It was fun when it began, but the Tyson Bagent experience in Chicago unfortunately has to come to an end after an abysmal performance against the New Orleans Saints in Week 9.
After an electrifying debut in Week 7 against the Las Vegas Raiders, the last two starts for the Chicago Bears undrafted rookie hasn't been as kind. Now, the reality is starting to set in for the Bears and their fanbase.
It's time to turn the offense back to Justin Fields in Week 10 against the Carolina Panthers if he's fully cleared and healthy enough to start.
Against the Saints, Bagent had a hot start by leading the team down the field for a touchdown on their first drive. On the second drive, Bagent had his first of four turnovers after throwing an interception.
Bagent finished with game 18-30 passing with 220 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions and a fumble lost on the team's final drive of the game. Despite his four turnovers, the Bears were still within one score against a really tough opponent.
However, it's incredibly difficult to win in the NFL when you offense combines for five turnovers in a single game.
"I think it was all on me," Bagent said after the game. "Just forcing a couple of plays there and you can't afford to take plays off in the NFL because they come back to bite you. You gotta be sharp on every play."
Bagent has now totaled 5 combined turnovers in his last two starts despite not having a single turnover in his first career start in Week 7. With Fields returning to practice for the first time since his thumb injury on Friday, it seems more than likely that he'll return to the lineup against the Panthers on Thursday.
Fields return as the starter would likely send Bagent back to the bench for the remainder of his rookie season. However, the best experience is live experience for a young quarterback and Bagent certainly had plenty of opportunities to learn and grow from over the last three weeks of the season.
"I thought I did a lot of good things, and I thought there's a lot of things I can also learn from," Bagent said. "At the end of the day, I'm blessed beyond measure. I can't believe the position I'm in. I had an extreme amount of fun with all the guys having my back the way that they did. But for me going forward, nothing changes."
After the game, Bears head coach Matt Eberflus addressed the state of the quarterback room and the progression of Fields going into the short week.
"[Fields] is day-to-day and we'll find out more tomorrow," Eberflus said. "We'll see where it is. He started throwing, which is a positive, and we'll see where it is in terms of his functionality."
In the last two full games Fields played as the team's starting quarterback, the offense scored 68 combined points and totaled over 450 yards of offense in each game. It'll certainly be interesting to see which direction the Bears will go on Thursday.
