Bears QB photo appears amid Caleb Williams hamstring injury; Case Keenum will start against the Eagles

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 hamstring strain, NFL Network reported Sunday, an injury that could keep him out for a month. And with backup Tyson Bagent limited during the week of practice due to a concussion, the Bears plan to start Case Keenum against the Eagles on Monday, Fox reported.

Bagent practiced Saturday, cleared the concussion protocol Sunday and no longer has an injury designation for Monday, making him available as a backup to Keenum, who practiced all week and was involved in every step of the game plan. Bagent was not at Halas Hall earlier in the week dealing with a concussion.

The Bears will likely promote practice squad quarterback Miller Moss to the active roster on Monday so he can be the third emergency quarterback.

A Grade 2 hamstring strain can cost a player at least a month, although the Bears remain optimistic that Williams could recover more quickly. He hasn’t practiced since he was injured Sept. 20 against the Vikings and was ruled out for Monday, but coach Ben Johnson stuck with a “week-to-week” designation on him.

The Bears don’t plan to place Williams on injured reserve, which would force him to miss a minimum of four games, but they have until Monday at 3 p.m. to change their minds if they want the Eagles game to count toward all four.

“This guy is a little different than the average human being,” Johnson said Monday. “He’s coming back – he’s done it in the past, much faster than people can imagine.

“I’m not putting a timetable on this. We’re going to say week to week. He’s going to attack this with everything he knows. He’s got a great team around him, both in this building and outside of this building, and we’ll see where it goes from there.”

After hosting the Eagles on Monday, the Bears will return against the Jets on Sunday, then visit the Packers on October 11 and the Falcons on October 18.

Neither Keenum nor Bagent have started a game since 2023, when Bagent filled in four starts for Justin Fields and Keenum started twice for the Texans.

Keenum, 38, is on his eighth team in 15 seasons since joining the NFL as an undrafted rookie out of Houston in 2012. The Bears signed him last year primarily to be a mentor to Williams and Bagent, and he has generally been inactive as an emergency quarterback on game days.

Bagent played the final two possessions of the Bears’ 9-3 loss to the Vikings last week and took several hard hits, including what looked like a helmet-to-helmet shot from linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel. He reported concussion symptoms to the team on Tuesday.

“First and foremost, we want him to be healthy,” Johnson said Saturday when asked about Bagent’s readiness to play. “That was his No. 1 priority. Then as things progressed, he was able to attend the meetings (Friday) and now he’s in practice, and so he’s on track to be where he needs to be. Mentally, he’s going to be in a good position for what we’re asking him to do.”