Bears HC Ben Johnson provides more updates on QB Caleb Williams and what his status will look like ahead of Week 3
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is week-to-week with a hamstring injury he suffered on Sunday, but the team still isn’t planning to rule him out for next Monday’s game.
The Chicago Bears got good news earlier today on the extent of quarterback Caleb Williams’ hamstring injury he suffered in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.
The injury is not a major one for Williams, which that alone is good news. However, the Bears are still planning to be cautious with this situation moving forward after head coach Ben Johnson spoke with the reporters Monday afternoon.
“We’re saying week-to-week with him right now,” Johnson said. “We’ll see where he’s at as the week progresses and how long that means. But, it was somewhat encouraging with the report that we got (after the MRI tests).”
What will Caleb Williams’ status look like going into Week 3?
As things stand on Monday with Williams’ injury, the Bears are not planning for him to be available next Monday when the team takes on the Philadelphia Eagles at Soldier Field and will plan on Tyson Bagent starting in his place at quarterback.
However, at the same time, the Bears are also not going to rule him out either if he’s able to progress quickly with his recovery throughout the week.
“I don’t believe he will (practice this week),” Johnson added. “I did not (rule him out for Week 3), no.”
Perhaps that’s a little gamesmanship from Johnson to keep the Eagles on their toes with their preparation for this week. And Williams not practicing will certainly make things uncertain regarding his status for next Monday’s game until we get to inactives which will be announced 90 minutes before kickoff. Chicago will obviously know, but my bet is they try to keep that advantage close to their chest for as long as possible.
For now, Williams has seven days to get healthy and with a hamstring injury it would be in the Bears’ best interests to give him ample time to recover.
“He’s, right now, working through every avenue that he’s got available to get back on track,” Johnson said. “We’ll see what that looks like. Here’s what I know, this guy’s a little bit different than the average human being. I said that last night, and I’ll double down on that. He gets back, he has in the past, a lot faster than what people can anticipate. I’m not putting a timeline on this. We’re going to say week-to-week. He’s going to attack this with everything he knows. He’s got a great team around him, both in this building and outside of this building. We’ll see where it goes from there and we’ll make sure he’s ready to go when he’s on the field.”
Until then, the Bears have full confidence in Bagent and the rest of the quarterback room holding down the fort until Williams can return.
“I would be a lot more concerned if I didn’t have a year and a half under my belt with him,” Johnson said of Bagent. “I’ve seen him every single day at practice. We’ve had a lot of reps during the course of training camp and the preseason. So, if it goes that route, I feel strongly of what he’s capable of. And our team does too.”
So, the plan right now is to go into Monday’s game with Bagent as QB1 and Case Keenum as his backup. Maybe that changes, maybe not. We’ll just have to wait and see.
