LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Tyson Bagent entered last year’s preseason finale hoping to keep his NFL job. There was no guarantee at that point, not for an undrafted guy from a college you’ve never heard of.

The Shepherd University product ended up making the 53-man roster as the third quarterback, took the backup job from Nathan Peterman and introduced himself to the NFL with a 2-2 record over four regular-season starts. His unlikely rise spread across the league as he established himself worthy of a secure NFL roster spot.

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Bagent stood before the media after Wednesday’s practice in a completely different place, with relative comfort entering Thursday’s exhibition finale at Kansas City, someone confident that he belongs playing at this level.

“I think about it every single day,” Bagent said. “Grateful for it every single day. But still, the other side of that, I think there’s a lot more I could kind of squeeze out of this. I’m just excited for the hope, the long journey ahead, I like to say.”

Let’s translate that last part. Bagent has earned his spot as Caleb Williams’ backup. While he’ll do that job to the best of his ability, Bagent isn’t just happy to he here. He has loftier goals beyond his current role.

Well, Tyson, what are they?

“I can’t tell y’all that,” Bagent said. “Y’all would think I’m crazy.”

Probably not, considering most of us dream of being great. He has already defied odds. He’ll surely try to do it again as he continues to develop.

“I’ve got ridiculous, unbelievable aspirations that go far deeper than what I’ve been able to do so far,” Bagent said. “So I’ll sum it up like that. I’m just excited to continue to work at it and continue to get better at my craft.”

Bagent is proud of the hard work he put in over the last year learning the playbook and then mastering its intricacies. Such improvement has inspired confidence and belief that there’s better yet ahead.

“I think it puts (me) in a different mental space and I think it puts those around me in a different mental space regarding how they view me,” Bagent said. “I just don’t wanna be somebody who people look at and think are just grateful that he just made the team. Or, ‘he’s a fringe guy.’ I don’t want to be looked at (like) that. I don’t think that’s who I am. It just kinda puts me in the headspace of a limitless mindset and not a limited mindset.”

That has served him well to this point, but he’s far from done in his current role or, as he put it, his “long journey.”

Montez helping (checks notes) the offense?

Montez Sweat’s willingness to assume a leadership role among his fellow defensive ends was a topic of discussion on Tuesday, but defensive coordinator Eric Washington took it a step farther in his Wednesday meeting with the media.

He said Sweat went across the aisle to help the offensive linemen defend against the moves that were effective against them.

“I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that in my 17 years,” Washington said. “Just the fact that he went over to the offensive tackles and gave them some feedback, as far as what he’s trying to do and what they can anticipate, I thought that was really cool. It speaks to the leadership. He also understands that we have to be the sum of our parts. The group has to be good. The offensive line has to be good for us to accomplish our goals as a team.”

Post-practice thoughts

The Bears held a more laid-back practice in shells on Wednesday that at times resembled a walk-though pace. The starters worked on one field, while those with far greater odds of playing Thursday’s exhibition were working next door. It’s hard to take a ton from a session that wasn’t always full speed, but the Bears secondary continues to make plays on the ball, with Tyrique Stevenson, Tremaine Edmunds and Jaquan Baker making noteworthy passes defensed.

WR Keenan Allen was among a longer list of players who missed practice. S Kevin Byard remained out, while WR Dante Pettis skipped the session for an undisclosed reason.