A report from Sunday night suggested that the Chicago Bears got good news about the scary-looking hamstring injury that starting quarterback Caleb Williams suffered in the fourth quarter of the club’s 9-3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday afternoon.
Specifically, that story noted that the Bears believed Williams’ setback would be “diagnosed as a Grade 1 injury…the lowest level, with minimal tearing of the muscle fibers.” Late Monday morning, NFL insider Tom Pelissero of The Ringer and Netflix shared a massive update on Williams that will put the minds of Bears fans at ease.
Bears avoid Caleb Williams catastrophe after injury scare
“Bears QB Caleb Williams avoided any major injury to his hamstring Sunday, tests confirmed [Monday],” Pelissero posted via X (formerly known as Twitter). Pelissero noted that Chicago “isn’t even ruling” Williams out for the club’s Week 3 “Monday Night Football” home game against the 2-0 Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 28.
ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter posted later Monday that Bears head coach Ben Johnson said the expectation is that Williams “will likely miss some time.”
Shortly after Pelissero revealed that news, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Bears as 3.5-point underdogs against the Eagles.
Versus the Vikings, Williams completed 15-of-26 passes for 138 yards and one interception before he went down with an injury that seemed, at the time, to be serious. Backup Tyson Bagent replaced Williams and then went 5-of-9 passing for 54 yards. While Bagent drove the Chicago offense to the Minnesota 12-yard line late in Sunday’s game, he took a fourth-down sack on the final snap of regulation.
Caleb Williams is no stranger to coming back from a hamstring injury
As noted by the DraftSharks website, Williams played through what was referred to as a “severe” hamstring injury while at USC in December 2022.
“Caleb Williams has dealt with a hamstring injury before, and the rehab process is just getting started,” Pelissero added. “But based on how it looked and sounded, it appears this is about the best-case scenario.”
Bagent would be on track to get the nod against the Eagles if the 1-1 Bears ultimately rule Williams out for that matchup. In Week 4, Chicago will host the New York Jets on Oct. 4.
The Jets play at the 1-1 Detroit Lions on Sept. 27.