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Bear Digest

Caleb Williams' Status Not Bears' Only QB Question After Blowout Loss

While Ben Johnson won't confirm his starter's status for the Atlanta game, Sunday's Tyson Bagent benching could indicate something about backup on depth chart.
Gene Chamberlain|
Green Bay Packers defenders swarm Bears quarterback Case Keenum in the fourth quarter on Sunday.
Green Bay Packers defenders swarm Bears quarterback Case Keenum in the fourth quarter on Sunday. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

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Chicago Bears

The only thing more elusive than Green Bay receivers on Sunday was Bears coach Ben Johnson when talking about whether Caleb Williams would be ready to return against Atlanta in Week 6.

"He's on track," Johnson said. "We'll see if that's Atlanta, or after. I think it's going to be close."

No sense giving the Falcons a head start on what to prepare for, because if it isn't Williams what is there really to prepare to face? The Bears backup quarterbacks were that bad in Sunday's 31-7 loss to the Packers.

Johnson said the approach will be like last week.

"We'll do the same thing we do every week," he told reporters after Sunday's loss. "We'll talk as a staff, we'll recap this game, and we'll make a decision going into next week on what's best for us."

As bad as the final score sounded, the Bears were still very much in it at halftime despite the opportunity given away with the first interception quarterback Tyson Bagent threw on a tipped ball to Xavier McKinney.
Bagent had only 54 yards passing at the half, though.

Johnson had every bit of opportunity to pull his starter on the day at halftime or even a bit later with hope Keenum could rally them.

The Bears actually had the ball back at their own 10 in the final 1:22 of the second quarter and with three timeouts, trailing only by a touchdown, they could have made it a game. They went nowhere, Bagent was sacked and then when the Packers started the second half a 53-yard TD pass to Christian Watson by Jordan Love over Dillon Thieneman made it a two-TD deficit.

And stillJohnson wouldn't bench Bagent. Finally, he did it in the fourth quarter when the verdict already seemed sealed.

"We felt like we wanted a little spark there," Johnson told reporters.

At that point they needed a bolt of lightning rather than a spark.

"Tyson just could never feel like he got in a rhythm here today. we'll look at why that was the case," Johnson said. "The second interception happened and we felt like lets give Case a chance out there and see if we get different results."

What was somewhat curious — or perhaps not — the Bears had Case Keenum talking to reporters at the podium in the postgame interview room while Bagent was accessed in the locker room by a handful of reporters. Usually the starter gets the podium treatment.

Were they communicating something about Keenum being ahead of Bagent now in case Williams isn't ready to go next week? Has Bagent dropped to No. 3?

Tyson Bagent's status in question

"You would definitely not want to be benched in a game like this, especially with the opportunity that I've been blessed with," Bagent told CHGO afterward. "But at the end of the game these things happen.

"I've got to play better and, like I said, I've got to look in the mirror and got to see where I can continue to get better, because there's a lot of things still even this far into my career that I can still get better at."

In honestly, Keenum was barely better than Bagent in terms of actual production, even though he threw for 108 yards in one quarter of play on 11 of 19. They turned it over on three of his four possessions, once by interception.

"We'd get something going and then put ourselves in a tough spot," Keenum said. "That was kind of the name of the game today."

The interception Keenum threw was on a fourth down when they would have turned it over on downs if he didn't force it into coverage.

Afterward, Keenum was focusing his attention on his friend and young teammate, Bagent.

"You don't last very long in this league if you don't know how to get back up when you've got your ass kicked," Keenum said. "That's just the way it is. There's really good players, really good coaches, really good teams, and if you last long enough it's just a matter of time at some point you get your ass kicked.

"And it's not about that. It's about how you respond the next day, the next week and every day after that. I expect him to respond like he knows how to and he can."

Bears fans have to hope it just won't be until the distant future because Williams' return could be the next game.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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