Bears reportedly expected to start Tyson Bagent at QB in Week 4 vs. Jets

Despite making a convincing case for why he should continue to serve as the Chicago Bears' starting quarterback while Caleb Williams nurses his hamstring injury , Case Keenum will back up Tyson Bagent on Sunday against the New York Jets, according to multiple reports Saturday .

Bagent, a former undrafted free agent from Division II Shepherd University whom the Bears signed to a two-year extension in August 2025 , will reportedly get the Week 4 start.

Although Ben Johnson lauded Keenum for a prime-time performance in which the 38-year-old turned back the clock , threw for 247 yards and accounted for three touchdowns (one on a QB sneak) in a 27-7 win over the Eagles, the second-year Chicago head coach made it clear there was a reason why Bagent has been Williams' backup .

Keenum started over Bagent in Week 3 because Bagent missed most of the practice week in concussion protocol. The 26-year-old Bagent sustained the injury late in the fourth quarter the previous week amid a 9-3, rain-soaked defeat to the Minnesota Vikings.

At the time, he was replacing Williams, who suffered what's been most recently reported as a Grade 2 hamstring strain that could wind up sidelining him for a month.

Bagent took the majority of first-team reps at practice this week, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, via ESPN's Saturday report .

Bagent has previously started regular-season games for the Bears. In 2023, while playing for then-head coach Matt Eberflus as a rookie, he made four starts in the place of Justin Fields, who was nursing a thumb injury. Those starts were successive, from Week 7 to Week 10. Bagent led Chicago to a 2-2 record in that span.

That run began with him completing 72.4% of his attempts with one touchdown and no picks in a 30-12 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. Over that four-game stretch, Bagent proved accurate, yet turnover-prone. He posted a 3:5 touchdown-to-interception rate; however, he registered a 65.1% completion rate along the way. Plus, he ran for 105 yards and a score.

It's been more than 1,050 days since Bagent's last regular-season start. Then again, Keenum had about just as long of a drought before his spotlight-stealing outing last Monday.