Rob Gronkowski says Caleb Williams' viral injury reaction was about 'passion' – not pain
Caleb Williams’ reaction to his injury during the Chicago Bears’ Week 2 went viral after fans learned it wasn’t as bad as initially thought.
Fans began to rip Williams for how he treated his hamstring injury in the moment, as to Bears staffers helped him off the wet Soldier Field grass as his leg dragged on the turf. Then, he had a towel over his head on a cart to the locker room before taking it off and throwing up his fist to the sold-out crowd of Bears fans.
But when it came out that Williams would be week-to-week, instead of being lost for the season as his reaction seemed to indicate, he received backlash on social media from those who believed he exaggerated.
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For legendary NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski, he believes Williams’ "passion" was the reason for his reaction in the moment.
"Here’s the thing is that he’s never really been injured before from what I believe, so he doesn’t know truly what an injury is," Gronkowski told OutKick at a New York City event for his partnership with Bounty. "And he was riding on a high. He had a great game Week 1, he was ready to play all year going into this season. I feel like it was more about passion that he showed than being hurt with the injury – that’s the thing."
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From "Gronk’s" point of view, he also believed Williams was dealing with a severe injury, perhaps a Grade 3 hamstring strain based on the way he pulled up.
"If looked like it was a Grade 3 [strain], and Grade 3 I understand you’re like, ‘Oh my God.’ That one would hurt. You’re going to be pissed, you’re going to be sad, and you know it’s blown out," he added.
However, for someone who played through multiple injuries throughout his 11-year career in the league, Gronkowski knows the difference between a Grade 3, that would leave you out for weeks, and a week-to-week injury in the moment.
"If he’s week-to-week, it wasn’t the pain because I’ve had injuries. That’s not that much pain the way he went," Gronkowski explained. "But I would say he had so much passion going into the season, going into the game that. From my view and my opinion is that he was more hurt because he wasn’t sure how long of an injury that was and he wanted to be out there. He was just disappointed in that aspect."
While the Bears haven’t officially ruled out Williams for Week 3, head coach Ben Johnson said he considers his franchise quarterback to be week-to-week as they evaluate the injury moving forward. Williams’ backup, though, might not be available against the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil, as Tyson Bagent is in concussion protocol.
He did, however, participate in practice on Saturday, so there is hope that Bagent will suit up and lead the offense in Week 3.
If Bagent can't go, that would leave Case Keenum, the journeyman third-string quarterback, to potentially be starting for Chicago in the primetime matchup on "Monday Night Football."