Mike Williams' injury a bad look for Chargers' Brandon Staley
The Los Angeles Chargers will not have star wide receiver Mike Williams for Saturday's playoff game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, officially ruling him out for the game with a back injury. He will not even make the trip to Jacksonville.
This is not only bad news for the Chargers offense, but it is a terrible look for head coach Brandon Staley.
Williams was injured during the Chargers' Week 18 loss to the Denver Broncos as Staley continued to play all of his starters even though the team had nothing to play for. Their playoff spot as the No. 5 seed in the AFC was already locked in place, with no chance of moving up or down the playoff field. They knew which team they were playing and where they were going.
Most teams in that situation sit as many key players as they can to avoid injury.
Staley did not do that, keeping players like Williams, Joey Bosa and star quarterback Justin Herbert in the game until the very end when it became obvious they were not going to win.
It was an extremely costly decision as Williams and Bosa both left the game with injuries. Even after watching those two stars leave the game, Staley still kept Herbert and Keenan Allen in the game. It was all baffling to watch, even more so after the fact when we know the extent of the injury to Williams.
Williams is one of the Chargers' best offensive players, finishing the 2022 season with 63 catches for 895 yards and four touchdowns.
This is Staley's second year as Chargers head coach, and it has already been a rocky ride.
Despite having one of the most impressive rosters in the league on paper and a young franchise quarterback, the Bolts missed the playoffs entirely in his first year after they lost a couple of games where he was extremely aggressive with fourth-down decisions. This year's team has been mired by inconsistency and has not lived up to preseason expectations offensively. The Chargers finished the season 13th in points per game, down eight spots from where they were a year ago when they were fifth in the NFL.
Now Staley's curious and bizarre decisions in a meaningless game are going to take away one of his young quarterback's most important targets.
If the Chargers lose this game, it is going to take a long time for Staley to live that decision down.
More must-reads: