After surviving coaching turmoil and taking nearly 100 sacks, Chicago’s franchise cornerstone faces his first major setback as a hamstring injury snaps his remarkably durable starting streak.
The Chicago Bears drafted Caleb Williams No. 1 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft.
He was put in a pretty rough spot when he first joined the NFL. The Bears had weapons, but Matt Eberflus was not the same head coach as Ben Johnson.
There was poor clock management on Thanksgiving that secured a 23-20 win for the Detroit Lions over the Bears.
Eberflus was then fired, and Williams had a new offensive coordinator and head coach. Thomas Brown was the interim head coach for the rest of Williams' rookie year.
Despite all of this, Williams was able to throw for 3,541 passing yards, 20 touchdowns and six interceptions.
Then Johnson was hired and began working with Williams. The Bears got off to a slow start, going 0-2 to open the 2025 season. Things turned around quickly, as the Bears went on a four-game winning streak.
Williams proved that with the right coach, he could become an incredible quarterback. Chicago made the playoffs after going 11-6 in the regular season. The Bears won the NFC North for the first time since 2018 and won their first playoff game since 2010.
The great thing about Williams is that he had not had any major injuries up until Sunday's game against the Minnesota Vikings. The quarterback went down with a hamstring injury late in the fourth quarter, and Tyson Bagent played the rest of the game.
The Bears weren't able to score a touchdown and lost 9-3 to the Vikings at Soldier Field.
This week, it was revealed that Williams had suffered a grade one hamstring injury. He is expected to miss the next 2-4 games.
Bagent was expected to start, but he's recovering from a concussion. The Bears haven't ruled him out yet, as he was listed as questionable on the Saturday injury report.
Case Keenum is going to start if Bagent can't play on Monday.
One thing is for certain, though. Williams is ending his streak of 38 consecutive starts by not playing.
Throughout the early turmoil at the start of his NFL career, Williams has weathered the storm and proven he has what it takes to be a franchise quarterback.
Williams has taken 97 sacks in his career and hasn't blamed the offensive line once.
This team and city have embraced him after he became a leader on offense. The Bears will be without Williams for at least the next two weeks, but what he has done so far has been impressive.
