Redskins’ Quarterback Williams Has Appendectomy

Redskin quarterback Doug Williams underwent an emergency appendectomy Wednesday night at Arlington, Va., Hospital after experiencing stomach pains that began Monday.

The team announced Wednesday night that Williams will be sidelined a minimum of four weeks and could be out for as many as eight weeks, leaving the Redskins with a starting quarterback, Mark Rypien, 26, who has never played in a National Football League game.

The surgeon was Dr. Todd Arcomano of the Arlington Hospital staff. The team announced that Williams would be hospitalized for five to seven days.

The Redskins, winners of two of their first three games with Williams as the starter, play the Phoenix Cardinals in Arizona Sunday.

Rypien, asked if the Redskins might now regret trading quarterback Jay Schroeder to the Raiders, replied: “I hope I can make it that they don’t.”

The Redskins are expected to sign another quarterback today, and one candidate is veteran David Archer, who played for Redskin assistant Dan Henning when Henning coached the Atlanta Falcons. Archer is a free agent.

Rookie quarterback Stan Humphries, who was being counted on as the team’s third quarterback, is on the non-football illness list with a blood disorder.