If the magnitude of the second ever hit Tyson Bagent — a small-town child from West Virginia making his first NFL begin for the Chicago Bears — the 23-year-old quarterback appeared much more appreciative than overwhelmed on Sunday.
That was true main as much as the sport. It was true throughout the Bears’ spectacular 30-12 trouncing of the Las Vegas Raiders at Soldier Field. And it was true for 11 minutes afterward when the undrafted rookie from Division II Shepherd University got here to his postgame information convention and tried to explain your complete expertise.
Nervous?
“Uh, yeah,” Bagent confirmed. “Yeah.”
Until he wasn’t.
“I feel like I settled in after the first snap. But really, I feel like I feel really nervous the entire week until we get on the field pregame. And then it usually goes away.”
That’s when Bagent’s confidence sometimes kicks in, an infectious high quality embedded in his DNA.
“I feel like I’ve played like a million games at quarterback,” he mentioned. “I used to be in a position to win the job in highschool my sophomore yr. And then I began each recreation by my senior yr in faculty. So that’s seven years of beginning, of understanding what every week of preparation seems to be like and going by just about each (go) idea and run idea there may be.
“Repetition is the mother of all learners. And I’ve been blessed to have a lot of repetition in my life.”
Yep, there was Bagent after Sunday’s win wanting each bit like a younger dude contemporary out of faculty simply making an attempt to make his method within the skilled world. He wore a pair of ripped denims, a plain white NOBULL T-shirt and a navy beanie. And his finest estimate for what number of family and friends members got here to observe him play was “a lot.”
“My paycheck probably won’t look the same this week,” he mentioned. “Yeah. I had a lot of people here.”
Whoever it was and wherever they sat, they had been among the many 62,199 followers who watched the Bears put collectively arguably their most full efficiency all season.
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Running again D’Onta Foreman scored all three of the Bears’ offensive touchdowns, totaling 120 yards from scrimmage after being a wholesome scratch in Weeks 2-5.
Cornerback Jaylon Johnson had two interceptions in a span of 74 seconds, the primary leading to a 39-yard landing return.
The protection was locked in as soon as once more, contributing three takeaways, permitting solely 39 dashing yards and stymieing the Raiders on third down (2-for-9).
The offensive line — using its sixth totally different beginning mixture in seven video games — managed the road of scrimmage all day with the Bears piling up 173 dashing yards.
And Bagent? Well, Bagent dealt with the entire “game management” accountability nicely because the Bears by no means trailed and held a lead of not less than 11 factors for the ultimate two-and-a-half-quarters.
Bagent didn’t flip the ball over, was sacked simply as soon as and helped propel landing drives of 69, 34 and 88 yards.
The final was a third-quarter submission maintain by the Bears, a 15-play march that ate up 8 minutes and 18 seconds and offered a 21-3 lead. That sequence ended with Bagent’s first profession landing go — 5 yards to Foreman on third-and-goal on a fast and decisive check-down with Darnell Mooney, Cole Kmet and Foreman all in sample to the quarterback’s proper.
“Really I could have probably thrown it to either (D’Onta) or Mooney,” Bagent mentioned. “But there was enough space. And the focal point this week was ‘Get the ball out of your hands.’ So it was easy. Especially with how he was playing today. Get it to him, let him break a tackle.”
Indeed, Foreman’s presence was an energizing drive for Bagent and the offense all afternoon. He discovered house. He ran laborious. He was productive.
“D’Onta played out of his mind today,” Bagent mentioned.
Foreman did all that with the perfect mindset after contributing simply 81 complete yards by the season’s first six video games however conserving himself prepared for when he was wanted.
“My faith has always been high in God,” Foreman mentioned. “He has always been there for me and helped me overcome a lot of things I have been through. I’m just trying to continue to be the best that I can be and to continue to grow as a football player and as a person and continue to dominate when I get my opportunities.”
Even Johnson took word of how Foreman’s gritty manufacturing enlivened the Bears.
“To me and for us, we believe in him and we felt like he should have been getting the ball from jump,” Johnson mentioned. “He was (almost) a 1,000-yard rusher last year. And we know he can play this game at a high level.”
As compliments had been shared throughout an excited and happy Bears locker room, Foreman made positive to laud Bagent’s command and calm, even when the rookie quarterback’s passing stat line (21-for-29, 162 yards) was removed from spectacular.
“He was himself,” Foreman mentioned. “It wasn’t anything different from what we have seen through preseason up until now. We expected him to be that guy who did what he did today.”
There will likely be an apparent temptation to attract grand conclusions from Bagent’s first begin and to start debating how the rookie’s strengths and weaknesses as a quarterback match as much as the teammate he crammed in for Sunday, Justin Fields.
Those conversations promise to amplify and can, fairly frankly, turn out to be fairly outlandish throughout Chicago because the Bears march towards a Week 8 street journey to play the Los Angeles Chargers.
It’s nonetheless potential Fields’ dislocated proper thumb will heal quick sufficient for him to begin the following recreation. But even when he does — or if he doesn’t — it shouldn’t cloud what occurred Sunday for Bagent, who labeled the expertise as “amazing.”
“Soldier Field was off the chain today,” he mentioned.
Finding a second or two to soak every thing in proved intoxicating.
“Where I come from,” Bagent mentioned, “I’ve a bunch of mates, a bunch of household who perceive and who understood how large this was actually simply in life. Not lots of people get to say they began an NFL recreation not to mention win an NFL recreation. So I positively had plenty of these conversations as we speak.
“I think the (coaching) staff understood it too and the players. That’s why everybody rallied behind me as well as they did.”
DJ Moore, who caught a team-high eight passes for 54 yards, appreciated the effectivity of his rookie quarterback.
“He stayed within himself,” Moore mentioned. “He didn’t try to do the extraordinary. He just stayed calm, cool and collected and did what he had to do.”
Added guard Teven Jenkins: “You could tell he was very comfortable out there. The way he was moving around the pocket, moving away from pressure, he looked really good.”
With a veteran’s focus, Bagent soaked in Sunday’s triumph whereas additionally vocalizing a directive for your complete workforce. “Let’s get back on the horse.”
Then, in a grounded and grateful tone, Bagent added a little bit extra introspection as he processed his storybook day.
“Football,” he mentioned, “gives me the ability to let loose. I don’t know how loud I would be in my life if I didn’t have football. It kind of gives me that alleyway to scream and shout. It helps me out. And I hope that infiltrates the minds of the people around me and kind of gives them that same feeling.”
For one feel-good fall afternoon, every thing gave the impression to be enjoyable and vibrant for the Bears.
“Whenever you can just be excited and be happy that you’re able to play football and everybody plays like it, you get kind of what happened today,” Bagent mentioned.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com