Add another name to the list of the Bears’ wounded: Tyson Bagent.
The backup quarterback didn’t practice Tuesday because of a hamstring injury he suffered Saturday in the Bears’ 34-10 exhibition win over the Browns, a source said. The injury isn’t considered serious — Bagent played every snap he was scheduled to play Saturday and spoke with reporters afterward — but it’s unclear if he’ll be ready to face the Bengals in a joint practice Thursday or the next preseason game Saturday night in Cincinnati.
At least Bagent’s injury happened during a game. Over their 15 training-camp practices, the Bears have lost six prominent players to serious injury, meaning one that lasts a week or longer.
Coach Ben Johnson believes in holding grueling practices to get ready for the season. That’s not going to change. But in his second season, he’s navigating a new challenge: how to get his starters to Week 1 when someone seems to get hurt in practice nearly every day.
“I think we’ve had some pretty physical practices, and I feel really good about where we’re at,” Johnson said before practice Tuesday. “I thought it translated to that [Browns] game. Our physicality showed up [in] all three phases, so I’m pretty pleased with that right now.”
He acknowledged, however, the toll that such physicality can take. He said he and his staff are constantly trying to fine-tune practice schedules.
“We turn the dial every single day,” Johnson said. “We look at what we’re doing, how we’re doing it, and we always adjust, and we’re going to continue to do that. . . . We have a method to what we’re doing. Our guys believe in it. We believe in it, and I feel really good about the path that we’re on.”
So maybe it’s just bad luck?
“There are things that you can’t control sometimes,” Johnson said.
He’s not the first Bears coach to try to use his practices to establish a hair-on-fire ethos. Matt Eberflus was stripped of a practice in organized team activities in his first year on the job after an NFL Players Association staff member noticed the Bears practicing too physically. That 2022 team went on to finish 3-14.
Johnson leaning into the physicality worked at this time last year. He held one legendarily arduous practice to instill in his players what he wanted to see in games. When the Dolphins came to town for a joint practice in early August, they were overwhelmed — and almost offended — by the Bears’ roughness.
“It was part of the culture,” defensive end Montez Sweat said. “This is a new year, so we’re approaching the year different. We still are bringing that physicality to football, because that’s just what football is.”
Bears players, however, weren’t getting injured at this rate last year.
On Sunday, running back Kyle Monangai became the sixth prominent player to suffer a serious injury during practice after becoming tangled with defensive tackle Grady Jarrett on a running play. Jarrett was distraught about the mishap in the moment, although Johnson said he wasn’t worried about him, calling him a “pro.” Monangai, meanwhile, is “week-to-week,” Johnson said Tuesday.
Safety Coby Bryant, the Bears’ big-money free-agent acquisition, suffered a hyperextension, bone bruise and break during practice on Aug. 3 and will miss most of the season after knee surgery.
Wide receiver Luther Burden hurt his groin Aug. 8 when he and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson both jumped and reached for a potential touchdown pass in one-on-one drills. He’s likely to return by the start of the regular season and was seen sprinting before the game Saturday.
Sweat, whose injury wasn’t disclosed, practiced Sunday in full for the first time since Aug. 6. Left tackle Braxton Jones, who was hurt the same day, has since returned from a knee injury.
Stevenson missed practice Tuesday, marking a full week since his last participation in the Bears’ scrimmage.
Even more standouts showed up to camp this summer already hurt. Cornerback Kyler Gordon continues to rehab a calf injury that has somehow limited him for months. The Bears, for their part, have done a terrible job of hiding their frustration. For the second time in four days Tuesday, Johnson was tight-lipped about Gordon when asked about his progress. He said there was “nothing to add” about the injury before adding, vaguely, that “there’s a plan, and he’s working toward the plan.”
Starting linebacker T.J. Edwards got a late start to camp after hurting his calf while training offsite. Starting left tackle Ozzy Trapilo returned to practice Sunday after a shockingly fast recovery from a patellar tendon injury.
The injuries kept coming Tuesday, of course. Kiran Amegadjie — who, along with Jedrick Wills, was moved off left tackle before practice — left with a trainer.
The Bears will hold a light practice Wednesday before flying to Cincinnati for the joint practice. They’ll be lucky to escape a hot, heated session against the Bengals with less damage than they typically suffer each day at Halas Hall.
Earlier this month, when asked about the injuries piling up at cornerback and safety, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said the quiet part out loud.
“Quite frankly, you’d rather have to deal with those things now than have to deal with them in the middle of the season,” he said.
That season, though, gets closer with each day.
