In the final quarter of the Week 2 game against the Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears’ star quarterback Caleb Williams went down after a hit. He lay on the ground and yelled, sparking concern among fans. However, his reaction to what has been confirmed as a hamstring injury has sparked massive debate online.
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Former Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman slammed Williams for the way he handled the injury.
“When they came out and said Caleb Williams is day-to-day or week-to-week [gives a side-eye]. This is a bit of an exaggeration,” Sherman said on The Richard Sherman Podcast. “You’re doing a little too much, doing all that screaming and hooping and hollering. If you don’t walk your a– to the locker room and get checked out. For him to get on a damn cart for a grade one, even a grade two hamstring, you got to be like, all right. Now, grade two hamstring is tough. But a grade three is tearing it off the bone.
“If it’s a grade one and you got on that cart and put a towel over your head, be ashamed of yourself. Maybe you’re frustrated that the games that you’re not playing well and the team is not playing well and you’re not going to play this game. Cool, I understand that… But then the cart… The cart is when I don’t understand.”
The footage made it seem that Williams had suffered a serious injury. He had to be helped off the field and carted away, while the crowd cheered for the quarterback. Tearfully, he responded by raising his fist in the air as a mark of thanks.
Since then, Williams was seen walking around without crutches, and doctors have said he is week-to-week for now. The hamstring injury is indeed grade 1, which signifies that all the muscle fibres are intact. The injury would still need rehab, but the hit did not look too serious to many.
“I was like, ‘It doesn’t look that bad,’” Dr. Shane Nho, a Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush surgeon, told WGN9.
Of course, Sherman wasn’t the only one to have noted that. Former linebacker Will Crompton also took to social media and claimed that Williams shouldn’t have screamed the way he did and called a cart.
Crompton initially believed that it was an Achilles injury. That can leave the player out of the field for a lot longer and in much more pain than a hamstring injury. However, ESPN’s Adam Schefter clarified that it was a hamstring injury. Crompton blasted Williams because a standard hamstring strain never justifies calling for a medical cart.
“It’s a man’s game,” Crompton said. “You can’t be getting carted off for hamstring injuries. That can’t happen. Again, grade three, surgery today or tomorrow, that’s a different animal. But if we’re talking hamstring strain, that just can’t happen, man.”
More serious injuries have transpired in the same weekend. New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart is out for the season after a blow to the knee, and Washington Commanders QB Jayden Daniels suffered a nasty elbow dislocation. The visual of the latter injury was so shocking that even Tom Brady cursed live on air.
Nevertheless, Williams did have a few supporters despite the severe backlash. And one of them was Maxx Crosby, who has dealt with his fair share of hamstring injuries.
“So, Caleb, obviously we sent our wishes. Hopefully everything’s smooth. And it’s nothing serious, but everyone, you know, has an opinion about ‘Oh, why do you react this way to this certain type of thing?’ He might never hold a hammy in his life, and nobody knows,” Crosby said on The Rush With Maxx podcast.
“I’ve had one hammy thing a while back, and like, that s— would freak you the f—- out when it first happens, you know what I mean? In his head, you could probably imagine, like, oh, s—, like, something really bad just happened, and you have all these emotions and things going on.”
Regardless of who is right, Williams’ controversial exit is drawing just as much scrutiny as the Bears’ disappointing Week 2 loss. His absence will be a problem for the team in the coming few weeks, but there is a high chance Williams returns during the season.