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Who Plays QB If the Bears Must Break Glass in Case of Emergency

With two QBs down and two more behind them, what happens if the unthinkable happens Monday night and they lose two more QBs in the game with Philadelphia?
Gene Chamberlain|
Will Cole Kmet be the emergency quarterback Monday night if Case Keenum is starter? The Bears have other choices too.
Will Cole Kmet be the emergency quarterback Monday night if Case Keenum is starter? The Bears have other choices too. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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At this point the practice squad quarterback has gone past emergency quarterback and is now the backup for the Bears.

This is practice squad quarterback Miller Moss, the rookie from Louisville and before that Caleb Williams' USC teammate.

There is no third quarterback then, with Caleb Williams hamstrung and someone needs to be a designated third just in case a total disaster occurs. It might sound ridiculous but the Bear did lose two quarterbacks Sunday within a few minutes of each other in essence. What if it happened to this week's likely starter Case Keenum, and then Moss.

Tight end Cole Kmet, who played some quarterback at St. Viator, does have one career pass attempt and back in 2022 at training camp he and former Bears running back David Montgomery were vying for this role.

"I mean, it was quite the QB battle," Kmet recalled. "I mean, I know there's been quite a few QB battles in my time here, but that was the one that kind of went under the radar that was, uh … that we were able to fight it out for. I think David kind of won out in the end if we really had to go do something, but David's not here anymore."

So it could be Kmet, then. Maybe not. Perhaps a different running back could do it -- Roschon Johnson.

"That's a possibility," offensive coordinator Press Taylor said. "We have a couple different guys that would be a possibility in that role if that comes down to it. And again, it's determining how the numbers shake out on Monday night. But that's part of the things you see us do in the spring when we have all those skill guys throw, we put stock into that."

Taylor was referring to when they have linemen going out for passes and backs or receivers throwing passes at OTAs.

"I mean, those guys throw, we kind of have an idea who has a past of throwing, who's played baseball, who played high school quarterback, all that stuff," Taylor said. "And then we watch them throw, and then we kind monitor it throughout the year. But we'll reference that tape and stuff, too, if it comes into times of needing somebody else to throw a pass and we'll see how that goes."

So it's Johnson? He might not be the best choice according to Kmet.

"That's a great question," Kmet said. "Kalif Raymond could probably do it, if I had to bet. But I don’t even know if he can throw. I have no idea."

At that point, throwing might be only a secondary talent required. It's a little like being the position player in baseball who comes in to finish out a blowout on the mound.

Raymond has knowledge of the offense beyond the other Bears based on his time in Detroit with Ben Johnson.

"Yeah, knowledge and just willpower," Kmet said. "General willpower."

It's also always possible they could get back Bagent from concussion protocol by Monday night. Last week the Vikings didn't have Kyler Murray but he cleared concussion protocol on Monday after a concussion the previous week. In that case, they could always just have Bagent hand off.

Or maybe they could use Darnell Wright.

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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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