“I have no expectations whatsoever anymore,” he said. “I’m kind of numb to the fact, so we’re just going to coach the guys that we have. That’s all that we can do right now.”

“I don’t have a feeling whatsoever,” he added.

Gruden’s words were a change from the strong public front the Redskins’ front office and coaching staff have displayed since word trickled out in the spring that Williams was unhappy with the team’s medical staff and no longer trusted the organization. Through the summer, Gruden repeatedly said he believed Williams would come back to the team and even made a point to emphasize that he didn’t just hope the Pro Bowl left tackle would return; he expected it.

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Last week, team president Bruce Allen told NBC Washington’s Sherree Burruss that “Trent’s going to play some football [this year].” When Burress asked Allen whether Williams would be playing for the Redskins, Allen nodded.

“It will be with us,” he said.

But two people with knowledge of the situation have said in recent days that Williams continues to insist he will not end his holdout anytime soon and remains angry with the organization.

A league official familiar with the Redskins’ plans for Williams said Allen is adamant that the team not trade Williams or offer him more money, believing that Williams will be drawn back once he starts missing game checks.

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Williams, who according to overthecap.com has earned approximately $98 million in salary and bonuses over the first nine seasons of his career, is supposed to make $10.85 million this season. He is already facing the possibility of having to pay back close to $1 million in bonuses for not reporting to training camp and the practices the Redskins have held between camp and this week. If he doesn’t come back by Week 4, he could lose the prorated portion of his signing bonus, which is $1.5 million.

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One person familiar with Williams’s thinking told The Washington Post last month that Williams’s “finances are good” and “some things are more important than money.”

The Redskins have not removed the nameplate from Williams’s stall in the far back corner of the locker room. A pile of boxes remains stacked on his chair, as it has been for the past several weeks. Clothes continue to hang from a rack in the middle of the locker.

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After this weekend’s roster cuts, which opened several spaces in the room, rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins’s locker was moved next to Williams’s, either in the hope that the two will someday get to bond, or to create more room for large media gatherings in front of Haskins’s locker.

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders tackle Donald Penn was signed this summer to replace Williams. Penn has been named to three Pro Bowls but also is 36 and missed most of last season with a groin injury. Without Williams and a clear answer at left guard, Washington goes into Sunday’s game at Philadelphia with significant questions about the left side of its line — a problem because the Eagles have one of the NFL’s best pass rushes.

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“I feel good about it,” Gruden said Monday of his offensive line. “We just got to be ready. That’s a major pass rush. They’ve given us problems the last few times we’ve played.”

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In the meantime, everyone waits to see what happens with Williams. Although his locker is unoccupied, he remains in contact with several of his teammates. Those who have spoken to him say he watched the preseason games on television and offered tips. They say he is well and that he often asks them about their families and personal lives.

When talking about Williams, these friends begin sentences with, “When he comes back … ”

For now, though, he remains far away.