Chicago Bears get the good news they were waiting on regarding Caleb Williams’ hamstring injury and any time he might miss
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams avoided a major hamstring injury and could return to play as soon as next Monday night against the Philadelphia Eagles.
After holding their breath for nearly 12 hours, the city of Chicago can let out a collective sigh of relief regarding the status of quarterback Caleb Williams and his hamstring injury.
According to NFL insider Tom Pelissero, Williams avoided a major injury to his hamstring as confirmed by the MRI tests he went through on Monday. Not only that, but the team is also not going to rule him out for their Week 3 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Head coach Ben Johnson is scheduled to meet virtually with reporters at 3:oo p.m. CT and will hopefully provide further updates on Williams’ status going into the week. During his exclusive interview with ESPN1000 on Monday, Johnson said Williams “will likely miss some time” but potentially dodged a bullet.
“I still got to talk with our trainer, we’ll do that here shortly and I’ll have the lowdown from him. But it sounds like it’s week-to-week,” Johnson added. “We’ll see. He is tough and he comes back from these types of things I think better than the average human being.”
Caleb Williams gets the best case scenario after scary injury situation
When Caleb Williams pulled up on a scramble, went to the ground untouched, and reacted the way that he did, everyone immediately assumed the worse. The Bears are fortunate that this isn’t a major injury that could have easily derailed Chicago’s season and will get Williams back sooner than anyone could have imagined after seeing him get carted back to the locker room.
“We know we’re going to get him back soon,” wide receiver Rome Odunze said after the game. “I think he’s a very resilient guy.”
There’s been a lot of discourse regarding this situation, Williams’ reaction, and the extent of the injury. The important thing is that Williams is alright. This dude is a competitor and will attack the rehab process head on this week in an effort to avoid missing any time.
In the meantime, head coach Ben Johnson will still need to prepare backup quarterback Tyson Bagent as if he’s the starter this week going into the game next Monday against the Philadelphia Eagles while Williams rehabs.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter added that this morning Williams was “in a lot more pain than last night” and “it doesn’t sound like Ben Johnson is counting on him for next Monday night.” If that’s the case, Bagent will need to be ready to step up this week.
“I don’t think anything will change as far as my week goes, other than practice reps going up,” Bagent explained. “Just got to continue to stay focused, continue to stay sharp and prepare the best that we can going into each week.”
If Williams has his way and works his way back, it’s going to be hard to keep him off the field next week. But, the Bears will need to do what’s best for him in the short and long term. It’s still only Week 3 of a long season still ahead.
We’ll see how things progress throughout the week, but this is major major good news after how things looked on Sunday at Soldier Field.
