Chicago Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent cleared the NFL concussion protocol and will not carry an injury designation into the Week 3 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles, the team announced. His progress opens the door for him to potentially start in pace of the injured Caleb Williams on "Monday Night Football."
Bagent returned to practice on Saturday but at that point had not cleared concussion protocol. He still needed to go consecutive days without symptoms before being allowed to return to game action. The backup signal-caller crossed that threshold on Sunday.
Despite Bagent returning to practice, Bears coach Ben Johnson did not immediately say that he would start over fellow backup Case Keenum once cleared. When asked if there was something he needed to see from Bagent before making the call, Johnson answered simply, "I need to see something from everybody today. Big day today."
On the final injury report, Bagent was listed as questionable for Week 3 after participating fully in the session.
Johnson did note that Williams would not practice on Saturday, and that he's been ruled him out for the Week 3 contest with Philly.
Bagent is the Bears' top backup and was the first quarterback up following Williams' hamstring injury. In the 9-3 loss to Minnesota in Week 2, the former undrafted free agent out of Shepherd University completed 5 of 9 passes for 54 yards. Bagent suffered a concussion during that defeat against the Vikings, which clouded his availability for Week 3 and may have vaulted Keenum from third string to starter.
Of course, Keenum, who has 66 regular-season starts under his belt, could still be the Bears' option if Bagent isn't ready to go after just being cleared; the fact that Bagent was able to get onto the practice field on Saturday does leave the door ajar for him to start. Bagent started four games as a rookie in 2023, owning a 2-2 record. For his career, he's completed 65.8% of his passes with a 73.0 passer rating.
In 2025, Bagent signed a two-year, $10 million extension with Chicago.
