Caleb Williams Injury Update: Oddsmakers Bracing for Star Quarterback to Sit vs. Eagles; Case Keenum to Start

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams suffered a hamstring injury in Week 2 of the 2026 NFL season, putting his status for Monday's battle with the Philadelphia Eagles in serious doubt.

Williams is not expected to practice this week, per head coach Ben Johnson, and the Bears received a brutal injury update for backup Tyson Bagent, who is in the concussion protocol after briefly replacing Williams in Week 2 against Minnesota.

If Bagent and Williams are unable to go, veteran Case Keenum would get the start in Week 3. That has caused quite a bit of line movement in the Eagles vs. Bears matchup, as Chicago was a 1.5-point favorite in the lookahead line before Williams' injury. Since then, the best betting sites have shifted the Bears to 4.5-point underdogs, but they did move down to three-point dogs after Johnson declined to rule Williams out on Monday. But, with Bagent's addition to the injury report, the line has shifted back towards Philly on Monday night.

Sports Illustrated spoke with several oddsmakers about the Bears' quarterback situation to gain some insight on how Williams' injury has changed their thinking when setting the line for this game.

“This is a tricky one,” Ty Gour, Sports Trader at Fanatics Sportsbook, told Sports Illustrated. “The Bears are telling us it's going to be Case Keenum. Obviously, because they're the Monday night game, they won't hit the practice field until [Thursday]. So, until that happens, we kind of have to take them at face value. If you factor in a quarterback who's not going to play, you could perhaps push the odds too far the other way. So, we're trying to avoid that. But, Thursday practice reports are going to mean a lot to us.”

Even though Williams isn't expected to practice on Thursday, Gour did share how Fanatics would react if the quarterback is spotted participating in some capacity.

“If Caleb is limited or even just hanging around the facility, we may move,” Gour said. “And it just depends on in what capacity. If he's on the field in pads, we may start to treat it as though it's a 50/50 and perhaps start to inch that line and see what the market tells us from there. But if he's a non-participant, then we'll proceed as though he's not going to play until we get news that could possibly hint otherwise.”

Based on the movement from the lookahead line in this matchup, Williams is clearly viewed as one of the more valuable quarterbacks in the league, and he was up to third in the odds to win MVP in the 2026 season before his Week 2 injury.

“At this point, the line appears to be fully accounting for the expectation that Caleb Williams will not play on Monday Night against the Eagles,” Joey Feazel, Head of Football at Caesars Sportsbook, told Sports Illustrated. “The market has effectively priced Williams as being worth roughly six points to both the spread and the total, highlighting just how significant his absence would be to the Bears' overall outlook and offensive production.”

There's a chance the Eagles vs. Bears line could move if Williams finds his way onto the practice field this week, but that seems unlikely. With Case Keenum trending towards being the starter in Week 3, the Bears are facing an uphill battle to get back over .500 on Monday.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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