Caleb Williams carted off with a hamstring injury as the Bears fall 9-3 to the Vikings

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams left Sunday's 9-3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings with a right hamstring injury, carted to the locker room midway through the fourth quarter at Soldier Field. It is the reason his name is one of the most searched things in America tonight, and the short answer is that nobody hit him.

Williams had a clear path to the end zone on a scramble to his left after Kyle Monangai converted a fourth down inside the red zone. His right leg gave way and he fell, ESPN reported from the stadium. He tried twice to get up, could not stand without trainers, spent several minutes in the injury tent and was then carted off with a towel over his head. CBS Sports also described it as a non-contact hamstring injury.

What the Bears have said

Head coach Ben Johnson told reporters he was relieved it was not a knee. "I'm actually happy it's nothing with the knee," Johnson said, per ESPN. "That was my first inclination. But yeah, a hamstring can be pretty damaging as well. We'll see how bad it is tomorrow and we'll go from there."

Williams is scheduled to undergo imaging on Monday, ESPN reported. Until those results come back there is no timeline, and anyone giving you one tonight is guessing.

The game itself

The whole thing was played in a steady downpour, and it looked like it. Williams finished 15 of 26 for 138 yards with an interception, and he was Chicago's most effective runner on a per-carry basis with 42 yards on five attempts, according to the official box score. Tyson Bagent replaced him and went 5 of 9 for 54 yards.

Chicago outgained Minnesota 297 yards to 246 and held the ball for nearly 33 minutes, but lost the turnover battle 2-0 and never reached the end zone. The Bears ran two plays inside the Minnesota 6-yard line after Williams went down and came away with nothing when Cairo Santos had a 23-yard field goal attempt blocked. Chicago's quarterbacks were sacked four times for 29 yards.

For Minnesota, Carson Wentz went 11 of 20 for 143 yards in his first start in place of Kyler Murray, who is in concussion protocol, and Aaron Jones Sr. carried 23 times for 105 yards. The Vikings move to 2-0. Murray is expected to clear protocol early this week and return for Week 3, ESPN reported.

What it changes

The Bears are 1-1 after opening with a 59-37 win at Carolina, which makes the 3 points on Sunday look even stranger. If Williams misses time, Bagent is the quarterback, and Chicago's offense goes from one built around a quarterback who creates outside the pocket to one that has to win from the pocket in the NFC North.

The calendar helps. Chicago does not play again until Monday, September 28, when Philadelphia visits Soldier Field on Monday night, which gives Williams eight days rather than the usual six. Hamstrings are stubborn, though, and pushing a mobile quarterback back too early is how a two-week problem becomes a six-week one.

Full results and the rest of the Week 2 slate are on our NFL scores page, and upcoming games are on the NFL schedule. See also our look at the backup quarterbacks who started Week 2.

Sources: ESPN (game report, injury report, box score and Bears schedule), CBS Sports. Reported Sunday evening, September 20, 2026.