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Bengals safety Williams open to competition

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By Carlos "Big C" Holmes, Staff Writer Updated 7:54 AM Thursday, July 2, 2009

When the Cincinnati Bengals signed five-time Pro Bowl safety Roy Williams to a 1-year contract this offseason, he was immediately anointed the team’s starting strong safety. That may indeed be the case when the smoke settles in training camp, but the 8-year veteran is prepared to compete for a starting position.

“I want to be the best and will take that onto the practice field,” Williams said during the recent minicamp. “I’m going to compete and whatever I do I will try to do at a high velocity. I see all the other guys are like that as well. The competition is great and we will have a great team because everyone is competing for the same jobs and that’s a good thing.”

With so much depth on the roster, no job is guaranteed with the exception of quarterback. Williams will be competing against the likes of Chris Crocker, Chinedum Ndukwe, Marvin White, Kyries Hebert and Corey Lynch.

However, Williams is familiar with defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer’s defense and could have the upper-hand in the competition. Williams is expected to make a smooth transition and is excited about the defense.

“It’s good to be around an up-and-coming group of players,” he said. “The defense did a phenomenal job last year. They came on very strong with the progression of learning the defense that Coach Zimmer put into place. Being that I played under Zim for five years while in Dallas, it’s good to come back to a system you know.”

Williams had his best years as a pro under Zimmer’s tutelage. He’s best described as an aggressive, attacking safety, and tackling machine. He has 506 tackles, 414 solo, for his career. Williams’ presence on defense should help solidify a questionable Bengals secondary.

According to reports, Williams told former teammates that he didn’t fit into Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips’ defensive scheme, thus leading to his request to be released. During his final days in Dallas the Cowboys’ safeties’ commitment to the team and ability to cover came under fire.

When asked about his well publicized struggles in pass coverage, Williams wanted to set the record straight.

“People want to hang their hats on what the media says or what they might have seen in one game,” he said. “You can’t try to explain football to everybody. It’s either you know or you don’t. I’m not worried about what people say. I know I can cover. I can cover, point blank.”

Carlos “Big C” Holmes covers the NFL for the Dayton Daily News.

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I'm excited to see Williams on the field. I don't think he's the next David Fulcher but he hits just as hard. I want to see Wines Hard try to make a catch over the middle with Roy Williams there.

The only bad thing about Williams is he's penalty prone. Other than that he does deliver in clutch situations which is what the Bengals D has been lacking for a while.

Josh
1:37 PM, 7/9/2009

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I'm just happy he wants to play for the Bengals. Who-Dey!

Angela
9:17 AM, 7/2/2009

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You’re right C! Williams should help solidify a questionable Bengals secondary. I believe he’s going to have a Pro Bowl season with the Bengals. Also, making 414 solo tackles out of 506 is absolutely astounding. I wish you would have asked him what it was like to play with crybaby T.O. after breaking his ankle.

Fred
8:55 AM, 7/2/2009

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