NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tyson Bagent recognized man coverage, and a pending blitz, and took the snap. The Bears’ backup quarterback backpedaled into his own end zone, watched running back Roschon Johnson block the blitzer and launched what would be the easiest pass he threw all Saturday night.
Rookie receiver Zavion Thomas ran a double move route down the right sideline. When he stutter-stepped, cornerback Keydrain Calligan was caught so off-balanced that he fell to the ground when he turned to keep running. Thomas caught the ball a full seven yards behind Calligan and sprinted for a 97-yard touchdown.
It was Thomas’ first-ever NFL play. He’d missed the past two preseason games because of a knee injury.
“Greatest start in NFL history,” Bagent said.
There was no way anyone was chasing down Thomas — the Bears’ third-round pick ran a 4.28-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, the third-fastest among all prospects.
“Four-two-eight,” coach Ben Johnson said with a smile. “Great coaching.”
The Bears’ first offensive play on Saturday night’s game against the Titans set the tone the Bears wanted from the few players they might need to rely on during the regular season. That they won 24-15 to finish the preseason 2-1 made it all that much sweeter.
They already know what they have in Bagent, whom Johnson considers one of the more valuable players inside Halas Hall despite the fact that Caleb Williams has stayed healthy since he was picked No. 1 overall two years ago.
To see Bagent look like the preseason monster of previous years, though, was a good reminder to the Bears — and the rest of the league — about what he could do. He missed the previous week’s game with a hamstring injury.
With Williams sitting out, he was almost perfect in his one half’s worth of work, going 16-for-17 for 208 yards and two touchdown passes. His 156.9 passer rating fell just short of the best possible score. He went into the locker room as the team’s leading rusher, too, after running twice for 21 yards.
“He was on fire,” Johnson said.
Three Bears rookies were just as encouraging.
In the first half alone, Thomas caught five passes passes for 140 yards, returned a punt for 39 yards and a kickoff for 22. He flashed the speed that enticed the Bears to take him with the 25th pick of the third round despite the fact that he lacked impressive receiving stats at LSU.
Some analysts thought the Bears took Thomas two rounds too early. The Bears, though, sold him as a return wiz who could give coach Ben Johnson a new offensive weapon with which to play. He was exactly that Saturday night, even with the caveat that he was going up against backups. Calligan, for example, is a second-year former undrafted free agent.
Thomas’ first half had one glaring flaw, though — he fumbled a fly sweep handoff from Bagent toward the end of the first quarter. The Titans recovered and eventually kicked a 56-yard field goal.
“That was a thousand percent on me … ” Thomas said. “I just gotta secure the ball.”
Thomas outperformed No. 4 overall pick Carnell Tate. The Chicago native thought he was open for a 48-yard touchdown pass at the end of the Titans’ first drive before safety Dillon Thieneman, the Bears’ own first-round pick, broke up Will Levis’ pass in the end zone.
A third Bears rookie shined in the first half, too. When Johnson decided to go for it on fourth-and-1 from his own 21 halfway through the second quarter, Bagent faked a handoff rolled right and threw to third-round pick Sam Roush. The third-round tight end gained 19 yards for a first down.
Williams and most of the Bears starters — all but Thieneman and linebacker T.J. Edwards, who played two series — could only smile. Williams went through an extensive warmup with his teammates, including Luther Burden, hours before kickoff. Johnson said he thought Burden, who had dealt with a groin injury, looked 100%.
Johnson decided to sit Williams after he was pleased with his practice performance Thursday. He watched from the sideline in a gray T-shirt and sunglasses.
“If I didn’t feel good about him for Week 1,” Johnson said, “he probably would have played tonight.”
A little less than half the Bears’ 90-man roster sat out, two days after the Bears went through a grueling joint practice at the Titans’ facility The Titans, who said Thursday they’d play their starters, wound up sitting most of them, including former No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward.
The Bears escaped with few injury issues — running back Brittain Brown had a concussion, which forced the Bears to play receiver Maurice Alexander at backup running back. Cornerback Jaylon Jones and receiver Ray-Ray McCloud each hurt their hamstrings. When the game ended, the Bears were left with about 21 hours before they were forced to cut their roster down from 90 players to 53.
Until then, Bagent was going to enjoy the win.
“It obviously feels good to execute,” Bagent said. “This is my life’s work …To be able to showcase that to the world, to be able to make my family proud, it’s all extremely special to me.”