Tyson Bagent Not Facing Westchester Any More

Tyson Bagent is in his element

It's not that the Bears backup quarterback was unprepared last week to enter the game when Justin Fields went out in the third quarter with a dislocated thumb—he was ready simply because he prides himself on this.

However, he'll be even more ready now to face the Las Vegas Raiders than he was to play against the Minnesota Vikings because he's going to get the full week of practice reps. And preparation is the name of his game.

"I'm not usually that comfortable until I know the whole game plan so I kind of put that burden on myself throughout the week—get the game plan, " he said Wednesday at Halas Hall. "Knowing it in and out gives me that confidence to go out there and play to the best of my ability."

It's a case where some players say they're energized by teammates, by the fans in the stadium or by the situation, but Chicago's undrafted Division II quarterback draws his juice from simply being thoroughly prepared.

"I think whatever they want to put on that call sheet will be understood through and through by myself," Bagent said. "And you know, I put that on me kind of going into the game last week."

Bagent was so confident in his preparation with only a handful of practice reps usually given to backups that he told coaches when he went in not to hold anything back from the playbook.

"You know, I just kind of told them, 'I know you guys have a lot of faith in me but I want to let you know I know the whole call sheet so don't be afraid to do your thing, call your plays, you know, don't hinder the offense just because I'm going in there because I've prepared for this all week.'

"So I take pride in doing that, whatever's put on there is usually what will be understood and what I will figure out how to operate."

There couldn't be a better approach by a backup QB, although he definitely lacks experience from his D-II playing time at Shepherd. It's something he and his father, the former world champion arm wrestler Travis Bagent, talked about during youth, high school and college football.

"I'd say just going through college football, I think you start to see guys who are really good that don't make it because they don't know where they're going," Bagent said. "So if you're not the fastest guy here and you're not the best athlete on the field, as long as you know where you're going and can play all positions on the field or know what everybody's doing, you're usually going to operate a little bit better than guys that might be a little bit better than you physically.

"So I kind of learned it then. And then especially at this level everybody's really smart and really fast so really understanding what's going on around me I think has been the only real focal point since I've been here."

The moment is not lost on Bagent, who was obviously the longest shot to play and contribute as a rookie when he wasn't drafted and hadn't faced Division I opponents.

"It means everything." he said. "After the last game of my college career, I was talking to a good buddy of mine. We were kind of talking about 'hey, no matter how good or bad this goes at the next level, there is a very big chance that maybe you make the team but you might never get to start a game ever again in your whole life.' You may never get that QB1 role ever again.

"That's just kind of how the apple falls from the tree sometimes."

A year ago at this time he might have been getting ready to face Westchester, and not looking at Maxx Crosby coming after him wearing a crazed, vicious look on his face, and he realize how far and unlikely his trip has been in such a short time.

So how does he manage it?

"The details, a lot of details," he said. "Obviously the team I'm going against Sunday is a little bit better than Westchester.

"But other than that, the other team is a little bit smarter than they were a year ago and there are quite a bit more details than there were a year ago. Other that that, you just play hard and operate in sync with the guys you've got."

Being more prepared is his element.

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