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LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Life is much different for Tyson Bagent today than it was 365 days ago.

The Bears quarterback went from undrafted rookie out of Division II Shepherd University to Week 7 NFL starter in a matter of months. It was a whirlwind year that came to an end for Bagent on Monday when locker cleanout commenced at Halas Hall following the Bears’ 7-10 2023 season.

“Just obviously super grateful. I always circle back to that word. Super grateful for the opportunity,” Bagent said Monday. “To be able to have a healthy, successful rookie season means the world to me and my family. Really just everything else than that, just super excited to get back with a year under my belt to see how far I can go with this thing and see how good I can get.

“A lot of other people learned kind of what I thought initially, which was that I was good enough to play in this league,” Bagent later said. “Just kind of – it just feels good to have success this high, at the highest level, just because of how long I have been dreaming about this opportunity. Just really happy that I worked as hard as I did my whole life.”

offseason. He plans to focus his energy on himself and ensure he’s in a better spot to thrive should he be forced back into the spotlight.

“Every year I just try to get better and have gotten better every year of my life since I’ve been playing football since I was six,” Bagent said. “Just every year I have gotten better. Just looking forward to not changing what got me here, to continue to work my face off and try to continue to outwork everybody that I am competing with and be able to put my best foot forward when opportunities present themselves in 2024. Just taking advantage of opportunities and always be ready for the moment.”

As for Fields, Bagent knows his QB room mate might be somewhere else next season. Bagent praised Fields all year for helping him learn the ropes and gave Fields credit for the success he had as the spot starter.

On Monday, Bagent once again credited Fields for how he handled himself in the pressure cooker of Chicago.

“Justin just leading by example, day in and day out, in spite of all the nasty things that are said about him on a daily basis,” Bagent said. “Just being able to have a poker face and be able to keep the main thing the main thing. That was huge. Huge help in my development.”

With that, Tyson Bagent’s whirlwind year from D-II star to unlikely NFL starter concluded, and the rookie quarterback headed out of Halas Hall to start the next step in his underdog story — one whose ending is still being written.