When coach Ben Johnson first was asked about the possibility the Bears might trade backup quarterback Tyson Bagent, he pretended to go into a coughing fit during the NFL Scouting Combine. He put his right hand to his mouth and let out an answer, emphatic and guttural.
‘‘No!’’ he said.
The preseason is the time when Bagent typically shows the rest of the NFL world what Johnson sees on the practice field and in meeting rooms.
As a rookie out of Division II Shepherd University in 2023, he beat out veteran P.J. Walker, to whom the Bears had just pledged more than $4 million. In 2024, he posted a preseason passer rating of 119.9. Last year, it was 106.6.
By comparison, his showing while playing the first half of the the Bears’ 34-10 victory Saturday against the Browns wasn’t as flashy (13-for-22, 169 yards, 79.5 passer rating).
There wasn’t much for the Bears to be upset about as they walked off the soggy turf at Soldier Field. They committed only two penalties — Johnson wasn’t sure he ever had seen so few in a team’s first preseason game — and dominated the Browns in the second half en route to scoring the final 34 points.
But Bagent expected better from himself.
When Titans third-stringer Will Levis claimed this month that he was one of the best 32 quarterbacks in the NFL, many rolled their eyes. Bagent considers himself one of the best 32 and probably has a better case.
‘‘In order to be a successful quarterback in this business, you have to have an unrealistic confidence about yourself,’’ he said. ‘‘As far as I’m concerned, there was a lot of success in that first half, but there was also a lot of unacceptable things that took place. . . . If I am going to be one of those 32 guys, I’ve gotta play at a higher level.
‘‘Obviously, I’ve got to improve on that if I am going to be one of those guys in the near future.’’
That day will come — eventually.
Johnson valued Bagent so much that the Bears gave him a two-year, $10 million contract extension last year that kicks in this season. The money gave Bagent a more comfortable life, even if it came at the expense of delaying his starting-quarterback dreams for at least a year.
Bagent, 26, is more valuable to the Bears than he would be anywhere else, however. He’s wired like Johnson and is intensely obsessed with the position. He knows the offense inside and out. And he has proved to be proficient, at least in the preseason. As a rookie, he went 2-2 as a starter.
Bagent is what lets the Bears know they’re not one injury to Caleb Williams away from becoming the team that milled about on the visitors’ sideline Saturday. The Browns started Deshaun Watson, who posted a 98.2 passer rating and managed 10 points in his first NFL start in almost two years. Shedeur Sanders struggled in relief, and Dillon Gabriel was even worse.
Since the Bears drafted Williams No. 1 overall in 2024, he has yet to miss a meaningful snap. Bagent has taken only 27 snaps and thrown six passes in the last two seasons.
His opportunity, then, comes every August.
‘‘I’ve spent a lot of time on the sideline watching the game — the past two years, especially,’’ Bagent said. ‘‘So when my name is called upon, [I’m] able to give confidence to the coaches that I know what I’m doing and am able to be a coach on the field for these guys, be successful and keep the chains moving and put points up on the board.’’
In practice, Bagent often will criticize his own throws before Johnson has a chance to do so. On Saturday, he walked into Soldier Field wearing White Sox outfielder Brenton Doyle’s jersey — the two went to college together — and left wearing a hair shirt.
In the Bears’ preseason opener last year, Bagent went three-and-out on the first two drives before throwing a touchdown pass to wide receiver Maurice Alexander on the third. He vowed to start faster Saturday but went three-and-out twice before throwing a touchdown pass to Alexander.
‘‘Nowhere close to my standards,’’ he said.
In the second quarter, Bagent threw late over the middle to tight end Stephen Carlson and was intercepted by cornerback Michael Coats Jr.
‘‘Complete sloppy move on my part,’’ he said.
There were good moments, too. A 41-yard completion to wide receiver Kaden Davis on play-action to start the second quarter was Bagent’s longest pass of the game. And with 1:24 left in the first half, he engineered a 53-yard drive that ended in a 51-yard field goal by Cairo Santos at the gun.
Perhaps this offseason, some NFL team will watch Bagent’s film and make the Bears an offer they can’t refuse. In the modern NFL, every team with postseason aspirations needs a reliable backup quarterback, and the Bears have theirs.
‘‘You never know when a moment’s going to arise,’’ Bagent said. ‘‘So I think being able to attack each rep last it’s your last and really steward it the best you can is the only way to operate. That’s what I try to do.’’