Leonard Williams doesn’t believe he’ll need surgery for his arm injury, a relief after it was thought when he suffered it in Los Angeles that it might end his season and his streak of consecutive games played.
“I’m gonna stick around a little bit until I get a look at a few things, but overall, I came out healthy,” Williams said in his final press briefing of the season. “I’m not expecting any surgery or anything like that, just get some treatment and make sure I keep up with that training and treatment this offseason.”
Williams was a key piece of a defense that improved as the season went on, but for the seventh straight time in his career, locker cleanout day came on the same Monday as the majority of the league.
“I don’t think I could ever get used to losing, but I think exit days are always tough unless you win the Super Bowl, which is what we’re all here for,” Williams said. “I’ve been a part of more than a few losing seasons, and it’s obviously disappointing, but we know this is a big man’s league, different than any other league. It’s competitive and we obviously want to win.”
He hopes his chance in 2022 comes with Joe Judge, whom he “loves playing for” because of his mentality and approach to football. But some changes will be needed, and Williams said it needs to start with every man in the locker room doing some self-reflection.
“A lot of it has to do with the players. Not to come at anyone or point fingers, but myself included, we need to step up more as leaders, as guys who set the standard and example and push each other,” he said. “I feel like on really good teams, you can look another teammate in the eye and let them know “I need more out of you” or “keep doing what you’re doing.” We need to facilitate our team from the inside out and that starts with the players.”
That comes, he says, regardless of whoever may be on the staff, because “at the end of the day, the players are on the field and we have to step up and be more together as a team.”
But, would he love to see the Giants add a star edge rusher to help supplement that strong defense?
“I mean, you can look at any position on the field and say adding a star will make it better, that’s just the truth,” he said. “I think our guys this year did a really good job. Azeez (Ojulari) stepped up big time as a rookie and he’s only going to get bigger, faster, and better, and Lorenzo (Carter) did a good job once he got healthy. Even guys like Quincy Roche…we have a good group.”
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