Bears' Caleb Williams Carted Off With Hamstring Injury

11:30pm: According to a report tonight from Mike Florio of NBC Sports, there’s optimism Williams’ hamstring issue “is not a severe injury.” There’s belief that, assuming he suffered a hamstring strain, it could be as minor as a Grade 1, the lowest severity for hamstring injuries. Williams hurt the hamstring on his other leg in college, so he has experience with this type of injury and recovery process.

3:22pm: Williams has a hamstring injury, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network relays. Johnson said after the game that Williams is “in good spirits,” but the Bears won’t know the severity of the injury until Monday (via Tom Pelissero of The Ringer). He is scheduled to undergo imaging, Adam Schefter of ESPN relays.

2:40pm: In a potentially disastrous development for the Bears, quarterback Caleb Williams left their game against the Vikings on Sunday with an apparent right foot/lower leg injury, per Jonathan Jones of The Athletic. He was carted to the locker room after being helped off the field, Adam Jahns of CHGO Sports reports.

Williams suffered what appeared to be a non-contact injury after going down awkwardly on a first-and-goal scramble with 7:27 left in the fourth quarter (video via Armando Salguero of OutKick). The 24-year-old writhed on the grass and screamed in pain before multiple Bears staffers assisted him in getting off the field. Williams later gave an emphatic thumbs up to the crowd at Soldier Field as he exited on a cart.

The injury was the beginning of an awful sequence for Chicago, which ended up with no points on the drive after backup QB Tyson Bagent replaced Williams. Cairo Santos set up for a chip-shot field goal to tie the game, but it was blocked. Bagent finished the game 5 of 9 for 54 yards, and the Vikings shut out the Bears for the rest of the day en route to a 9-3 win. Minnesota now leads the NFC North at 2-0, while Chicago fell to 1-1.

Williams, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft, had a breakout second year under then-rookie head coach Ben Johnson last season. The former Heisman Trophy winner from USC threw for a franchise-record 3,942 yards and tossed 27 touchdowns against seven interceptions over his second straight 17-game season. Williams helped the Bears to an 11-6 record and their first division title since 2018. The Bears knocked off the archrival Packers in a dramatic wild-card round victory before bowing out in an overtime thriller against the Rams in the divisional round.

Johnson came into this season with the goal of leading the highest-scoring attack in NFL history. The Bears’ offense backed up Johnson’s talk with a 59-37 win over the Panthers in Week 1. Williams dazzled during a four-touchdown performance in which he threw for a pair of scores and ran for another two. He completed 21 of 29 passes for 272 yards and added another 65 yards on 10 carries.

Thanks in part to poor weather, Sunday’s game against the Vikings’ Brian Flores-coached defense didn’t go nearly as well for the Bears. Williams was effective as a runner (five attempts, 42 yards), though he connected on just 15 of 26 passes for 138 yards and a pick before exiting.

if Williams misses any time, Johnson and the Bears will try to stay afloat with Bagent at the controls. Bagent made the only four starts of his career as an undrafted rookie in 2023, and he has appeared in eight games since Williams grabbed the reins. The Bears gave Bagent a two-year, $10MM extension in August 2025, and despite interest from around the league, they have turned down trade calls.

Johnson spoke glowingly of Bagent in February, saying: “I do think there is a lot of merit to having a strong No. 2 quarterback, which he certainly fits that bill. I’m of the mind that he’s probably one of the best 32 in the NFL. His preseason tape over the last few years has probably confirmed that, in my opinion. But if I took myself out of the equation, I want what’s best for him. If he would like an opportunity to start, I certainly hope he can get that somewhere.”

It would come under unfortunate circumstances for Chicago, but Bagent may have a chance to show whether he is a starting-caliber signal-caller beginning in Week 3. The Bears will host the 2-0 Eagles in a Monday night meeting on Sept. 28.