Caleb Williams Avoids Major Hamstring Damage, Eagles Not Ruled Out

Monday afternoon, the MRI results landed, and it was as close to best-case as Chicago could've drawn up. Williams did not suffer major damage, and — with a Monday night home game against the Eagles now just eight days out — the Bears aren't ruling him out.

Tom Pelissero

@TomPelissero

Bears QB Caleb Williams avoided any major injury to his hamstring Sunday, tests confirmed today — and the team isn’t even ruling him out for next Monday’s game against the Eagles, sources tell @ringer @netflixsports. A massive sigh of relief in Chicago.

It matters beyond the QB room, too. Ben Johnson has never in his coaching career, at the Bears or as Lions offensive coordinator, had to hand a start to a backup — Jared Goff played all 51 games under him in Detroit, and Williams has started all 19 since Johnson took over. The betting market had already reacted before any of this news broke, with the Eagles swinging from 1.5-point road underdogs to 4.5-point favorites the moment Williams went down.

ProFootballTalk @ProFootballTalk · Report: Caleb Williams did not suffer major hamstring injury, not ruled out for Week 3. t.co/Y7vQcsgcEx

Williams still has to actually practice and prove the hamstring holds up under game speed before Chicago commits to starting him against Philadelphia. But a Grade 1 strain that tests out clean beats every other outcome that was on the table Sunday night, and for a Bears team that just watched its offense stall out for 9 points, getting its quarterback back is the whole ballgame.