“I’ve really been blown away by his approach from the spring to start of camp to where we are now,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday. “He does a tremendous job knowing what to do, how to do it and getting it done. So I don’t think you can have enough talent in that room. I think we actually have one of the best rooms in the NFL, certainly that I’ve been around in my career, from top to bottom.”
A couple weeks ago, Bagent was asked by reporters what it’s been like working with Johnson, to which he replied, “there’s no BS-ing around.”
When asked what specifically blew Johnson away about Bagent’s approach, the coach had a similar sentiment about the quarterback.
“He and I are probably wired very similar,” Johnson added. “When he enters a room, he’s usually all business. To get him to crack a smile sometimes is a challenge, which we like to do. As coaches you try to find that right balance of having a little levity at times, but at the same time making sure that what we need to get across gets across, and so we try to loosen them up. He’s so serious about his job. He wants to do so well and he wants the team to do well. He’s always locked in. I can appreciate that about him. I can relate.”
That respect is reciprocated by Bagent, who made it clear that Johnson and the offensive staff he’s built, which includes coaches like coordinator Declan Doyle and quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett, is one of the main reasons he wanted to remain a Bear.
“I’m very happy,” Bagent said. “I think all parties are very happy. I think this extension with this staff and these offensive minds, I think for the longevity of my career and wherever I end up in the years to come will serve me well down the line.”
While Bagent first and foremost believes staying with the Bears in a backup role will pay dividends for his career long term, he has also developed a special love for Chicago in his two-plus years in the city.
Before leaving his hometown of Martinsburg, West Virginia, to come to the WIndy City, Bagent hadn’t really left home. Shepherd was just a 10-minute drive from the house he grew up in, so it felt like an extension of high school. While he took on new responsibilities in college, he didn’t have to leave his family or handle everything on his own.
Family is everything to Bagent. They’re first people he called last night about the extension. He cried “like a baby” to his family, who were “beside themselves” when he broke the news.
Bagent transformed into a man when he came to Chicago, and for that, it’ll always hold a special place in his heart.
“It just feels like I’ve become a man in a sense since I’ve been here, been out here on my own, family super far away, and really just been able to grow up and do what I love while doing it,” Bagent said. “So that’s been the biggest thing I probably notice, is just going from boyhood to manhood.
“I am extremely grateful for how the city’s taken me in. It’s the same way the other way around. I’ve definitely grown accustomed to the city of Chicago. It is my second home at this point.”
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