The Bears woke up Tuesday with the worst quarterback room in football, and it is not particularly close. Caleb Williams is week-to-week with a hamstring injury. Tyson Bagent is in the concussion protocol. Which leaves Case Keenum, who has not started an NFL game since 2023, in line to face the 2-0 Eagles on Monday Night Football.
That is the situation. There is no spin available.
How Chicago Got Here
Williams went down in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 9-3 loss to the Vikings at a soaked Soldier Field. He scrambled left, went to the ground in obvious pain without being touched by a defender, and headed to the locker room. Ben Johnson called him week-to-week on Monday, and reporting since has pointed toward Williams sitting out Week 3.
Bagent finished that game, going 5-of-9 for 54 yards. On Tuesday, NFL Network reported he had entered the concussion protocol. Landing in protocol on a Tuesday with a Monday night game ahead is not automatically disqualifying, but it is not a position any team wants to gamble on against Philadelphia’s front.
So Keenum. His last regular-season appearance came in December 2023. He has spent the years since as a respected veteran presence in a quarterback room, which is a real job and an important one. It is also not the same job as starting against a Super Bowl contender in prime time. The only other option on hand is practice squad quarterback Miller Moss.
The Bigger Problem Is the Offense
Chicago is 1-1 and scored three points at home. The rain was a factor, sure, but the Bears hired Johnson to make this offense functional regardless of conditions, and through two weeks the results have been ugly enough that losing Williams almost reads as a symptom rather than the cause.
What made Sunday worse is the way Williams got hurt. No contact, no hit, just a scramble that ended with him on the ground. That is the kind of injury that tends to linger, and hamstrings do not respect optimistic timelines. If Johnson pushes to get him back for Week 4, there is a real risk of a setback that costs a month instead of a week.
Chicago should sit him. The Eagles game is close to unwinnable as it is, and burning Williams’ health to chase it would be a franchise-level mistake.
What Monday Night Actually Looks Like
If Keenum starts, expect the Bears to shrink the field: quick game, heavy personnel, run the ball, punt, and hope the defense keeps it respectable. That defense held Minnesota to nine points, so it is not a hopeless formula.
But Philadelphia is 2-0, and the gap between what the Eagles can ask of their quarterback and what Chicago can ask of theirs is enormous. This is a survival game, and the win condition is getting to Tuesday morning with Williams healthy and the season still salvageable.
The Bears have spent two years searching for stability at the most important position in sports. Right now they cannot even find a healthy body.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.