INDIANAPOLIS — P.J. Walker, the Bears’ second-string quarterback, stumbled through his starter showing in Saturday night’s exhibition pillow fight against the Colts. On the first snap, he faked a handoff, rolled right and slipped on the Lucas Oil Stadium turf. He steadied himself and threw incomplete behind backup fullback Robert Burns.
The rest of his performance was just as bad. Walker went 1-for-4 for six yards and a 39.6 passer rating, though he was betrayed by a first-quarter drop by Equanimeous St. Brown. He was sacked twice.
Combine that with his Week 1 stinker — Walker went 4-for-8 for 19 yards, one interception and a 16.7 passer rating — and the Bears might have the least impressive second-string quarterback performance of any team this preseason. The eye test on Halas Hall backfields hasn’t been much better — Walker has been inconsistent at best, riding a roller coaster with steeper drops than even starter Justin Fields.
Enter, perhaps, a (Tyson) Bagent provocateur.
In a surprise, the rookie from Division II Shepherd University was the second Bears quarterback to play in the 24-17 loss to the Colts. He looked comfortable, too, in driving the team 92 yards on a 17-play, 9:25 scoring drive that ended with his two-yard touchdown run.
Bagent spiked the ball in the end zone for the first time in his life — in college, it was a penalty.
“He comes from a small school,” running back Roschon Johnson said. “But you wouldn’t know, the way that he plays.”
Bagent went 9-for-10 for 76 yards and a 98.3 passer rating, all in the second quarter. Coach Matt Eberflus played Bagent early because he wanted to see him behind better blockers.
“The delivery was there, the accuracy looked pretty good, the timing was nice, the decision-making was good,” Eberflus said.
Maybe good enough to threaten Walker.
General manager Ryan Poles sought out Walker this offseason, signing him to a two-year, $4.15 million contract with about half that guaranteed. That makes him the likely backup, even though Eberflus said Saturday the competition for the second-string job was afoot.
“Everything’s open right now,” Eberflus said. “If you have a closed mind … if somebody’s rising or -executing, you never put a ceiling on any player.”
Perhaps that’s coach-speak. Eberflus admitted it was helpful to have a veteran backup as a resource for Fields — but then said it wasn’t a deal-breaker.
“If you can execute, it doesn’t matter if you’re 28 or 23,” Eberflus said.
Despite being the NCAA’s all-time leader in touchdown passes, Bagent failed to become the first D-II quarterback drafted since 1979. The Bears signed him minutes after their draft ended. On certain days during training camp, he has outplayed Nathan Peterman, who took all the second-half snaps.
Bagent’s father, a world-renowned arm wrestler, called after the game to arrange a place to meet up. Shepherd is 15 minutes from Bagent’s childhood home; he had never gone this long without seeing his mom. When he found his family outside the locker room, Bagent got a raucous ovation.
“I would really just like to make [the Bears] as comfortable as -possible with the thought of me in the game,” he said. “I know opportunities will present themselves. I try to be as ready as I am for those opportunities.”
They’ll be available for whomever gets the second-string job. It’s been 13 seasons since the Bears last had a starting quarterback play every game in a season. Fields’ running ability — and nose for contact — makes it unlikely he becomes the next one. He played 88.7% of the Bears’ snaps in 2022 and 56.6% in 2021. That’s what makes Walker’s struggles concerning, in practices and games. The Bears need Walker to be better because they’re going to need him.
Unless Bagent gets there first.
“It’s everything that I had planned for myself,” Bagent said. “But then again, every day has been nothing short of amazing.”
