After Case Keenum lit up the Philadelphia Eagles for all to see on Monday Night Football, it is hard for many to fathom the team going away from the hot hand to start Tyson Bagent. However, while Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson has remained coy during the week, he did say post-game that the team had Bagent as the backup over Keenum going into the season for a reason.
Offensive coordinator Press Taylor elaborated on that decision and gave insight into why it is not an easy decision to bench Bagent in favor of Keenum.
"He operates the system at a high level. I mean, he's an extremely intelligent person, extremely competitive person. You sense a little bit of him, and Ben (Johnson) are kind of similar in the competitive edge that they both carry, but also just the intelligence they carry."
Chicago Bears Could Start Tyson Bagent Week 4
The Bears noted that they started Keenum over Bagent because of the command he had of the offense. However, that was because Bagent did not practice throughout the week while Keenum did. They knew that he could execute the game plan, and they were unsure about Bagent.
However, they do know that if Bagent gets a week of practice, he is as smart as Keenum and can run the offense as well as Keenum. If Bagent were not in the concussion protocol and he got to start, the Bears are confident that the results would have been similar.
It is clear that Johnson likes Bagent. He inherited him from the last coaching staff, and brought in Keenum to challenge him. However, Johnson has favored Bagent in back-to-back pre-seasons. That is why it is not an easy decision to stick with Keenum.
Still, for as much as the coaching staff loves Bagent, he does not have the track record that Keenum does. Bagent has shown more in training camp and behind closed doors, but Keenum has won more in the NFL.
Bagent last started in 2023. He has 158 pass attempts in his NFL career. He has completed 65% of his passes and has a 4.4 adjusted net yards per attempt. Meanwhile, Keenum has 15,422 passes. While he has only completed 62% of his passes, his ANY/A is 5.7.
The Bears have faith in Bagent, but they have proven results with Keenum.
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