Milton Williams coming on strong as Eagles enter playoffs

[time2rock]

Milton Williams coming on strong as Eagles enter playoffs

 

Milton Williams’ second NFL season didn’t get off to a great start. At least not on the stat sheet.

In the first six games of the season, Williams had zero sacks, zero tackles for loss and just 1 quarterback hit.

That bye week did wonders.

Because since then the 23-year-old defensive tackle has been playing better and better. In the 11 games since the bye, Williams has 4 sacks, 9 TFLs, 5 QB hits and 29 combined tackles.

And as the Eagles get ready for their playoff run, he’s become a really important part of the rotation. He makes a big play every week.

What’s been the difference?

"I got healthy,” Williams said. "The bye week helped me. And I’m making sure I’m doing my job each and every snap and taking advantage of the opportunities when I get them.”

After some slight prodding, Williams said earlier in the season he was playing through a couple injuries: Turf toe and a hyperextended elbow.

"But got the bye week, got away from it a little bit, cleared my mind,” Williams said. "And it’s been good after that.”

Those are a couple tough injuries to play though so it’s not too much of a surprise that Williams’ numbers have gotten much better the further removed he gets from them. But just the fact that Williams was able to play through them at all was pretty impressive.

And it meant a lot to his teammates.

"You can ask any player and they’re dealing with nicks and bruises,” fellow defensive lineman Jordan Davis Said. "Just gotta suck it up and play if you’re able to play. Milton, he’s a competitive guy. He wants to be on the field and I understand he’s going to push through it. He wanted to play and you gotta respect that. That’s just the way it is.”

In addition to his physical ailments, Williams was also going through a tough time from an emotional standpoint earlier this season when his mother was going through treatments for breast cancer.

Luckily, Williams said mom "got it out of her system now” and is doing better. That was quite a relief for Williams.

"It relieved some stress off of me,” he said. "I go out and I play for her and my family back home.”

The 2021 third-round pick can sometimes be the forgotten guy on the Eagles’ defensive line full of Pro Bowlers and former Pro Bowlers. It’s hard to stand out when you’re on a line with Haason Reddick, Josh Sweat, Javon Hargrave, Fletcher Cox and more.

The only two non-Pro Bowlers in the Eagles’ DL rotation are Williams and Davis, who even gets more attention because he was a first-round pick in April.

But with each week, a healthy Williams is making his presence felt. And he’s not flying under the radar anymore.

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/eagles-milton-williams-coming-strong-ahead-playoffs

[UK_EaglesFan89]

For a rotational guy he's making plays. All credit to him for that. 

[weko]

Good to see him come on but we need to draft a DT high in April as we will lose a lot of those we now have