Connor Williams – September 19, 2022
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Monday, September 19, 2022
OL Connor Williams
(What are your plans for the off day?) – “Rehab, ice, take a little breather. Maybe the hammock a little bit. We’ll see.”
(What was that experience like, a game for the ages for QB Tua Tagovailoa? Obviously you’ve been around QB Dak Prescott when he’s had big games too. What’s it like for an offensive lineman when a quarterback is so in the groove and having one of his great career games?) – “It’s just a privilege to be able to block for somebody like that. Just to see him firing on all cylinders and executing back there, you love it. You just can’t wait to see what he dishes out.”
(Emotionally, how was it in that fourth quarter?) – “It was a very strange game and I think we stayed levelheaded throughout the whole game, whether it was the first quarter or the fourth. I think that was the epitome of it was we just kept on churning and kept sticking to our roots and our guns, and it finally came out well.”
(What was the flight home like?) – “It was great. It was obviously – we were all on Cloud Nine. It was a great team win. It was a great team win to be able to hunker in all together and everything, so it was a nice flight home.”
(The team hadn’t acquired WR Tyreek Hill when you signed on the first team or agreed to terms on the first day of free agency. How have your expectations changed as far as how good this team can be since the day you signed?) – “I mean we have players all around the board. I think definitely having Tyreek, you hear stories but just to have him as a teammate and be able to see what he does, definitely when you look up and see the plays he makes, it’s just unreal. We’re just lucky to have him.”
(What did you learn about the offensive line this week? T Terron Armstead isn’t 100 percent and you’ve got OL Austin Jackson on IR. T Greg Little steps in and seemed to turn in a pretty good performance. What did you learn?) – “Greg did a great job. We have a great o-line group. We have a great room. Everyone is just going to step up and do as needed, and fit in where they’re needed. I think that’s o-line play at the end of the day because you never go through the 17 games healthy. I think everyone is just (putting their head down) grinding and you can just count on all of them.”
(Playing next to young guys – OL Liam Eichenberg in his second year and OL Rob Hunt in his third – just observations on each of them.) – “They’re both individually great players. They’re getting better day-by-day, week-by-week and understanding the scheme more. I think we’re all understanding the scheme more. Great players and great guys in the locker room. Great guys to be around. Great guys to play with.”
(It was your first road game playing center. How was that experience and how much of it was what you expected?) – “The silent count went well. It didn’t give us any troubles or anything. Like any away game, it’s a challenge. You go into somebody else’s home and you have to steal it from them. I think we did a great job just hunkering in all together.”
(Do you think you guys have been able to find some consistency in terms of the first game it didn’t go your way in terms of what you wanted to do offensively. You scored a lot more in the second game. Are there some things that you see between both games that you guys are continuing to do well?) – “I think it’s about stacking bricks and understanding our identity as an offense, as a team. And just understanding who we are and being able to believe in who we are and go out and execute like that.”
(Besides QB Tua Tagovailoa, who else spoke much in the fourth quarter in the huddle? Who said something much during those possessions that all ended in touchdowns?) – “There wasn’t much communication. I think we all knew our assignment. We all knew what we needed to do. Obviously Tua is our leader and is our dawg. So he was speaking up when we needed. We just all hunkered in, like I said, and go all together.”
(What kind of statement can the team make this coming Sunday?) – “It’s the NFL. It’s always week by week. This is obviously a great team and they’re well respected. But it’s the same as any other week and any other division game. It’s going to be a challenge and we’re going to meet that challenge by the process of taking it day by day.”
(Are you going to watch Buffalo tonight? Do you usually watch the opponent when you can on TV?) – “Obviously you’ve got the night off and Monday Night Football, a team you’re playing that week and a team in the division, you want to take a glance at them and see if you can see what they’re working with and everything.”
(One other huddle question. Besides obviously calling out the next play, was QB Tua Tagovailoa encouraging in the huddle in the fourth quarter? Or was it simply here’s what we are running next?) – “I think that everything that happens on the field should stay on the field. We’re teammates. We’re a team. We’re players. There’s some things that can’t be said for that bond but Tua is our leader and Tua is our dawg. We believe in him and we go to bat for him and have supreme confidence in everybody on the field when we’re all together.”
(How did the texts look on your phone after that game? Blowing up with friends?) – “Yeah, everyone was excited. My family was excited. Everybody was juiced up.”
(Anybody that you were especially surprised to see a text from? An old teammate? An old friend?) – “You get those one game every couple years where it really blows up from everybody. Definitely just hearing from a lot of people that were excited to see what we were producing.”
