Tag: Mike Williams injury

Chargers WR Quentin Johnston set for expanded role in wake of Mike Williams’ injury

With Mike Williams out for the season, Quentin Johnston’s playing time will increase.

The Chargers suffered a massive blow as Mike Williams was ruled out for the remainder of the 2023 season with a torn ACL.

For a team that has dealt with injuries in seasons prior, the mantra has always been “next man up.” In this case, it will be Joshua Palmer and rookie Quentin Johnston playing alongside Keenan Allen.

Johnston, the team’s 2023 first-round pick, has played just 48 offensive snaps in three games, which has resulted in five catches for 26 yards.

When they drafted him, the initial plan for Johnston was to bring him along slowly as he was a high-upside player yet still had a lot to work on. But now, he will need to step up quicker than expected.

“We drafted Quentin with the belief in the player and the long-term vision,” Brandon Staley said, per the Chargers’ official website. “Now he’s going to get an opportunity. And now you’re going to see more of him.”

Johnston has the speed and explosiveness to stretch the field, outpace defenders in the open field, and has the size to stack defensive backs.

Expect Kellen Moore to design plays for Justin Herbert to get Johnston the ball in space. He averaged 8.9 yards after the catch in 2022 (10th in FBS), and his 18 forced missed tackles ranked eighth this season among receivers in the Power 5 conferences.

This weekend will be a great opportunity for Johnston to flash that tantalizing skill set facing a struggling Raiders secondary.

“All he needs to continue to do is what he’s done ever since he’s been here, which is continue to make progress on the field,” Staley added. “Over time, he’s going to make more and more plays for us. We’re really happy with him but he’s going to get to shine in a bigger way now.”

Chargers WR Mike Williams suffers season-ending knee injury

Mike Williams is out for the remainder of the 2023 season.

During Sunday’s victory over the Vikings, Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams suffered a torn ACL that will rule him out for the rest of the 2023 season.

The injury occurred with a little under two minutes left in the third quarter. After taking a screen pass and getting hit, Williams went down clutching his left knee. He had to be helped off the field and carted to the locker room.

Before leaving the game, Williams was a big piece of Los Angeles’ offensive success, hauling in six passes for 110 yards and a touchdown.

Williams had 19 receptions for 249 yards and one score over the first three games of the year.

Williams has dealt with various injuries throughout his career. But when on the field, he has been nothing short of a reliable receiver, with his ability to put his body on the line and make tough catches look routine.

Williams is expected to be ready for training camp next year.

With Williams out, Joshua Palmer and rookie Quentin Johnston will see extended playing time going forward alongside Keenan Allen.

Chargers WR Mike Williams’ injury revealed

Chargers WR Mike Williams is expected to be sidelined for two to three weeks.

Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams was ruled out for Saturday’s Wild Card playoff game against the Jaguars on Friday.

Williams has a small, nonsurgical fracture in his back that is expected to sideline him for two to three weeks, according to ESPN’s Lindsey Thiry.

That means barring a trip to the Super Bowl, Williams would be out for the remainder of the playoffs if Los Angeles beats Jacksonville.

Williams’ x-ray and MRI were initially negative, and it was deemed a back contusion. But since it had not progressed, it led to another MRI, resulting in Williams being diagnosed with the fracture.

Williams finished the 2022 season with 63 catches, 895 yards and four touchdowns in 13 games. He missed four games with a high ankle sprain.

With Williams ruled out, Joshua Palmer and DeAndre Carter will be in line to see additional playing time alongside Keenan Allen.

Chargers WR Mike Williams ruled out for Wild Card round vs. Jaguars

The Chargers will be without a key piece of their offense.

The Chargers will have to get past the Jaguars without Mike Williams.

The team announced on Friday that Williams will remain in Los Angeles to undergo further treatment for the back injury he suffered in Week 18 against the Broncos. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero later reported that further testing revealed a fracture in Williams’ back that will sideline him for multiple weeks.

It’s a poor look for Brandon Staley and the Chargers. Williams was injured in a game where LA had nothing to play for: they were already locked into the five seed by virtue of a Ravens loss earlier in the day. Then, on Monday, Staley said in his weekly press conference that Williams would practice at least once, with the expectation that he would play on Saturday. After three straight DNPs from the receiver, Staley said Thursday that rest was more important than practice reps and that Williams would be questionable. Less than 24 hours later, Williams has been ruled out.

Back injuries have a notoriously variable recovery timeline, so perhaps Staley was optimistic about Williams’ chances heading into a playoff game. But this is a pattern of behavior regarding inconsistent messaging from the Chargers’ head coach, and it will cost LA one of their most valuable players on offense.

Without Williams, LA will turn to Josh Palmer, who has 72 catches for 769 yards and 3 TDs on the season, to start opposite of Keenan Allen.

The team also announced they elevated running back Larry Rountree III and defensive tackle David Moa from the practice squad for Saturday’s contest.

Chargers lose WR Mike Williams to head coach Brandon Staley’s hubris

Chargers HC Brandon Staley played WR Mike Williams in a meaningless regular-season finale. Now, he won’t have Williams for the wild-card round.

Sometimes, you really get a sense of how valuable a player is to a team when he’s not on the field for a while. That’s been the case for Los Angeles Chargers receiver Mike Williams, who has missed four full games this season with injuries, and has played 675 snaps to 460 off the field. When Williams is in the game, the Chargers’ passing EPA rises from -0.08 to +0.04, their average depth of target jumps from 5.8 to 6.7, the team’s catch rate goes from 68.5% to 72.1%, and Justin Herbert’s EPA per play goes from 0.02 to 0.12.

So, when your passing game is both more efficient and explosive with a particular receiver on the field, that receiver must be pretty good. Williams can catch the ball deep when he’s given the opportunity, but he’s also an after-the-catch threat, and he has an excellent understanding of where and how to break open in any kind of coverage. The Indianapolis Colts discovered how well Williams can do all these things on this 26-yard play in Week 16 in which 13 yards came after the catch.

Sadly, it was announced on Friday that Williams will be out of the Chargers’ Saturday wild-card playoff game with a back injury he suffered in the team’s 31-28 Week 18 loss to the Denver Broncos. Despite Williams’ injury history this season, head coach Brandon Staley had Williams on the field for 25 snaps. This also despite the fact that the game had no bearing on the Chargers’ postseason seeding — they were going to be the AFC’s five-seed on a no-matter-what basis.

After the game, Staley tried to explain these plans for his starters — this was a game in which star pass-rusher Joey Bosa may have aggravated a previous groin injury, and Staley risked Justin Herbert on the field until the fourth quarter.

“We were trying to compete in the game, and we only have 48 guys on the team that are active for the game, so we wanted to make sure that they went a good way in this football game and competed at a high level,” Staley said. “Then when we felt like it was right for them to get out of the game, and that’s what we’re going to do slowly phased them out so we’re getting ready for next week.

“We only get two practice squad elevations for the game, and you have to put a team out there. You can’t decide when you’re having to play a football game who isn’t going to play and who is going to play and how you’re going to subtract this. You’ve got to go out there and play the football game because this isn’t the preseason where you have 90 guys to choose from. You only have 48 players to choose from so you have to go out there, you have to feel the football team. So we did it the best we could. We wanted to play well in the game and then we wanted to be safe for next week and that’s what we did.”

Except that they didn’t. Staley also said that the decision to play the impact starters was entirely his, so the responsibility will have to be his as well.

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Chargers HC Brandon Staley provides positive update on Mike Williams

Chargers WR Mike Williams left Sunday’s game against the Broncos with a back injury.

Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams left Sunday’s game against the Broncos with a back injury. It appears he doesn’t have an injury that will impact his availability for Saturday’s game against the Jaguars.

Williams’ x-rays that he had conducted yesterday were negative, and head coach Brandon Staley had another positive update on Monday at his media availability. Staley said that an MRI showed a contusion.

Staley said that he expects Williams to practice this week and that the indication is that he will be able to play in Jacksonville.

Not having Williams on the field would have been a considerable loss, as he’s been a key component in the passing game.

Williams had an ankle injury during the regular season that kept him out for four games and most of the Week 11 matchup with the Chiefs.

The big-bodied wideout amassed 63 catches for 895 yards (14.2 yards per reception) and four touchdowns in 13 games.

Additionally, linebacker Kenneth Murray, who left Sunday’s contest with a stinger in the second quarter, will be able to practice this week.

Chargers HC Brandon Staley explains decision to keep starters in late

The Chargers had nothing to gain or lose.

The Chargers entered Sunday’s game against the Broncos with the fifth seed already secured, but that didn’t stop Brandon Staley from playing his starters.

Most of them, including Justin Herbert, stayed in the game through three quarters in the loss to Denver. But, along the way, Staley’s decision backfired.

Mike Williams suffered back spasms in the second quarter, resulting in him getting carted off the field. Joey Bosa and Kenneth Murray also got banged up, which forced them to get pulled out of the action.

Even though the seeding was known before the game, Staley had plans of playing the starters regardless.

“We felt like the process that we would take, regardless if (the Ravens) had won or lost, we knew what our plan was going into the game, and I thought we executed it today,” Staley said.

Did it make sense to play the starters to fine-tune some things, maybe? Yes. But for as long as they did? No. The approach should have been to play the backups extensively.

When Staley was asked why the starters played as long as they did, this was his response:

We only get two practice squad elevations for the game, and you have to put a team out there, and you can’t decide when you’re having to play a football game who isn’t going to play and who is going to play and how you’re going to subtract this. You got to go out there and play the football game, because this isn’t the preseason when you have 90 guys to choose from. You only have 48 players to choose from, so you have to go out there and you have to field a football team. And so we did it the best we could. We wanted to play well in the game, and then we wanted to be safe for next week. And that’s what we did.

Staley added that other teams took the same approach by playing most of their starters for a large portion of the game.

“I think when you look across the league at the other teams who were playing in the playoffs and what they did this last week, I think you’ll see a lot of high-level players playing in their football games. I think that’s fair to say. I think you’ll see all the big-time quarterbacks, big-time players were out there for their football teams because they have to be.”

Across the league, the Giants, who were locked into the sixth seed, sat starters, including Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley, Andrew Thomas, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Dexter Lawrence.

The Buccaneers won the NFC South title a week ago, and they still took a cautious approach. Tom Brady and several other starters were pulled before halftime.

The Chiefs and Bills played their starters for the entirety of their respective games, but they had playoff implications.

Williams had x-rays on his back and the results were negative. He will get more tests done tomorrow. If Williams happens to miss next Saturday’s game against the Jaguars due to the injury, all fingers will be pointed at Staley for his decision.

Studs and duds from Chargers’ loss to Broncos

Highlighting the good and bad from the Chargers’ loss to the Broncos.

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The Chargers came up short on Sunday, falling 31-28 to the Broncos in a bizarrely managed game that involved three-quarters of Los Angeles starters, despite having their playoff spot and seed secured.

Here’s who has momentum leading into the playoffs and who will need to bounce back.

Stud: Keenan Allen

Allen extended his streak of games with at least five receptions to seven with eight receptions for 102 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday, the second of which came from backup Chase Daniel as the Chargers pulled within one possession. It felt, as it often has this season while Allen has been healthy, as though the veteran was open every time the ball came his way. Granted, Allen was matched up with Ja’Quan McMillian, a corner playing his first NFL game, for the majority of the contest. Still, it’s a nice way to ramp up for the regular season, and is only the second time this year Allen has gone over 100 yards.

Dud: Roster management

The fact that the Chargers played their starters into the fourth quarter in a meaningless game, given their injury luck this season, is strange. What makes it stranger is that Joey Bosa exited the game for some time after seemingly reaggravating his groin injury and Mike Williams (back) had to be carted off the field, and then the Chargers still left the rest of the starters out there. You want your starters to carry some momentum into the playoffs and beat a divisional rival. But LA has struggled with injuries all season, and you’d think that heading into the tournament as healthy as possible would take precedence over getting to 11 wins on the season. Beyond the broad scope of things, there are smaller roster decisions to peer at. Why was rookie running back Isaiah Spiller inactive in a game where you had an idea that backups might get some action? With quarterback Easton Stick a pending free agent, why not make him the active backup, with Chase Daniel likely to retire after the season to evaluate the backup spot going into the offseason?

Stud: Kyle Van Noy

Van Noy has come alive to end the season, finishing with a sack in each of his last five games, including Sunday’s contest. The return of Joey Bosa has opened up Van Noy’s role in the last two weeks as well, which partially spurred a game on Sunday in which Van Noy was able to both sack Russell Wilson and tip a pass that resulted in a Sebastian Joseph-Day interception. With all three of Bosa, Khalil Mack, and Van Noy healthy for the playoff run, the Chargers should be able to scheme up one-on-one matchups for each of them. With the way he’s playing, that bodes well for a Van Noy playoff breakout game.

Dud: Deep defense

Russell Wilson completed three passes that went for 50 or more yards on Sunday, a severe departure from the quarterback Broncos fans have seen for most of the season. Perhaps you can chalk things up to the Chargers rotating players on defense, which broke down communication between defenders used to seeing other faces next to them on the back line. But ultimately, those plays indicate a Chargers defensive identity that the team had seemingly buried after the bye week but is beginning to re-emerge down the stretch. With a gauntlet of quarterbacks beginning with the ascendant Trevor Lawrence and likely involving one or more of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and/or Joe Burrow looming, the Chargers need to get their act together if they’re going to make a run.

Stud: Austin Ekeler

Ekeler’s stat line isn’t sexy – 11 carries for 34 yards with a lost fumble, four receptions for 36 yards – but think of this as a season achievement award. With four catches on Sunday, Ekeler passed Keenan Allen for the most receptions in a single season by a Charger with 107. This number is also tied for second in receptions by a running back in a single season with 2018 Christian McCaffrey. The former undrafted free agent also holds a three-touchdown lead over Detroit’s Jamaal Williams going into Sunday Night Football, so there’s a good chance Ekeler ends the regular season as the total touchdown king.

Dud: Alohi Gilman

Gilman has been phenomenal over the past few weeks as he’s filled in for an injured Derwin James or cycled in with Nasir Adderley. Still, Sunday’s performance represented somewhat of a returning to Earth moment for the third-year player. There was the deep shot to Jerry Jeudy at the end of the first half, on which Gilman seemed to slow up as if the play was over before realizing that Russell Wilson had launched the ball in his direction. It’s the second very visible time that Gilman has declared a play over before the referees do: against Miami, he celebrated his forced fumble while Tyreek Hill scooped it out of the rugby scrum and took it in for a touchdown. Gilman did redeem himself later on Sunday when he recovered a punt muffed by Denver’s Brandon Johnson, but after the way he’s performed lately, Sunday was still an underwhelming showing.

Stud: Offensive line

Denver only hit Chargers quarterbacks Justin Herbert and Chase Daniel twice in this game, one of which was Baron Browning’s fifth sack of the season when he took down Herbert. Otherwise, I thought the offensive line was outstanding in this game, especially compared to some of their recent performances. Unfortunately for them, the rest of the team squandered the performance, with two lost fumbles and a number of costly drops that stalled drives that have normally been stopped by offensive line penalties. On the bright side, if the line comes into the playoffs playing like this, and the rest of the offense executes, the Chargers should put up points in bunches as they try to make a run.

Dud: Run defense

Giving up 205 yards to the Broncos on the ground is suboptimal, of course, but what I find more concerning is that Latavius Murray averaged 6.9 yards per carry on 15 rushes that all seemed to find cavernous holes on the offensive line. Again, there are some caveats to be made with the rest patterns of the starting players. But Murray stayed under 7 yards a carry primarily because the second-level defenders for LA were speedy enough to catch the 32-year-old. Next week, the Chargers will have to contend with Travis Etienne, a true burner who will not give LA as many opportunities to make mistakes without being severely punished. At this point, we know the Chargers aren’t going to field a top-tier run defense, but they’ll still need to be better than what they showed on Sunday to get by in the playoffs.

Chargers WR Mike Williams carted off with back injury

The Chargers lost a key piece of the offense in the second quarter.

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Mike Williams looks to be out for the rest of the game.

After leaving the game in the second quarter with a back injury, Williams did not rejoin the offense for their last drive of the first half. He was then carted off the field to the locker room for further evaluation.

Williams is officially questionable to return, but being carted to the locker room is generally not a great sign for the veteran receiver. His potential absence heading into the playoffs would be significantly felt by a Chargers team that was beginning to find a rhythm with him and Keenan Allen fully healthy.

Whether he’s ready to play again against the Broncos or not, it would be a surprise to see Williams back out there in a game that means nothing to Los Angeles. The team has already locked in the fifth seed in the AFC playoffs by virtue of the Ravens’ loss earlier on Sunday and will play the Jaguars on Wild Card Weekend.

Chargers WR Mike Williams questionable to return vs. Broncos

Perhaps the Chargers should’ve rested more starters.

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Perhaps the Chargers should’ve rested more starters.

With the Ravens’ loss to the Bengals, Los Angeles is locked into the five seed in the AFC playoffs. There’s nothing to play for against the Broncos except pride and momentum.

Even so, Brandon Staley elected to have most starters suit up and play. In the second quarter, that decision started to backfire. Joey Bosa limped off the field after appearing to reaggravate his surgically repaired groin. Then, Mike Williams limped off the field with a back injury and did not rejoin the offensive unit for their last drive of the first half. He is questionable to return.

It’s a potentially costly move for Staley and the Chargers, who are deadset on playing the Jaguars next week no matter what. Even after the injuries, starters Justin Herbert, Austin Ekeler, and Keenan Allen were still on the field to end the first half.