Bears quarterback Caleb Williams leaves with hamstring injury during home opener at Soldier Field

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams left Sunday's game against Minnesota in the fourth quarter with a right leg injury.

Williams got hurt while scrambling toward the sideline deep in Vikings territory with about 7 1/2 minutes left. The 24-year-old Williams was helped off the field.

The team will learn the severity of Williams' hamstring injury on Monday, when he will have an MRI to determine how long he could potentially be out.

The day already wasn't going well for the Bears' offense in rainy conditions when Williams went down as he was trying to make a break for the end zone. Instead, he pulled up and slid.

It was a non-contact injury, but Williams was clearly in pain and struggled to put any weight on his right leg before getting carted off the field.

"It hurts, man. I thought we had a touchdown. I see him go down," said Bears receiver Luther Burden III. "You know, he's the heart and soul, the engine of this team, and hopefully he's OK and he'll get back out there."

Williams was 15 for 26 for 138 yards with an interception. The No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft also had five carries for 42 yards in rainy conditions at Soldier Field.

"Yeah man, just concerned, you know what I mean? I've never seen him go down like that and be down like that and be down like that. You know, he usually pops back up. And I've seen him pop back up from, you know, hits, all sorts of things," said Bears receiver Rome Odunze, "and I know anything about him, he's going to be, you know, fighting to get back as soon as possible."  

The Bears' durable star quarterback has never missed a start in his career.

"Everybody, I think the whole stadium was worried — maybe the whole world," said Bears cornerback Malik Muhammad. "But he should be good. I asked him after the game — he's going to be good."    

Tyson Bagent replaced Williams, and the drive ended when Cairo Santos' 23-yard field goal was blocked by Isaiah Rodgers — preserving Minnesota's 6-3 lead.

The Bears went on to lose the game 9-3.

Bears head coach Ben Johnson was glad the initial news about Williams' injury wasn't worse.

"Actually happy it's nothing with the knee — you know, that was my first inclination. But yeah, the hamstring could be pretty damaging as well," Johnson said. "So we'll see. We'll see how bad it is tomorrow."

Most, including Johnson, echoed Muhammad's report that Williams was in good spirits after the injury. There is also confidence in Bagent, even though the backup quarterback was not able to finish the job this time.

"I feel great. I feel like we have a good team around me, good coaching staff, so ready to roll," said Bagent. "We've got to get better in a hurry, because we've got Monday Night Football coming up against Philly."

Expert weighs in on nature of Williams' injury

That moment when Williams went down has fans worried about what comes next. While many fans remain optimistic when it comes to the season at large, many were dejected as they left Soldier Field on Sunday.

"I think if Caleb is in there, they win the game, but I just hope that he's OK," said Trevor Marshang of Sterling, Illinois. "It's a long season."

The fans were hopeful to the end of the game, but the ultimate loss was made worse by Williams' injury and uncertain future.

"I mean, I think everything was overshadowed by Caleb's injury," another fan said. "I mean, any Chicago fan, it felt like Derrick Rose all over again  where, you know, a future superstar goes down, and the whole place just goes silent."

In April 2012, Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose, who had been named NBA Most Valuable Player the year before, suffered a torn ACL and ended up benched for the rest of the season.

While how long Williams will be out remains unknown, fans were nevertheless alarmed to see him carted away with a towel over his head during the fourth quarter.

"I was watching it in the moment — fan first here — and, you know, naturally, I think like most fans, sort of, sort of saw the season flash before our eyes," said Dr. Andrew Riff, an orthopedic sports surgeon at the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute and with UChicago Medicine AdventHealth.

Dr. Riff, who is not treating Williams, said he watched replays to get a better look at the injury. Riff said the video was "generally reassuring."

"He sort of overstrode with that right side, and there was no real hit or torquing mechanism; no significant slip or things that would injure the ligaments of the knee or things of that nature," Riff said.

Riff said once Williams has the MRI to determine the severity of the injury, it will be graded, with each subsequent grade of 1 through 3 requiring more recovery time. It could be anywhere from two to 12 weeks.

"You know, optimistically, I think hopefully we'll see him back on the field within, you know, four to eight weeks, something like that," said Riff.

Some wonder whether the weather played a role. Riff does not believe so.

"Later in the game, when they're fatigued, I think these injuries become more common as well," he said, "so as much as we'd love to sort of blame the Chicago weather, I don't think it deserves credit for this one.

Riff said there is cause for concern moving forward as well for Williams. He said at least a third of premiere athletes will go on to have subsequent strain injuries because the hamstring strains heal with scar tissue that's not as robust or strong as native tissue. This is another reason, Riff said, that staff won't want to rush Williams back too soon.