Albert Breer’s Notes: Bears’ Investment in the QB Room Is About to Pay Off

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We have a lot to get to in this week’s Tuesday notes. Let’s dive in …

Chicago Bears

The Bears dodged a bullet with Caleb Williams’s prognosis on Monday—one that launched a zillion memes on social media—that a short-term absence and rest should be good enough to get him back on the field before too long.

That said, this is where the Bears’ stocking of their quarterback room, and their investment in Tyson Bagent comes up aces, even if Bagent has to miss Sunday’s game in the concussion protocol (which is just bad luck). Last August, Chicago signed the fifth-year quarterback to a two-year, $10 million extension that, with the final year of his rookie deal folded in, became a three-year, $11.04 million contract. He’s making $4.25 million in cash both this year and next year.

That’s nothing for a group in this sort of spot. Most teams would be up a creek if they lost their quarterback for the year. Maybe all teams. This kind of circumstance, on the other hand, is exactly why the Bears’ decision to pay Bagent, and keep Case Keenum behind him, is so sound.

I think it’ll be less, but let’s say Chicago loses Williams for four games. Let’s say that they didn’t have Bagent and Keenum, and they went 0–4 or 1–3 through that stretch rather than 2–2 or 3–1 with some combination of the two backups. Those two games could be the difference between making the playoffs or not, or between hosting playoff games and going on the road. And that could cost you one of the precious shots you’ll get to pursue a Lombardi Trophy with Williams.

For now, the picture looks a little rosier. Ben Johnson has said that Williams won’t practice this week, but hasn’t been ruled out for Monday night against the Eagles. Still, this is a little like having medical insurance, or car insurance, in that it doesn’t seem like that much of a difference-maker until you really need it.

Washington Commanders

The Commanders’ decision making on Jayden Daniels’s dislocated elbow is relatively similar to last year, with one caveat—the team isn’t done analyzing the 25-year-old quarterback’s situation yet.

Daniels is traveling to meet with a specialist on Tuesday and another on Wednesday to get more opinions on the injury, which is vital because this is a repeat injury. So while the thought is that he’ll miss about a month, as he did last year, they won’t have a firmer timeline for his return to the field until Wednesday.

The telltale sign may be whether the Commanders move Daniels to IR later in the week. If the best advice is for him to sit out four or more games, then they’ll move him to the reserve list to save the roster spot. If the possibility exists that he could come back more quickly, you’ll know it because he’ll stay on the 53-man active roster.

Last year, the Commanders didn’t put Daniels on IR, mostly because their bye week fell in the month-long window that he’d be rehabbing—he missed four weeks, but only three games, with the bye wedged in there.

Los Angeles Rams

The Rams’ deployment of the running back spot has been interesting the past couple of weeks, with the team moving closer to a true platoon between Kyren Williams and Blake Corum. Williams played 39 offensive snaps in Week 1 and 34 in Week 2, and had 14 touches each week. Corum played 14 snaps against the 49ers and doubled it in the Giants game, with 10 touches in the first game and 13 in the second game.

The production has been relatively even. Williams has 175 yards on 28 touches, and Corum has 146 yards on 23 touches. Corum’s average per touch is marginally higher—6.35 to 6.25.

But it’s pretty clear that the Rams are giving Corum a bigger role in the offense, and he earned it with a really strong camp. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes from here, too, though if you’d consider this a problem, it’s a really good one to have.

Also, on Rams’ snap counts: Aaron Donald played 33 on Monday. That’s right in the 30–40 range, where the Rams envisioned his role being, as he and Sean McVay talked through his return over the past few months. My guess is the team would like to keep the 35-year-old’s workload in that area.

Kansas City Chiefs

Chiefs fifth-round pick Emmett Johnson is a player worth watching going forward. Kansas City loved his explosive, decisive running style at Nebraska, and that translated to training camp. He has clearly won the backup tailback job behind star workhorse Kenneth Walker III.

Walker and Johnson are the only two tailbacks who’ve taken offensive snaps through two weeks, with the veteran in for a total of 113 snaps and Johnson in for 39.

And, yes, that’s a big disparity, and this is no one-two-punch sort of situation. Still, based on how the Chiefs are playing and leaning on the run game, Johnson is now positioned as an important figure, both to spell Walker and perhaps take his place if Walker gets injured (and Walker does have an injury history).

Carolina Panthers

A leftover from Sunday: Panthers coach Dave Canales mentioned to me how Bryce Young had started to take ownership of the offense, working with his teammates to put their own spin on the scheme. A lot of it comes down to small adjustments based on the quarterback’s comfort level and his skill guys’ comfort with the concepts. So I asked Canales if that’s something Young does on his own, or if he’s been directed to do it.

“No, this is something that we’ve talked about with all of our quarterbacks over the years,” he said. “And from the minute that I was able to start coaching Bryce, our staff, it’s like, Hey, make sure you grab those guys, make sure you grab them on the side. From there, though, it’s just Bryce’s initiative. It’s Bryce’s ownership of what it looks like and becoming his, becoming ours, that really has been.

“So I can only take credit for saying, O.K., hey, look, this is how you do it. But the intentionality and really fine-tuning it in a way that works also matters. And that’s what he’s been doing an excellent job of.”

Indianapolis Colts

The Colts viewed finding a third receiver as their biggest need this summer, so losing Alec Pierce for at least a few weeks isn’t great, and it colors the addition of Darius Slayton.

That Slayton played six seasons with Daniel Jones in New York helps, of course.

But this isn’t ideal. Indianapolis now has Josh Downs as its top receiver, late addition Keenan Allen facing a DUI suspension, and journeyman/former first-round pick Laquon Treadwell (who has a really cool story) positioned to take on a bigger role. That means the offense will likely play out of more multiple-tight-end sets, and perhaps saddle up behind Jonathan Taylor even more so.

What I like about Treadwell is his story shows how much he loves the sport—that he’d stick with it for 11 years, through a pro career that’s hardly gone to plan. And give similar love-of-the-game points to Zach Ertz, a really good guy who’s coming back to the NFL to play for the team that drafted him, the Eagles, 13 years later.

Atlanta Falcons

Michael Penix Jr. is ready to return for the Falcons, and I’d expect Atlanta to give him the rest of the year as the starter. Beyond being their best option, the new brain trust certainly needs to get a full assessment of him before charting the course at quarterback for 2027 and beyond. I’m excited to get a look at him Thursday night against the Packers.

Arizona Cardinals

Finally, I’ll say that I do think Marvin Harrison Jr. probably needs a change of scenery. With Michael Wilson, drafted a year before Harrison, now on a big second contract, it’ll be interesting to see if Arizona is open to moving Harrison when we get closer to the trade deadline.

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