Nebraska football was mudding through the midst of the cliché dog days of fall camp in the middle of this week. Second-year pass rusher James Williams said exactly that on Tuesday afternoon.
“Camp’s been going good. Been up and down. But this is the part of camp where it’s super hard to get through," Williams said following what was then the Huskers’ 12th practice in 14 days. “It’s thicker. This is, like, the lull of camp. So just powering through.
"This is the transition week. ... But I do genuinely believe that this is the time where you find out who your real players are. Like, who will really go for bat for you? Who's gonna, fourth down, go get you a sack? Or, who's gonna make a big TFL against Illinois on the one-yard line? This really is the hardest week, but I do think it's the best week of camp to figure out who's ready to go and who's not."
Nebraska is now 15 practices deep with No. 16 in an 18-day span set for today (Saturday), when the Huskers will hold their second-and-final scrimmage ahead of the August 31 opener against UTEP. This is the grind, especially when considering the grueling nature of a Matt Rhule-style preseason training camp. When you get just two days off while battling through it all, you’ve got to find something internal to push your way through.
“I have lots of motivations,” Williams said. “I wanna be the best version of myself, and that means I gotta get through the harder stuff to get there.”
Williams is an exciting, yet unfinished product on the field, so he still has plenty of improvements still to make before he becomes that “best version” of himself. At the podium this week, though, he was certainly the best, most authentic version of himself when it comes to off-the-field personality.
There were too many fun moments, major and minute, packed into one 11.5-minute interview to boil down to just a takeaway or two. So here are five highlights from Williams as he gave us a thoroughly introspective peek behind the curtain into his own decisions and development – which is undoubtedly similar to the physical struggle many first- and second-year players toil through, especially when playing either O- or D-line.
