Seattle Seahawks center Connor Williams has retired because of personal reasons, coach Mike Macdonald said on Friday.

The Seahawks coach said Williams’ departure did not have anything to do with the ACL injury he sustained last year that required surgery.

“We’re going to honor his wishes and keep all those reasons and conversations private for obvious reasons, and I wish them the best,” Macdonald said.

Williams, in his seventh NFL season, signed a one-year contract in August and started in every game this season.

The 27-year old had not taken part in practice this week. The Seahawks (4-5) visit the San Francisco 49ers today.

Williams was drafted in the second round by the Cowboys in 2018 and spent his first four seasons with Dallas before playing for two years with Miami. He tore his ACL last December.

Williams is expected to be replaced by Olu Oluwatimi, a fifth-round pick in 2023, who made one start last year and has appeared in four games this season.

“Obviously it’s an unforeseen circumstance that you’ve kind of got to take on head-on, but the silver lining in the whole thing is we get to see Olu go do his thing,” Macdonald said. “This guy has been working really hard. Basically started at center for us the whole offseason until we signed Connor.”

Texans WR Collins expects to return Monday night

Houston Texans wide receiver Nico Collins expects to play Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys after he missed five games with a hamstring injury.

“I feel like myself,” Collins said Friday. “I feel like that was the main part.”

Collins led the NFL with 567 yards receiving when he was injured on a 67-yard touchdown grab in an Oct. 6 win over the Buffalo Bills. He spent four weeks on injured reserve before being activated last Saturday.

But he wasn’t ready to return Sunday night and was inactive for Houston’s loss to Detroit, leaving him out for a fifth straight game to match the longest streak of consecutive games missed in his four-year career.

“You don’t want to miss no games, but that’s part of it,” he said. “But it’s a long season, it’s a marathon and you want to take care of your body. But missing time hurts. You want to be out there with your brothers, making plays.”

Houston lost Stefon Diggs to a season-ending knee injury Oct. 27 and the Texans’ passing game has struggled without Collins.

Browns put rookie dt Hall on ir

Cleveland Browns rookie defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. was placed on injured reserve Saturday and will miss at least four games with a knee injury sustained during an indoor practice drill this week.

Also, the Browns downgraded tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. to out with a knee injury for today’s game at New Orleans.

The move came days after Wills said he made a “business decision” by not playing in a game last month against Baltimore because his surgically repaired knee wasn’t right. Coach Kevin Stefanski later said Wills, a first-round pick in 2020, used a “poor choice of words” in explaining his choice to sit out.

Wills was replaced in the starting lineup by Dawand Jones. Wills was listed on the team’s injury report this week but as a “full” participant.

Hall got hurt on Thursday when the Browns (2-7), who were coming off their bye week, practiced in their fieldhouse ahead of their game at the Superdome. Stefanski did not say if Hall needs surgery.

It’s been a challenging first season for Hall, who was suspended five games by the NFL following a domestic violence arrest in August. The 21-year-old later pleaded his case down to disorderly conduct.

The Browns selected Hall in the second round of this year’s draft and were expected to give him more playing time over the final eight games.