Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is considered week-to-week with a hamstring injury, but head coach Ben Johnson hasn't ruled him out for Monday night's game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has a hamstring injury that he sustained with 7:42 remaining in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game against the Minnesota Vikings.
Head coach Ben Johnson said he will be considered week to week and mentioned that he was encouraged by the report, especially since the initial fear was a knee injury.
Johnson doesn't believe Williams will practice this week, but he hasn't ruled him out for the Monday night matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 28.
"I did not do that, no," Johnson said when asked if Williams was officially out for Week 3.
The Bears will make sure Williams is healthy the next time he steps on the football field and will obviously not rush the quarterback to play. When Johnson was asked what is Williams' next checkpoint in the recovery process, he mentioned that he's working through every avenue that is available to him to get back on track.
Johnson also knows this about his quarterback.
"This guy’s a little bit different than the average human being," Johnson said. "I said that last night. 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 that he knows. He’s got a great team around him, both in this building and outside this building, and we’ll see where it goes from there.”
If Williams does miss his first NFL game of his career, Tyson Bagent will start for the first time since the 2023 season. He wen 2-2 as a starter and won his last game against the Carolina Panthers on Nov. 9.
Johnson expressed confidence if Bagent does have to play.
“Yeah, I mean, I would be a lot more concerned if I didn't have a year and a half under our belts together now, and so I've seen them every single day in practice," Johnson said. "Just like you alluded to, we've had a lot of reps during the course of training camp and in the preseason. So if it goes that route, I feel strongly about what he's capable of and our team does, too. They know he's a darn good football player. He's won games in the past. Him and Case both have won games in this league. There's a lot of confidence that both of those guys can get the job done if it comes to it.”
Bears right guard Jonah Jackson also echoed his belief in Bagent and the rest of the quarterback room.
"We've got two other guys in that room that are fully capable of doing the job," Jackson said. "There's no other guy that I'd rather have get them ready better than Ben Johnson. I think we'll be all right."
