. If he was correct to be so sure of all three, it would’ve been easy to name one.
If Williams isn’t healthy enough to play, Johnson needs to go back to Keenum.
The Bears must set aside whatever loyalty they have to Bagent or their intrigue in whether he can develop into a valuable trade asset. This is a vital game for them with the two teams from last season’s Super Bowl looming after the Atlanta trip.
Johnson will weigh the total body of work, but Keenum has made a stronger argument in games than Bagent. Bagent completed 12 of 21 passes for 87 yards with two interceptions for a 27.4 passer rating — worst by a Bears starter since Caleb Hanie in 2011 — against the Packers before Johnson sent in Keenum at the start of the fourth quarter.
The interceptions were brutal, and that was an issue the week before, too, when the Bears beat the Jets. Bagent posted an 83.9 passer rating on 25-for-34 passing for 268 yards and an interception, plus three other picks that were negated by penalty.
The top responsibility for a backup quarterback is to do no harm. Avoid dicey throws and secure the ball in the pocket. Keenum failed to check those boxes Sunday as well, with an interception on a desperate throw at the goal line and a lost fumble when the game was already decided.
Bagent’s interceptions were more his fault than great plays by defenders.
He threw into double coverage for wide receiver Luther Burden to the right in the first quarter, and safety Javon Bullard broke up the pass and safety Xavier McKinney caught the deflection.
Johnson said Monday that Bagent should’ve recognized Burden was blanketed and gone elsewhere. He bypassed a checkdown to running back Roschon Johnson on his left and wide receiver Kalif Raymond potentially sprinting into open space deeper down the left side.
The interception that broke Johnson’s patience was late in the third quarter when the Packers fooled Bagent into thinking they were in Cover 0 before the snap, but actually were playing Cover 2. McKinney was waiting when he tried to hit tight end Colston Loveland over the middle.
“He didn’t make those same type of throws over the course of camp,” Johnson said.
Big difference between practice and games, it turns out.
Bagent has more arm strength and athleticism than Keenum does at 38, but he made mistakes the last two weeks in coverage recognition and decision making. Keenum’s experience makes him sharper in those departments.
Neither option is particularly alluring, but the Bears must resist temptation to rush Williams. That’s a bad idea. It’d be better to endure this for one more game than rush him onto the field and risk a setback that would keep him out longer.
If they take it cautiously, as they should with a player they believe is their franchise quarterback, they’ll be hesitant to play him twice in five days — the Bears host the Patriots next Thursday — coming off a Grade 2 hamstring strain. The soundest plan is to hope for the best with Keenum in Atlanta and aim for the Patriots game for Williams.