Denver Native (Carol)
05-27-2009, 07:17 PM
http://www.denverbroncos.com/page.php?id=334&storyID=9072
You can hear DJ speaking with media on above link
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Broncos got a captain back on Wednesday.
After missing the first two mini-camps recovering from surgery, D.J. Williams was back on the practice field today for the first time this offseason, with minimal participation.
"Still a little rusty," he conceded. "But I feel like I did pretty well."
The sixth-year linebacker left the field in Week 9 of last season with a knee injury that kept him sidelined until he retained his starting job in Week 15. It wasn't his knee that kept him off the field this offseason, however.
In fact, it was a far less publicized injury. Williams said his shoulder had been bothering him off-and-on last season. One week it would be fine, but all it took was an awkward hit or landing and the pain would come shooting back.
So he had surgery to repair what turned out to be a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder this January. He is currently in the process of finishing up a prescribed four-to-five month recovery period.
But Williams hasn't been away from the facility -- he's been in film sessions, rehabbing and working out, getting to know his new teammates. Like many of his defensive comrades, he finds himself getting more and more excited about the new defensive scheme under Defensive Coordinator Mike Nolan.
It is requiring him to make yet another position change, but he said he is already finding out that his new linebacker slot fits him perfectly.
"I love my position," he said. "I don't want to give away too much about what my position is and what I get to do, but I think the position highlights what type of player I am."
Though he won't specify what kind of duties he'll have in the new defense, he did reveal that he is lining up at the "Jack" linebacker spot -- the inside linebacker on the weak side (away from the tight end).
That's a spot on the defense that allows plenty of plays to be made, if one judges off another recent Jack linebacker in a Nolan defense -- San Francisco's Patrick Willis.
Willis was named the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2007 and made the Pro Bowl in both of his first two seasons, leading the NFL with 226 tackles as a rookie and racking up triple-digit tackles last season as well.
The team, and Williams, would love for him to put up the same type of numbers in 2009. He has put up more than 100 tackles each of the past two seasons, and even after the first day of limited practice, he's already drooling at the prospects for this year.
"I'm enjoying what it is so far," he said of his spot on the defense. "Like I said, this is my first day out, but just being in the film rooms and Coach telling me, 'On this play you have this, on this play you have that.' I like that, because 'this' and 'that' is what I like to do."
Though he was plenty secretive about his position, he did echo what many players on the defense have been saying already this offseason about the new scheme -- it's all about attacking.
Williams described it as "swarming," and talked about the fact that the team plans on utilizing the strengths of individual players to be able to dominate matchups all over the field.
"We've got a lot more packages, a lot of disguises, a lot of different things," he said. "We can have a lot of fun and highlight certain players and what they can do."
It should be a welcome change for a defensive unit that has taken a lot of flack since the start of the 2008 season. Many point to that side of the ball as the reason for some of the downfalls last season, but Williams said people shouldn't forget all the injuries that plagued the defense. At one point, all three starting linebackers were out with injury, a starting safety was sidelined and Champ Bailey missed a large chunk of the season.
So now the team is ready to come out and show what it can do this season. Williams said there are plenty of players with a chip on their shoulder.
"I definitely think so, and worse than that we've got 10 or 12 guys that have got chips on their shoulders that weren't even here, because they're just automatically taking on the burden of what we did last year," he said. "But we have a positive attitude. We don't have a chip on our shoulder like we've got to prove this and prove something to the world. We feel that we knew we had talent last year. Because of injuries, things like that -- a play here, a play there -- things didn't go to well.
"We see this year as a chance to make that up."
You can hear DJ speaking with media on above link
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Broncos got a captain back on Wednesday.
After missing the first two mini-camps recovering from surgery, D.J. Williams was back on the practice field today for the first time this offseason, with minimal participation.
"Still a little rusty," he conceded. "But I feel like I did pretty well."
The sixth-year linebacker left the field in Week 9 of last season with a knee injury that kept him sidelined until he retained his starting job in Week 15. It wasn't his knee that kept him off the field this offseason, however.
In fact, it was a far less publicized injury. Williams said his shoulder had been bothering him off-and-on last season. One week it would be fine, but all it took was an awkward hit or landing and the pain would come shooting back.
So he had surgery to repair what turned out to be a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder this January. He is currently in the process of finishing up a prescribed four-to-five month recovery period.
But Williams hasn't been away from the facility -- he's been in film sessions, rehabbing and working out, getting to know his new teammates. Like many of his defensive comrades, he finds himself getting more and more excited about the new defensive scheme under Defensive Coordinator Mike Nolan.
It is requiring him to make yet another position change, but he said he is already finding out that his new linebacker slot fits him perfectly.
"I love my position," he said. "I don't want to give away too much about what my position is and what I get to do, but I think the position highlights what type of player I am."
Though he won't specify what kind of duties he'll have in the new defense, he did reveal that he is lining up at the "Jack" linebacker spot -- the inside linebacker on the weak side (away from the tight end).
That's a spot on the defense that allows plenty of plays to be made, if one judges off another recent Jack linebacker in a Nolan defense -- San Francisco's Patrick Willis.
Willis was named the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2007 and made the Pro Bowl in both of his first two seasons, leading the NFL with 226 tackles as a rookie and racking up triple-digit tackles last season as well.
The team, and Williams, would love for him to put up the same type of numbers in 2009. He has put up more than 100 tackles each of the past two seasons, and even after the first day of limited practice, he's already drooling at the prospects for this year.
"I'm enjoying what it is so far," he said of his spot on the defense. "Like I said, this is my first day out, but just being in the film rooms and Coach telling me, 'On this play you have this, on this play you have that.' I like that, because 'this' and 'that' is what I like to do."
Though he was plenty secretive about his position, he did echo what many players on the defense have been saying already this offseason about the new scheme -- it's all about attacking.
Williams described it as "swarming," and talked about the fact that the team plans on utilizing the strengths of individual players to be able to dominate matchups all over the field.
"We've got a lot more packages, a lot of disguises, a lot of different things," he said. "We can have a lot of fun and highlight certain players and what they can do."
It should be a welcome change for a defensive unit that has taken a lot of flack since the start of the 2008 season. Many point to that side of the ball as the reason for some of the downfalls last season, but Williams said people shouldn't forget all the injuries that plagued the defense. At one point, all three starting linebackers were out with injury, a starting safety was sidelined and Champ Bailey missed a large chunk of the season.
So now the team is ready to come out and show what it can do this season. Williams said there are plenty of players with a chip on their shoulder.
"I definitely think so, and worse than that we've got 10 or 12 guys that have got chips on their shoulders that weren't even here, because they're just automatically taking on the burden of what we did last year," he said. "But we have a positive attitude. We don't have a chip on our shoulder like we've got to prove this and prove something to the world. We feel that we knew we had talent last year. Because of injuries, things like that -- a play here, a play there -- things didn't go to well.
"We see this year as a chance to make that up."