Chicago Bears star quarterback Caleb Williams went down with what looked like a scary non-contact injury, falling to the ground while on a rushing play in his team's Week 2 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Williams remained on the ground, even yelling in pain as staff checked on him, and eventually had to be carted off the field. It was a worrisome sight for fans, and even fans of other teams feared something might be terribly wrong with the Bears quarterback.
However, hours later, an update hit that the injury was nowhere near as serious as it seemed for Williams, and he might even return to play sooner than some initially thought. That drew backlash for the Bears star, as memes, jokes, and harsh criticism came his way online. During his new podcast episode on Tuesday, Las Vegas Raiders defensive star Maxx Crosby reacted to the injury, defending the Bears quarterback from all the criticism.
More news: Sean McVay Takes Shot at Himself Over ‘Travel Plans’ After Rams Defeat Giants "Caleb, obviously, we send our wishes. Hopefully everything's smooth and it's nothing serious, but everyone you know has an opinion about, 'Oh, why'd he react this way to this certain type of thing?' He might never have pulled a hammy in his life," Crosby said on the "The Rush With Maxx Crosby" podcast. "I've had one hammy thing a while back, and that [expletive] will freak you the [expletive] out when it happens," the Raiders star shared.
"In his head, he's probably imagining, like, 'Oh [expletive], something really bad just happened,' and you have all these emotions and things going on." Williams suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of his team's game. A report on Monday indicated that head coach Ben Johnson expects Williams to be "week to week" with the hamstring injury. An early report also suggested the possibility that Williams could be cleared to play in the Bears' "Monday Night Football" game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday, Sept. 28, but that would be a major surprise.
More recently, ESPN's NFL insider Ian Rapoport suggested a hamstring injury like that "generally" takes "two to four weeks" to recover from. It was certainly a frightening sight at first, especially since Williams has typically avoided sacks and injuries in his early career. He played in and started all 17 games in his first two seasons, and now he could miss a short bit of team time before he is cleared to return.
Williams previously appeared as a guest on Crosby's podcast. After offseason rumors and a failed deal with the Baltimore Ravens, speculation picked up again this season about the Raiders trading Crosby. A Bleacher Report article recently linked the Bears and Dallas Cowboys to the Pro Bowler, suggesting both teams could use the pass rusher's services.
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