Unser Chat » The first surgery of Trent Williams‘ life put more fear

ASHBURN Jonathan Allen Jersey , Va. (AP) — into him than any pass-rusher on a football field.“I was scared,” Williams said. “I was terrified.”Not much terrifies the Washington Redskins‘ star left tackle, though this was different. Now eight months removed from major surgery on his right knee, Williams is ready to get back on the field when the Redskins open the season at the Arizona Cardinals and already looks like the player he was before the debilitating injury.“He looks amazing,” coach Jay Gruden said this week. “We just have to make sure we take care of him, get him right. Physically, I think for the game, he’s in great football shape. He’s always been in great football shape but I expect him to be Trent Williams, the best left tackle in football.”Williams has gotten that kind of praise from Tampa Bay defensive end Gerald McCoy and others around the NFL and earned respect for playing through countless injuries. His six games missed last season were more than he sat out for injury combined over the previous five seasons.This knee injury was so bad it forced Williams not to play and affected his mindset.“It was difficult to have to — I’m not going say give up — but basically have to go ahead and I guess bow down out of the battle,” Williams said. “I just more so felt defeated because I had tried so hard to continue to work through.”Williams was so determined to gut it out he played games even when Washington was eliminated from playoff contention. The sight of his name on the injured reserve list for the first time in his career was the wakeup call he needed to finally go under the knife.That happened Dec. 29: a medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction by way of a tibial tubercle osteotomy, which involved breaking his tibia bone and realigning it with the knee joint. Every doctor he saw told him he was underestimating how major it was.“I was,” Williams said. “Maybe I was in denial. I did underestimate how intense it was and how hard the recovery was going to be.”Eight weeks of being unable to get around without crutches or assistance followed. Williams spent months building the strength back up on both legs, got eased back into practices and still had a hurdle to overcome that’s common to players coming off knee surgery.“Trent came in and he did drills with us in OTAs and to me he looked quicker and faster than he had been before,” running back Chris Thompson said. “But then when you get out here and bodies start flying, people start coming towards you full-speed, mentally you’re just like, ‘Oh Montae Nicholson Jersey , I don’t know if I’m ready yet.'”Williams took limited snaps in the preseason as the team preferred a cautious approach to getting Williams to Week 1. As he built up his workload through training camp, teammates saw glimpses of Williams at his best.“He hasn’t lost his step,” right tackle Morgan Moses said. “The guy obviously is an incredible athlete. He runs like a deer. He runs like a guy that’s supposed to be playing slot receiver.”Williams is still dealing with scar tissue and managing internal expectations. But now he can put his weight on his right leg without the burden of worrying about what’ll happen next.“It’s a relief because at the time I was playing and putting other ligaments and other parts of my body at major risk and I knew the risk I was taking prior to doing so,” he said. “When you’re competing and you’re a competitor, all that stuff kind of falls to the wayside. You throw caution out the window. But it feels great knowing I’m not bowing out anymore.” DENVER 5-9 at WASHINGTON (6-8) Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS OPENING LINE – Redskins by 3+ RECORD VS. SPREAD – Denver 4-9-1, Washington 6-8-0 SERIES RECORD – Broncos lead 7-6 LAST MEETING – Broncos beat Redskins 45-21, Oct. 27, 2013 LAST WEEK – Broncos beat Colts 25-13; Redskins beat Cardinals 20-15 AP PRO32 RANKING – Broncos No. 24 (tie), Redskins No. 19 BRONCOS OFFENSE – OVERALL (20), RUSH (14), PASS (21) BRONCOS DEFENSE – OVERALL (1), RUSH (4), PASS (2) REDSKINS OFFENSE – OVERALL (18), RUSH (26), PASS (14) REDSKINS DEFENSE – OVERALL (20) Josh Doctson Jersey , RUSH (28), PASS (16) STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES: Broncos visiting Redskins for first time since 2009. … Though Denver came into season with strongest strength of schedule from 2016 records, Washington’s is toughest through 15 weeks in 2017. … Broncos have 32 consecutive victories when winning turnover battle, longest active streak in NFL. … Broncos have won two in row since eight-game skid. … Denver undecided on starting QB between Brock Osweiler and Paxton Lynch. Osweiler had two passing TDs, one rushing TD, 147.7 QB rating vs. Colts. … RB C.J. Anderson coming off 158-yard rushing game. … Since 2012, WR Demaryius Thomas ranks second in NFL with 565 catches, third with 7,710 receiving yards. … TE Jeff Heuerman had career-long 54-yard receiving TD last week. … LB Von Miller one of three players in NFL history with 10-plus sacks in six of first seven seasons. Miller leads NFL with 83 1-2 sacks since entering in 2011. … LB Brandon Marshall is one of four players in league with 90-plus tackles, three-plus sacks. … CB Chris Harris Jr. had INT in last game vs. Redskins. … CB Aqib Talib had career-best three INTs in only game vs. Redskins in 2009. … Redskins QB Kirk Cousins had two passing TDs vs. Cardinals. … Cousins had under 200 passing yards in each of past two games. … RB Samaje Perine ranks fourth among rookies with 547 yards rushing. … RB Kapri Bibbs had receiving TD last week in first NFL game since Broncos traded him to 49ers. … WR Jamison Crowder has TD catch in past two home games. Crowder leads Redskins with 59 catches, 717 receiving yards. … TE Vernon Davis won Super Bowl with Broncos in February 2016. … DL Anthony Lanier had two sacks, forced fumble and three passes defensed vs. Cardinals. Lanier has five sacks in past five games. … LB Preston Smith last week became first player in franchise history with sack, fumble recovery and interception in same game since Monte Coleman in 1993. … LB Ryan Kerrigan has six sacks in past six home games. … LB Zach Brown tied for league lead with 127 tackles despite missing Cardinals game with hip, toe and Achilles tendon injuries. … CB Kendall Fuller tied for second in NFL with four INTs. … Fantasy Tip: Anderson is good bet for his eighth career 100-yard rushing game against Redskins’ banged-up defense. —