Somehow, some way, Caleb Williams avoided serious damage to his hamstring after the home crowd at Soldier Field went silent for a moment. The Chicago Bears found out, on Monday, that the initial test results came back about as positively as anyone could have asked for.
When he went down in the Bears' Week 2 tilt against the Minnesota Vikings, everyone's immediate reaction seemed to be worst-case scenario.
Was it an Achilles tear?
When that was ruled out, still, the thought was a hamstring tear.
Alas, we can breathe a sigh of relief.
However, Williams isn't out of the woods by any means. Head coach Ben Johnson alluded to the fact that Williams is week-to-week and will likely miss time. Because of this, Johnson and the Bears can look at a recent example that could help Williams in his recovery.
Lamar Jackson's 2025 hamstring injury can help pave Caleb Williams' path forward
Last season, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson suffered a hamstring injury in Week 4 against the Kansas City Chiefs. However, Jackson admitted that he the injury could have happened the prior week against the Detroit Lions.
"I couldn't really burst [in the] Detroit game, but I didn't know what it was," Jackson said earlier this year. "I just thought it was just nagging until we played the Chiefs, and I tried to do a move. I just felt my hamstring just like ... I can't even describe it to you this year. It's crazy. But when it happened, it happened."
This is interesting. If Jackson felt something in Week 3, last year, but went on to play against the Chiefs, then he was not 100 percent -- probably not even 80-90 percent healthy.
But he still played.
One can presume the injury worsened against the Chiefs in Week 4, and thus, Jackson was forced to miss time. He went on to miss the next three games before returning in Week 9 against the Miami Dolphins. Baltimore had a Week 7 bye.
Now, Jackson dealt with other injuries such as issues in his knee, ankle and toe over the remainder of the season. Whether or not they were directly related to his hamstring recovery or coming back too soon from that particular ailment, we may not know for sure.
However, this is a recent example of another top-tier quarterback with a simiilar skill set. Williams, like Jackson, is lethal with his legs. This matters.
If the Bears were to allow Williams to return even just a week too soon, a potential reaggravation is certainly on the table.
That cannot happen. It should not happen.
It will not happen.
I don't know what's going on with Kyler Gordon at this point (and I don't really care, to be frank) but I can only assume that Johnson and the rest of the staff have done everything in their power to handle it the right way.
I can only assume Johnson is going to handle Williams with the utmost caution going forward.
Williams is going to want to play sooner rather than later. That's in his nature, like the majority of players in this league.
But, he has to be smart. Johnson has to be smart. The entire organization has to be smart.
Fortunately, the injury happened early enough in the season that the Bears can take their time with it, as they should.
Everybody heals differently. But, if Williams' injury is also a Grade 1, then maybe the Bears' plan of attack can be to aim for their quarterback to miss four weeks before a possible return.
Read more: Caleb Williams' postgame demeanor now has Bears fans surprisingly hopeful
That seems logical, but we'll know more details as time goes on.
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