So why hasn’t defensive end Mario Williams done much during his first four games in Buffalo? He says he’s got an injury.
“It’s just a little deal going on, but we’ve already mentioned that before,” Williams said Wednesday, via USA Today. “It’s just lingering a little longer than I expected and I just [need to] get back out there and try to deal with it and play better with it.”
He’s referring to a wrist injury, and he indeed mentioned it after Week One. But no injury to Mario Williams has been disclosed by the Bills, at any time. Based on the way Williams talks about it, the injury apparently should have been.
“I’m a hands-on player and it’s all about power in my game,” Williams said. “It’s just been a little odd having a little nick or whatever and not being able to use it to the full extent, but you know, you gotta play. When you’re out there on Sunday, you gotta play regardless of what’s going on.”
Williams originally suffered the injury in the preseason.
“It’s definitely frustrating for it to happen when it did happen and not when anything counted, I think that was the biggest thing,” Williams said. “But it’s fine, like I said, it just limits you and it’s kind of frustrating.”
It’s more than “kind of frustrating” for Bills fans. Williams hasn’t been what they thought he’d be, and regardless of how much the injury is affecting him, it creates the impression that he’s making excuses for subpar performance.