We haven’t had much occasion to really talk about and focus on starting inside linebacker Vince Williams this year, a fact that is neither necessarily good nor bad, but those circumstances changed today after the Pittsburgh Steelers’s victory over the Chiefs—and that, unfortunately, was for both good and bad.
The fifth-year man—and first-year starter—actually took over the team lead in sacks, recording both his third and fourth of the season at the end of the first half to close it out. His four sacks not only is the most on the team, it’s the most he’s had in his career, as well as more than he had in his previous four seasons combined. It’s also more than Ryan Shazier has had in a season. Shazier is still sitting at zero in that statistic for the year.
But the buck linebacker was active early and often even though he only officially was credited with four tackles on the day, also helping to open up plays for others. One of those tackles came on a kick return, while the other three all went for stops, two of them against the run.
Unfortunately, he also got beaten over the middle on a check-down to running back Kareem Hunt, who gave the linebacker a clean stiff arm that sent him to the ground on second and 12, extending a drive that ultimately stalled on the two-yard line when the Chiefs went for it on fourth down and failed.
More concerning is that the veteran was injured on the second play of the fourth quarter on a three-yard run inside the 10-yard line in the red zone. He suffered some sort of hip injury that caused him to check out of the game, and he stayed out through the remainder of the fourth quarter.
After the game, Head Coach Mike Tomlin unsurprisingly did not have much of an update on his starting buck linebacker’s status, other than to say that he suffered an injury to his hip and that he was not able to return to the game.
It is unclear at the moment what sort of injury timeframe the Steelers may be looking at here with respect to Williams, who reportedly was seen on crutches after the game, though the crutches shouldn’t automatically signal a serious injury.
He was replaced in the game by second-year linebacker Tyler Matakevich, who recorded the tackle after a one-yard gain on third and three on the next play. He recorded one other tackle on defense, and then twice recorded tackles on Tyreek Hill on punts in the fourth quarter, the second coming after a 32-yard gain.
Update:
Just a short time ago, Williams sent out a Tweet urging his fans not to worry. “Hey guys”, he wrote, I’m all good! The only thing hurt is my pride from that stiff arm”.
Hey guys I’m all good! The only thing hurt is my pride from that stiff arm.
— Vincenzo Williams (@VinnyVidiVici98) October 16, 2017
S/O to Hunt tho that guy is strong as a bull. No way he should have been playing in college last year, he runs like he’s 30 with 5 kids.
— Vincenzo Williams (@VinnyVidiVici98) October 16, 2017
