Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears opened the season looking every bit like a team ready to take the next step, and the third-year quarterback delivered in emphatic fashion. He completed 21 of 29 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns in Week 1 at Carolina, adding 65 rushing yards and two more scores on the ground in a 59-37 win that became the highest-scoring Week 1 game in NFL history.
Though everything changed a week later. Soldier Field turned into a mess under steady rain and the Minnesota Vikings held Chicago to just three points in a 9-3 loss, with Williams going down late in the fourth quarter on a non-contact play that sent him to the cart.
The injury looked serious in the moment, and the third-year quarterback was carted off trailing 6-3 with Chicago facing first-and-goal.
Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
The good news came quickly, after an initial MRI offered some encouragement, and head coach Ben Johnson called the early report “somewhat encouraging,” even as he stressed that his quarterback’s status would be evaluated week to week.
Williams has already been ruled out for Monday, the first game he will miss since Chicago made him the No. 1 overall pick in 2024. Now comes a development that could complicate things further, with ESPN reporting a Grade 2 hamstring strain, an injury doctors typically peg at a three to four week recovery.
That window is not necessarily his actual return date, especially with the Bears believing their quarterback tends to heal quickly, but it reflects the general benchmark doctors use for this type of injury.
With Williams sidelined, the job now falls to Tyson Bagent or Case Keenum. Bagent stepped in against Minnesota but suffered a concussion of his own, and while he has since returned to full practice, he remains listed as questionable.
Keenum, a 14th-year veteran who nearly retired before this season, is ready to start if Chicago needs him.
The 1-1 Bears host the unbeaten Philadelphia Eagles on Monday, Sept. 28, at 8:15 p.m. ET at Soldier Field.
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