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Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Mini-camp ends without Williams
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The final day of the Falcons three-day mini-camp Wednesday was by far the most entertaining and spirited.
There were two lively dustups in a team drill featuring offensive tackle Harvey Dahl vs. middle linebacker Tony Taylor and Dahl vs. defensive tackle David Patterson. After the second scrap, which was pretty heated, players really got after each other.
It remained a non-contact drill, but defensive players ratcheted up their speed while offensive players, who couldn’t deliver full blows, were pretty much left to grabbing jerseys to quell the aggression.
The tempo of the practice and relative smoothness of execution was about how it should be in the third day. It is totally impossible to gauge how well certain players looked or how good various parts of the team will be because so many players will change and guys weren’t working in pads. There are dozens of mini-camp Pro Bowlers who shrivel once things actually turn to football.
In what is becoming a very interesting development, safety Jimmy Williams missed the final two days of camp. While the camp was voluntary, Williams’ absence created somewhat of a buzz.
Coach Mike Smith provided no reason for Williams’ absence other than players don’t have to be here. Williams has not returned phone calls from the AJC.
Williams was at the first workout and later met with Smith. Since then, Williams has been AWOL.
Williams might have a very viable reason for not being in attendance but for a player who entered the league with high expectations only to remain an enigma after two seasons, missing time now isn’t good. The roster has been gutted and a new staff is in place, so there isn’t a better time to make an impression.
Williams, who was moved from cornerback to free safety last season, spent Day 1 of mini-camp as the No. 3 free safety behind free-agent signee Erik Coleman and Antoine Harris, who saw significant action last season, mainly in nickel packages.
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