The Chicago Bears fell to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving last week and during the third quarter, Lions linebacker Jack Campbell dove at Caleb Williams' knees. The Bears rookie quarterback had to go to the blue medical tent but he ended up being fine. Williams was displeased with the hit, however.
"Yeah, I—that play was funky. Just put it that way. I don't really—you know, I didn't really appreciate the play. He just kind of dove straight at my knee. So I didn't really get that. Definitely kind of frustrated about that one, just 'cause you know, whatever. Yeah, knee's good. Nothing wrong with it. Think I just got a bruise. But the play was—the play was funky."
Well, Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown said on his podcast that Lions players were instructed to hit Williams if he tried to weave his way back in-bounds when heading toward the sideline. "He goes, 'If he does this, we're going to hit his ass. I already warned the refs, the refs know."
Amon-Ra St. Brown says hitting Caleb Williams was part of the Lions' plan
Hard hits on the quarterback have been in the spotlight even more than usual this weekend due to the hit that Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair had on Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Al-Shaair had hit Williams hard earlier in the year and it led to a scuffle.
While this hit that Williams suffered from Campbell isn't quite on the level of that Al-Shaair on Lawrence hit was, it feels as though certain rules might go into effect this offseason to prevent gruesome injuries from happening.
Williams will need to determine if trying to sneak his way back in-bounds is worth the punishment that he'll potentially take in future games. While the Bears aren't going anywhere this season, a major injury to Williams from one of these hits could hamper the team's chances to compete for a playoff spot next year so he needs to be smart about these plays, especially now that teams are aware of it.