Chicago Bears gearing up for
Philadelphia Eagles without QB Caleb Williams or backup Tyson Bagent
[September 26, 2026]
By GENE CHAMBERLAIN
LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Backup Chicago Bears quarterback Tyson
Bagent returned to Halas Hall without practicing on Friday, and
starter Caleb Williams also remains out.
The Bears will likely play the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night
with third-string quarterback Case Keenum taking the snaps. Williams
has a hamstring injury and Bagent is out with a concussion.
“Case threw me my first touchdown in camp here actually,” tight end
Colston Loveland said. “It was a fade ball, so we got a little
connection.
“He’s a great quarterback though, he is, and the way he commands and
his knowledge of the game, it’s very cool to be a part of something
like that.”
Keenum is also a quarterback who hasn’t played in an NFL game since
2023, when he was third-string for Houston, and has started only
four times in the 2020s. Receivers are all well acquainted with
Keenum because the Bears mixed their receiver groups with each QB
during the offseason and during parts of training camp.
“Kind of having that next-man-up mentality and just trying to go to
work with the people that we’re going to have available in the
game,” wide receiver Rome Odunze said. “Obviously that’s kind of a
question of who that’s going be right now, but that doesn’t change
our work ethic out there on the practice field or our confidence in
anybody in this locker room.
“We’re going to go and play our brand of football and dice it up.”
Bears offensive coordinator Press Taylor, a former Eagles assistant,
called Keenum an appropriate answer for going against defensive
coordinator Vic Fangio’s zone-based Eagles coverage schemes.
“You’re going to have to be patient,” Taylor said. “You’re not going
to get these big, long explosives the way they play in the shell,
the way everything starts playing out of the shell. And then they
just do a great job of playing a variety of different fronts and
techniques ultimately to try to do the same idea at the end of the
day — limit the explosives and make you go the long, hard way.”
[to top of second column] |
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is carted off the field
after an injury during the second half of an NFL football game
against the Minnesota Vikings in Chicago, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026.
(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
It’s a bit different approach than the one Williams
normally takes. The Bears had four completions 22 yards or longer in
their opener, a 59-37 win over a Carolina team using a variation of
Fangio’s defense.
Taylor said Williams can benefit from watching if he misses a game
for the first time.
“I think it’s a very new situation for him, obviously,” Taylor said.
“But I do think you can sit there and you can watch a veteran
quarterback or Tyson if Tyson gets the opportunity, how they handle
the huddle, how they handle the sidelines, what you can provide as
an extra set of eyes on the sidelines potentially if that’s where he
is. And we’ll see how that goes.”
The Bears do have an extra day to prepare because of the Monday
night kickoff, but it’s not much time to get either Williams or
Bagent ready to face one of the league's better defenses and
defensive coordinators.
“It’s all to be determined,” Taylor said.
At least the Bears see things trending in the right direction for
another aspect of their offense. Running back Kyle Monangai returned
for a full practice Friday for the first time this week after two
missed practices because of a knee injury. The Bears relied heavily
on their running attack for 281 yards in a 24-15 win over the Eagles
last season when Williams was healthy.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
