Bears' Ben Johnson Updates Status of Caleb Williams, Kyler Gordon & Defense

As the Chicago Bears enter Week 6 of the 2026 NFL season, head coach Ben Johnson made a change to his weekly schedule. Instead of having a normal day of practice on Wednesday, the team held a walk-through. 

This wasn't by accident. 

"When we looked at the schedule going into the season, this was kind of the time of year that we wanted to go ahead and do that in regards to having played five games and knowing what’s coming up before the bye week," Johnson said. "Big picture view, this was part of the plan. I think it’ll be good for our guys to kind of hit that reset button here today anyways."

After the Week 6 road matchup against the Atlanta Falcons, the Bears will have three straight primetime games, starting with a Thursday Night matchup against the New England Patriots at Soldier Field, followed by a road game in Seattle on Monday Night Football and ending with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football six days later at home. 

The Bears felt Wednesday was a good opportunity to reset before a critical part of the team's schedule. Johnson provided some key updates on the availability of some players who could help Chicago this week against Atlanta and in the primetime games. 

Starting with quarterback Caleb Williams, who will be a full participant in the walk-through practice. Johnson was asked if he is preparing for him to start on Sunday against the the Falcons. 

"Yeah, it’s still fluid," Johnson said. "But I feel good about the plan that we have in place at this point."

A big part of the evaluation process for Johnson and the rest of the staff is Williams' recovery from the Grade 2 hamstring injury he sustained in Week 2 against the Vikings. The health of Tyson Bagent and Case Keenum is also something the Bears' head coach brought up, but he wants whoever plays quarterback to "have a good rapport with the offensive line, with the operation, with our pass catchers." Johnson didn't think the offense could get into a rhythm last week against the Packers, so that's a point of emphasis this week. 

Johnson also didn't provide clarity on the quarterback depth chart at this point, but he did give an estimation on the timelines for some of his injured players. 

Linebacker T.J. Edwards and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson did not finish Sunday's game at Lambeau Field because of hamstring injuries. Edwards will be "week-to-week" while Stevenson is considered "day-to-day." 

Edwards dealt with a hamstring last year that forced him to miss time. 

After Packers quarterback Jordan Love threw all over the Bears' defense in the 31-7 win, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen's unit can use all the reinforcements available. That could potentially include Kyler Gordon, who has not been activated off the PUP list. 

"We're considering all options," Johnson said. "Our intent with Kyler from the get-go was to make it through these 21 days to make sure he's physically where he needs to be to help this football team."

The Bears will release an estimated injury report later today after the walk-through practice.