SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle Seahawks center Connor Williams has retired because of personal reasons, coach Mike Macdonald said on Friday.
The Seahawks coach said Williams’ departure did not have anything to do with the ACL injury he sustained last year that required surgery.
“We’re going to honor his wishes and keep all those reasons and conversations private for obvious reasons, and I wish them the best,” Macdonald said.
The Seahawks face the Arizona Cardinals in Weeks 12 and 14 coming up. The NFC West remains tight, with the 4-5 Seahawks trailing the first-place Cardinals at 6-4.
Williams, in his seventh NFL season, signed a one-year contract in August and started in every game this season.
The 27-year old had not taken part in practice this week. The Seahawks visit the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
Williams was drafted in the second round by the Cowboys in 2018 and spent his first four seasons with Dallas before playing for two years with Miami. He tore his ACL last December.
Williams is expected to be replaced by Olu Oluwatimi, a fifth-round pick in 2023, who made one start last year and has appeared in four games this season.
“Obviously it’s an unforeseen circumstance that you’ve kind of got to take on head-on, but the silver lining in the whole thing is we get to see Olu go do his thing,” Macdonald said. “This guy has been working really hard. Basically started at center for us the whole offseason until we signed Connor.”