Is Caleb Williams Playing Today? Latest Injury Update On Bears QB For Week 5

Here's what we know about Caleb Williams' chances of playing in Week 5 after the Chicago Bears gave him the questionable tag on Friday.

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) looks to throw in the second quarter against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Things got interesting late in the week on the Caleb Williams injury front for the Chicago Bears.

With just a few days to go before their Week 5 matchup against the Green Bay Packers, the Bears saw Williams turn in a practice for the first time since suffering his Grade 2 hamstring strain.

Williams managed to log a limited session on Friday and was even given the questionable tag, which suggests he has a chance to play against Chicago's NFC North rival. We were waiting for the Bears to downgrade him on Saturday, but that didn't happen.

So, is Williams really going to make an unexpected comeback in Week 5 against the Packers at Lambeau Field?

Here's what we know.

Is Caleb Williams playing today?

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) looks on before the game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

UPDATE: NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported that Williams is now pushing to play in Week 6, so it doesn't look like his return will come this week, as expected.

"Really good news for the Bears the other day, with Caleb Williams returning to practice with that hamstring injury," he said. "Not good news for this week, really for next week, because this is Williams starting to work his way back and pushing to play next week.

END OF UPDATE

Again, no definitive answer yet, but it's hard to fathom the Bears putting Williams out there on Sunday.

After all, Williams has logged just a single limited practice since his injury and we just cannot envision that being enough for the Bears to run him out there, even with how important this game is.

The Bears are almost certainly going to take the long view of this situation and aren't going to risk putting Williams out there before he's 100% ready, and especially with the risk of re-injury the hamstring normally presents.

What makes this decision easier is the fact that Green Bay has a lot of trusts in its backup quarterbacks, and that trust has only grown since Chicago has won both games without Williams.

We tend to believe the questionable tag for Williams was just a little gamesmanship from Johnson and it will be Tyson Bagent under center in Week 5.

Caleb Williams' return outlook

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) looks on during warmups before the game against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With Williams returning to a limited practice on Friday, that at least puts him on the runway to be back in Week 6 against the Atlanta Falcons.

Williams was given a timeline of three to four weeks to return from his hamstring strain and we are now three weeks into that timeline.

The tricky part of the equation here is, if Williams doesn't return in Week 6 versus the Falcons, we wonder if the short week with the Bears playing on a Thursday in Week 7 against the New England Patriots might push Williams' return back to Week 8.

It's certainly something to consider, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, we can say that there's at least a decent chance Chicago's starter will be back in Week 6.