Starting linebacker Sam Williams will the miss the season after tearing the ACL in his left knee, the San Jose Mercury News reported. Team doctors told him that the average recovery time for such an injury is four to six months. Surgery is scheduled for Wednesday. "I didn't know it was this bad at the time," Williams told the paper from his hotel room. "I thought it might have been a little meniscus damage because I heard a little crunch in there." Williams, a third-year player from Fresno State, was in nine games last season and started four. He had 22 tackles and defended three passes. He was injured while trying to make a block in morning practice.