On Tuesday it was announced that Beanie Wells was placed on the preseason PUP list, as he is still recovering from his offseason knee surgery. For those that see him as a player prone to get hurt and not one to play through pain, this adds more fuel to the fire, despite the fact that he played most of 2011 on one good leg.
Regardless, the fact that Beanie cannot practice to start training camp raises concerns, even when head coach Ken Whisenhunt downplayed it when talking to the media on Tuesday. Whiz does not expect Beanie to be on the list long and that "it was not unexpected."
However, for many, this opens the door for Ryan Williams, who is also coming off of knee surgery.
In fact, reporter Adam Caplan went so far as to tweet this:
Beanie Wells/Ryan Williams battle is probably one of the biggest ones in the NFL at RB in camp. Wells better get in there soon.
— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) July 24, 2012
Caplan is right. While Williams is not expected to be used extensively during the preseason, Wells needs to get back in there soon. At the close of minicamp, Whisenhunt made it a point to say that Beanie was going to have to "bust is tail" because he likes what the other backs have done.
Are you concerned? Whisenhunt has downplayed it. The goal has always been to get him ready for Week 1 of the regular season, as is the case with Williams.