Pete Thamel is reporting that Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams will be sitting out today’s contest versus Louisiana-Monroe Saturday night due to a concussion he suffered last week in a loss against Florida State.
“Sources: Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams is not expected to play today against Louisiana-Monroe. He suffered a concussion against Florida State and is proceeding through protocol.”
Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer had said that Williams was coming along, which many assumed meant Williams would play Saturday.
Williams has come under a lot of heavy criticism after last week’s loss to the Seminoles, especially from former Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron, who thought Williams didn’t play hard enough.
"Ryan Williams was non-existent in this game," McCarron stated on The Bama Standard podcast. "From a sense of... they moved him around, tried to not just leave him outside so he doesn’t get doubled at all times. They put him in the slot."
McCarron added, "He runs too high on his routes. "I mean, he was running over routes, jogging, getting jammed by the nickel, having trouble getting over the linebackers, and getting to certain windows. He looked slow. He did not look very good."
We may now know why Williams struggled. He got hit hard on a play and got a concussion; however, he did come back into the game.
Still, McCarron went in hard on the sophomore, not knowing at the time he had a concussion.
"So, I challenge him to be better, because not only does he need to play better, but he’s that guy on offense that the team should be able to depend on," said McCarron. "I mean, he wasn’t even the best receiver out there. Germie Bernard was, and he was an absolute dog.”