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Shortly after New York Giants defensive lineman Leonard Williams left a Week 14 game against the Los Angeles Chargers with a triceps injury, reports arose that his season was in jeopardy.
The injury is significant and for most, it would have cost them a game or two at minimum. But not Williams.
When the Giants returned to practice last Wednesday, Williams was a limited participant. He’d remain limited all week but when kickoff arrived on Sunday, The Big Cat was ready to go.
“I think I just take a lot of pride in being a durable player and being out there with my teammates knowing that they can count on me to be there. I haven’t missed a game my whole career,” Williams told reporters after making his 109th straight start. “I think I missed one game in college and it was because my coach purposefully forced me to take that game off because I was playing through a shoulder tear I had in college and he wanted to rest me right before the Stanford game. I think I just wanted to finish this year strong with my guys.”
The Giants are headed nowhere and Williams landed his bag this past offseason, so there was really no reason to push it. But he did out of personal pride and respect for the team, which reflected well.
“I’ll tell you what, Leo really pushed through a lot. Leo was hurting a lot this week and there were a lot of things he was limited in during practice,” head coach Joe Judge said. “We knew it would be some pain, some limitations. He knew that himself. Leo had a big part in the decision of going out there and playing. Thought the guy gutted it out, made a lot of big plays for us today. Did a good job as far as holding the point, destroying the blocks, creating some vertical pressure, opening up some games in the pass rush stuff.
“Leo’s a tough dude. He puts the team first, he goes out there and he competes. We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game for him in terms of what he was playing with, but both him and Austin Johnson were guys that were limited this week on the defensive front. We put them through a workout yesterday and both guys made the decision to go out there and play for the team. Both guys went out there and gutted through a lot of stuff today.”
Williams suiting up and playing through severe pain wasn’t lost his teammates, either.
“I went up to him personally after the game, to both he and [Austin Johnson], both of them are fighting through injuries and they played their hearts out. That’s all we can ask for and that’s all that we can continue to ask for and what the coaches ask for. That’s what we are going to keep doing,” linebacker Lorenzo Carter said.
Playing hurt won’t be a one-off for Williams. Although he admitted to feeling the injury throughout the game, his goal is to start in each of the final three weeks of the season and finish what he started. If surgery and rehab come after that, then so be it.
“I had an elbow brace on that helped me out a lot,” Williams said. “Near the second half, I was feeling it a little bit and they started rotating a lot more, putting me in more situational downs so that I could rest it when I could. I finished the game and I’m most likely to play for the rest of the year.
“I think a lot of players would probably sit out if they had the same thing. Peoples’ agents are probably telling them to sit out, coaches are probably not going to question you if you sit out. But I’m doing this more for myself than anything, more for my teammates, as well. I think me and my defensive line have a really tight group and I don’t want to leave them hanging out there. I’m really doing it for them and for myself, as well.”
Say whatever you want about Williams, but he didn’t take his money and run. Even in the face of what’s likely best for him, he still put the team — a 4-10 team — first. That speaks volumes about the player and the man.
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