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The early-training camp mystery surrounding Mario Williams has been solved: the Buffalo Bills pass rusher has been absent from two straight practices while he sought out a second opinion on his injured foot, reports Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. (He's fine, by the way; the injury is reportedly not serious, though the doctor did apparently order up a healthy dose of rest.)
Thus ends a 48-hour drama that climaxed earlier this afternoon, when head coach Doug Marrone grew frustrated with reporters peppering him with question about Williams' whereabouts and prognosis.
Some may question why the Bills didn't simply tell reporters that Williams was off getting a second opinion - and, in fact, that very question has already been asked. As Tim Graham of The Buffalo News points out, approval for a second opinion must be approved by the team. Then again, Williams reportedly notified the Bills of a second opinion (and later, surgery) on his wrist via text message last year, so it's at least possible that the Bills were somewhat in the dark on this latest second opinion.
Either way, it's looking like this particular chapter of the Mario Williams saga will soon come to a close. His injury isn't serious, the team will likely put a bow on this with reporters tomorrow, and we can return our focus to hoping to the football gods that EJ Manuel is the real deal.