Caleb Williams on Jack Campbell’s hit to his left knee: ‘I didn’t really appreciate the play’

During the second half of Thursday’s game in Detroit, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams suffered a low blow from Lions linebacker Jack Campbell on the sideline. Williams’ left knee buckled and it initially looked as if he had suffered a serious knee injury. After being examined in the medical tent, he returned to the game without missing an offensive snap.

After the game, Williams was asked by reporters if it had been a flawless game.

“Um, the knee is fine,” Williams said, without directly answering the question. “Yes, I – the piece was crazy. Just say it like that. I don’t really know – you know, I didn’t really appreciate the piece. He just fell straight onto my knee. So I didn’t really understand that. I’m definitely kind of frustrated about it, just because you know, whatever. Yes, the knee is fine. There’s nothing wrong with that. I think I just bruised myself. But the play was – the play was crazy.”

Here is the piece. It Was funky, but it was also clean. When a quarterback becomes a runner, a hit at or below the knee is legal.

In this case, Williams apparently tried to make a Lamar Jackson-style freeze/stop, with Campbell flying by and Williams gaining more yards. It didn’t work.

Once a quarterback leaves the pocket, he loses certain protections. As soon as he crosses the line of scrimmage, he loses all protections that do not otherwise apply to running backs.

Campbell was allowed to hit him low. For this reason, Williams should have simply been sidelined. More importantly, he shouldn’t have tried to move along the sideline hoping Campbell would miss.

The fact that Campbell didn’t miss is on Williams, not Campbell.