Tyson Bagent was still feeling it Saturday afternoon long after he had taken his final snap and long after the Chicago Bears had put their final knee on a 27-3 preseason victory against the Cincinnati Bengals. In front of his locker stall at Soldier Field, Bagent threw on a red throwback Isiah Thomas NBA All-Star jersey and prepared to head into his weekend.
Yet the 24-year-old quarterback was still vibing from a performance in which he and the Bears second-team offense found their groove. “That felt good,” Bagent said. “Got into a nice little rhythm there.”
While many fans still were reveling in the latest series of jaw-dropping highlights delivered from rookie Caleb Williams, Bagent actually had been the day’s more productive quarterback. On three possessions, he led the Bears to 17 points. He misfired on only one of eight passes, totaled 87 yards, threw a pair of touchdowns to Dante Pettis and posted a 151.6 passer rating.
And when asked whether that effort gave him comfort to head into the season without needing additional preseason game action, Bagent pushed back, lobbying instead for more work in the team’s exhibition finale Thurdsay night in Kansas City, Mo.
“I want to play the whole freaking game,” he said.
Bagent won’t get that chance Thursday but will start against the Chiefs and play deep into the first quarter at a minimum. That will be the next step in a quarterback journey Bagent believes can take him places no one else is even imagining right now.
“There’s a lot more I can kind of squeeze out of this,” he said.
This is simply the Tyson Bagent experience these days with the second-year QB overflowing with gratitude and ambition as he continues living out his NFL dream. No longer just an underdog as an undrafted rookie out of Division II Shepherd University, Bagent is comfortably settled into his role as QB2, the backup to an up-and-coming rookie in Williams.
Bagent is also a fast-improving player in his own right and intent on sticking around for a while.
“As a rookie, you’re never quite sure how things are going to pan out,” Bagent said. “Now? It just feels like I’m in it. Being in the NFL, I can’t even (bleeping) believe it. This isn’t just a cup of coffee in the league. I’m here and hopefully I’m here so stay.”
The short-term goal is to play well Thursday night at Arrowhead Stadium. The grandest vision?
“I’ve got ridiculous, unbelievable aspirations that go far deeper than what I’ve been able to do so far,” Bagent said. “I’ll just sum it up like that.”
Putting in the work
For those wondering how Bagent got here, to the end of his second NFL training camp in Chicago with a surplus of confidence and momentum, part of it stems from channeling his innate drive into an offseason in which he was, in his own words, “grinding my absolute face off.”
Yes, that included at least one ridiculous and now well-documented workout. (More on that shortly.) But Bagent also dived into his winter and spring training with specific goals to further his development. For starters, he aimed to become a more dynamic thrower.
“A lot of times in this league, you have to be able to win from the pocket,” he said. “Which is the hardest thing in the world to do. And it’s why top-tier quarterbacks get paid so much. So for me, it’s about being able to take a shorter stride when I throw the ball. It’s about being able to let it rip and throw with anticipation.”
Bagent also knows the knocks he has taken for not having elite arm strength. So, naturally, he grinded his absolute face off on that too.
“Repetition is the mother of all learners,” he said. “I’ve been throwing the (expletive) out of deep balls as much as I can this entire offseason. There’s part of it that’s about core strength, about making sure I’m throwing under control, making sure I’m not getting too wide or that my arm angle is not changing drastically on those deeper throws. It’s all about building consistency.”
Bagent’s four-game starting stint from Weeks 7-10 last season — he was filling in for injured starter Justin Field — provided further experience to draw from as he has fueled his growth mindset. The Bears won two of those games and, even as a green rookie, Bagent showed vision and natural instincts for the position.
Yet, what was looking like a true breakthrough performance against the New Orleans Saints in Week 9 ended with a reality-check uppercut. Through three quarters at the Caesars Superdome, Bagent was 15-for-20 for 201 yards and had the Bears sniffing an upset. Then, he committed three killer fourth-quarter turnovers in a 24-17 Bears loss.
It was a sobering reminder that a smooth flight means nothing without a clean landing.
Folded within that defeat were lessons on operational poise and ball security. Bagent recognized how costly even the slightest hiccup can be. He also developed a quick appreciation for the elite competition in the NFL.
“These are other high-level players capable of making extraordinary plays on every snap,” he said. “The first pick in that game was 100% on me. The next two, they had guys making diving, contested interceptions to where you experience just how much this really is a game of inches.
“That for me was the push to remain laser focused, totally dialed in throughout every snap of all four quarters. That’s the NFL. You have to be totally locked in and be elite in situational football.”
‘I’m a freak. I’m an animal.’
So. About that one wild summer workout. On June 19, back in his hometown of Martinsburg, W.Va., Bagent helped close friend Derek Gallagher celebrate his birthday with what has become an annual tradition. Concoct an extreme workout plan, then get after it.
This year’s challenge?
“One-mile burpee-broad jump,” Bagent said.
Yes, it is what it sounds like. A burpee followed by a broad jump, a burpee followed by a broad jump, a burpee followed by a broad jump.
For a mile.
“Hour and seven minutes,” Bagent boasted. “Let’s go!”
That caffeinated kangaroo routine went right through town too.
“The starting point was (Gallagher’s) backyard,” Bagent said. “We went a half-mile to the (Potomac) River. Touched the river. Half-mile back. … There are always some people looking at us funny. That just makes it even better.”
The previous year, the workout to celebrate Gallagher’s big day — “Birthday 5K” — included 1,000 meters of burpee-broad jump, 1,000 meters on a rowing machine, 1,000 meters of backward sled drag, a 1,000-meter sandbag run and a 1,000-meter backward run. And don’t dare ask Bagent if he finished.
“Yeah,” he said with a nod. “Of course. I’m a freak. I’m an animal. I did it all.”
Bagent enthusiastically offers up one other grueling workout session from just before his senior season at Shepherd. With his younger brother, Ezra, plus Gallagher and another buddy, Bagent trekked to Glass Hill in Martinsburg, and the quartet immediately dropped to all fours.
“Twenty pushups, 20 situps, get down the hill,” he said. “Twenty pushups, 20 situps, get up the hill. Twenty pushups, 20 situps, get down the hill. For 20 minutes. It was just nasty. We were getting all muddy. Just pushing it.”
Gallagher, as he often does, reminded Bagent of the return-on-investment objectives.
“He just looked at me and was like, ‘All these people you’re about to go compete against? They’re working out in the AC right now,’ ” Bagent said. “Just a little sweaty, feeling nice, not dirty. They’re not doing anything like this.’”
Those challenges offer a glimpse into what truly fuels Bagent. It’s about building strength in every way possible. Physical, mental, emotional.
“You get yourself in the mental state of ‘I’m built for whatever is about to be thrown at me,’ ” Bagent said. “My mind is steeled to go to that place that others won’t let it go to. I love that.”
A softer side
As the tatted-up son of a world champion and intensely competitive arm wrestler, it’s hardly a surprise Bagent proudly carries a bit of a hard-ass edge. But it’s his softer side that makes him so disarming and likable to everyone around him, just a small-town West Virginia kid who considers his parents his best friends and expresses daily thanks to and for all of the people back home who molded him.
Just as Bagent can talk with intensity about his workouts and work habits, he closes his eyes and bites his bottom lip when he stops to consider what his family means to him.
“I’m going to (bleep) around and start crying right now,” he said. “That’s just who I am.”
The push to make his family proud remains as powerful as anything. As the oldest of four children, Bagent loves his lot in life as the big brother to Ezra, 19, Diem, 16, and Valyn, 10.
“That sibling love has been intense for me throughout my entire life,” he said.
That’s why, even as an NFL quarterback, Bagent opted this offseason to live back home, under the same roof as his immediate family. He wanted to be around them as much as possible.
“I get all sappy and stuff,” he said. “I always think about, ‘When’s the last time I’m going to sleep in the same house as my siblings?’ Because once I move out, then it’s a wrap.
“So it’s just trying to stretch that out as long as I can before it gets too weird. Before I’m like 34 or something like that.”
Adding wind to his sails
Bagent’s two touchdown passes Saturday against the Bengals were things of beauty. Before the second, Bagent recognized press-man coverage before the snap and alerted a check for Pettis to abandon his seam route and instead run a slot fade.
Pettis nodded, used a clean release to get outside cornerback Lance Robinson and shot up the right sideline. Bagent, with ideal timing and touch, dropped a 25-yard touchdown pass right into the receiver’s hands.
Truth be told, it might have been among the best throws in the league last weekend.
“Absolutely perfect ball,” Pettis said. “Right over my outside shoulder. I didn’t save him that much room and that ball really had to be inside of a small window. He fit it in perfectly.”
Those types of moments have added wind to Bagent’s sails with the quarterback pushing onward Thursday night.
Coach Matt Eberflus complimented his backup quarterback after Saturday’s performance, noting his timing and rhythm. Coordinator Shane Waldron saw Bagent taking ownership of the offense.
“I love Tyson’s poise,” Waldron said. “He played with that calm, cool and collected demeanor at the line of scrimmage. And whether it was getting right through a progression to a second or third read or No. 1 was there, he played in great rhythm. … It was great to see. And talk about a guy where hard work pays off. No one’s going to outwork him.”
Embracing the QB2 reality
Still, there’s more to the progress. And Bagent’s teammates continue to accentuate the vibe he gives off that is helping fuel his climb.
“Tyson is always very positive and obviously grateful for his opportunity,” Pettis said. “He comes in ready to work and he loves competing. He’s exactly the kind of guy you want to have around. And so whether that’s your backup quarterback or your starting whatever, you always want to have great energy around you. Tyson brings that great energy.”
In the Bears’ ideal world, Bagent’s cameo at Arrowhead Stadium will represent his last on-field game action of the season. God willing, he will then revert to full-time reserve duty as Williams takes every snap from Week 1 until locker clean-out day. But team history also indicates Bagent will be needed as a starter at some point during the season.
Since the advent of the 16-game schedule in 1978, only five Bears quarterbacks have started every game in a regular season: Jay Cutler in 2009, Rex Grossman (2006), Erik Kramer (1995), Jim Harbaugh (1991) and Vince Evans (1981).
Bagent doesn’t need that reminder. After making 53 consecutive starts in college at Shepherd, he quickly came to understand and embrace the QB2 reality and responsibilities last season.
Bagent jokes that part of his readiness for a possible call into action is because “honestly you have no choice.”
“As a backup quarterback, the job description is to stay ready,” Bagent added. “And you have to do that during the regular season with much less repetition and less time on task in practice. So that’s what I’m planning to do. And at a higher level than last year. If and when my number is called, there will be no one more prepared than me.”
Along the way, Bagent vows to lean into his joy, utilizing his competitive hunger while also taking time to savor the experience.
“Man,” he said, “I can’t tell you how much I love Chicago. It’s an underdog. You can tell right away this is a place that appreciates a gritty person. And I feel like I embody that and have always lived that way.”
Once again, Bagent has reached a state of profound appreciation for his opportunity.
“I kind of look around in my day-to-day existence and I’m in awe. Like, this can’t all be this (bleeping) perfect.”
A surfing adage suggests that when a great set of waves comes along, it’s imprudent to question it or even to wonder how long it may last. Just live inside those waves and ride them out until they end.
“I feel like I’ve been riding a 24-year wave,” Bagent said. “It’s frickin’ unbelievable. Honestly. I am so happy with the way everything has unfolded. You never take for granted that overwhelming gratitude. But I also go that other place sometimes too. Like, this is happening for some reason.
“I like to think I’ve worked harder than everybody else to make this happen. And these are the results. So I’m not going to stop any time soon.”
