The Chicago Bears watched their offense go south in a lopsided 31-7 defeat to the Green Bay Packers that dropped them to 3-2 and behind the 5-0 Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North. Yet amid the blowout, the real silver lining arrived quickly as national reporting confirmed that all signs now point toward Caleb Williams reclaiming his starting job at QB in Week 6 against the Atlanta Falcons.
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Williams suffered a Grade 2 right hamstring strain during Chicago’s Week 2 loss to Minnesota. Doctors initially projected a 3-to-4-week recovery window for the quarterback. After sitting out 3 full matchups, Williams returned to practice Friday as a limited participant before ramping up his conditioning ahead of Sunday’s game. National insider Ian Rapoport reported on the news on X.
“The fact that Caleb Williams was working out before the game in a pretty strenuous workout, looking pretty good, looking like himself. I mean, he looked like Caleb Williams…This is a very good sign. My understanding at the beginning of this whole thing was three to four weeks with a hamstring. He has missed three weeks; the fourth week is next week.
“He was working out hard before the game and returned to practice the Friday before. All signs point to Caleb Williams being back on the field this week for Chicago, which, considering how it went this past Sunday, would be quite good news,” Ian Rapoport explained.
At 9:27 a.m. on the Lambeau Field turf, roughly 90 minutes before kickoff, Caleb Williams gave Chicago a vivid glimpse of what is around the corner when he uncorked his signature “Jumpman” pass during warmups. The Bears ultimately chose to list him among Sunday’s inactives rather than making him suit up as an emergency QB. But Caleb Williams was moving cleanly without hesitation on the grass. That workout gave hints that the hamstring could handle live football movements again without any visible setback.
Chicago avoided placing Williams on injured reserve specifically to allow this return. Bears head coach Ben Johnson confirmed the positive trend when speaking to reporters after the loss.
“He’s on track,” Johnson said via ESPN’s Courtney Cronin. “We’ll see if it’s Atlanta or after. I think it’s going to be close.”
Chicago’s offense fell completely flat at Lambeau Field without Williams under center. Tyson Bagent completed 12 of 21 passes for 87 yards, zero touchdowns, and two interceptions to Xavier McKinney. Case Keenum replaced Bagent in the fourth quarter but threw an interception and lost a fumble on a strip-sack.
In total, the Bears committed five turnovers and generated just seven points against their division rivals. Bagent finished with a dismal 27.4 passer rating before getting pulled. Green Bay easily crowded the line of scrimmage, proving that Chicago cannot move the ball through the air when relying purely on backup arms.
The blowout loss shattered the idea that Ben Johnson runs a quarterback-proof system in Chicago. Keenum beat Philadelphia in Week 3, and Bagent beat the Jets in Week 4, but those wins masked real flaws. Without rusher Kyle Monangai, Green Bay rotated coverages and completely shut down the passing game.
When asked who starts if Williams cannot play, Johnson stated, “We’ll recap this game, and we’ll make a decision going into next week what’s best for us.”