Is the Chargers' No. 7 overall pick Mike Williams already behind the eight ball?
Head coach Anthony Lynn sounded a tiny bit concerned about his first ever first-round pick in Los Angeles, who injured his back two weeks ago and still remains sidelined during organized team activities.
"I'd like to see him out there next week because he's getting behind right now, and we've got to get him back out on the field," Lynn said, via ESPN.com. "If he wasn't a rookie it would be different. But he has so much to learn, and some of this you can only learn on the field."
Added Philip Rivers: "Obviously, it's nothing he can't catch up on. But this to me is valuable time, especially at his position. With all of the things we ask for from our receivers formation-wise and all of the things we do like no-huddle, it would be good for him to be out there doing this."
Each year we seem to have at least one frustrating, nagging injury to a potentially explosive skill position rookie with vastly different outcomes. At this point a few years ago, then-Giants head coach Tom Coughlin was agonizing over a recurring hamstring injury in Odell Beckham that eventually cost him a few games of his rookie season.
He turned out to be worth the wait.
Lynn now has to find the balance between getting his rookie's feet wet and keeping him in bubble wrap in case the back injury sprawls into something more serious. It underscores the tenuous situation the Chargers have with their pass catchers at the moment. With Williams falling behind, the spotlight turns to Keenan Allen, who played in just one game last year following an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear (the season before, his year ended prematurely following a kidney issue).
Should they both make it to the regular season in football shape, this has to be one of the scariest offenses in the division. If Lynn has to go free agency-diving for pass catchers this early, the coach of the trendiest team in football all-of-a-sudden has a big problem on his shoulders.
