Cary Williams: Eagles 'forgave me'
PHILADELPHIA -- Eagles cornerback Cary Williams apologized to his coach and teammates for comments he made about the team's practice regimen following Sunday's victory over Washington.
"When you're a pro for seven years and you make a mistake, you understand you affected the welfare of everybody in this locker room, and you have to address those guys man to man and let them know that you're sorry," Williams said after Tuesday's practice. "That's what I did."
Williams said coach Chip Kelly's up-tempo practices were to blame for the Eagles' slow starts in their first three games. Kelly said Monday that Williams was frustrated after playing Sunday's game with a sore hamstring that limited him in practice a couple of days last week.
"Honesty isn't necessarily the best policy all the time," Williams said. "Especially when people who aren't in this locker room don't understand things that go on in this organization. They tend to take things the wrong way. The great thing is, I realize I made that mistake. My teammates realized it, they forgave me, and we're ready to move on."
Williams had no comment on the specifics of his conversation with Kelly, or whether anything would change in practice as a result of him airing his concerns.
"I'm not telling you guys anything that Chip said to me personally," Williams said. "We just had a great conversation, guys. We have a little bit more of an understanding. We understand where each other stand. We're able to agree on some things. That was that."
The Eagles are one of very few NFL teams that practice on Tuesdays. They did so last week even though they played a Monday night game in Indianapolis. Williams said Sunday it was hard to play hard for 60 minutes on Sunday after battling to get through the high-speed practices all week.
Kelly bases everything he does on sports science. Many players cited his practice methods as the reason they felt fresher and healthier late in the 2013 season, the first with Kelly. Williams was the first to voice public concern. He did so after the Eagles fell behind by double-digit scores in all three of their games, before coming back to win each. They are the first team in NFL history to do that.
"I've just got to be slow to speak," Williams said. "It's all about the team. I've got to be smarter. I've got to be more cognizant of what's going on in the bigger picture."
