Like Joe Burrow, Jonah Williams, the second choice of Bengal’s first round, is immersed in the first training camp of his career that has no precision game. That means their NFL debuts are for real.
The opener. September 13 at Paul Brown Stadium. Against the Chargers.
Unlike Burrow, the first player to line up this year, Williams, the first offensive lineman to line up last year, begins the first five days of his career with two enormous individual matchups. Williams begins his run as the Bengals tackle two of the most dangerous patients in the game, the Chargers ‘Joey Bosa on Sunday and then Thursday night in Cleveland against the Browns’ Myles Garrett.
“I’m aware of that. I’ve not really gotten into the weeds yet,” Williams said in Monday’s media call. “I’m staying a bit at the pace of the whole team because we’re installing the attack and starting to roll in it. There’s not that much game planning at the moment.
“I think that’s kind of what you want in the NFL. You expect that to make you a great player every week. Of course those two guys are exceptional. It’s going to be a challenge, sure, but I think that’s what you’re in for. I think that’s what I expected to get here. “
Williams did not play at all last year when his rookie season was cut short by a shoulder injury in the spring workouts. That, according to Elias, for the first time since 2015, when another general no. 1-pick, Jameis Winston, teamed up with Donovan Smith in Tampa Bay, runs a rookie quarterback with basically a rookie left tackle in the opener. Williams, technically, is not a rookie. But it’s his debut.
Williams proved it hard to ramble during his high-profile career at Alabama and the lack of a press season does not either.
“We are not the only team that does not have pre-season games. Even if it is a bit slow to start, I think all teams will continue this,” Williams said. “However, I’m not worried that I do not have enough reps. I think two weeks of padded practices, let’s say the practices are two hours or so, you can get into hundreds and hundreds of reps in that amount of time. Our D-line is obviously one of the strengths of our team, so I think we as an O-line will be tested against the best in practice. “
