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Here’s a bit of good news after the New Orleans Saints’ close loss to the Kansas City Chiefs: NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that Saints safety Marcus Williams avoided serious injury after exiting Sunday’s game with what has initially been diagnosed a low-ankle sprain.
Williams is scheduled to have more tests on Monday, but that’s as positive as you could hope for at first blush. He initially couldn’t put any weight on his right leg after his cleats appeared to catch in the Superdome turf as he tried to reel in an errant Patrick Mahomes throw, though Williams was seen jogging on the sideline.
Dodging any season-threatening injuries like a ruptured Achilles or high-ankle sprain should be seen as a big win for Williams, and the Saints defense as a whole. He’s settled in very well after a rough start to the year and created several big pass breakups in Sunday’s game. He also intercepted Mahomes early on, though it was wiped out by a penalty.
He remains tied for the team lead in interceptions (3), and went into Week 15’s matchup having logged more defensive snaps (814) than any other Saints player. He’ll be a big loss even if the Saints have veterans waiting in the wings on the depth chart.
For now, we’ll assume that defensive backs P.J. Williams and D.J. Swearinger will fill in for Williams until he’s cleared to return. That was the approach the Saints took mid-game on Sunday, and it worked well enough as a quick fix. Maybe they can come up with something different after a week’s practice.
But we shouldn’t assume that Williams is going to miss an extended time if his condition is as minor as it’s been first reported. Stay tuned.
#Saints S Marcus Williams, a key cog in their secondary, suffered a low-ankle sprain vs the #Chiefs, source said. He’ll have tests tomorrow, but it doesn’t appear to be too serious.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 21, 2020