SAN DIEGO -- The Los Angeles Chargers' mood might match San Diego's weather: June gloom.
Wide receiver Mike Williams, the team's top draft pick, didn't practice Monday at Chargers Park as the squad enters its last week of OTA practices.
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SAN DIEGO -- The Los Angeles Chargers' mood might match San Diego's weather: June gloom. Wide receiver Mike Williams, the team's top draft pick, didn't practice Monday at Chargers Park as the squad enters its last week of OTA practices.
There's a chance he won't work out until this summer's training camp -- if then.
The back tightness that was keeping the talented wide receiver from previous OTAs is now being described as a herniated lower-back disk.
That's serious stuff and quite a leap from being slowed by a sore back.
With some thought of worst-case scenarios for Williams, a former Clemson star, coach Anthony Lynn was tapping the brakes.
"I much rather it be now than in September," Lynn said.
But there's a chance the team's first season in Los Angeles and its opener at the Denver Broncos on Sept. 11 wouldn't include Williams. Some mentioned him even landing on the limited unable to perform list, but Lynn's not going there yet.
And he certainly won't rule Williams out of July's training camp.
"It's a long way off," Lynn said.
But it's not a long-shot observation that Williams is missing valuable time. Those snaps when few are watching in a new offense and with Philip Rivers, a new quarterback, are often invaluable to a rookie's success.
"He's getting behind but the most important thing is to get him healthy and get him back on the football field," Lynn said.
It can also be disconcerting when Williams' ailment is something that plays into his strength. He is a physical receiver eager to use his 6-foot-4, 218-pound frame to his advantage in making difficult catches. That's not as easily done with a balky back.
Much like a speedy receiver relying on his legs, a big-frame receiver is aided by a strong body.
Right now, Williams' body is letting him show what all the fuss was about at the college level. It's a body that has already suffered a broken neck, which cost him the 2015 season.
Williams' absence could be compensated with a deep receiver corps of Keenan Allen, Tyrell Williams, Dontrelle Inman and Travis Benjamin. But that foursome is also, to some degree or another, returning from injuries.
The Chargers' top hands didn't exit last season feeling fit. Williams, in that regard, has fallen right in line.