New Orleans Saints Defensive Back P.J. Williams
Conference Call with New Orleans Media
Monday, December 23, 2019
When is the last time you played that much safety in an NFL game?
"That's my first time playing safety in an NFL game. That was my first time and (the) last time I played safety was in high school. It's definitely crazy."
How much practice did you do for it and did you feel comfortable out there?
"I felt pretty comfortable, but I think I got like one day of practice, like really about two or three plays to be exact this week. I felt comfortable. Just knowing the defense, knowing where I had to be, and the coaches did a good job like in meetings all week of explaining things to me and the situations that I'll be in and stuff like that. I was pretty comfortable."
What was the thought when you saw your teammates go down in the secondary?
"Yeah, it happened and coach came up to me, he's like, you probably going to have to play safety. My eyes opened real wide and he was like, okay and then during the week you never really think that you're going to really end up playing it. They told me during the week and okay well I have to play safety. It happened. But you don't expect those things (to) happen. You're not really locked in on (if) I am going to have to play safety until it happens."
How do you feel like you guys held up in the secondary with the injuries?
"I felt like we held up pretty good. We had a few little mishaps, but I feel like we definitely held up. Coaches did a great job of putting us in the right positions and changing things around. We had a lot of guys playing a lot of positions. I feel like we held up pretty good."
What do you see from C.J. Gardner-Johnson, he can give up a big play and then make up for it later?
"Oh yeah, definitely, he's definitely playing at a high level. That is mainly coming from his confidence. To play at a high level in this league you need to have a lot of confidence and he goes out there confident every day. Even if he might not know something, he's playing fast and just with confidence. That helps you make plays."
Are you more disconnected playing safety, compared to the slot where you're in the middle of the action?
"Yeah, it's a little different, but as the game went on I started to feel a little better, just knowing what I had to do and you have to know you are really the last man at the fence. You (have to) play it a little differently. It is definitely different, but I did not feel that off. I definitely, as the game went on felt a lot better."
Do things just happen faster when you're playing the slot?
"Yeah, definitely your eyes are between two places when you're up close, when you're back there, you have to see the whole field."
