http://www.mlive.com/sports/statewide/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1157497802112980.xml&coll=1


Days numbered unless Williams makes drastic changes

Wednesday, September 06, 2006
By Tom Kowalski

ALLEN PARK -- Mike Williams' days are numbered -- 237 to be exact.

As the situation stands right now, the Detroit Lions wide receiver will probably be cut on June 1 of next year in a salary cap move. There are two reasons why Williams wasn't recently tossed out the door like his buddy Charles Rogers: One, Williams was too expensive to cut and, two, head coach Rod Marinelli hasn't given up on him yet.

Time is running out on Williams to make a positive impression on Marinelli and the coaching staff. This isn't a situation where Williams can spin his wheels during the regular season and then hope to rehabilitate his image with hard work and intensity during next year's off-season workouts.

Williams is going to be judged harshly over the next four months but, unfortunately for him, that test will be performed mostly on the practice field, not during games. Right now, Williams is No. 6 on the six-receiver depth chart and there's little chance of him moving up anytime soon.

Williams might actually be on the 45-man active list for Sunday's season opener against the Seattle Seahawks but that's only because a knee injury might sideline rookie Shaun Bodiford. Most weeks this season, the decision for the fifth and final active wide receiver spot will be between Williams and Bodiford and because Bodiford can play well on several special teams, including as a kick returner, he'll likely get the nod every time.

The only way Williams is going to move up the charts is by improving his attitude and work ethic in the meetings and on the practice field. He has to begin competing -- every down, every day -- like he really wants to play pro football.

And, truth be told, there have been whispers that Williams really isn't that keen on playing. Some guys, regardless of their talent level, just lose interest. Charles Rogers did.

It's hard to pinpoint the exact reason why some guys lose the fire. Some players simply don't possess the intestinal fortitude it takes to continue competing at the highest level. Others never had the desire, but continued to play ball up through the ranks because that's what everybody around them expected of them. There are others who lack the maturity to understand the reality of the situation they're in.

And some, with millions in the bank, lose motivation and just get fat and lazy.

Whether any of those will eventually apply to Williams is unknown. It's still too early in his career to get a handle on exactly how this is going to turn out. It's all up to Williams who, so far, has learned to say all the right things, but whose actions have said otherwise.

And this isn't just about making the team next year; the Lions want Williams to become a productive player this season. You don't think Mike Martz could find a way to use a weapon like a motivated, energetic and highly conditioned Mike Williams?

That is why Marinelli refuses to give up. He is absolutely stubborn in his belief that, if a player at least meets him halfway, he can turn him into a productive, successful athlete. While several coaches had already given up on Rogers early in training camp, Marinelli refused to.

As late as a week before the final preseason game against Buffalo, Rogers had an excellent chance to win a roster spot. All he had to do was show some effort. But, he couldn't even muster the energy to do that.

And now Williams is in the same situation, with a longer leash. Williams has a couple of months to show that he not only has the hunger to be a great player, but that he'll show it every single day.

And that's what it's going to take to change the opinion of Marinelli and the coaching staff. Pound the rock every down of every day because, for Williams, those days are numbered.

Doesn't sound like he vants to play.

harrington, rogers, and williams possibly gone.

yet matt millen still has a job.

how many million dollar companies would keep their CEO who keeps hiring people that need to be fired?

Only ones that take entire states with them as they plummett to hell.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060913/SPORTS0101/609130406/1126


Roy Williams goes to bat for namesake

Lions pass catcher says Mike Williams would give Lions offense a dangerous punch.

Terry Foster / The Detroit News

ALLEN PARK -- Roy Williams has a suggestion to jump-start the Lions' offense for Sunday's game against the Bears:

Start Mike Williams.

"I would like Mike Williams to be my counterpart," Roy Williams said. "It would be like, which Williams are you going to cover? But he has to go out and work. I think it can happen.

"He needs a taste of winning. He comes from USC. He is used to winning and is not used to being somebody's backup guy. He can play this game well."

Mike Williams did not dress in the opener against Seattle, a 9-6 loss, although he was healthy.

A first-round pick in 2005, Mike seemed touched by Roy's push to see him start.

Mike paused for a few moments when the news was relayed to him. He looked down briefly and cleared his throat before speaking.

"He's my boy," Mike Williams said "He'll get what he wants. It is a chance it is going to be this week. I don't know what this past Sunday was about.

"It was shocking to me to say the least. Maybe it was punishment for the offseason, whatever it was. I have done everything in the book to get in there. For Roy to be the guy he is and for him to be passionate about it means a lot."

Later, Mike said: "I was brought here to be a starter. I was not brought here to not dress for the season opener. This week should be my week. I have put forth the effort, and I think this week will be my week.

"I learned a long time ago that my opinion isn't important and it doesn't make things happen. One thing coach Mike Martz told me was to take responsibility for everything I can control. I am just pushing forward and moving on."

Mike Williams was fined by the team for being late for meetings last season and being overweight. But he has lost more than 20 pounds, has gone down a pad size and claims he is at his optimum playing weight. He hired a personal chef and eliminated fast food from his diet.

"It's just night and day," Roy Williams said. "The first day he came in he was fat and slow. Now he comes in and he can run and catch, and he has developed better practice habits."

Roy said Mike had two of his best practices last week and believes another week of great practices should get him in the lineup.

"You've got to keep his confidence up," Roy Williams said. "I am not saying they (the coaches) treated him unfairly. I am just saying the guy can play. I don't know if it was off-the-field business that keeps him off the playing field. But the guy can play, and he has to show it in practice. That is the thing I get on him is he has to show it in practice."

Mike Williams is miffed that comparisons have been made between him and Charles Rogers, who was released before the season began.

"For some reason I got lumped in with Chuck," Mike said. "I don't really know where that came from or why."

I really hope the latter article is accurate because Bradford just isn't going to get it done. We need two playmakers, I think it's the only thing that will help cover up how inept Jon Kitna is.

Mike Williams is miffed that comparisons have been made between him and Charles Rogers, who was released before the season began.

"For some reason I got lumped in with Chuck," Mike said. "I don't really know where that came from or why."

I wish athletes were taught in school.

so guys are losing interest and arent showing the effort anymore?

lets see, what motivational tricks can we use:

-burry them on the game roster? check
-burry them on the preseason roster? check
-burry them on the practice squad? check

like bush might say, we've already sanctioned them, we cant sanction them anymore.

i wonder how many great nfl players are dogs in practice. im guessing atleast a few.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2592484


Poster boy for losing?

Who is the poster boy for the Lions' losing ways? Receiver Mike Williams said it's him and he's not happy about it.

"The way the organization is going under [coach Rod] Marinelli, it's going to need a poster boy for what's wrong," Williams told The Detroit Free Press. "Every new beginning needs a poster boy for why the other way didn't work."

Williams, who was the 10th overall pick in the 2005 draft, was inactive for Detroit's 34-7 loss at Chicago in Week 2, but said he was given no reason why he wasn't allowed to play.

"I've given up on trying to figure out what it is, or what it has been or what it's going to be," Williams told the newspaper. "The only thing I look at is coming to practice and putting the maximum effort I can put into it. Y'all go ask the powers that be. I don't know what to say."

if its any solace to mike, most likely marinelli will never HC again when he gets fired in two years, and i do believe Martz is on a one way road to the looney bin.

millen will probably still be around though.

I just don't understand how they aren't telling Mike what he needs to do to get on the field and Maranelli says Mike does know what to do. His teammates say he is practicing hard and deserve to be out there. Rod needs to stop playing secrets with the media and tell them what he expects from BMW. Period. That way he has no excuses and people will stop speculating.

Killer said the other day that he doesn't buy Mike Williams' claim that they aren't talking to him. He said Roy Williams got a 20 minute spit wash by Marks after game 1 and that both coordinators and Marinelli stop practice all the time to chew out players after any mistake, so why would they all of a sudden not do this for Mike and only Mike?

Who knows? Win games.

Bring Mikey Williams to Oakland. [smilie=blaha.gif]

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Bradford's release might not help Mike Williams
The lesson to be learned by the news of Corey Bradford's release is that if you don't know the offense, you're not going to play. And if you make too many mistakes, you're going to get cut.

Bradford had the physical skills the Lions were looking for in a second receiver, especially his downfield speed, but he was making too many errors in the offense and was unreliable. After the season opening game, Mike Furrey took over Bradford's starting spot.

Mike Williams has an opportunity now to get more playing time but he, too, has struggled with the complexities of the offense. Because of that, it's more likely that Furrey and Az Hakim -- who have spent years in Martz's offense in St. Louis -- will be the receivers on the field with Roy Williams in the three-receiver formations.