Chicago Bears rolling along nicely with Caleb Williams sidelined by a hamstring injury

CHICAGO (AP) — No Caleb Williams has been no problem for the Chicago Bears so far.

Chicago has two impressive wins since Williams went down with a hamstring injury in the fourth quarter of its Week 2 loss against Minnesota. Helped by the offense controlling the time of possession, the defense has surrendered just 19 points, 21 first downs and 405 yards over the past two games.

“We are playing pretty good complementary football, something that we got to do each and every week to be at our best,” coach Ben Johnson said.

Williams has been ruled out for Chicago's Week 5 game at Green Bay. Tyson Bagent is expected to start against the Packers after he passed for a career-high 268 yards in Sunday's 23-12 victory over the New York Jets.

The timeline for Williams' return is unclear. A cautious approach was always the most logical plan for the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft, and the way Chicago has played has only reinforced the likelihood of that course of action.

“He’s doing a great job with his rehab,” Johnson said Monday. “He’s not going to be there this week for us, but we think it’s still a week-to-week deal for us.”

The defense was a major concern going into the season, but it has delivered since Chicago's 59-37 victory at Carolina in the opener.

The Bears (3-1) have allowed fewer than 13 points in three straight games in a season for the first time since a four-game streak in 2005. They sacked Geno Smith three times while surrendering just 157 yards in the win over the Jets.

Johnson said he has a ton of confidence in Chicago's defense.

“We had two sudden changes yesterday and they didn’t bat an eye,” he said. “They went out on the field and held them to two field goals. I thought it was outstanding. That’s kind of who they are. We talk all the time about it’s a long game, 60-minute game, and yet they’re a poised group.”

The Bears rushed for 232 yards against the Jets. They lead the NFL with 785 yards rushing on 159 attempts.

Kyle Monangai (324 yards) and D’Andre Swift (311) are the first running back duo to each gain at least 300 yards rushing in the first four weeks of a season since Lawrence McCutcheon and John Cappelletti for the Los Angeles Rams in 1976.

Chicago scored two touchdowns on seven trips to the red zone against New York. It turned the ball over on downs at the 1 on its first drive, Cairo Santos kicked three field goals and Chicago ran out the clock on its final drive.

The Bears have finished 42.1% (8 for 19) of their red-zone drives with a TD, ranking 30th in the NFL. They are averaging 3.58 points per red-zone drive, last in the league.

“I feel like everything needs to get cleaned up if we want to go where we’re trying to go,” receiver Luther Burden said. “Coaches, players, everything. We all have to come together and fix it.”

Dayo Odeyingbo has one sack in each of the last three games. Odeyingbo signed a $48 million, three-year contract with Chicago in March 2025, but the edge rusher played in just eight games last season before he was sidelined by an Achilles tendon injury.

“Really pleased with where he’s at,” Johnson said. "His high effort, high intensity shows up week in and week out.”

Swift was stuffed on fourth-and-goal at the 1 on Chicago's first drive. He also lost a fumble at the Bears 28 in the third quarter, leading to a field goal for the Jets.

Swift fumbled at the Minnesota 1 on Chicago's first possession of the second half in a 9-3 loss to the Vikings on Sept. 20. The veteran running back lost a total of two fumbles all of last season.

Johnson described Monangai's thumb injury as more of a day-to-day situation. “We’ll see what it looks like as we go through the week here,” Johnson said.

9 — The Bears have allowed an NFL-low nine third-down conversions in 38 attempts. The 23.6% rate for opponent third-down conversions ranks second in the league behind Minnesota at 22.6% (12 for 53).

Chicago, which visits Green Bay on Sunday, won the last two of three meetings with the Packers last season, including a wild 31-27 win in the playoffs.

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Chicago Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent throws during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson is seen before an NFL football game against the New York Jets Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 5, 2026--

Cities are integrating artificial intelligence into public services and operations with no shared framework for measuring or comparing how prepared they are to do so safely, effectively or accountably.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261005281462/en/

Existing global indices compare countries on legislation, investment and research output, but the AI efforts happening at city level – the level of government where the technology most directly shapes daily life – are not systematically captured.

To start closing that gap, Oxford Insights researchers studied AI readiness across six cities. They found that all share the same core priorities, from governance and funding to talent and infrastructure, but take distinct routes to AI readiness, shaped both by structural conditions and by deliberate strategic choices.

The findings draw on an in-depth study of Abu Dhabi, where researchers were able to observe city-level AI readiness being actively built rather than planned.

The UAE capital was considered alongside five further international cities: Seoul, London, Montreal, Helsinki and Tallinn.

A report published today sets out the foundation for a proposed City AI Readiness Index, giving city governments a comparable reference point to that which national governments have used since 2017 – and giving citizens and residents a clearer picture of how prepared their city is.

"Cities are where most people deal with government, yet there has been no shared way to judge how ready they are for AI," said Richard Stirling, CEO of Oxford Insights. "Our framework will give city leaders that information, and Abu Dhabi was the right place to test it. It has assembled every layer of the AI stack, from compute and energy through models and capital to government as a large-scale user. Applying the framework to other cities then shows the different routes they are taking and what each one relies on."

City AI Readiness: A Deep Dive into Abu Dhabi and the Global Landscape was produced in collaboration with Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence and Khalifa University.

It finds no single model of AI readiness and identifies areas requiring continued attention as deployment scales, including compute and energy requirements, talent, governance and resilience.

Researchers used a six-pillar framework for understanding AI readiness and identified four city archetypes that can help leaders assess strengths, gaps and priorities for future development.

They are infrastructure-led "Platform Cities", research-driven "Cognitive Cities", service-focused "Delivery Cities" and "Strategic Cities", where AI sits at the centre of government and economic planning.

Abu Dhabi was identified alongside Seoul as a Strategic City.

In January 2025, it launched a three-year strategy to transform into the world's first AI-native government.

TAMM, its agentic AI-powered public services platform used by 4.7 million, now resolves 96 per cent of enquiries autonomously through AI.

Oxford Insights plans to pilot the index across 15 to 20 cities.

About Oxford Insights

Since 2017, Oxford Insights has produced the Government AI Readiness Index — the first global AI index focused specifically on the role of government. Used by countries around the world as a benchmark, the Index features in multiple national AI strategies and informs policy making at the highest levels. Oxford Insights is a research and advisory firm specialising in government AI readiness and digital transformation.

Notes to editors

* Source: AETOSWire

Cover of Oxford Insights' latest report on City AI Readiness. (Graphic: AETOSWire)