CHICAGO — Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams avoided a serious injury to his right hamstring after imaging exams, a significant relief after the Minnesota Vikings secured a 9-3 win Sunday at Soldier Field. The Ringer's Tom Pelissero reported the tests showed no major damage, leaving the door open for Williams to play in Chicago's Week 3 Monday night matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The update followed a frightening scene in the fourth quarter. Williams sustained the injury while scrambling to his left and attempting to run toward the end zone, falling to the ground and quickly grabbing the back of his left leg with no contact. Observers immediately suspected a knee or Achilles injury as Williams screamed in pain on the Fox telecast, needed help to stand, could not put weight on his leg and was carted to the locker room giving a thumbs-up to fans. Bears head coach Ben Johnson acknowledged on ESPN 1000 with Jeff Joniak that his quarterback "will likely miss some time," even as sources told Pelissero the team isn't ruling him out for next Monday against the Eagles.
Before exiting, Williams completed 15 of 26 passes for 138 yards and was sacked three times, adding 42 yards on five rushing attempts. Tyson Bagent took over at quarterback and nearly led a comeback, but Cairo Santos had a 23-yard field goal try blocked to end the drive during which Williams was injured. Earlier, Chicago wasted another red-zone opportunity when running back D'Andre Swift fumbled near the goal line six minutes into the third quarter.
Bagent gave Chicago one final chance, connecting on an 18-yard pass to Luther Burden and a 21-yard play to Rome Odunze, then an 8-yard completion to Burden to reach the Vikings' 12-yard line with 10 seconds remaining. Two incompletions followed before Dallas Turner sacked Bagent as time expired. The defeat dropped Chicago to 1-1 while Minnesota improved to 2-0; Chicago hosts the 2-0 Eagles next Monday night and Minnesota visits the 0-2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.