Chargers Rookie WR Mike Williams Denies Report He Needs Season-Ending Back Surgery

Chargers first-round WR Mike Williams denied a recent report that he may need to undergo back surgery and could miss his entire rookie season.

“I’m good. Everything good. The back situation. That was some false information being released,” Williams said, via NFL.com. “I don’t know who released it but everything is good.”

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported earlier in the week that Williams may require season-ending back surgery for a herniated disk.

According to Schefter, Williams recently had a second epidural on his herniated disk in a last-ditch effort to get him ready to return to practice at some point during training camp. However, the Chargers are reportedly preparing as if he will not be ready by that time.

Los Angeles is still hoping that Williams will respond well to the second epidural. Although, Schefter says there’s a “real chance” he will not and could instead miss his entire rookie season.

“This may be a lot more serious than people thought,” said one source familiar with the injury tells Schefter.

However, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media later reported that while surgery was on the table for Williams as of three or four weeks ago, he has spoken with two sources with direct knowledge of the situation who said that surgery is not on the table right now for Williams and he’s improving.

Mike Garafolo reports Williams is he’s feeling better since recent epidural and has even resumed running this week. The expectation is that Williams will open training camp on the team’s PUP list.

Williams, 22, was selected with the No. 7 overall pick by the Chargers a few months ago. According to OverTheCap.com, Williams will receive a four-year contract worth $19,750,056, which includes a signing bonus of $12,503,676. The contract also has a fifth-year option for the team to consider in 2020.

During his college career at Clemson, Williams caught 177 passes for 2,727 yards receiving (15.4 YPR) and 21 touchdowns over the course of 38 games.