Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent has seen Lambeau Field from the sideline, but never the spotlight.
That changes Sunday.
“To say this is just like any game just wouldn’t be true,” he said Wednesday, two days after coach Ben Johnson confirmed he’d start against the Packers. “This is one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports. It’s easy for the fans to get up for, easy for us to get up for. So it will certainly be a different feel out there.”
The Bears hope Bagent’s efficient performance against the Jets was a prelude to a game that carries extra meaning every year inside Halas Hall. It helps that he’s catching the Packers defense at a vulnerable time, too. The Packers give up 139.3 rushing yards per game, the fifth-most in the NFL. Their 26.3 points per game allowed are the 10th-most. They have the NFL’s fourth-worst third down percentage and the NFL’s worst red zone percentage. They give up touchdowns 86% of the time their opponent gets to the 20.
Micah Parsons, who during the offseason targeted Sunday as a potential return date from his torn ACL, has yet to practice with the team. Linebacker Edgerrin Cooper, who was having perhaps the best season of any Packers defender, tore his Achilles’ tendon Sunday.
Still, Johnson is wary of the Packers’ safeties — and what new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon does with them, typically rotating them from a blanket coverage right before the snap. That will challenge Bagent, who until Sunday had gone three years without a regular-season snap.
“We’ve got to very disciplined having our eyes in the right spots …” Johnson said. “Our route runners have got to be in the right spots, as well.”
The Bears trust Bagent to change plays at the line of scrimmage, based on what he sees from the Packers. They want him to trust his receivers to make plays deeper down the field. Johnson said there were a few plays Sunday in which Bagent threw short when a deeper option was open. The one that Bagent said “really sticks out egregiously” — a deep crossing route he should have thrown to Luther Burden in the third quarter.
“It would be encouraging from the coaching staff to him, ‘You get the green light, man,’” Johnson said. “We have a lot of confidence in how our pass catchers are playing right now. I thought they did a nice job going up for the ball when given an opportunity last week. And so we’re going to need more of that this week.”
Despite the fact he eclipsed Johnson’s stated goal of a 70% completion percentage, Bagent’s play against the Jets was far from perfect. He went 25-for-34 for 268 yards but threw the Jets their first interception in 21 games. He threw three more interceptions that came back because of penalty — though one was a shot play after the Jets jumped offside that he would not have tried otherwise.
The Bears have long believed that Bagent could start elsewhere. Their rivals agree.
“I see a really good quarterback,” coach Matt LaFleur told Packers reporters. “He throws with anticipation. He gets the ball out of his hands. He goes to the right spots. I know he’s their backup, but he could start for many teams in the league.”
Sunday might be Bagent’s last chance to state that case. Quarterback Caleb Williams still isn’t practicing but has been throwing with teammates on the side as he works his way back from a hamstring injury.
He’ll face an environment unlike any he’s seen before. His games at Div. II Shepherd University were played in front of maybe 5,000 fans, even when they lined up to the rival Shippensburg Red Raiders. The Superdome is the loudest venue he’s played in as a pro — as a rookie in 2023, he threw three interceptions and fumbled the ball in the fourth quarter of a 24-17 loss to the Saints. The only other NFL road game he’s started came against the Chargers — and SoFi Stadium might have had just as many Bears fans.
“He’s just got to figure out what he did well [and] keep doing that, and then the things that we need to improve on, we’ll improve on,” Johnson said. “It doesn’t matter home or away or who we’re playing — that’s really the name of the game.”
Bagent is a different quarterback than he was as a rookie. Johnson made that clear when he gave him a two-year, $10 million contract extension a year ago.
“He carries himself extremely well.— his preparation is elite,” receiver Rome Odunze said. “He carries that confidence with him through the building, through the meeting rooms, through practice. I’ve seen that for three years. It’s nothing new to me.”
The stakes, though, are.
“I’ve always treated each game the same — life-or-death, hair-on-fire, just trying to execute to the best of my ability,” Bagent said. “Hopefully, everybody else feels the same.”