The Buffalo Bills announced Tuesday that safety Aaron Williams has been placed on the injured reserve after getting hit hard vs. the Miami Dolphins.
Unfortunately, this has been the case for Buffalo Bills‘ safety Aaron Williams before. In fact, it was last year during the second week of NFL action that he initially injured his neck, leading him to surgery and a big career decision to make.
In that second week of the 2015 season, the Bills were playing the New England Patriots. Making a diving tackle on Julian Edelman, Williams was seen not moving on the ground after the play. He was evaluated at the hospital and would later return to the field for Week 5 vs. the Titans.
When he returned, he only played a few games until he noticed something wasn’t right. He would return to the game in the second half, but after making a tackle he noticed something was still wrong — feeling numbness in his arm.
The neck injury would later require surgery and ended up keeping him sidelined for the rest of the season. At the end of the season, Williams was faced with a decision to either play football or go a different path.
We all remember those first days of training camp, when we would cringe every time he would get close to touching someone. Then when preseason came, it was a real test to see if he can play again. When he started making real hits and tackles on players at full speed, he started to get his confidence back.
When Week 3 of the regular season came along — vs. the Arizona Cardinals — Williams had his first big play of the season when he returned a botched field goal snap for a 53-yard TD. It was bittersweet for a player that wasn’t even sure if he would play football again entering this season.
Unfortunately, the injury bug returned during Week 7 vs. the Dolphins and it was even scarier that it was his neck again.
If you were watching the game, you remember the block by Dolphins’ receiver Jarvis Landry on Williams, sending him to the ground. It was a brutal, dirty hit by Landry and led to fine — although it should’ve led to an ejection and suspension, but that’s none of my business.
As soon as the game was over, rumors started to re-surface about whether he will play football again. It was quickly decided that he would have another huge decision to make after the season was over and it was clear that we wouldn’t see him on the field again this year.
On Tuesday, more rumors started, but this time it was over the re-signing of Percy Harvin. With that news, we knew that someone on the 53-man roster would have to give up his spot. In order to do that, the Bills placed Aaron Williams on the IR.
Although we can bring him back to the roster after 8 weeks, with 9 weeks left in the season that seems unlikely. Plus, with Sammy Watkins possibly being cleared to make a return late this season, the Bills are better off saving that designation for Watkins — who is able to come back Week 12 if cleared to practice.
For right now, it’s clear that Williams will take the rest of the season to heal and think about the decision ahead of him — one that he has already had to make over the past year. I wouldn’t expect to see Williams back on the field this season and that’s only for his own good.
Bills’ GM Doug Whaley has opened up on the situation:
“Once the medical staff deems him able to play then that’s a decision he has to make,” said Whaley. “Obviously that’s something they’re going to have to determine and sit down with Aaron and his family. We’re going to do the best for him as a person, not a football player. I know that for sure. Where that goes I can’t tell you.”
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We — BuffaLowDown — send our best wishes and prayers to both Aaron Williams and his family. No matter what decision you make, you know the whole Buffalo Bills’ organization and #BillsMafia will have your back and support you 110%.
Williams has earned that from us by giving us 110% since we drafted him in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft.
Here’s to a healthy recovery.
What did you think of Landry’s block on Williams? What about the way the NFL handled it?