Kyren Williams had his best game of the season on Sunday, rushing for 102 yards on 22 carries with one touchdown – his eighth straight game where he found the end zone. He also coughed up a costly fumble in the second half, which directly led to points for the Green Bay Packers.
It was only his first of the season but that’s one too many for the Pro Bowl running back. After the game, he was critical of himself for his turnover, saying he has to be the one to hold himself accountable because otherwise, he might get complacent.
“Because if I don’t, who will?” he said. “If I don’t, I might start getting comfortable if I don’t hold myself accountable. I might say, ‘Oh, that fumble’s OK. It’s only the first of the season.’ No, that’s never OK. Putting the ball on the ground is never OK. Being hard on myself is just who I am. My standards of excellence are super high and I’ve got to meet those each and every week and if I don’t, I’ve got to go back to the drawing board and keep going.”
Williams fumbled three times last season, which isn’t a very big number considering he touched the ball 260 times. He’s never really had a fumbling issue and it’s not likely to become one this year, either.
Being the physical, hard-nosed runner that he is, he’s always trying to fight for extra yardage and he realizes sometimes, it’s better to just protect the ball and live to see another down.
“For me, it’s more of an attention-to-details thing,” he said. “I’ve got to be better. When I know I’m in traffic and I know I’m getting wrapped up and I’m trying to get more yards, wrap the ball up. That’s the most important thing and I didn’t do that.”
Even after his fumble, Williams is still the unquestioned starter at running back for the Rams. They have Blake Corum available too and while he did rush for 25 yards on five carries, this is still Williams’ backfield – costly fumble and all.