Every update on the recovery of Patrick Williams has been positive … and that will not stop now!
Ahead of Sunday night’s preseason win, head coach Billy Donovan shared with reporters that Patrick Williams will ramp up his workload this week as he returns from an ankle injury. The expectation was that he would work with the player development staff on Monday before his status for practice later in the week would be determined.
HOWEVER, just one day later, it appears Williams proved to the training staff that he could rejoin his teammates at practice.
Patrick Williams participated in Bulls practice today. Got up and down in 5-on-5, Billy Donovan said. Now need to see how he responds throughout week before making call on availability Friday vs. Memphis.
— Rob Schaefer (@rob_schaef) October 11, 2021
Williams’ injury occurred on September 15th and was originally given a 4-to-6 week recovery timeline. A return to the court on Monday means that Williams ended up pretty significantly ahead of schedule, as even the front end of that estimate would not have put him back on the floor until the middle of this week.
The question now is whether or not he and the training staff will trust his ankle enough to take the floor in the team’s final preseason game on Friday.
The Athletic’s Darnell Mayberry shared that Williams is headed in that direction, but Donovan wants to monitor his ankle throughout the week.
Donovan says it isn’t out of the question that Williams plays in the team’s preseason finale against Memphis on Friday. Williams is progressing in that direction, but it all depends on how his ankle responds to increased activity. https://t.co/aGG2LJv4Ow
— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) October 11, 2021
Considering Williams has yet to practice with this new-look starting lineup, I sure hope he can see the floor for at least short stints to close out the preseason. After all, it would also allow the coaching staff to get a better feel for how they can use reserves like Derrick Jones Jr. and Javonte Green in the rotation. But, regardless, it seems like the team’s starting power forward will be ready for the start of the season on October 20th.
And for a Bulls team that has already looked solid on both ends of the floor this preseason, that is some tremendous news.