Williams (hamstring) Q-tag, Bagent likely starts

An absolutely bizarre football game. Williams was brilliant on the first two drives with two touchdowns. After that, things got weird at best and disastrous at worst. He threw interceptions on back-to-back throws in the second quarter, and threw two more picks for his first career four-INT game. Kudos to the Bucs for generating the pressure necessary to create those picks — this is back-to-back four interception games for the Tampa Bay defense — but three of the four interceptions were egregious throws. He was able to get the job done at the end of the night, hitting Colston Loveland on a blown coverage for a 38-yard gain that set up the game-winning field goal. He’ll get a week to review the tape on bye before taking on the Saints in Week 11.

Williams marched the Bears down the field for a 17-play opening possession touchdown, snapping a 26-game streak in which the Seahawks kept opponents out of the end zone on first possessions in the process. The two teams traded defensive stops for much of the remainder of the first half before the Bears opened the flood gates after the break, vaulting to a 6-2 record and now just half a game behind the Vikings for the lead in the NFC North. Williams’ ball placement was impeccable in this one, the most notable of which came just after the half on three absolute dimes to Rome Odunze for chunk gains. Two surging teams meet in Week 9 when the Bears host the pass-funnel Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football, where Williams will remain a back end QB1.

The enigmatic signal caller also took three sacks, the last of which almost placed the Bears in position to hand the keys to victory to the Patriots. Ben Johnson called a pass play on third-and-five with under two minutes to play in Patriots territory, placing another nod of support toward his franchise quarterback. Things turned dire when Williams took a sack that appeared to take the Bears out of field goal range in a six-point game, with veteran kicker Cairo Santos hitting a career-long 58-yard field goal to dispel the worries. That sequence of two plays displayed Johnson’s unrelenting trust in his players considering the 58-yard field goal was not only the longest of Santos’ 12-year career, but the third longest field goal in Soldier Field history. Either way, Williams and the Bears escaped with the victory and move to 5-2, now 1.5-games behind the Vikings for the division lead in the most competitive division in football. The Bears get a mini-bye ahead of a Week 8 meeting with the Seahawks on Monday Night Football, where Williams will remain a back-end QB1 in fantasy.

Williams was all the way back in this one, returning to action after three weeks on the sideline recovering from a hamstring injury. His only real miss of the day came on a ten yard throw to Colston Loveland that should have been an easy touchdown. Williams tormented the pass-funnel Atlanta defense with middle-of-the-field throws, along with typical out-of-structure passes to the sideline. It was an impressive outing against a Falcons defense giving up the league’s fifth lowest drop back success rate. Williams should remain in lineups in Week 7 against the Patriots.

Williams will make his return to the starting lineup after being sidelined for a few weeks with a hamstring injury while the Bears declared RB Kyle Monangai, CB Tyrique Stevenson, LB T.J. Edwards, LB Keyshaun Elliott, OL Jordan McFadden, DL Jayden Loving, and QB Case Keenum inactive against Atlanta. Monongai’s absence should translate into another big workload for D’Andre Swift, facing a tough Falcons rush defense. Meanwhile, Tyson Bagent will serve as Williams’ backup.

This was expected to be the case but is now confirmed by sources close to the team. Williams returns after missing the previous three games as the Bears look to claw their way back into contention in a crowded NFC North division. Consider it a sizable boost for all Chicago pass catchers.

Normally, social media posts don’t count for much. However, earlier today, Bears coach Ben Johnson said that the Bears should have more clarity on Williams’ status by the end of the day, after the medical team put Williams through “the final stress tests” in his return-to-play program. We are inferring that Williams’ social media post suggests he passed the final medical testing, though we have not officially received word that this is indeed the case. For now, we tentatively expect Williams to play on Sunday. He can be treated as a mid-to-low QB1.

The Bears are smartly taking a conservative approach with their franchise quarterback. Williams had a limited practice session last week and practiced fully this week. Bears coach Ben Johnson told reporters that the team should have more clarity by the end of the day on whether Williams has passed his return-to-play plan’s final stress tests. Stay tuned.

The Bears’ QB1 is seemingly on track to make his return this week, when his team takes on the Falcons. When speaking to reporters after practice, though, Williams said he does not know if he is going to play yet, adding that he still has a number of tests and protocols to go through before he’s cleared. If active, Williams could end up running a little less frequently than he did early in the year, perhaps playing cautiously in his first game back. Regardless, Williams is a low-end QB1 if he is indeed active.

Technically, Williams was estimated as a full participant ahead of the Bears’ Week 6 game against the Falcons. We’ll see if Williams, who has missed the past three games, practices in full on Thursday. Either way he’s likely to be under center against the pass-funnel Atlanta defense in Week 6. He should be in all lineups if he’s active.