What History Says About Caleb Williams and Bears Trying to Bounce Back

How Caleb Williams bounces back from his first extended period away due to injury is every bit the theme for Sunday's Bears game at Atlanta as how the team performs coming off its worst performance since losing 52-21 to Detroit in Ben Johnson's second game as coach.

Uncertainty rules in either situation based on the past because there hasn't been any history of absence for Williams and not much of one for adversity with Johnson's team.

However, there have been some. Here is what they suggest.

Caleb Williams after breaks

The problem with trying to forecast how Caleb Williams will play following three missed games due to a hamstring injury is he has never been injured in the past. However, there are instances when he had plenty of time off or even an extra day or so before taking the field again.

In lieu of rebounding from past injuries, this at least indicates how he handles periods off or away beyond a normal work week.

The first instance of this occurred when the Bears played Washington in the Hail Mary game in 2024. They went into it after two weeks away due to their bye week, following a blowout win overseas in London against Jacksonville. Williams wasn't very good on that day, at 10 of 24 for 131 yards. But he did scramble for 47 big yards in what would have been a win, except for Tyrique Stevenson playing out of control on one final Jayden Daniels heave.

In terms of won-loss records, Williams is only 3-6 when he has had more than a week for his next game. This doesn't include his first game ever because he hadn't been in the NFL prior to that one.

Williams hasn't necessarily played poorly in these nine games, though. He had a 94.8 passer rating for the nine games with 183 of 293 (62.4%) for 2,000 yards (222 yards a game) and 12 touchdowns. The interesting part is how few interceptions he had. He threw only one interception total in those nine games when he had extra time to prepare since his NFL debut.

He also had his biggest rushing days after longer periods off. In the 2025 opener, he had six carries for 58 yards in a loss against Minnesota and made 10 carries for 65 yards in this year's opener with Carolina after a full offseason away. In the Hail Mary game, when he'd had two weeks away, he rushed for 47 yards on nine carries. All three represent his top three rushing attempts in games after a break and top three yards gained rushing.

Combine that tendency to run it more with his lack of interceptions and it looks like Williams will be extra cautious with the football and run it himself more. Critics might say he was rusty, uncertain and needed to run it more after holding it too long. Either way, it indicates he's not going to put the ball in harm's way and will take off on his own if need be.

Of course, the fact he's coming off a hamstring injury suggests he might try to run less anyway but he would have none of that talk when asked about it.

“No. I'll take off," he said.

Maybe his best overall game with extra time was the one at San Francisco last year when the Bears lost 42-38. He only had one extra day then, though. Williams went 25-of-42 for 330 yards with two touchdowns and ran for 18 yards. Second best was the 17-of-29 performance for 252 yards and a touchdown in last year's dramatic comeback win over Washington, when they had a full 15 days before the next game.

Rebounding well

Johnson's ability to bring a team back after a loss is even more encouraging than Williams' record of performance following breaks or longer prep time. He saw evidence in practice focus of how they didn't enjoy losing the game to their biggest rivals.

“It's a prideful group," Johnson said.

The Bears are 6-2 in games after a loss when Johnson is coach. This includes their playoff win over Green Bay. It includes their opener this year with Carolina after they had a playoff loss last year to the Rams.

The other game this season Johnson coached after a defeat was following the blown game against Minnesota at home when Williams suffered his hamstring injury, D'Andre Swift fumbled at the 1-yard line and Cairo Santos had a tying field goal blocked late in the fourth quarter from only 23 yards out when Sam Roushar whiffed while blocking the player who knocked down the kick.

In 2025, Johnson's biggest comeback win was 31-14 over Dallas after their most embarrassing defeat besides last week's with Green Bay. They had lost 52-21 to Johnson's mentor, Detroit coach Dan Campbell.

The only team to beat the Bears when Johnson is coach following a defeat is Johnson's former team. Besides beating the Bears badly after the 2025 season opener, they also won last year over the Bears at Soldier Field 19-16 to close the regular season in what turned out to be a meaningless game one week after San Francisco had beaten the Bears 42-38. No one else has beaten Johnson coming off a loss.

Their list of wins after defeats includes the 27-7 win over the Eagles with Case Keenum at quarterback, the easy 31-14 win over Dallas at home last season, the wild 47-42 comeback win over Cincinnati last year one week after losing at Baltimore, the 31-3 rout of Cleveland at home a week after losing 28-21 at Green Bay, and their big comeback playoff win at Soldier Field one week after losing to the Lions in the regular-season finale.

There is nothing to suggest the Bears would have a problem following up on their most disappointing defeat of this season or that Williams will have problems shaking off rust and winning a game at Atlanta after inactivity, but each game is a new situation in and of itself in the NFL.

Johnson has said this often himself.

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