Caleb Williams makes lame attempt to call out Lions linebacker Jack Campbell

After Thursday's inexplicable clock management failure that sabotaged the final moments of their second half comeback against the Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams or his now-fired head coach Matt Eberflus could logically explain what happened.

Early in the third quarter of the game, Williams took a low hit along the sideline from Lions linebacker Jack Campbell at the end of a run. It looked really bad, as you can see below, and Williams did seem to be hampered at times from there on out in the game. But after getting looked at in the medical tent, he did not miss a snap.

In that situation, Williams is a runner and the protections he's afforded as a quarterback don't apply anymore. So right or wrong, he's fair game to be hit (within the rules) as if he's a normal runner. If history is any indicator, he wouldn't be the first quarterback to not really care for being hit as if he's a running back.

Caleb Williams makes lame attempt to call out Jack Campbell

After the game, after his word salads about how the end of the game situation was botched, Williams was asked if he thought the hit by Campbell was a dirty play.

"Um, knee’s fine,” Williams said, not directly answering at first. “Yeah, I — that play was funky. Just put it that way. I don’t really — you know, I didn’t really appreciate the play. He just kind of dove straight at my knee. So I didn’t really get that. Definitely kind of frustrated about that one, just ‘cause you know, whatever. Yeah, knee’s good. Nothing wrong with it. Think I just got a bruise. But the play was — the play was funky.”

Williams' description of the play as "funky" is not wrong. But Campbell did not dive straight at his knee, and it looked like he tried to pull out some kind of a move to make Campbell miss.

A segment of fans have lamented it as a dirty play, while others have more objectively said Campbell hit Williams in the upper thigh or hip area and put the onus on Williams to get out of bounds, slide, etc. in that situation.

At least a couple current or former players, and possibly more upon deeper review, put their thoughts out there on Twitter about the play.

It's easy to say, but Williams should have just continued out of bounds instead of slowing up and seemingly trying to make a move he had at best a coin-flip chance of pulling off. Campbell simply did not miss with his tackle attempt, and Williams' body and left knee torqued awkwardly with the direct hit. If anything, maybe Campbell hits him on the out of bounds line if he doesn't stop, and the Bears get a free 15 yards.

"I didn't really appreciate the play."

Williams could've have just called Campbell's hit dirty, uncalled for, etc. if that's how he feels about it. Instead the rookie signal caller chose a lame attempt to try to call the Lions' linebacker out, as if to say "how dare he hit me when I was a a runner and I stayed in-bounds."