Tag: Tyson Bagent

Bears rookie Tyson Bagent leaning on Justin Fields ahead of first NFL start

Bears rookie Tyson Bagent spoke glowingly about Justin Fields’ leadership ahead of his first NFL start vs. Raiders.

Bears rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent is expected to make his first NFL start Sunday against the Raiders. Starter Justin Fields is nursing a dislocated thumb on his right throwing hand, and his status for this week and beyond still remains in question.

While Fields (doubtful) will most likely be sidelined Sunday, he’ll still play a key role against the Raiders as he works with Bagent ahead of the rookie’s first start.

Bagent spoke glowingly about Fields as a leader since he was signed as an undrafted rookie out of Shepherd this offseason. He’s been able to glimpse how Fields operates during game week, and Bagent hasn’t shied away from questions for the third-year veteran.

“I think the whole time I’ve been here, Justin’s been a huge leader by example,” Bagent said Wednesday at Halas Hall. “So just kind of sitting back really out of the corner of my eye always seeing what he’s doing in every situation, whether that be in practice or in the game, pregame, walkthroughs – everything. Just kind of looking at him, seeing how he’s operating, seeing the tempo he’s operating with, knowing when you can sit back and take a breath and knowing when you have to be locked in – all those little things.

“And then since the finger injury, he’s done – everybody really has done – a great job kind of rallying behind me, letting me know that they believe in me. Him specifically, he told me anything I need, don’t hesitate to ask him. And I haven’t and I think that’s gonna serve the team well.”

Bagent replaced Fields in the third quarter of last Sunday’s loss to the Vikings, where he orchestrated the team’s lone touchdown drive of the day — a one-yard rushing score by Bagent himself. But Bagent also committed a couple of costly turnovers, including an interception as the Bears were driving for the game-winning touchdown.

Now, Bagent gets a full week to prepare as the starter, where he’ll face an underrated Raiders defense that won’t hesitate to throw different looks at him. That, and game-wrecker Maxx Crosby will pose a challenge for Chicago’s offensive line.

Fields’ status remains up-in-the-air, as far as how long he could be out — whether it’s a few games or more. But this provides an opportunity for the Bears to see what they have in their undrafted rookie quarterback.

6 things to know ahead of Bears vs. Raiders in Week 7

The Bears are looking to get back in the win column when they host the Raiders in Week 7. Here’s what you need to know ahead of the game.

Pessimism regarding the Chicago Bears is at a season-high following last week’s disappointing loss to the rival Minnesota Vikings.

Not only did the team fail to match their offensive splendor that they displayed in Week 5, but the Bears also lost quarterback Justin Fields to a thumb injury that may keep him out a few weeks. Any hopes of a miraculous playoff run are all but dead, and questions are once again being raised about the future prospects of head coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, as well as Fields himself.

With so much ire polluting the air, it’ll be good to take a breath and look forward to next week’s matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders. The two teams have a surprising amount of connective tissue, from both starting signal-callers having various injury issues to a blockbuster trade that fundamentally changed the direction of their respective franchises.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of Bears vs. Raiders in Week 7.

Bears rookie QB Tyson Bagent has ‘nothing to lose’ heading into first NFL start

Bears rookie Tyson Bagent is more than ready for the opportunity to be QB1 with Justin Fields sidelined by injury.

Rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent is preparing to make his first NFL start when the Chicago Bears host the Las Vegas Raiders Sunday at Soldier Field.

Starter Justin Fields is nursing a dislocated right thumb on his throwing hand, which has him doubtful for Sunday’s game. Head coach Matt Eberflus hasn’t ruled out Fields, but the team is preparing as if Bagent will be the starter in Week 7.

For Bagent, he’s more than ready for the opportunity to be QB1 with Fields sidelined. He has “nothing to lose” and is looking to go out there and lead his team to victory.

“I think coming from where I come from, I’ve pretty much beat every odd that there was for me,” Bagent said. “So I’ve got nothing to lose. I’m going to go out there and fight with these guys to the death and try to stack up as many wins as a I can until we get Justin back.”

Just one year ago, Bagent was preparing to face West Chester University. Now, he’s preparing to face the Raiders at Soldier Field in his first NFL start. It’s something he doesn’t take lightly.

“To look where I’m at and to look how everything has fallen into place,” Bagent said, “just nothing but extreme gratitude and just feeling super blessed.”

Bears Week 7 Power Rankings roundup: Chicago falls back down after loss

Following their 15th loss in 16 games, here’s where the Bears stand in the power rankings in Week 7.

The Chicago Bears (1-5) were unable to snap their home-losing streak, with a 19-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings (2-4), on Sunday. Chicago has now lost 10 straight home games.

Another not-so-fun fact: With that loss to the Vikings, the Bears are now 0-8 against NFC North teams in the Ryan Poles/Matt Eberflus era.

Potentially the biggest loss from that game was quarterback Justin Fields, who left the game in the second half due to a dislocated thumb on his throwing hand. Fields leaving the game opened the door for the Bears undrafted rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent, who brought a little life into a dying offense.

The timetable for Fields’ return is unknown — although he’s doubtful for Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders (3-3) — and we haven’t seen Bagent play an entire game yet. This week will be interesting.

With that said, here’s where the Bears stand in the power rankings going into Week 7.

Ranking the Week 6 rookie quarterback performances

Another rookie QB made his debut in Week 6. Here’s how the rookies stacked up

Another week down, another week to evaluate the performances of the multiple rookie starting quarterbacks in the league. We once again saw a mixed bag from all the rookies, but also saw some flashes.

Let’s take a look at each rookie and rank their Week 6 performances from best to worst:

5 facts about Bears backup QB Tyson Bagent, who will fill in for an injured Justin Fields

Bagent is a former Division II college QB now getting his NFL shot.

The Chicago Bears lost a clunker of a 19-13 affair to the Minnesota Vikings Sunday, but that might not have been the most significant loss for this 1-5 team. All eyes, for the time being, are on starting quarterback Justin Fields.

On Chicago’s first possession of the second half, Fields was knocked out of the game on a third-and-long play. He appeared to be having issues with his hand and would not return. When asked to clarify about his quarterback’s situation after the game, head coach Matt Eberflus said his X-rays were negative. But that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s out of the woods.

Barring a positive prognosis on Fields, it appears backup quarterback Tyson Bagent may start for Chicago for a little while. The rookie led the Bears on one touchdown drive, rushing in a score against Minnesota.

Here’s what you should know about this small-school unknown starting games under center for one of the NFL’s most popular teams.

8 takeaways from the Bears’ familiar loss to the Vikings

The Bears are who we thought they were after the 19-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Here were our takeaways from the game.

It’s back to reality for the 2023 Chicago Bears. After an exciting victory over the Washington Commanders in Week 5, the Bears followed it up with a stinker on the lakefront, losing 19-13 to the Minnesota Vikings to fall to 1-5.

Chicago had 10 days to prepare for their divisional opponent, but apparently that wasn’t enough time to recognize Minnesota’s numerous blitz packages that thwarted the offense on the first play from scrimmage. Quarterback Justin Fields had a rough outing, completing just 6-of-10 passes for 58 yards and an interception before exiting the game with a dislocated thumb.

Backup undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent entered in relief and didn’t fare much better, committing two turnovers that thwarted any sort of comeback. The offense totaled just 275 yards and failed to capitalize when they had excellent field position, which they had often thanks to a strong defensive performance.

The Bears defense contained the Vikings offense for much of the day. Minnesota scored 12 offensive points, totaled 220 yards, and converted just 2-of-13 third-down conversions. With a (mostly) healthy secondary back and improved play from the linebackers, the defense played well enough for the team to win. That wasn’t the case, though, and now the Bears have to navigate an uncertain immediate future with key injuries sidelining players such as Fields.

Here were our takeaways from Sunday’s all-too-familiar loss.

Good, bad, and ugly from Bears’ Week 6 loss to the Vikings

The Bears suffere another loss to the Vikings in Week 6. We break down the good, bad and ugly from the Week 6 game.

The Chicago Bears failed to take down a shaky Minnesota Vikings team in Sunday’s 19-13 loss, and several questions have been raised about the team’s future.

People are concerned on how serious the injury quarterback Justin Fields suffered in the third quarter of the game is, but the whispers of replacing the quarterback in the long term have only gotten more brazen. The same goes for head coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, who failed to give the team the tools it needs to string together a potential win streak.

Week 6 was an absolute mess, so let’s try to sort through the muck as we go over the good, bad and ugly from the Bears’ Week 6 loss to the Vikings.

The good, bad, and ugly after Vikings 19-13 win vs. Bears

There was plenty of good, bad and ugly in Sunday’s game against the Bears

It wasn’t pretty, but the Minnesota Vikings moved to 2-4 on the season with their win Sunday over the Chicago Bears. The Vikings offense was held under 200 yards passing in the absence of Justin Jefferson. Turnovers reared their ugly head yet again, and the injury bug bit the Vikings over and over again. Yet, they were still able to do enough to walk out with the victory.

Not only does the victory keep the Vikings season alive, but the win in their first division game of the season means they’re undefeated in the division, something that could play a factor later on if Kirk Cousins and the crew can right the ship.

But that’s getting a bit ahead of ourselves. For now, let’s just enjoy the victory by taking a look at the good, bad, and ugly from the Vikings win.

Bears HC Matt Eberflus explained what went into change at center vs. Vikings

Lucas Patrick replaced Cody Whitehair at center in the fourth quarter of the Bears’ 19-13 loss to the Vikings. Matt Eberflus explained why:

The Chicago Bears offensive line had a disastrous outing against the Minnesota Vikings in Sunday’s 19-13 loss on Sunday. And there was one player in particular who noticeably struggled: center Cody Whitehair.

Whitehair struggled with snaps throughout the game, but he was replaced by Lucas Patrick in the fourth quarter. The assumption was the move was made based on performance, and this wasn’t the first time Whitehair had struggled with snaps — even last week when he stepped up in place of an injured Patrick.

Eberflus explained what went into the decision to replace Whitehair with Patrick at the end of the game, especially as it related to undrafted rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent, who replaced injured starter Justin Fields.

“Lucas obviously was going through concussion protocol during the week and when Justin went out and we had Tyson in there we thought it was best for our team to have the guy that had more experience in there playing center,” Eberflus said. “That’s that position that we have that Lucas has played for a long time. He has a lot of experience in there. We thought that would settle Bagent down little bit.”

Sure. But it also wasn’t because Whitehair was struggling with snaps throughout the game?

“No. It was just more about settling down and putting the guy that had more experience at center,” Eberflus said. “We feel good about both guys. And obviously we’ve switched guys around during the course of the year, guard, center. We are going to have to continue to do that based on where Nate (Davis) is. We’ll see. But we like our flexibility in there.”

With right guard Nate Davis sidelined with an ankle injury, there will be more shuffling along the offensive line heading into Week 7. The Bears could certainly elect to slide Patrick into that right guard spot and roll with Whitehair at center.