Raiders Tyrell Williams Has Catching Up to Do

Las Vegas Raiders Tyrell Williams was slowed by foot injuries in his first season with the Silver and Black but is ready to go now.

Wide receiver Tyrell Williams was unable to put his best foot forward, or either one for that matter, last season in his first year with the Raiders after signing a four-year free agent contract potentially worth $44 million.

While Williams had his moments, especially early in the season, he did not play to his full potential because he battled plantar fasciitis in his right foot and later had problems with his left foot as well.

The 6-4, 205-pound Williams, who played four seasons for the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers after signing as an undrafted free agent out of Western Oregon before coming to the Raiders, believes those problems are in the past.

“I feel good coming into this season compared to how I was feeling the last few with my feet and everything,” said Williams, who despite the injuries caught 42 passes for 651 yards, a 15.5-yard average, and six touchdowns in 14 games, including 12 starts, in 2019. “I feel a lot better. I feel 100 percent. I’m excited. I feel fast, feel back to myself. So, glad to feel that way, finally kind of past that.

“It took a pretty long time into the offseason to finally start feeling better. With the virus and stuff, I was able to even take more time, which was really helpful. But now, I don’t want to go back to that so yeah, I do a lot of daily maintenance stuff before and after practice to make sure that it doesn’t come back. I don’t know what it was that finally got me over the hump, but I’ve tried a million different things and now I’m just starting to continue to add stuff, whatever feels good and however I can keep it that way into the next day and keep the soreness and all that stuff away. I’m just glad to be feeling better.”

Williams started fast for the Raiders last season, catching a touchdown pass from quarterback Derek Carr in each of the first four games, but he sustained the first of his foot injuries in that fourth game against the Indianapolis Colts and missed the next two games.

When Williams returned in Week 7, he caught three passes for 90 yards and another touchdown, but he played hurt for the rest of the season and apparently putting pressure on himself to produce as he had earlier, dropped a number of passes.

Coach Jon Gruden believes all of that his behind him.

“I’m really proud of him,” Gruden said. “What you don’t see sometimes is what these guys go through to just get to the game. … Tyrell has done a good job. … But we think he’s an excellent football player; he’s just got to get right.

“We have to go back and I watch him (on tape) in training camp and Week 1 when he was healthy against Denver, and he’s a talented guy. But it’s hard to play when your feet are on fire and his feet were hurting bad. It’s a credit to him to play through it.

“We still think he is an excellent receiver.”

Williams, who hopes to playback to the 2016 season when he caught 69 passes for 1,059 yards and seven touchdowns for the Chargers, knows he will have to fight for playing time this season after the Raiders drafted wide receivers Henry Ruggs III and Bryan Edwards.

However, he sounds like a team player when talking about newcomers.

“I am excited about the additions, man,” said Williams, who had his best game last season in the opener, when he caught six passes from Carr for 105 yards and a touchdown in a 24-16 victory over the Denver Broncos.

“Early impressions is, (Ruggs) is fast. I think that’s the biggest thing you see. He’s super quick. He works hard, makes the plays, when the ball comes to him he makes those catches. He works really hard. I think that’s what we do. And obviously having speed like that, the defense just has to respect and allow when he’s on the field, whether it’s a run play, pass play, you have to have to have somebody that’s respecting that speed. So, I think that’s going to open up so much for me, for Derek, for the run game, for everybody it’s just going to open up so much more just having that vertical threat.

“ … (Edwards) has been awesome. He works hard at really trying to make sure to know what to do. He’s big, physical, runs good routes and he reminds me a lot of Mike Williams from the Chargers when he first came in as a rookie. I think he’s been awesome and I think he’s going to be a great receiver. Off the field, being able to be around him a little bit, I’m excited because I think he’s going to have a really good career here.”

If Williams can regain his footing, he should, too.

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