Head bowed under a towel, right leg folded up and held in place by a trainer, another holding his left leg down, the sight of Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams being carted off the field wasn’t something anybody expected to see in his Week 2 clash against the Minnesota Vikings. But as the cart approached the tunnel, Williams showed the fans why he’s their quarterback.

He lifted his head up under the towel, rubbed his head, pulled the towel off, and stuck up his right arm to give a thumbs up to the crowd, hyping them up. On a rain-soaked Sunday at Soldier Field, you couldn’t tell whether there were tears on his face, or just water; but one thing was certain – this was an emotional game as he exited the eventual 9-3 loss with a hamstring injury.

On a 1st & Goal from Minnesota’s 6-yard line, Williams rolled left and had the end zone in sight. A defender leaped at his right leg, tripped him up, but he kept going. It looked like nothing could stop Williams from erasing a three-point deficit to take the lead.

But the QB felt something in that right leg, slid on the wet field for about a yard at the 4-yard line, and started screaming. Writhing in pain, he tried to get up twice, couldn’t, and just rolled over on the ground both times before the trainers reached him, and he was carted off to the locker room.

When the team made the injury designation official, this whole sequence landed in front of Jarrett Payton – son of legendary Bears running back Walter Payton – and just had four words for Caleb Williams.

“Prayers up for 18. 🙏🏼 #Bears,” Payton wrote on his X handle.

When head coach Ben Johnson spoke to the media after that 9-3 loss, he noted that the team will know more about the severity of Williams’ injury on Monday. The coach also noted that Williams was “in good spirits” after the game.

“I’m actually happy it’s nothing with the knee,” Johnson said. “That was my first inclination, but the hamstring could be pretty damaging as well. We’ll see how bad it is tomorrow, and we’ll go from there.”

ESPN’s Adam Schefter, meanwhile, shared the update that Williams will undergo imaging on his right hamstring on Monday. While that is when the full impact of the injury will be known, sports doctor Jesse Morse, M.D., shared a grim verdict on his X handle for what could await Williams and the Bears.

“This is likely to be a significant injury given the fact that it was non-contact (after his right leg was tripped up) and he was writhing in pain and then could not put any weight on that right leg,” Morse wrote. “This is probably a grade 2 hamstring strain, which is a partial tear, but there’s a possibility this is a grade 3, which is what happened to Dak Prescott, that required season-ending surgery. Those aren’t common but possible.”

Now, while this injury may be attributed to the slippery, rain-soaked Soldier Field, much of the blame for the Bears not putting up numbers earlier in the game lay on the O-line. The Vikings constantly pressured Williams, landing 3 sacks on him, and limiting him to just 15-of-26 completions for 138 yards and a pick. He also had to rush for 42 yards on 5 carries to keep the offense going. After he exited, backup Tyson Bagent took the field, went 5-of-9 for 54 yards, and got sacked for the loss of 9 yards too.

As for the weather, this is just another reason why the Bears are gunning for a domed stadium in Hammond, Indiana. But a dome to shelter the players is still a long way away. For now, the Bears have to await the diagnosis on Williams’ hamstring and prepare for Week 3 against the Philadelphia Eagles, who will be running in hot with a 2-0 record.

If Caleb Williams misses time – which seems likely just watching the injury – it’s up to Bagent and emergency quarterback Case Keenum to hold down the fort. That’s not something Chicago had planned for just a week after torching the Carolina Panthers for 59 points. Incidentally, the Bears also lost right cornerback Tyrique Stevenson Sr. to a hamstring injury in this Week 2 game and now awaits a similar fate to Williams.

With so many things to consider before the Eagles land, Ben Johnson now faces some tough roster shuffles to make. All the while, the fanbase holds its breath for the final diagnosis on their quarterback.