Washington Redskins: Why Trent Williams will likely still report for duty

As the clock keeps ticking and opening day rapidly approaches many have given up hope that Trent Williams will ever suit up for the Washington Redskins again.

With a little imagination, a dash of common sense and a heavy dose of conjecture a case can be made that Trent Williams will, in fact, suit up for the Washington Redskins this year. It’s actually possible that the Redskins will have their superstar back in the fold in time for the season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The number one reason we should still be holding out hope that Williams plays again for the Redskins is that, quite simply, if he had something to say, he would say it.

We are talking about a six-foot-five, 320-pound All-Pro NFL tackle. If he has an issue with someone, he would not go and hide. He would speak his mind. The fact that he has said nothing does not indicate he does not intend to play. In fact, his silence is just as likely to mean that he’ll be here when he’s ready.

Reason number two that Trent could be in uniform this season is that it is quite impossible to believe that Trent Williams would abandon his coaches, his teammates and his fans because he was upset with a few people on the medical staff.

I don’t know Williams personally but I’ve followed his whole career. I was a huge Sooner fan when he played for Oklahoma and have seen and heard dozens and dozens of interviews with the man. He just doesn’t impress as an individual that would turn his back on his friends and let down so many people because he had a riff with a few people.

The third reason is kind of redundant. The problem with the medical theory is that it just doesn’t make sense. You can’t misdiagnose a benign growth unless you say that it is malignant. That clearly didn’t happen.

So are we expected to believe that Williams bailed on his team because the medical staff minimized a benign growth? That’s like saying he’s upset because the medical staff got it right. They told him he was going to be fine and it appears that is the case. A medical misdiagnosis is a big deal. If it had really happened we would know about it. Williams wouldn’t be hush-hush about it and people would have been fired. This seemed like a bogus story when it came out and it still does.

Reason four for optimism regarding Williams’ return to the Washington Redskins is the completely obvious fact that he does not need the practice. He’s been dinged up a little over the last few years so it actually makes a lot of sense to give him a pass on training camp and preseason. This is a guy who has been battling in the trenches for a long time. There is a lot of wear and tear on that massive frame.

It is completely realistic to think that Williams and the Redskins understand that if he foregoes training camps and preseasons altogether, he may be able to play for four or five more years. But, if he has to put his body through the additional fatigue inflicted on a body during the spring and summer practices he may shorten his career by a year or two.

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So, did Williams and the Washington Redskins come to some kind of agreement that essentially gave him permission to skip the physical and emotional duress of training camp and preseason? Not only is it possible but it’s probably a really good idea.

The fifth reason why it’s not unreasonable to expect Williams to walk through the doors at Redskin Park in time to play against the Eagles is that his absence had no detrimental effects on the team. Aside from getting a completely fresh Trent Williams to begin the season the urgency to find someone to play left tackle to put added pressure on both the players and the coaches.

Making them scramble had to make them better. In all likelihood trying to find a player to replace the All-Pro raised the level of intensity at practices, meetings, and preseason games. The result, one would think, would be that the Redskins came away with better-prepared backups than they would have had if the players went through training camp with a mindset that they were competing for a backup role.

I’m not buying the chemistry argument as Williams would not have played enough to develop said chemistry even if he was at camp. Besides, we don’t even know who the starting left guard is with whom he would have had to develop this relationship. In short, there is no logical reason and no benefit to either Williams or the team to force his aging body to attend all the additional practices in training camp and preseason.

Finally, there are a few questions I can’t stop asking and the answers are the same every time.

Would this guy really deliberately hurt his team, his teammates and his fans? He doesn’t seem like that kind of person.

If Williams really had an issue as serious as medical incompetence on the part of the Washington Redskins staff would he keep quiet about it? This is a man that has always been able to speak his mind in the past. It is unfathomable that he would keep quiet about something so important.

Is it possible that Williams and the Redskins agreed that it would benefit him to skip the rigors of OTAs, minicamp, training camp and preseason so that he could come in fresh and rejuvenated to begin the grueling 16 game schedule? Yes.

I will concede that the rationale I used to make this argument is full of holes. There are no facts to support my premise and frankly, this entire article may in fact just be an exercise in futility as I try to convince myself that one of the pillars of this Redskin team is going to show up any day now.

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However, while I can’t quote any sources and don’t have any breaking news from an NFL insider, the theory presented here makes as much sense as anything else I’ve heard about this bizarre missing person case.

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