Sources: Bears QB Williams considered to have 3-4 week injury timeline

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has a Grade 2 hamstring injury that doctors consider a three-to-four-week injury, league sources told ESPN and NFL Network.

This doesn't mean that Williams, who the Bears have touted as a quick healer, couldn't return sooner than that timeline. It just means that doctors believe this normally is a three-to-four-week injury in most players, and that is the doctors' best estimation of how long it could take Williams to recover.

The Bears officially ruled Williams out for their Week 3 game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night, and have tried to keep the extent of his injury under wraps for competitive-purpose advantages.

But there also have been little hints that the Bears have dropped.

When Bears head coach Ben Johnson spoke with reporters Monday, after Williams underwent imaging on his hamstring, he said the test results were "somewhat encouraging." Johnson also told ESPN 1000 radio in Chicago that Williams would be sidelined for "some time" before clarifying to reporters that the team was calling the quarterback's status week-to-week.

"Here's what I know," Johnson said at the time. "This guy's a little bit different than the average human being. I said that last night, I'll double down on that. He gets back -- he has in the past -- a lot faster than what people can anticipate, and so I'm not putting a timeline on this. We're going to say week-to-week. He's going to attack this with everything that he knows."

To make matters more complicated for Chicago, backup Tyson Bagent reported on Tuesday to the team that he was feeling the effects of a concussion and was placed in the NFL's concussion protocol, meaning third-string quarterback Case Keenum could start Monday night.

Bagent was still in the concussion protocol as of Saturday and is officially questionable for Monday's game, although he was a full participant in Saturday's practice. Keenum, 38, has not started a game since the 2023 season when he was with the Houston Texans.

Johnson said Saturday that the Bears are still determining their quarterback depth chart against the Eagles, including who will start.

"There's a different skill set, obviously," Johnson said. "One guy's a little bit more mobile than the other, and yet both are very cerebral players. I know they'll be mentally prepared for the game, and we'll see what it looks like. But there's a reason why Tyson was the backup as we ended camp, and we felt good about who he is as a player and what he can bring to the table to this offense."

As for Williams, he injured the same hamstring in college. Last week, in non-contact fashion, the third-year star went down in severe pain and was eventually carted off in the fourth quarter of Chicago's 9-3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

One reason for the pain was that Williams likely felt scar tissue breaking up from a past hamstring injury, a phenomenon that can be quite painful to experience but doesn't lead to long-term damage.

If Williams missed three weeks, it would mean he's out for games against the Eagles, New York Jets and Green Bay Packers. Week 6 against the Atlanta Falcons would be the fourth game, which seems attainable, as the Bears did not place Williams on injured reserve.