LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Darnell Mooney stood on the sideline Saturday in Indianapolis with a headset on and watched as Bears undrafted rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent led a surgical drive against the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium.
With Justin Fields inactive, Bagent was the No. 2 quarterback behind P.J. Walker. The Shepherd product entered in the second quarter and took over at the Bears' 8-yard line.
What followed was textbook precision as Bagent engineered a 17-play, 92-yard drive that he capped off with a 2-yard touchdown run. Bagent went 7-for-8 for 61 yards on the drive. He finished the night 9-for-10 for 76 yards.
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Mooney, who was inactive with the rest of the starters, loved watching the record-setting Division II quarterback dice up the Colts.
"He was calm. Super calm," Mooney said Tuesday after practice at Halas Hall. "He was electric. I mean just looking at him with the quick game just getting the ball out wherever he wanted to go. That's where he was going. He wasn't indecisive. He was very understanding of what he wanted to do. It was beautiful to watch. I had the headset on. I know what play was going on. Definitely beautiful to watch for sure, especially from him."
Bears head coach Matt Eberflus praised Bagent after the loss while also stating that the No. 2 spot is an "open" competition.
"I saw poise," Eberflus said of Bagent after the loss. "Delivery was there, the accuracy looked pretty good, timing was nice, decision making was good."
Bagent signed with the Bears in May after going undrafted. He endeared himself to the coaching staff at rookie minicamp when he immediately dove into the playbook and worked hard to learn the footwork required to run offensive coordinator Luke Getsy's offense.
With cut-down day looming, Bagent is just hoping to prove to the Bears' staff that they can count on him to do his job if called upon.
"As a quarterback, I really just would like them to know ... I would really just like to make them as comfortable as possible with the thought of me in the game," Bagent said when asked about potentially winning the backup job. "Just really have them understand that any play that needs to be run, I at least know how to run it. Every play's not going to be perfect, but I know how to run every play in the playbook. That's where I'm at, kind of working tirelessly. I know opportunities will present themselves. I try to be as ready as I am for those opportunities."
CHICAGO BEARS
Mooney isn't the only Bear impressed by the undrafted rookie's dissection of the Colts' defense. But that doesn't mean they were surprised.
"He’s a cool dude. He’s smooth. He doesn’t panic," running back Roschon Johnson said after the game. "He comes from a small school, but you wouldn’t know the way that he plays. Just how he carries himself. He’s a guy that everyone kind of gets along with and everybody trusts when he’s in there because he’s very calm and collected.”
"He's just a hard worker," rookie defensive tackle Zacch Pickens said. "He puts down. When it's time to work, it's time to work."
The fruits of that labor showed Saturday in Indianapolis, but Bagent will need another strong showing in the preseason finale to have a realistic chance of sticking around on the 53-man roster.