Caleb Williams screamed in pain before being carried from the field after a worrying non-contact injury during the Chicago Bears’ Week 2 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings.
Williams was rolling out and looking to run to the edge away from a chasing defender in the fourth quarter when he pulled up and fell to the turf holding his right leg. The Bears later confirmed he suffered a hamstring injury.
He rolled on the ground and let out an audible scream in pain and frustration before trainers carried him from the field and into the blue medical tent.
‘Hate to speculate, but that’s tough to see,’ said FOX analyst Greg Olsen watching replays of the injury, after noting: ‘This stadium is silent.’
Head coach Ben Johnson later said Williams was ‘in good spirits’ but they would not know more on his status until Monday.
The injury came on first and goal with the Bears trailing 6-3 and looking to take the lead midway through the fourth quarter in wet and windy conditions at Soldier Field.
Caleb Williams screamed in pain after going down with a non-contact injury for the Bears
Williams was carted to the locker room with a towel over his head before gesturing to the fans
Williams was replaced by Tyson Bagent, and to add insult to injury, their field goal attempt at the end of the nightmare drive ended up being blocked.
Williams was later carted to the locker room with a towel over his head, visibly emotional, before removing the towel and showing his appreciation to Bears fans as the cart reached the tunnel and giving a thumbs up.
At the time of the injury, he was 15-of-26 for 138 yards with an interception and had rushed for 42 yards on five carries.
Bagent drove the Bears down the field in search of a dramatic late win, but time expired as the Vikings sealed a 9-3 win. And all talk was about Williams’ prognosis.
Online doctors analyzing the clip came to the conclusion it was a hamstring injury, rather than the Achilles injury or knee injury many fans dreaded seeing a non-contact injury.
Former NFL head team doctor David J. Chao, known on X as the ProFootballDoc, called it an ‘apparent hamstring strain’ and added: ‘Unfortunately this is a hazard of wet weather. Wet weather allows fewer high ankles, fewer knee injuries but more muscle injuries, especially early season.
‘We’ll have to see how bad the tear is but certainly looks like Caleb Williams is going to miss some time.’
Jeff Mueller PT, DPT wrote on X: ‘Took a long stride to avoid the tackle and went down non-contact.
‘Not seeing too much at the knee. This one could just be a hamstring injury but I’ll keep analyzing it.’
Williams was running away from a defender when he went down with a right leg injury
Soldier Field fell silent as Williams went down before he was replaced by Tyson Bagent
He followed up adding: ‘Stronger confirmation for me that it’s a Right hamstring.
‘He reaches for the back of his leg as he rolls over, then favors right leg coming off the field after the long step. I’m not thinking Achilles or other.’
Dr Jesse Morse, M.D., wrote: ‘Appears to be a right hamstring strain. This is likely to be a significant injury given the fact that it was non-contact (after his right leg was tripped up) and he was thriving in pain and then could not put any weight on that right leg.
‘This is probably a grade 2 hamstring strain, which is a partial tear, but there’s a possibility this is a grade 3, which is what happened to Dak Prescott, that required season-ending surgery. Those aren’t common but possible.’
