Kyler Gordon on PUP — don't push that panic button yet

It wouldn't be a Bears preseason if there weren't an eve-of-training-camp issue to worry about. Slot cornerback Kyler Gordon being put on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list with another soft-tissue injury certainly merits the usual concern and skepticism. But it comes with a twist that defines the 2026 season: As long as Ben Johnson is on the sideline and Caleb Williams is healthy, the Bears still are in better shape than they've been in a long, long time. Even if Kyler Gordon doesn't play a down this season.

The Bears will have their usual injury problems, but they have something they haven't had in decades — a quarterback in the NFL's Top 100 who doesn't miss a game. Williams is ranked No. 51 in NFL.com's annual Top 100 list. The only other Bears quarterback to make the list in the 16-year history of the countdown is Justin Fields, who was No. 86 in 2023 (and in Pittsburgh a year later).

In typical Bears fashion, Fields was injured after the best two-game passing stretch of his career in 2023 — four touchdown passes in back-to-back games against the Commanders and Broncos — and missed the next four games after suffering a dislocated thumb when he was sacked by the Vikings' Danielle Hunter.

Williams not only is a better quarterback than Fields, but so far has been much more durable — in fact, more durable than any Bears quarterback in 50 years. Williams has started 36 consecutive games since joining the Bears. He's started every game in consecutive seasons — no Bears quarterback had started every game in even one season since Jay Cutler in his first season with the Bears in 2009.

Williams' 36-game starting streak (including playoffs) already is third on the Bears' all-time list for quarterbacks, behind Bob Avellini (43 games) and Bill Wade (38 games). At that pace — knock on wood — he'll pass Wade in Week 3 against the Eagles on Monday Night Football at Soldier Field; and he'll pass Avellini in Week 8 against the Seahawks on Monday Night Football at Lumen Field. (Williams could add "The Iron Horse" to "The Iceman" on his list of stolen nicknames if he makes it.)

Whether Williams takes the next step toward "elite" status is a more over-arching issue for the Bears this season. But, barring an unexpected regression to Fields/Trubisky fledgling-franchise-QB status, the Johnson/Williams combo as it stands today gives the Bears a higher floor than they've had in decades — a chance to win games when the quarterback, the defense or even the coach has a bad day, and as it's already been proven, a chance to win playoff games. They'll need more than that to win the Super Bowl, but it's never a bad place to start. In fact, it's the best place to start.

As Bears fans have seen in Green Bay and other NFL cities for years, that stellar quarterback/coach combination solves a lot of problems, mitigates a lot of existing issues and gives you what you deserve. So who cares where Williams ranks among quarterbacks in the NFL, or where the Bears' offense or wide receiver corps or tight end room or offensive line ranks. With a coach like Ben Johnson and a quarterback like Caleb Williams, you pretty quickly get the credit you deserve — and the issues that come with it. You think Kyler Gordon's injury is an problem? Wait until Luther Burden or some other blossoming weapon wants a new deal or the ball more. That's when you'll really know the Bears have made it.

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