Caleb Williams responds to critics after hamstring injury: 'My character's been attacked'

Williams participated fully in consecutive practices, but the Bears quarterback said he has not yet been cleared to return to game action Oct 15, 2026 at 7:41 pm ET • 3 min read Following consecutive practices of full participation, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is on track for a potential return in Week 6 from the hamstring injury he sustained in the second game of the season. It remains to be seen whether he will enter Sunday's matchup against the Atlanta Falcons with an injury designation, but he said on Thursday that he still does not know if he will play.While the understanding outside the Bears' facility is that Williams sustained a Grade 2 hamstring strain in the Week 2 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, the third-year quarterback pushed back against reports detailing the extent of the injury. He said he felt a pop in his hamstring at the time of the injury and described it as a tear rather than a strain."It was a hamstring tear and a pretty serious one," Williams said. "We got a grade, but I wouldn't say it's deserved to be put out there after all the false ones. So next question."Williams repeatedly declined to detail the official diagnosis."There's nothing that has come out that has been right about what it is and what it has been," Williams said. "That's been fun to deal with. So I would say from y'all's side and things like that is being able to report it and go through it in the right way and right manner. And then from there, if you haven't heard it from boss man himself or out of the horse's mouth, me, it would probably be wrong, which every single one has been." Coach Ben Johnson initially labeled Williams as week-to-week after the team received the results of his MRI. Tyson Bagent and Case Keenum split the quarterback duties over the last three games.Caleb Williams pushes back on injury narrativesNot only did Williams take exception to the reporting on his hamstring injury, but he also noticed the discourse surrounding his on-field demeanor. Williams was in clear distress in the immediate wake of the injury as he yelled in agony and was emotional when he left the field on a cart. He had a towel over his head as he was transported to the locker room and shed tears while giving a thumbs-up to the Chicago crowd. When initial reports and the Bears' handling of the injury suggested that it may not be as serious as feared, fans were quick to judge Williams for what some called an overreaction. "I'm always gonna show emotion, especially when I can't be out there with the guys when something like that happens," Williams said. "I care about the team, the organization, winning, being out there, my teammates, all of that. I care. That's the biggest thing. This is what I love to do. This puts a smile on my face. It's everything to me."Not being able to be out there was frustrating. That was more of the tears or whatever that was. The other half of it was just everybody making jokes and all of that. But that doesn't bother me. It's the other half of the national or the local [media] and them putting out false things that weren't true to then allow people to go run with it."Dating back to his college career at USC, Williams continues to be the subject of scrutiny for his perceived toughness. The response to his hamstring injury is the latest example, as fans also called into question his nail-painting, the emotions he shed after a tough loss to rival UCLA, and more. "My character's been attacked for a while," Williams said. "It's just another motivating factor when I get out there and get going again."