How Joejuan Williams's injury changed his perspective on football
EAGAN — Joejuan Williams entered the 2022 offseason with the New England Patriots hoping to take a big leap forward and reach the potential that made him a second-round pick in 2019.
He was coming off a 2021 in which he played 295 snaps in a rotational role and showed flashes of putting together his unique physical gifts with the techniques and knowledge required to play for Bill Belichick. It was set to be a make-or-break training camp for the Vanderbilt product. And then he got injured.
Williams was lost for the season to a shoulder injury in mid-August, leaving him to twist in the wind about his NFL future for months on end. The Patriots did not re-sign him, so the Vikings picked up the 6-foot-4 defensive back about a month after the start of the free agency period. The 25-year-old signed a one-year, $1.1 million deal. Let’s just say the signing didn’t get a “BREAKING NEWS” headline on NFL Network or ESPN.
In the first few days of Vikings training camp at TCO Performance Center, Williams has been a starting outside corner with Byron Murphy Jr. at nickel and Akayleb Evans on the other side.
While the team hasn’t put pads on yet, early indications are that he is going to get the opportunity that was taken away from him last year.
“Everything happens for a reason,” Williams said on Thursday. “God put me in that position for a reason. I grew a lot once football was taken away from me. I have that gratitude, a deeper sense of gratitude and deeper fire in my heart to go out there again and show what I can do on the field.”
Williams views himself as a different player after going through the mental grind of sitting out the season and recovering. He wanted to make the most of his time away, so he met with Patriots DB coach Mike Pellegrino regularly to watch film and study things that he wanted to understand better. What he came away with was a more broad view of the game than just his own assignments.
“I was able to learn fronts and the front seven and really learn the whole defense, every little part, so now I know my responsibility and everybody else’s [responsibilities],” he said. “It makes my game a lot easier. I learned so much during that year. It was tough at the beginning but I learned so much. Everything happens for a reason.”
When he arrived in Minnesota, Williams continued to scratch that itch. When the defensive backs gathered at Harrison Smith’s house, Williams puled aside the All-Pro safety to glean some knowledge from him, from what he does with his body to how he’s been able to sustain longevity to how he approaches the game.
“I remember the first time going to his house and everybody was watching TV but I’m sitting there asking him every question in the book,” Williams said.
Williams has always had a unique challenge as a tall cornerback. Per the website Mockdraftable, he’s in the 98th percentile of height and 96th weight. That makes facing off with the league’s smaller and more shifty receivers more difficult. It also may have caused the tougher development curve versus smaller, quicker corners.
“There’s definitely things you have to work on when you’re a taller corner,” he said. “Your footwork has to be on point at all times. You are going against fast, shifty guys. Footwork and angles. You can have different matchups but you want to work with everybody [during practice], not only with the big guys but also the little guys, you want to see every body type because it’s rare to see a bigger corner on the field.”
The upside to Williams is high. He was one of the highest graded tacklers at his position by PFF in ‘21 and his length makes for a particularly difficult matchup when it comes to receivers getting off the line of scrimmage against him (see: Rhodes, Xavier).
“First and foremost, his size,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said when asked what stood out about Williams. “Those bigger corners, just because they’re long, they can play physical, I think he’s done a really really great job since he’s gotten here, physically preparing himself as a bigger corner, he’s a very strong player. He’ll cause a lot of problems for us around the line of scrimmage with reroutes and rhythm and timing of passing games. He’s savvy, a smart player, very instinctive.”
Williams isn’t in an easy position to hold down. The Vikings have two recently-drafted corners nipping at his heels in Andrew Booth Jr. and Mekhi Blackmon running with the second team. He will need to prove he belongs with the starters all summer long. Williams is thrilled to have the opportunity.
“God put me in a dope position,” he said.
