Mario Williams 'injury': Are the Bills messing around?

ESPN's Adam Schefter tweeted out something rather interesting this morning. According to Schefter, the NFL is investigating why Bills defensive lineman Mario Williams was publicly complaining about his wrist this week, but is not showing up on the Bills injury report.

The Bills said Williams has not missed any practice reps and there never was a doubt he would play in each game. Yet the NFL's injury report policy reads as follows: "All players with significant or noteworthy injuries must be listed on the report, even if the player takes all the reps in practice, and even if the team is certain that he will play in the upcoming game. This is especially true of key players and those players whose injuries have been covered extensively by the media. ... This policy is of paramount importance in maintaining the integrity of the NFL."

It is not secret that some coaches game the injury report. Tom Brady has been "probable" or "questionable" virtually every week under Bill Belichick. The 49ers have not been quite so blatant with the questionable designation, but the team definitely likes to keep a lid on things at times.

It seems like Mario Williams is going to be able to play just fine today, but it will be interesting to see if the wrist injury impacts his performance. And of course we'll see if the NFL comes down on the Bills for keeping Williams off the injury report. I would argue the bigger deal is messing around with his name in the questionable designation, but either way, the NFL tries to make it seem like they care.