Javonte Williams weighs in on first regular season game back

Javonte Williams is back!

Tonight was a loss but, as both Sean Payton and Justin Simmons have said, “It’s week 1.” We’ll see what happens from here.

One thing that was exciting to see was the splashes that #33 made. In his first regular season appearance since last year’s injury, he recorded 52 rushing yards in 13 attempts, averaging 4 yards per carry. It wasn’t a win tonight, but it wasn’t all loss, either.

Williams described the feeling of running without a brace, how freeing it was. “Mentally and physically, just being able to bend my knee all the way without the brace to hinder it, just the weight that the brace added on just slowing me down...it felt a lot lighter,” he shared.

The running back added that his confidence climbed even higher after he was tackled and continued playing. “It gave me a lot of confidence. Like I was saying, as the game went on my knee felt even stronger.”

Asked if he knew whether there would be opportunities for the passing game today, Williams said Payton tells them to prepare for anything.

“We never know how we’re going to get the ball,” he said. “It might be a catch or run, anything, so we just stay ready and when our number is called, we show up.”

He also praised QB Russell Wilson’s leadership and ability to spread the ball around, saying, “I feel like that is just him—understanding the play book, knowing the different reads that the defense gives him, who to go to and when to go to them, that is just a compliment on his part.”

It will be fun to see Javonte Williams’ contributions next week vs Washington Commanders, and hopefully the kinks will be worked out for the team as a whole so that we can score a win.

Welcome back, Javonte!