Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Will the Bears go with Tyson Bagent or Case Keenum on Sunday?

Episode Date: October 2, 2026

Leila Rahimi and Mark Grote discussed whether the Bears will start Tyson Bagent or Case Keenum at quarterback against the Jets on Sunday.

Oh, we're going to bear down a lot today, Layla. It's Rahimi and Grotie on a Friday. Are you ready? Are you ready to get Bearsy? Well, I believe you said you had a Bears bucket of news that you wanted to empty. Oh, yes. The Bears bucket will be emptied at 1025 and make no mistake about it, folks. You are listening to a four-season heating, air-conditioning, plumbing, sewer and electric football Friday

presented by your local Ford dealers and Advent. It is the Bears and Jets along the lakefront Sunday at noon. Cannot wait. The 2-1 Bears against the 1-2 Jets. A Jets team. The theme of the Jets team is they are like, they're close. Look at the games that they've been playing so far. They are close contests.

They lost to the Lions last week, 31 to 24, but overcame a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to tie the game. Week two, they only lost to Green Bay. by three and they beat up on the Tennessee Titans 23 to 10 in week one. So they're that team, Leila, that's teetering on being dangerous because they're close. The Jets, I'd say, may be the biggest, well, prior to Cleveland being three and one, which is shocking. Is that a real three and one? You watched more of the game last night than I did.

I watched the entire fourth quarter. After I saw that exchange between Aaron Rogers and Mike McCarthy, I was like, oh, this is going to be interesting. Tell March I said bleep you. Yeah, so basically that I turned on like the fourth quarter of the Jets and the Jets, the Steelers and Browns game. First of all, let me tell you about that Andre Schimp, I think is how you say his last name.

The kicker? Yeah, so he's from Vernon Hills. He was on the Bears practice squad at one time. Vernon Hills, hello. He's the one who made the game winner against the Packers last year for the Browns. And I was watching the game and a friend of mine was talking to me about it. And they were like, there's no way he makes this kick, right? for the game winner. I was like, oh no, I've seen him kick.

I'm like, I think he's good. And then he was, he made, it was 56 and he made that thing with like another four yards to spare. Boom! Could have gone 60. He was on the Bears practice squad. I just want to point that out. And he's a local guy. Why? Why do you hate Cairo Santos? I don't hate Cairo Santos. I've learned to understand

that Cairo will miss the 30-yarder, but then nail the like 52 screwball into the winded soldier field. He's really one of the steadiest kickers the bears have ever had, Cairo Santos. But it's the 30-yarder where I'm like, and then you know, You know who had a really nice day on special teams, too? Do you remember Richard Hightower saying his name is Jordan Bhorquoise, the punter for the... Oh, yeah.

So he put it an 81-yarder that ended up being 61 because it was a touchback. My goodness. You don't have to spend a fourth-round draft pick on those guys. Ray, did you have something there? Oh, just quickly, my quick synopsis, I know this is a football Friday with a focus on the bears. Yeah, bears, right. It was really a product of, like, the Steelers were a mess on offense for a lot of that game. They have no pre-snap motion.

Zero. Like everybody just stands around. And on defense, they were a mess to begin the game. And then the Steelers' defense kind of found themselves. T.J. Watt started to get to Deshaun Watson. But it was just they dug themselves the hole. That was the synops of the game. So, ergo, the Jets have become the benefit of the doubt team in the NFL currently.

They have, and they got a pretty decent defense that is 12th in points allowed, sixth and total yards. They are fifth. Well, let me start with Rush. They are 12th against the rush. and fifth against the pass, which brings us to who will be passing for the Chicago Bears on Sunday. And both of your contestants spoke at Hallis Hall yesterday, and I must give this little caveat. Neither quarterback spoke at the podium.

It was not a formal setting, but both quarterbacks were amenable to speaking to the media. I think right outside the locker room, I think they did that whole thing where they set up the podium because it just gets to be too big of a crowd inside of the locker room. And again, for whatever it's worth, FWIW, Tyson Bayesian was the first of the two quarterbacks to speak. And he was speaking, too, about not getting the start on Monday as Case Keenham was the one elected to do that because of the concussion to Tyson. I'd like to think about it in the sense of there's a couple ways to think about it. Obviously, I would like everything that the football world can offer me. But then there's also the part that I am from Shepard University.

So I have absolutely zero ego in this, and nobody's a bigger cheerleader and a fan of Case Keenum than I am. I think he is the epitome of what I believe a quarterback is and is supposed to be. So it was fun to watch and play. Did you learn anything watching him prepare the way he did and what did you learn? Yeah, just how he carried himself throughout the week. I thought it was vital for every quarterback in the room to see that. I mean, I know that I had a ton of notes outside of what we were doing schematically just on how he was carrying himself and basically just what he, did meeting in and meeting

out of it. Do you have any sense if you are the starter? I do not. Pretty well done. Addic role, Cheryl. Yeah, good job by Cheryl Ray. And really, like, if you're rooting for the gamesmanship part of it, if you don't want to give it up to Aaron Glenn, what the Bears are doing at

quarterback, Tyson Bayton did a good job of answering that last question as well. He was well rehearsed on that. Just to keep a steady poker face and do not allow anybody to know any different tone in your voice. But I also think that is him. He's been genuine like that. I feel like that's... Stoic guy. Yeah. Looks you in the eye.

The has, has absolutely, has absolutely zero ego involved in it. I mean, human nature probably dictates that like he, he would like to have been that guy in that spot. I mean, I remember doing the remote for Take the North and the idea that I suggested that he was a backup quarterback did not sit well with Tyson Vagent. Yes, but I also think it was the way he, from what you told me about that discussion, it was how he felt like he had to talk to himself to make sure he was ready and hold himself to a high standard of the starting quarterback. That's a good point. Yeah, to be ready at a moment's notice. And I'm not trying to make excuses for the guy. It's just when you hear him enough talking and like hard knocks,

I think was a really good window into kind of his personality and how he fits into a room. So I don't think it's lip service from Tyson Baygent. I also, to that end, the picture of Tyson Bayesian in the locker room while Case and Ben are doing their thing and he looks all, some people thought he looked irritated. I thought that was just Tyson being Tyson looking stoic and looking professional like he always does. Let's listen to the other contestant, Case Keenham, making the case for his starting at quarterback. For case. Very good. Very good. Yes, Bears. Man, I've been making my case for 15 years.

like, I'm trying to win ball games. Like, I don't really, I didn't go out there to make a case to be anybody except myself. And I felt pretty good about winning, you know, the football game and we won. So that's how I feel about that. You've had to live in limbo throughout your place. Live in limbo. That should be a chapter in my next book. Well, you want me to write your memoir.

I'm more than happy to do so. But given. I already have won. That's true. Yeah. Given that that's how you've gone about your theory. And how do you, on short notice, just having been in that world for your whole time in the NFL, how does that make you ready? I'm built for this.

Like, I literally have all the situations, I mean, not all, but I have so many banked reps of situations and outside noise that I can just, I tune it all out. And I believe the truth and what my coach is telling me, one of my players, my teammates tell me. and what I see on film and what I know I can do. And, you know, you just go out there and do the best you can. And then you learn from when you don't succeed. It's not failure. It's just an opportunity to learn. Nobody knows their role better than Case Keenham.

He's a professional backup quarterback at this point. He's a quarterback who didn't necessarily expect to ever throw a ball in a real game with the Chicago Bears. Yeah. And I feel like he's playing with gratitude. The both of them do. The both of them. They really do. I do feel like my possession arrow.

Well, that's possession arrow is either one team or another. My, you know, the prediction arrow. Yeah, what do you got? I feel like it is wavering a little more toward Bejan, even though I personally would probably still start case. Just because my coach brain, that's how I feel. But I think like the likelihood is trending more in the direction of Beijing. I feel that too.

And I have not heard anything out of Hallis Hall, anything exact, anything sort. from myself or from anybody, but it feels like the best guesses coming out of Hallis Halle's and the reporters are that it's going to be Bejan as well. It is interesting to me that if it is Bejan, it will have been two weeks in a row that you will have had a quarterback starting that has not started a game since the year 2023. That had been the same thing with Case Keenum. It will be, if it's Tyson, the same thing with him as he started four games in the year.

2023 after he relieved Justin Fields. He had a hand injury against Minnesota. Then he comes in and then he starts four games. And, you know, he was okay. He was okay against the Saints. He did have a three interception. He had a couple of games with multiple interceptions. But I'm not going to dwell on 23. Tyson Bayget is a different quarterback now in 2026. Obviously a very different head coach, very different training. And we should probably give him the benefit, the doubt that he's, He's better than what he was in 2020. I was too busy grinding my absolute face off. Yes, you were. Just like you can see where the preseason helped Case Keatim and gave you an indication of what you might see on Monday night against the Eagles. I think you can say the exact same thing about the preseason for Tyson Baygent. Absolutely.

This Sunday joined the score and Bud Light at the Sports Corner in Wrigleyville, Olin Croutes, Patrick Manley, and yours truly. We'll host our pregame show there. Who's yours? I don't know who that is. It just says yours truly. I just read what's in front of me. That is happening from 9 to noon.

Nine to noon? Who put the question mark in the teleprompter? I'll read anything. In a career? Then have immediate reaction on the postgame show after Chicago takes on New York. Compete in round one of Bud Light's national football face-off tournament, giving you a chance to test your football skills to win a trip to Vegas during an NFL. playoff weekend in January.

That's this Sunday before and after the game at Sports Corner in Wrigleyville. The Sunday fall Gallagher Way trip and Wrigleyville trip is a good one. You can still enjoy the weather. Yeah, man. Yeah, you can feel a little crisp in the air for the football indication. I'm sorry there's no baseball there and that stinks. We have Jed Hoyer on at one.

Yes, we do. Yeah, yeah. Full Jed Hoyer. He's doing the season ending press conference. We will carry that for you at one. o'clock. We've got a lot more football. We've got Steve Stone at 11.25. Adam Hogue is at 11, 1225. Kevin Fishpain. So I always look forward to talking to those two guys, as we usually do on Fridays on this particular show. Thank you to our producers. Ray Diaz and

Tyler Buterbaugh. They're both here on a Friday. Conor O'Donnell, Max Curtis, Jacob Studs. They run the videos. The scorechicago.com editor is Cody Westreland. And if you'd like to watch us, search the score Chicago on Twitch and YouTube. And you can find our video stream each and every day. We could talk a little bit more about the QB situation coming up, but we've got other things we want to talk about, including Kyler Gordon, who was practicing yesterday. How much did he practice? What was it like?

We will tell you about that next and other Bears notes as well. On a Friday on Rahimi and Grotia on 104.3, the score.