Caleb Williams Injury Update: Is Bears QB Out After Hurting Hamstring?

The entire city of Chicago seemed to freeze on Sunday afternoon when Bears franchise QB Caleb Williams went down in agony after pulling up on a scramble attempt in the fourth quarter of a loss to the Minnesota Vikings. 

Williams was unable to put weight on his right leg and left for the locker room on a cart after being helped to the sideline, casting serious doubt on his availability. Do those hamstring-related questions remain as Week 3 approaches? 

Let’s jump into the latest Caleb Williams injury update and outline its potential impact on Bears fantasy football picks and projections for PrizePicks. 

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Caleb Williams Injury Update: How Significant Is Williams’ Hamstring Strain?

On Monday morning, Tom Pelissero of The Ringer and Netflix Sports reported that Williams “avoided major injury” to his hamstring and the team “isn’t even ruling him out” for Monday Night Football against the Philadelphia Eagles. This isn’t the first time the star QB has dealt with a hamstring ailment; he did so back in 2022 while playing for USC in college.

In the aftermath of Sunday’s defeat to Minnesota, Bears head coach Ben Johnson took things further by describing Williams as “week-to-week” in status and acknowledged that his best player could likely miss some time.

On Tuesday, Ian Rapoport of ESPN and NFL Network echoed a similar sentiment on the Pat McAfee Show. Rapoport says “we’ll see” on next week being a more realistic return date, although two to four weeks is a commonplace timeline in cases like this.

Williams broke out in his second season, throwing for 3,942 yards, 27 TDs and 7 INTs while taking the Los Angeles Rams to the brink in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. After being downright excellent in Week 1 of the 2026 campaign, he struggled vs. the Vikings in the elements, going 15-for-26 passing with 138 yards, 0 TDs, and 1 INT.

Following Monday’s contest at home against Philadelphia, Chicago hosts the New York Jets in Week 4 before hitting the road for games against the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons. 

Bears Fantasy Football Outlook: Run Game Impact & QB Options

It’s safe to say the Bears will certainly miss Williams for however long he’s out of the lineup. The 2024 first overall NFL Draft pick, per SumerSports, has the second-highest scramble rate (14.29%) among QBs with 25+ snaps this season. In that same 33-player group, he ranked third in rush EPA (6.22) and carried the longest average time to throw at 3.28 seconds. 

If Williams does indeed sit out a game or two (or more), the presumption was that it’d be the Tyson Bagent show in Chicago. The 26-year-old went 5-for-9 passing in relief of Williams on Sunday and doesn’t have a ton of in-game experience lately, but he did appear in five games for the Bears in 2023, attempting 143 passes and throwing for 3 TDs and 6 INTs.

Via RBSDM, 44 QBs logged at least the same number of plays (175) as Bagent in 2023. In that group, he ranked 36th in EPA/play (-0.088) and 34th in completion percentage over expected (-2.4%), although his 48.6% dropback success rate sat 11th. According to NFL Pro, he carried a 2.89-second time to throw. The catch is that Bagent is now in the NFL’s concussion protocol, which could force Case Keenum into action. 

Keenum last played a regular-season snap in that same 2023 campaign; his -0.265 EPA/play was 56th out of 59 QBs to have 50+ plays.

Chicago’s receiving options will also be impacted by Williams’ injury. Through two games, it isn’t Luther Burden (21.43%) or Rome Odunze (12.50%) who leads the WR room in target rate: it’s Kalif Raymond (25.0%). At TE, Colston Loveland (8.93%) and Cole Kmet (7.14%) could continue to see the field — especially if the Bears opt for more of a run-oriented approach.

Speaking of which, keep an eye on the RB duo of D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai. Swift ranks as PPR RB5 and has played 62.4% of available snaps, but Monangai (RB17, 38.26%) is a viable piece himself. 

Considering that neither backup QB option is scary for opposing defenses, it could make sense for Chicago to lean into running the ball even more. Per nfelo, Johnson’s crew owns football’s ninth-lowest pass rate over expected (-5.8%) already.

The Bears are 3.5-point home underdogs vs. the Eagles on MNF, per PrizePicks, and return a 2.43x payout with a win. Williams’ official status is absolutely worth monitoring in that regard.

Chicago also returns a 1.96x payout to qualify for the playoffs and a 16.66x payout to win the Super Bowl. 

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Bears fans can breathe a significant sigh of relief now that the worst is over with for Williams, but the club could still be without its budding superstar for a bit. Can Chi-Town weather the storm until #10 is back? 

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