Bagent will start at QB for Bears vs. Packers, Johnson says

Tyson Bagent will be the Chicago Bears' starting quarterback for Sunday's game at the Green Bay Packers, coach Ben Johnson announced Monday.

"Tyson will be the guy," Johnson said in his weekly appearance on ESPN 1000 in Chicago.

It will essentially be Bagent's second straight start in place of the injured Caleb Williams, although Case Keenum was credited with the start in Week 4 against the New York Jets.

On the first play of Sunday's 23-12 victory, both Bagent and Keenum trotted onto the field. Keenum lined up in the shotgun and pitched the ball to running back D'Andre Swift for a 2-yard gain while Bagent was flanked out wide.

"Well, I got all these memos saying that Tyson was starting before I ever made an announcement, so I wanted to get Case out there," Johnson said after the game. "It was like his ceremonial first pitch out there. Handing off the torch."

With Bagent under center, the Bears dominated the Jets in time of possession (42:45 to 17:15) and generated more first downs (34) than the Jets had plays (32), the second game in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) when that has occurred. The Bears ran 89 plays, resulting in a plus-57 play differential that was the fourth largest by any team since the 1970 merger (the Browns' first game returning to the NFL in 1999 was the most recent).

Bagent went 25-of-34 for 268 yards and an interception in his first regular-season start in 1,059 days.

Williams has a Grade 2 hamstring injury that doctors say has a recovery time of three to four weeks, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport on Sept. 27. Sunday's matchup at Green Bay would be Williams' third game missed with the injury.