THE SIDELINES : No Surgery for Williams, Coach Says

Washington Redskins quarterback Doug Williams, sitting out the beginning of training camp with a back injury, will not need surgery, coach Joe Gibbs said Thursday.

“I think he is going to come out of the hospital on Saturday and probably come up here on Sunday, and then we’ll probably start the next part of rehabilitation with him by getting him doing the things up here that he can do,” Gibbs said.

Williams, 34, has been in traction at Arlington Hospital.

Sources told the Washington Post that if Williams’ persistent lower back pain does not improve, he may still end up having surgery. Second-string quarterback Mark Rypien said Williams told him last week that he may need the operation.

The team’s new fifth-string quarterback, Kansas City Chiefs veteran Bill Kenney, has said he was hired as an insurance policy because the Redskins’ quarterback situation is in flux.