— Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams wasn’t himself as a rookie.
Back and knee injuries limited him to 11 receptions in 10 games last season Stephon Gilmore Jersey , and a hamstring injury during OTAs this year had Williams wondering when his body would allow him to show why the Chargers selected him No. 7 overall in the 2017 draft.
Finally healthy, Williams has performed in training camp like the dominant receiver he was at Clemson.
“Not being able to do the things I’m used to doing, that was the main thing. Not being able to move how I want to move. Now I’m able to come out here and, you know, play how Mike Williams plays, so I’m feeling comfortable right now,” Williams said.
Offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt had no doubts about Williams’ ability to contribute at a high level after making 98 receptions for 1,361 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Tigers’ 2016 national championship team. It was just a matter of staying on the field.
Whisenhunt pointed to the improvement Williams showed during the regular season, when he had seven catches for 62 yards in the two games against Jacksonville and Buffalo prior to sustaining the knee injury against Dallas on Thanksgiving Day.
“I think the thing with Mike that’s pretty consistent is when he gets an amount of time where he’s in a routine, he starts to get better,” Whisenhunt said.
A consistent schedule was lacking for Williams in 2017. He sustained a herniated disc in his lower back on the first day of rookie minicamp in May, an injury that kept him out of training camp last year. The progress Williams made this offseason was interrupted by a minor hamstring strain, but he recovered in time to run and lift weights every day and do yoga at least twice a week going into his first training camp.
The difference in Williams’ health has been evident. Always known as a receiver that uses his size effectively Justin Evans Jersey , he has been making contested catches consistently against the Chargers’ strong crop of defensive backs.
“He goes up and attacks the ball,” safety Jahleel Addae said. “That’s the biggest thing you see with him is he can use his body to shield off defenders. He can go up and grab it, and that’s something we need, for sure.”
At 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, Williams’ physical traits could be especially valuable with tight end Hunter Henry out for the season because of a torn ACL. All but one of Henry’s 12 career touchdowns receptions have been in the red zone, with eight coming inside the 10-yard line. Getting Williams matched up on jump balls at the goal line could offset those losses.
But Whisenhunt wants Williams to be more than a red-zone specialist. Whisenhunt and wide receivers coach Phil McGeoghan have been training Williams to line up all over the field, using Keenan Allen as the model for versatility.
“He set the standard of being able to line up in different spots and be successful, and that’s what we’re trying to do a little bit with Mike to create those matchups where we can use his size and hopefully those things can work out,” Whisenhunt said.
Route running is one area where Williams is already emulating Allen, citing him as an influence for his development there.
“He sets defenders up so good, it’s just good for me to come out here and learn from someone like him,” Williams said. “I take a lot from his game.”
All aspects of Williams’ improvement were evident when the Chargers scrimmaged Saturday as he made two touchdown receptions.
“The confidence comes with making plays,” Williams said.
NOTES: Defensive end Joey Bosa left practice early Tuesday because of a left foot injury.
Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid arrived Sunday on the campus of Missouri Western State University to start his 20th season as an NFL head coach Jacquizz Rodgers Jersey , yet finds himself energized by what’s new on his football team for 2018.
”There’s more new I would say on both sides of the ball,” Reid said. ”Some of the old guys that have been here aren’t here.”
The team lost several veterans during the offseason, trading quarterback Alex Smith to Washington and parting ways with longtime linebackers Derrick Johnson and Tamba Hali among other moves.
The offseason changes result in a team navigating through its most significant turnover since Reid’s 2013 arrival in Kansas City.
”Whether it’s the quarterback position, inside linebacker position, outside linebacker position, you’re missing a few of those guys and you have new guys coming in that you have an opportunity to see perform,” Reid said. ”That’s exciting to me, I’m looking forward to that.”
The biggest change comes at quarterback with Smith giving way to Patrick Mahomes, the No. 10 overall selection in last year’s draft. Smith won 50 regular-season games as the team’s starter since 2013.
”Alex was phenomenal, he’s going to continue to be phenomenal for the Redskins and we feel very lucky to have Pat, to be able to step up and watch him grow here,” Reid said. ”Let’s see how he does. He can’t be in any better place, man Randy Moss Jersey , than with the Kansas City Chiefs and I know he’s fired up about that.”
Mahomes arrived in camp Sunday along with the team’s other quarterbacks and with coaches, rookies and select veterans. A three-day minicamp starts on Monday before the full squad checks in on July 25. The first full team practice kicks off July 26.
The 22-year-old faces no competition for the starting quarterback job. The team acquired veteran Chad Henne as his understudy and to serve as a sounding board for Mahomes as he navigates his first full season as a starter. Mahomes hopes to use his time in camp to become a more efficient quarterback.
”I want to make sure I can get in and out of the huddle fast, we can make the right checks and just really have a lot of positive plays,” Mahomes said.
”Not necessarily the huge plays but just have positive plays and move the chains. That’s how you have success in the NFL. You keep taking those yards, taking those yards and then when you have guys that can stretch the field you make those plays and those come within the flow of the game.”
With new faces arriving in camp this week, Reid had good news about some of the team’s key players returning from injury.
The coach said he expects only wide receiver De’Anthony Thomas and cornerback Ashton Lampkin possibly starting camp on the sidelines. That means center Mitch Morse, linebacker Dee Ford and running back Spencer Ware, all returning from season-ending injuries a year ago, expect to practice with the team.
”All those guys, everybody else is good,” Reid said. ”Again I just want to see on the field and we’ll kind of monitor as it goes but, yeah, they all should be ready to go.”
The quarterback change and other roster turnover create an array of differing expectations for this Chiefs’ team. Many preseason prognosticators have the Los Angeles Chargers replacing Kansas City atop the AFC West after back-to-back divisional titles.
Reid Davis Webb Jersey , however, doesn’t see it that way.
”But the important thing is there is high expectations within the building, within the team,” Reid said. ”They demand that from themselves. You felt that in the OTAs and I expect that to continue. I expect guys to challenge each other, that’s the way you get better. We’ve got great competition that we’re going to play this year starting with the Chargers.”
Yet with many viewing the 2018 season as a transition, if not rebuilding, year for the Chiefs, even Reid acknowledges that this season paves the way for a brighter future under Mahomes.
”We’re striving to win a championship and then to consistently be in a position where we can win a championship as the years go on,” Reid said. ”And it starts again today.”
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