GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Bears made starting quarterback Caleb Williams inactive Sunday against the Packers, but now that he’s gotten back on the practice field, he could return next week against the Falcons.
The team did not designate him as its emergency quarterback, meaning he will not play under any circumstances.
Williams has been out since suffering a Grade 2 hamstring strain Sept. 20 against the Vikings. He did some throwing workouts last week, then partially participated in practice Friday. The Bears listed him as questionable for the Packers game, indicating they were uncertain whether he’d be available, which was odd given that coach Ben Johnson said at the beginning of the week that Tyson Bagent would start.
Regardless, barring any setback, Williams appears to be on track to step back into his spot when practice resumes Wednesday. He worked out before the game, mainly taking snaps and dropping back to focus on footwork.
The Bears are heading into a tight, Sunday-Thursday turnaround, however, and might opt against putting Williams through that as he recovers from the injury. They play at the Falcons on Sunday, then host the Patriots on Oct. 22.
If there’s still any concern about his leg, it’d be more prudent to give him a few extra days and bring him back against the Patriots. The Bears also have an extended break after that game before visiting the defending champion Seahawks on Nov. 2, which makes that a much more favorable on ramp for Williams.
It’s already notable that Williams has missed three starts after rarely missing a snap his first two seasons. He started 38 consecutive games, including playoffs, to begin his career and played 99% of the snaps each of his first two seasons.
He went into this season with enormous expectations and the chance to earn a long-term contract extension, and got off to a great start with one of the sharpest games of his career against the Panthers. He was struggling against the Vikings before going down with the hamstring injury in the fourth quarter.
Here are the Bears’ inactives against the Packers:
QB Caleb Williams (hamstring)
RB Kyle Monangai (toe)
OT Ozzy Trapilo
DL Jayden Loving
LB Keyshaun Elliott (quad)
DL Jamree Kromah
