Source: Bears expected to start QB Bagent vs. Jets

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  Courtney CroninOct 3, 2026, 11:40 AM ET

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  Courtney Cronin joined ESPN in 2017, originally covering the Minnesota Vikings before switching to the Chicago Bears in 2022. Courtney is a frequent panelist on Around the Horn and host of Best Week Ever and GameNight on ESPN Radio. She also co-hosts The Chicago Bears Podcast on ESPN 1000. She previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News as a multimedia sports journalist.

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Bears are expected to start Tyson Bagent at quarterback against the New York Jets, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

While coach Ben Johnson did not publicly disclose who would start in place of Caleb Williams in Week 4, sources told Rapoport that Bagent took the majority of first-team reps at practice during the week. Case Keenum will serve as Bagent's backup against the Jets.

Williams was ruled out for a second straight game as he recovers from a Grade 2 hamstring strain. His recovery timeline is expected to be three to four weeks, according to Rapoport and ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Bagent's last start came in 2023 in a 16-13 win over the Carolina Panthers, which is 1,059 days removed from Sunday. He started four games his rookie season while former Bears quarterback Justin Fields dealt with a thumb injury. Chicago went 2-2 during that stretch.

Bagent sustained a concussion late in the fourth quarter in a 9-3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings after Williams left the game with injury. He did not clear the concussion protocol until last Sunday and practiced only once leading into the Philadelphia Eagles game, thus why he did not start in Week 3.

But not long after the Bears earned their second win of the season, Johnson reiterated that Bagent was named the backup quarterback at the end of training camp "for a reason."

Johnson said midweek that the Bears knew the "direction" they want to go at quarterback, but that the hot-hand conversation with Keenum would play a part in the evaluation.

"There is such a thing as playing the hot hand," Johnson said Friday. "That is real. We're certainly taking that into consideration. And yet, there's a body of work that goes into it as well. There's a lot of factors at play, and we certainly have talked about it as a coaching staff. Honestly, it's split, If you just ask each coach one-on-one what they think, it's split. I don't know that there's necessarily a right answer or a wrong answer in terms of how we go about this thing. Both of them are well prepared to play and win a game for us here, so I'm excited about that."