Williams Looking to Regain Rookie Form

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Preston Williams has yet to match the production level he had as a rookie before a knee injury

If there is such a thing as a sophomore slump, then Miami Dolphins wide receiver Preston Williams clearly is going through one.

Back from a knee injury that cut short a promising rookie season after eight games, Williams simply hasn't been able to get back to that level so far in 2020.

The numbers certainly back that up, with Williams having only 14 catches for 228 yards through seven games. That pales in comparison to his 2019 numbers when he had 32 receptions for 428 yards in his eight game.

It's not complicated math to figure out he's averaging two catches so far this season after averaging four last year.

Worse, Williams is catching only 46.7 percent of his passes, making him one of only six passes in the NFL with at least 13 receptions and under 50 percent success.

This was not what Williams or the Dolphins envisioned coming into the season, even if there might have been an understanding that Williams might not some time to get back to form after his knee injury.

Williams' performance as a rookie was one of the reasons the Dolphins decided against using one of their 11 picks in the 2020 NFL draft on a wide receiver, but the opt-outs of both Albert Wilson and Allen Hurns have made Williams even more important to the Dolphins offense.

Williams looked like he was on the verge of breaking out when he had a big game against the 49ers in Week 5 with four catches for 106 yards and a touchdown, but he had only two catches in each of the past two games.

Worse, he had as many drops as receptions in the 28-17 victory against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.

“Just a lot of little fundamental things and little details," Williams said about what stood out on film about his performance. "I’ve just got to catch the ball before I run. I had two drops I could have caught. In practice this week, I’m trying to catch everything and just fix those things and remember the little things."

Wide receivers coach Josh Grizzard ackowledged Williams' rough outing against the Rams, but said overall he was pleased with Williams' work.

"I think that he’s shown improvement as the year has gone along," Grizzard said. "He’s done a good job. It was unfortunate last week, but really before that, I would say the previous two or three games, he’s been doing a nice job. But if there’s something that he feels like ‘hey, I need to work on,’ then he works at it, too, just like the rest of the group and tries to make sure that’s not something that happens going forward.”

The bottom line is the Dolphins absolutely will need Williams at some point to make life easier for rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

A good time to start would be Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals when he'll be on the same field with one of the greatest wide receivers of all time (Larry Fitzgerald) and one of the best in the game right now (DeAndre Hopkins).

Williams' focus, though, is just on making the plays when he's given the opportunity.

“I just try to be there when my number is called," he said. "Me dropping a ball is not helping. I’m harder on myself more than anybody can be hard on me. Just being one of the receivers that they count on, I just try to make every play.”