Not many players make it to ten years in the NFL and are still considered among the best at their positions. For Trent Williams, he’s entering Year 16 while being widely considered a top-5 left tackle.
Williams spoke to the media earlier this week about whether his approach is changing heading into training camp as he heads into the final couple of seasons in his career. Williams said:
“I wouldn’t say it changed my urgency, but it does change my mind frame a little bit. Like, instead of just coming
to work, I actually try to soak it in. I just don’t know. Obviously, it could be my last two years. It’s probably the plan. So I’m just really trying to soak in every day, build these relationships, take advantage of it, because once that window closes, it generally don’t open back up.”
As for Williams’ preparation heading into the year, he said this offseason he focused more on “remaining explosive” and speed training, so that he can “remain nimble at the spry age of 38.”
One talking point since Kyle Shanahan’s accident has been how the locker room would react. Williams seems unbothered in that regard: “Nah, we gotta lot of vets, man. He really can be on autopilot. We got that locker room.”
One of the big changes for Williams is a new-look defense. The Niners have changed defensive coordinators, but the scheme has been the same since Williams has been on the roster:
Everything is different. We’ve been going against the same defense, in a team environment, since I’ve been here. It’s always been a four-down front. It’s all different. Obviously, we’re not brand new to it. We played it a lot when Rah[eem Morris] was in L.A. We played it last year in Atlanta.
It’s actually one of those defenses that a lot of people try to throw in their repertoire. So getting work on it early in camp and being able to do it as much as we have is going to help us in the season.
Williams was describing a 5-man front, or as he said, “the presentation of a 5-man front.” From there, you can play all sorts of games, like dropping defenders or messing with the protection of the offensive line.
It won’t be long until Williams is going 1-on-1 with Nick Bosa. Trent said he couldn’t tell that Bosa ever suffered an injury. That’s how good he looks:
“Most people, when they have a knee injury that’s that catastrophic. You can see something. You can see it in the atrophy. In the muscle and the legs. You can see something. I mean, Bosa looks better than he did before he got hurt last year.”
One player Williams could be playing next to is second-year pro Connor Colby. Williams said he’s “excited” to see Colby this year. Here’s more from Trent about Colby:
Just confidence. As an 0-lineman, you can see confidence not in just the personality, it’s more in the movements. You can see his pass sets, and how he’s coming along. He’s just sure of himself. Last year, you could tell there’s, we throw a lot at him.
A lot of the things we know today, it took us five, six years to learn. Any time you get a guy coming in first year, as much as we want him to be the best he can be, realistically, that information is just too much for any one person in one year.
I can tell now that he is very confident in which direction he’s going. He knows his plays. So now it’s allowing him to be the player he knows he can be once the ball is snapped.
Life should be a little easier for Colby in Year 2 playing next to Williams, given how great his communication and overall skill are.
