quote:
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- When Packers cornerback Tramon Williams initially injured his right shoulder in Week 1 of last season, the team described it as a bruise, news that coach Mike McCarthy called "positive" at the time.
Nine months later, given the poor condition of Williams' shoulder, it's safe to assume that original diagnosis was inaccurate.
"We did strength tests on my shoulder (in early June) and it was at about 50 percent when they tested," Williams said on the last day of the team's offseason programs. "It probably was worse during the season. It was bad. I hadn't done anything on it for a while, trying to heal it up a little bit. I started my rehab process, did that for a couple weeks, then we did the strength test to see where we were.
"They tested my strong arm, which is my left arm, and then the right arm, and my right arm was significantly weaker than my left arm. And this is my dominant arm, my right arm, so it was weak. Let's just say that.
"It was terrible. If I hold my arm right here and told you to push it, I couldn't do it, I couldn't even hold it up, still."
Williams, 29, who excelled in bump-and-run coverage in prior seasons, may never be that type of cornerback again. Considering the lack of progress that his right shoulder has made despite not taking any hits to it since the Packers' season ended on Jan. 15 -- more than five months ago -- Williams mentioned that it's possible he'll only participate on a limited basis throughout training camp starting in late July.
"I've done some testing in the offseason, I've done an EMG test, which tests the nerves," Williams said. "The left side, everything was fine, 100 percent. And they got to the right side, and some of the nerve was firing right. Then they got to the spot where I got hit at, and it showed a significant difference that the nerve wasn't firing like the rest of my nerves were.
"The nerve might have been firing at maybe 15 percent."
SNIP-
"Last year, the coaches knew what my situation was," Williams said. "I think they tried to plan around it. I know they tried to plan around it. They might not tell you and they might not say it, but I know they tried to plan around it.
"The way this defense is run, it's kind of hard to do that. There's a lot of moving parts to it. Obviously you have to have guys who know what they're doing out there. You can't make too many errors out there. That's why I played the way I played."
More....
Article isn't real encouraging that Williams shoulder will be healing anytime soon. When you hear "nerve damage" that has to worry you. As has been said time and again, pass rush does wonders to heal DB woes. So if GB can get pressure, the CB's will all look a lot better.
Still, have to wonder whether we'll see House or the rookie Casey Heyward may be seeing the field sooner then anyone thinks.
