THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – After a 3-game stint on Injured Reserve recovering from ankle injury, Rams cornerback Darious Williams made his return last week against the Titans. He was glad to be back.
"I'm getting better daily, every day is just a work in progress," Williams said during a video conference Wednesday. "Obviously in a game, it felt good to be back out there. And then being on IR, I mean, I think it was good, because obviously, it helped get the ankle right. So everything overall, is feeling great."
Williams had three total tackles in his return, but his presence alone was crucial to the ways the Rams defense deployed cornerback Jalen Ramsey. When both Rams head coach Sean McVay and defensive coordinator Raheem Morris indicated Williams' positional flexibility went hand-in-hand with the ability to maximize Ramsey's versatility.
With both Ramsey and Williams in the secondary, the Rams held Titans wide receivers A.J. Brown and Julio Jones to a combined nine catches for 77 yards last week.
While Williams was sidelined, the Rams went with a committee approach to replace Williams, with previously seldom-used players like rookie Robert Rochell and veteran Dont'e Deayon among those seeing more snaps during that three-week stretch.
"I'm especially proud of DD because he's had a long time coming," Williams said. "So just to see him out there playing fast, it's great to see obviously, and then when it comes to Scooter, he's a rookie, so any reps he can get, any snaps he can get, I think that's where all that comes from. It's just game reps, maturity in the game, and that's also fun to see. Just seeing him, if he asked me questions, whatever it is just trying to get him ready, but it also provides a lot of depth. Like we don't just have to get out there, it doesn't have to just be me and Jalen, or whatever it is, we also have depth in our room. And I think that says a lot."
It's valuable to have with the bye week approaching and as the Rams gear up for what is effectively the second half of their season. Los Angele ranks 12th in total defense heading into Monday night's game against the 49ers, and Williams likes where the unit and the team as a whole currently stand.
"I think we're right where we want to be," Williams said. "We're still in control of our destiny. Obviously this later half of the season's all the tougher teams, a lot of good competition, but we're right where we want to be. We just take every game one week at a time, and defensively, we obviously know we've got (Matthew Stafford), we've got an offense that's on fire right now. All we got to do is continue to do our job, get teams off the field, get them the ball back."
