{"id":1029326,"date":"2026-10-16T18:30:39","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T18:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1029326\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T18:30:39","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T18:30:39","slug":"caleb-williams-isnt-the-only-boost-the-bears-are-hoping-to-get-before-sundays-game-against-the-falcons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1029326\/","title":{"rendered":"Caleb Williams isn’t the only boost the Bears are hoping to get before Sunday’s game against the Falcons"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\tHome<\/a><\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tChicago Bears<\/a><\/p>\n

The Chicago Bears are hoping to get three key faces back on the field on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, including the potential return of quarterback Caleb Williams.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Dec
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tChicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) prepares to throw a pass and offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo (75) blocks against Green Bay Packers defensive end Rashan Gary (52) during the first quarter at Soldier Field.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMike Dinovo-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The Chicago Bears are hoping to get key reinforcements back this weekend, and the timing could not be more important. Injuries have piled up for Chicago, and the latest Bears injury news centers around quarterback Caleb Williams, offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo, and slot cornerback Kyler Gordon.<\/p>\n

The word \u201chope\u201d matters here. Nothing is guaranteed with any of these three players yet.<\/p>\n

The defensive side of the ball still carries concerns though. The unit has to figure out how to slow running back Bijan Robinson<\/a> with out three starters, which presents a difficult challenge for a unit trying to get back on track after a poor performance against the Green Bay Packers.<\/p>\n

But, let\u2019s focus more on the good news with the three potential returns we could see later this weekend.<\/p>\n

Caleb Williams is still awaiting the green light to play on Sunday<\/p>\n

The Bears are hoping to have their starting quarterback back<\/a> after a three-game absence. Williams described the injury he suffered in Week 2 as a significant hamstring tear when he met with the media Thursday afternoon, his first press conference since getting hurt.<\/p>\n

Starting with the facts we know about, Williams was a full participant in Thursday\u2019s practice. That was a major step forward, but it doesn\u2019t guarantee anything for Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hopeful we\u2019ll have more clarity at the end of the day today,\u201d head coach Ben Johnson said ahead of Friday\u2019s practice. \u201cHe looked good yesterday for one practice but we\u2019ve got to be able to stack a few back to back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams said that if he\u2019s out there, he will play without limitation. He can hit full speed running, and he isn\u2019t worried about the mental concern of a reinjury or changing his play style to protect the hamstring. If he plays, he\u2019s playing like himself. The question is whether or not he can pass the stress-test before Sunday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s data, loading it. I mean practice is, loading it in many different positions just because you got a D-line rushing you, so you\u2019re putting your body in positions that you can\u2019t really replicate because it\u2019s more of a reaction in practice and games,\u201d Williams explained. \u201cYou\u2019re putting yourself in those positions in practice, that\u2019s a stress test of being able to go through a whole week and see how it goes. Then you get to end a week, you feel good, medical approves, and strength and conditioning approves with my strength, the flexibility of it. All of that good stuff that they all know. It\u2019s a team working together trying to get it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision will likely not come until Sunday. If Williams can\u2019t go, Johnson did not say who would be the immediate backup between Tyson Bagent and Case Keenum, but he did express confidence in either option. As of right now though, all signs point toward Williams clearing this last hurdle before Sunday, barring any setback.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re right on track with the plan and we\u2019ll see what it looks like, see how he feels,\u201d Johnson added. \u201cConfidence is a big part of it as well, but I know he wants to play, he\u2019s a competitor. It\u2019s been not fun for him the last few weeks watching from the sideline, just like any guy that loves football. It\u2019s been a tough deal for him. I know he\u2019s itching to get back out there and help us win ball games. If we feel really good as a front office, a coaching staff and the player himself about playing, then we\u2019ll go ahead and go with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben Johnson said it\u2019s possible the Bears get Ozzy Trapilo involved in some capacity<\/p>\n

Trapilo has been working behind the scenes on his recovery from a ruptured patellar tendon. It\u2019s been a long road, but he made quick progress, and the challenge became slowing that progress down before clearing him for live game action.<\/p>\n

He has been off the injury report completely the last couple of weeks. However, Chicago has kept him as a healthy inactive because the coaching staff didn\u2019t feel he was quite ready for game action. This could be the week Trapilo returns after stacking multiple padded practices and regaining confidence in his leg and knee.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think he\u2019s really close. We think he\u2019s really close,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cThere\u2019s a chance that he\u2019s up this week, yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

Braxton Jones started at left tackle for the team early in the season before landing on injured reserve. Since then, Theo Benedet has been the full-time starter for the last two weeks, allowing seven pressures and one sack in that span.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad he felt somewhat more comfortable out there,\u201d Johnson said of Benedet earlier this month. \u201cI think him and Joe (Thuney), they communicate well together on the left side, and it\u2019s certainly something that we can continue to improve and get better at.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth noting Benedet still saw limited action before taking over the starting role. He rotated in for one to two drives during the first three games to help keep Jones fresh. That could be the blueprint the Bears use with Trapilo too.<\/p>\n

Even if Trapilo plays, I don\u2019t expect him to start or play a sizable number of snaps in this game. Instead, give him one or two drives, let him deal with a pass rusher in a live setting, see how he handles it, and keep building his workload from there over the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

Shemar Turner is back, what about Kyler Gordon?<\/p>\n

The final situation to watch involves two defenders. Chicago activated defensive lineman Shemar Turner using the roster spot created when Montez Sweat was placed on the NFL suspension list. Turner, a second-year player, rejoined the 53-man roster after working his way back from an ACL tear he suffered last October.<\/p>\n

Even with Sweat and Dayo Odeyingbo out for this game, the Bears don\u2019t plan to make Turner a featured player. He isn\u2019t the magic answer opposite Austin Booker. Instead, Chicago plans to be smart with his snaps, much like how the team handled linebacker Noah Sewell last week after he came off the PUP list, and the same goes for cornerback Kyler Gordon if he ends up getting activated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think just having a plan for the number of snaps that he would play in the game, I think that\u2019s the biggest thing. Any of these guys that might be coming off of PUP or haven\u2019t played a lot of football \u2013 we kind of did the same thing with (LB) Noah (Sewell) a little bit last week. He played, and yet I think he had 22 snaps in the game. With all these guys that might be coming off \u2013 all of them would have a limited role to start with,\u201d defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Johnson sounded more open to the idea of bringing Gordon back, whether that\u2019s this week or next. The Bears ultimately have to decide one way or another by next Wednesday whether to activate him to the active roster.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s done a great job taking everything that we\u2019ve assigned him so far,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI feel good about him \u2014 whether that\u2019s this week or next week \u2014 being able to contribute to this team and help us out, and there\u2019s a number of ways he can do that. But I\u2019m encouraged with what I\u2019ve seen so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gordon has been a full participant in every practice since returning to the team facilities, and he would be ready for this game if the Bears decide to activate him. When healthy, he is one of the best slot cornerbacks in the league, and his return would give a real boost to a secondary that struggled against the pass last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve said this before. I think Kyler can help us win games,\u201d Allen added. \u201cWhen that time comes where he\u2019s able to be out there on the field and participate and help us win games, I\u2019m looking forward to that time.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, we\u2019re in wait and see mode with Gordon. The Bears will have to activate him onto the active roster on Saturday for him to play in Sunday\u2019s game, and the Bears would have to make a corresponding roster move to open up a spot for him on the roster.<\/p>\n

\"Play<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"Aug\t\t<\/p>\n

Chicago Bears News<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tCaleb Williams nears a return for the Bears and he may be coming back at the perfect time with a fresh perspective\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is getting closer to a potential return in Week 6 and finally spoke to the media for the first time since injuring his hamstring in Week 2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Home \/ NFL \/ Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are hoping to get three key faces back on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1029327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2070],"tags":[374,1035,1036,692,391,741,2493,7,4422,6,681],"class_list":["post-1029326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-bears","tag-bears","tag-ben-johnson","tag-caleb-williams","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-bears","tag-chicago-bears-news","tag-chicagobears","tag-football","tag-kyler-gordon","tag-nfl","tag-ozzy-trapilo"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117452015733437643","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1029326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1029326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1029326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1029327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1029326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1029326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1029326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}