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K'Waun Williams has been suspended by the Browns for 2 weeks.

(John Kuntz)

BEREA, Ohio -- Browns cornerback K'Waun Williams has been suspended for two weeks and docked one game check by the Browns for refusing to play in Green Bay, league sources told cleveland.com Tuesday night.

The Browns officially announced it Wednesday morning, citing 'multiple violations of team rules.'

The game check amounts to about $35,294 -- 1/17th of his $600,000 salary.

A source said Williams left Green Bay claiming he was going to retire and then came back the next day saying his ankle was injured. But a source close to Williams said the defensive back made the team aware on Friday night that the sore ankle was the reason he couldn't play.

Williams is scheduled to receive a second opinion on the ankle in Cleveland Wednesday at about 5 p.m. Until he receives the results of that exam, he'll reserve comment or action on the suspension, his agent, Evan Krakower told cleveland.com.

NFL Network reported that Williams opted not to play because nickel Jamar Taylor was starting ahead of him, but the source told cleveland.com that was untrue.

The source said Williams was still ailing from the ankle injury that was aggravated while defending Rashard Higgins on a pass from Robert Griffin III in the Orange and Brown scrimmage at Ohio State on Aug. 6. He was seen by a trainer after coming up limping that day and received treatment the day before the Packers game.

Here's #Browns RG3 turning on the jets - and then sliding pic.twitter.com/cIJNAh61uH — Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) August 8, 2016

Williams is expected to fight the suspension pending the outcome of the exam Wednesday night. But the ankle issue first surfaced in organized team activities in the spring, at which time Williams underwent X-rays and an MRI, the source said. He is believed to have bone spurs in the ankle.

Hue Jackson declined to elaborate Tuesday.

"We'll talk about that at a different time,'' he said. "I just think there are a lot of mixed messages that are going on as far as all that's concerned. We'll deal with it, and I'm sure we'll all talk about it at the appropriate time."

The fact that he decided to sit was not well-received by the Browns, who announced before the game that he sitting out for a personal reason.

"There is conflicting information about the history of his ankle,'' the source said.

The Browns' starting nickel the past two seasons, Williams has not returned to Berea for training camp since he sat out the Green Bay game.

The source said Williams has been away seeking a second opinion on his ankle from an independent specialist in Charlotte, N.C. Williams also has also suffered multiple concussions over the past two years, but the source said his absence from the team has nothing to do with that.

He said Williams' plan was to return to the Browns as soon as he got the second opinion.

But the door might be closed to him. The situation has grown ugly and Williams' career in Cleveland -- where he's been one of the team's top-rated corners over the past two seasons -- is probably over.

If the Browns cut or him or trade, he'll likely find a home in San Francisco, where former Browns defensive coordinator Jim O'Neill and former Browns defensive backs coach Jeff Hafley -- now in those roles for the 49ers -- would undoubtedly love to have him.

Hafley recruited to Williams to Pitt in 2009 and remained close to him even Hafley left there. In 2014, Hafley brought Williams to Cleveland as an undrafted free agent, and he was one of the most pleasant surprises coming out of camp that year.

"Coach Hafley is the only person who really came in when I was in high school and gave me an offer, gave me a shot, who believed in me then and still does now,'' Williams told cleveland.com in 2014.

Not only did Williams make the team, he earned the job as the starting nickelback as a rookie, and never relinquished it -- until now. The Browns prefer Taylor, whom Jackson has known for many years through family friends.

Asked Tuesday if Williams was back in town, Jackson said, "I'm not going to even comment on that right now."

Jackson's tone was completely different when asked about defensive end John Hughes, who missed nine practice and the Green Bay game because of a personal reason.

"It's exciting to have him back,'' Jackson said. "Obviously, he's been with us through all of the off-season. Obviously, there is some catching up to do but he's been in the system, was there in OTAs and around the coaches. Hopefully, he can get back up to speed quickly."

Williams, in the last year of a contract that pays him about $600,000 this year, has been in a battle for the starting nickel job with Taylor, the former second-round pick of the Dolphins who was acquired in a draft day trade.

Now, it appears the job is Taylor's -- unless Williams can somehow work himself back into the good graces of the team, which seems unlikely.

"In Jamar's case, he's a true professional,'' said Cioffi. "He's embraced the challenge. He's come in and he's worked really hard both on and off the field. He takes coaching really well. He really has a really good athletic skill set. He can play both on the outside and he can play inside. Like I said, I'm excited to see him play in games. I'm glad we got him."

Coiffi cited Taylor's "knowledge of football, his awareness of football, just being a natural football player, No.1, but then his really good quickness, that really helps when you're inside there'' as reasons he'll make a good nickel.

Cioffi preferred not to dwell on why Taylor didn't pan out in Miami.

"I try not to talk about what they've done other places because I don't know what they were asked to do,'' Cioffi. "All I know is what we coach and what we expect from them."

Last season, Williams, signed by the Browns as an undrafted free agent out of Pittsburgh, totaled 38 tackles, one sack, two passes defensed, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.