‘The vibe is different’: Trent Williams is enjoying honeymoon phase with the 49ers
Things were so bad for Trent Williams in Washington, he decided not to play last season. He was at odds with team president Bruce Allen and the medical staff, all despite being widely regarded as one of the league’s best tackles and a core player for a franchise low on talent.
All that is behind him now after months of turmoil and will-he-or-won’t-he-get-traded discussions.
It appears Williams couldn’t be happier to be with the 49ers, the defending NFC champions, who sound like they’re off to a fast start since returning to their facility this week for the start of training camp while a pandemic grips the country.
Williams recently arrived in Santa Clara and noticed things were different as soon as Monday, when his former offensive coordinator, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, hosted the first full-team meeting of the season after the team’s spring program was canceled due to COVID-19.
“As soon as you’re in this building, the vibe is different,” Williams said on a Zoom video conference Thursday. “I think everybody feeds off of each other and everybody encourages each other. It’s just one those things that you got to experience to believe.”
Williams had a big grin on his face when asked the question about the differences in culture from Washington to his new team. It wasn’t surprising given what he had to say in a Washington Post story in December as Washington was approaching the end of a 3-13 season while Williams was in Houston pondering his future.
“At the end of the day, I’m a human being,” Williams told the Post about the soured relationship with Washington. “I ain’t like a dog and you can slap the s--- out of me and I’m going to come back the next morning with my tail wagging. … They didn’t burn the bridge by accident.”
Contrast that with what Williams said Thursday about getting back into the fold with his new team.
“That friendship, that bond you get that comes with a team,” Williams said, “I think I missed a lot over the last 12, 14 months. It just felt too good to be true.”
The 49ers began their on-field work this week with strength and conditioning and walk-throughs. Raheem Mostert on Wednesday mentioned there was a unique energy on the practice field fueled by the loss in Super Bowl LIV.
“The energy is just crazy, especially during these walk-throughs,” Mostert said. “Guys are really amped up. It’s more so of a run-through slash little miniature practice.”
Williams agreed with the running back’s assessment.
“He said ‘run through,’ I say it was a game,” Williams said with a laugh. “Coming from where I came from, a walk-through was a walk-through. Our walk-through here was pretty intense, a lot of focus a lot of attention to detail, and guys were flying around. You can tell this is a hungry group of guys and I feel like I fit right in.”
Williams arrived in a trade on the third day of the NFL draft after longtime tackle Joe Staley told the team he was retiring. The 49ers were able to pry Williams from Washington for a 2020 fifth-round pick and 2021 third-round pick after having preliminary discussions about trading for him last season while Staley and Mike McGlinchey missed time with injuries.
Shanahan was familiar with Williams after being the offensive coordinator under his father, Mike, Washington’s head coach, when Williams was the No. 4 pick in the 2010 draft out of Oklahoma. Williams got named to seven consecutive Pro Bowls (2012-18). Some argue he’ll provide his new team an upgrade over Staley.
But rust should be a factor given Williams hasn’t suited up for a game since a 24-0 home loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Dec. 30, 2018. He said he hasn’t felt rusty, yet, because the team is still in the acclimation period after all the time off. Williams expects rust when the pads come on for a full contract practice Aug. 17.
He may not be able to ease into things, either. Lining up across from Williams during full-team drills will often be Nick Bosa, the reigning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year who is among the betting favorites to win Defensive Player of the Year this season.
Bosa, who makes a habit of studying his opponents, even ones he practices against, said Williams was on his radar when he was rushing quarterbacks at Ohio State.
“Offensive tackles usually don’t get the most publicity, but Trent is one of the guys that does,” Bosa said Thursday. “He was always on the Top 100, always just known to be one of the best athletes in the game. It’s just fun to watch when you see a tackle running downfield and moving like a linebacker. He looks impressive just in person.”
If there is any rust, Williams said Bosa should help him shake it. There might not be a better battle on San Francisco’s practice field over the next few weeks.
“Probably one of the biggest challenges I’m going to face all year is Nick,” Williams said. “I think he’s one of the top four or five rushers in the game. To get that work and be able to have that every day and be able to bounce ideas off each other and talk each other through it, I think it’s going to work out (as the) best case for me and I hope he gains just as much from me as I do from him.”
Williams is unsigned beyond the coming season and the 49ers indicated they’re interesting in signing him to a long-term contract. But the projected $175 million salary cap floor for 2021, some $40 million less than normal because of the pandemic, could complicate things, which is also true about All-Pro tight end George Kittle, who is working out at team headquarters despite not having a new deal.
For now, Williams and his new team are enjoying the honeymoon phase.
This story was originally published August 7, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
