According to Jeremy Fowler of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, anyway.
Apparently Phat Pat played a good portion of last year with a torn tricep muscle. According to the article, the big man doesn't remember when he suffered the torn muscle, but he played through it until the end of the season and had surgery on it last month. That surgery will require four months of rehabilitation.
As you'd expect, Williams downplayed his injury.
"I don't make no excuses," said Williams, who appeared at the Vikings' Arctic Blast fundraiser over the weekend. "I wasn't out there talking about it. I just go out and play." Williams, a free agent who still wants to play for two more seasons, doesn't expect to return to Minnesota and says "there are other teams who want me." He's probably right. . .I think the guy could still be a factor. I still don't think he's going to be in Minnesota next year, but he'll probably play, and he'll likely be more productive than he was in 2010. I've compared Phat Pat to former NFL defensive tackle Ted Washington, because I think they're similar players. . .and Ted Washington was still going pretty strong in his last couple of seasons, too. Pat Williams is going to take a significant pay cut next season, but whoever signs him will likely be getting a guy that can at least play as part of a rotation, and can be a good influence on any younger defensive linemen his new team might have. But after six years, it is going to be a little strange not to see him destroying running backs in the middle of the Minnesota defensive line.