Bears rookie LT Chris Williams has surgery; questions abound
Bears rookie left tackle and 14th overall pick Chris Williams had surgery on a herniated disk. The surgery will keep Williams out for an unspecified amount of time. However, according to Bears GM Jerry Angelo, it shouldn’t keep him out the entire season.
“We have to wait and see…how the rehab is,” Angelo told reporters, “but the good news is we’re going to get him back.”
No one saw this surgery coming. In fact, no one knows when it was even done. It’s being reported that surgery was performed either Wednesday night or Thursday morning. Why don’t we know the day the surgery was done? Well, the Bears have been mum on Chris Williams‘ back ever since he got taken out of the first day of training camp with “back spasms.” Williams was the slated starter at left tackle this season, but his absence will leave an opening for John St. Clair to compete against…well…nobody knows. The Bears are mum on that too.
The Chicago Tribune reports that the Bears are in talks with tackle Fred Miller, who they cut loose in February, about a possible return as a quick fix. It is also rumored that they are talking to the Cleveland Browns about a trade for right tackle Kevin Shaffer, who is currently on the market.
The Bears basically mortgaged the farm on Williams, making him the only new acquisition on a hapless offensive line. Head Coach Lovie Smith said during his post-game press conference following a 24-20 preseason loss to the Kansas City Chiefs that he is “disappointed” by all that has transpired.
“When you draft a player like that, we have big plans for Chris,” said Smith. “We still have big plans for Chris. They’ll just be delayed a bit. We’d like to have him out there.”
Multiple media outlets have reported that Williams’ back injury was not related to a rumored back injury that circulated before the NFL Draft. Whether it was or not, this is just more bad luck for the Bears. Two days ago, projected starting left guard Terrance Metcalf had arthroscopic right knee surgery.
Surprisingly, during their first preseason bout, the Bears offensive line did well in the absence of both guys. In their places were second-year left guard Josh Beekman and left tackle John St. Clair, who seemed to have some chemistry going. However, it’s still too early to bank on that being effective during the regular season.
Like many things this offseason, Chicago fans will have to just grin and BEAR it!
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