playCourtney CroninOct 15, 2026, 06:06 PM ETCloseCourtney Cronin joined ESPN in 2017, originally covering the Minnesota Vikings before switching to the Chicago Bears in 2022. Courtney is a frequent panelist on Around the Horn and host of Best Week Ever and GameNight on ESPN Radio. She also co-hosts The Chicago Bears Podcast on ESPN 1000. She previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News as a multimedia sports journalist.Multiple AuthorsLAKE FOREST, Ill. — Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams reached another milestone in his recovery from a hamstring injury Thursday when he logged full participation in practice for the first time since Sept. 18.The Bears quarterback has been listed as a full participant on the team’s injury report for two consecutive days, including Wednesday’s walk-through, but made clear that his status for Chicago’s Week 6 game at Atlanta has not been decided.”Before you start asking, do not know if I’m playing yet,” Williams said.
“Have to go through a bunch of medical protocols, obviously have to get out there and practice, do the stress testing that you do when you’re trying to come back from injury or serious injury.”Williams has been sidelined for Chicago’s last three games while recovering from a hamstring injury sustained late in the fourth quarter of a 9-3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Speaking for the first time about the injury and its aftermath, Williams feared the worst after his right leg gave out while he was running toward the end zone with 7:42 to play in the game.”I felt a pop,” Williams said. “That’s why I looked back. I looked back just like everybody else does when you feel a pop.
Think somebody grabbed you and nobody grabbed me.”Williams said he has had five to six hours of treatment on his hamstring daily and estimates that he was back on the field throwing “probably a week and a half, two weeks” after the injury. While he did not place a percentage on the current strength of his right hamstring, the quarterback said he won’t hesitate to run if needed in a game.”I can move, I can run,” Williams said. “I hit a top speed the other day, one of my high speeds I’ve ever hit and so I can move, I can run, I’ve got strength. … Just going through the stress test because obviously fibers and things like that in your hamstrings and muscles have to connect back together to be able to go out there and play a 60-minute game.”Near the end of a near five-minute opening statement, Williams voiced disdain for the way his injury was reported.
He claimed that “every single” report was inaccurate and clarified that he suffered a “pretty serious” hamstring tear.”There’s nothing that has come out that has been right about what it is and what it has been,” Williams said.ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Williams suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain, which carried a three to four week timeline for recovery. Coach Ben Johnson chose not to rule Williams out for the Bears-Philadelphia Eagles game in Week 3 upon learning the scope of the injury but said he would not practice that week.”Here’s what I know: This guy’s a little bit different than the average human being,” Johnson said on Sept. 21. “I said that last night. I’ll double down on that.
He gets back — he has in the past, a lot faster than what people can anticipate. I’m not putting a timeline on this. We’re going to say week-to-week.”Williams declined to reveal what grade his hamstring injury was given by doctors. When asked to provide more clarity on the severity of the injury, Williams refused “because it’s not deserving.”Williams also addressed the criticism he received on social media over how he left the Vikings game after he was transported on a cart from the medical tent to the locker room at Soldier Field with a towel draped over his head.
Once removing the towel to give the crowd a thumbs-up, Williams’ eyes and face were red from crying.”I’m always going to show emotion, especially when I can’t be out there with the guys when something like that happens,” he said. “When I went through the draft process, I went to two places, and the two places was here and popped over to the Vikings for a visit as we all know. And they asked me what’s the difference between you and everyone else? It’s because I care about the team, about the organization, winning, being out there, my teammates, all of that.
I care, and that’s the biggest thing. This is what I love to do. This puts a smile on my face. It’s everything to me, so not being able to be out there was frustrating.
That was more of the, the tears or whatever that was and then, you know, the other half of it was just everybody making jokes and all of that, but that doesn’t bother me.”The Bears play two games in a five-day span against the Atlanta Falcons on Oct. 18 and the New England Patriots to open the Week 7 slate next Thursday. Williams’ focus is on putting himself in position to play against the Falcons and not weighing how the tight turnaround following Week 6 might affect his health.”If I’m good to go, I’m good to go,” Williams said. “If I’m not and we’re just not ready, then we got to wait.”
