The Bears are heading into Week 6 with their quarterback picture still very much in flux, and Ben Johnson didn’t do much on Monday to clear the fog.
Chicago has already started three different quarterbacks this season, and Johnson stopped short of naming the Week 6 option after the Bears’ Week 5 loss to the Green Bay Packers. He did say one of the three will get the nod on Sunday, but that was the only real certainty he offered.
“I think we have three guys that can win games in this league,” said Johnson.
Case Keenum has gone 1-0 as a starter this season, while Caleb Williams and Tyson Bagent are each 1-1.
The biggest question, of course, is Williams. If he’s healthy, he is the Bears’ starter. But Johnson said he’s still waiting for the signal that Williams can ramp things up in practice after dealing with a hamstring injury.
“He’s doing a great job progressing, and we’ll see when we can make him available to help us win ball games,” added Johnson. “But he’s itching to get back as soon as he can, which is a good thing. And when we get the green light, we’ll move forward from there."
That timeline matters because the Bears clearly want Williams back as soon as they can get him. He gives them the best chance to win, but rushing him back too early would bring re-injury risk with it.
His original timetable was three to four weeks, which leaves the door open for a return this week. Even so, Johnson did not confirm that Williams will even be back on the practice field, which makes it tough to project him as the starter just yet.
If Williams is sidelined, Bagent would be the likeliest option. But that comes with its own questions. He missed Week 3 with a concussion, then helped the Bears win in Week 4, though he wasn’t as sharp as Keenum had been the week before.
Week 5 was rougher. Bagent threw two ugly interceptions and was eventually benched. Keenum, to be fair, wasn’t much cleaner after taking over, but he has looked better at each step of the season.
That benching puts Keenum squarely in the mix to start. Just two weeks ago, Johnson said the Bears would stay with Bagent because of the offseason evaluation and the larger body of work they’ve seen from him in practice.
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