It’s unclear exactly what’s going on with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Duke Williams though it doesn’t appear as though all is well between the team and its veteran receiver.
“I had a conversation with Duke this morning and obviously he wasn’t going to play this week and so that’s really what it’s about,” Steinauer told the media. “His status moving forward? We’ll address it another time.”
The 30-year-old receiver suffered an injury in the third quarter of Hamilton’s 41-28 loss to the Toronto Argonauts in the Labour Day Classic and didn’t return. He made two catches for 20 yards in the game, improving his season totals to 36 receptions for 510 yards and one touchdown.
Williams is Hamilton’s third-leading receiver behind Tim White and Terry Godwin. He took to social media on Wednesday morning to post a cryptic message, which has since been deleted.
“It’s was good Hamilton but I’m out,” the post read.
The six-foot-three, 225-pound target has made 216 catches for 3,569 yards and 21 touchdowns over 53 career CFL games as a member of the Edmonton Football Team, Saskatchewan Roughriders, and Ticats. He is the league’s eight-highest-paid receiver, earning $180,000 this season.
Steinauer declined to provide an update on the recovery of quarterbacks Bo Levi Mitchell and Matthew Shiltz, both of whom have missed over a month due to injury, though he said neither player would be available this week.
The Ticats (4-7) will visit the Ottawa Redblacks (3-8) on Friday, Sept. 8 with kickoff slated for 7:30 p.m. EDT. Hamilton will play the game on only three days of rest, while Ottawa was on a bye this past week.
