Damien Williams looking to make the final roster

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
Damien Williams is an undrafted rookie and has a chance to make the final roster due to unrest at the running back position behind Lamar Miller and Knowshon Moreno. After turning heads in training camp though, Williams has struggled to continue to make an impact during preseason games. Nonetheless, Williams has confidence in himself and isn’t surprised at how far he’s come.

“No, I don’t think I’m a surprise,” Williams said. “I’m doing what I’ve always been doing. That’s why I’m here. I’m a confident guy, but I try not to think about that. All I do is show the coaches what you can do.”

Williams, who is known for having a nice combination of speed and power, rushed for 1,931 yards and 26 touchdowns as a junior college sophomore and earned second-team All-Big 12 honors at Oklahoma the following year.  The reason he went undrafted was because he didn’t have a very good 2013 season.

Despite that, head coach Joe Philbin believes he has some good attributes that can help him contribute to the team.

“He’s got good hands,” Philbin said. “The thing you notice about him, he has a little bit of a second gear. I think he’s got that explosiveness. When he really makes up his mind, you kind of see him moving away from people.”

 “Playing in the NFL, you know you’ve got to make plays, you want to make plays,” Williams said. “My main priority is getting in the end zone and helping my team win. Everybody wants to do something. You can’t just push it or rush it. You’ve got to just let it happen, let it come to you. So it’s going to come eventually.”

Williams will definitely have at least one more game against the Dallas Cowboys to prove he belongs. After that, the team has to cut down from 90 to 75 players. IF he survives that cut, he’ll have another chance against the St. Louis Rams before the team gets down to 53 players.

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