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Caleb Williams' injury overshadows Bears' defensive play | Chicago Sports Tonight
The Bears lost to the Vikings 9-3, and it overshadowed what was a solid performance by the defense. We also discuss Caleb Williams' injury, as well as the NFC North.
Breathe easy, Chicago Bears fans. Caleb Williams has seemingly avoided the worst-case scenario.
According to Bears head coach Ben Johnson, Williams has avoided a serious injury after leaving Sunday's game with a non-contact injury to his hamstring.
What they're saying:
Bears head coach Ben Johnson said it's now a waiting game for Williams. The report the team got back on Monday after Williams underwent imaging on his hamstring was positive instead of negative.
"We're saying week to week with him right now. We'll see where he's at as the week progresses and how long that means," Johnson said. "It was somewhat encouraging, the report we got."
Johnson did say he doesn't believe Williams will practice this week. But, Johnson is not going to rule him out for Week 3 against the Eagles at this time.
However, Johnson reiterated Williams is a little bit different than most athletes.
"I'm not putting a timeline on this," Johnson said. "He's going to attack this with everything that he knows."
Speaking with ESPN 1000's Jeff Joniak earlier on Monday, Johnson said that Williams is expected to miss some time, but is designated as "week-to-week" in Halas Hall.
Johnson did say he does expect Williams will "miss some time."
"He's tough," Johnson said on ESPN 1000. "He comes back from these types of things better than the average human being."
The Ringer's Tom Pelissero first reported Williams has avoided serious injury to his hamstring after tests were done on Monday.
This is considered the best-case scenario for the Bears and for Williams, especially after initial thoughts went to a torn ACL or Achilles – or perhaps even worse – as Williams went down in the fourth quarter without being touched by a defender.
Pelissero even reported the team is not ruling Williams out for Monday's game against the Eagles.
What we know:
Williams was helped off the field after going down with an apparent injury in the fourth quarter vs. the Vikings. He was scrambling to the left, and had a lane on first and goal where he could have scored.
Williams then pulled up and slumped down to the turf. It was tough for his Bears teammates to watch in general.
The crowd of around 60,000 who braved the sloppy conditions and consistent rain felt a rock fall in their stomachs as they reacted to Williams try to get up, only to fall back to the Soldier Field grass.
"You never want to see any teammate go down," defensive tackle Grady Jarrett told reporters. "Our reaction is probably the same as the crowd."
What we don't know:
Time will tell with how much time Williams will miss. Even though Pelissero reported the Bears aren't ruling him out for Monday's game, the Bears will make that final determination.
It is promising, though.
Williams walked through and exited the locker room as reporters surrounded Tyson Bagent’s locker and spoke to Bagent. Initially, the Bears knew it wasn't as bad as some other non-contact injuries.
"You could kind of see it in real time. I’m actually happy that it’s nothing with the knee," Johnson said Sunday. "That was my first inclination, but the hamstring can be pretty damaging as well, so we’ll see how bad it is tomorrow and we’ll go from there."
However, at this early juncture of the season, the Bears might be cautious.
Time will tell. Johnson is scheduled to speak to Bears reporters at around 3 p.m. CT and will have the latest update from the team then.
The Source: Story is from previous Fox Chicago reporting, from Bears head coach Ben Johnson's media availability on Monday and reports from The Ringer's Tom Pelissero.