It was not the start Mario Williams was anticipating for his 2013 season. Coming off a 2012 campaign where he needed surgery on an injured wrist, Williams was forced to sit and watch his teammates at the Bills first training camp practice Sunday night.
"Mario reported to our athletic training staff that he had a sore foot," said head coach Doug Marrone. "So what we wanted to do was we decided to hold him out of practice and let our medical staff evaluate him."
Williams participated in walk through alignments prior to the official start of practice, but did nothing after that.
Just two days prior when he voluntarily reported to training camp, Williams was upbeat and sounded eager to attack the 2013 season after Buffalo's defense disappointed last year.
"Every year is a fresh start," he said. "Everybody that plays ball knows you got to go out and prove it again. It's all about what you done for the league lately. That's what the NFL is about."
A sore foot does not sound like a serious injury, but Marrone and his defensive staff will wait the results of the exam by the team's medical staff. Marrone said Williams would be evaluated.
Coming off a season in which he fought through the first six games in a Bills uniform with a wrist injury, Williams was on hand for every single spring OTA session and minicamp practice. Marrone admitted he was disappointed for Williams that his season got off to this kind of start.
"It's more of a disappointment for the individual," said Marrone. "Mario has put in a lot of hard work, went into the playbook and did a lot of work this offseason. So I always have a disappointment for the player because we forget how much work they put in and you have a player that definitely wants to be out there."
