Leonard Williams: “Every Week We Are Finding Ways To Grow” | Seattle Seahawks

Leonard Williams: “Every Week We Are Finding Ways To Grow” | Seattle Seahawks

Explain the props. What’s that? Explain the props. The props. Uh, Water Mission. Uh, that’s the foundation I’m supporting this, uh, year for my cause, my cleats. Um, I met them through PAO, which is a offseason program. Um, and what they do is they pretty much go around the world and uh, help places that don’t have access to fresh water. uh they build wells and things like that to help you know small villages and things like that get access to to fresh water. Have you ever been to a place I know you travel internationally. Have you been to a place you’d like to help directly with that? Um this is something I’ve been in communication with them. Um unfortunately I haven’t been able to uh fit it into my schedule yet. But um you know we’ve donated money and and supported in other ways. But um I’m definitely looking forward to going on a trip and like actually helping them with like hands-on labor. uh like building the wells and like meeting the people and all those things. Is there a story on the painting of the cleats or whatever? Uh no, not too much of a story. You just listen to Cooper talk. I know that you guys are in meetings together, but when you hear him talk about the details or explain football the way that he does, what stands out to you about your teammate? Um just his vet. um just the fact that he’s a vet and uh I think he’s right when it comes to details. I think the mindset, the effort, um the want to all of those things are, you know, at a premium on this team right now. But, um I think where we can take it to that next level is just cleaning up on the details. And that’s on like all phases. has special teams, defense, offense, and uh you know, we also talked as a team that you know, December is um you know, leading into the playoffs and and things of that nature, like heading into the end of the season is when teams need to, you know, keep progressing as a team. And I think that’s something that we want to focus on at the details. It’s easy to say, and it sounds like it’d be easy to do. Is it hard though to not do too much, right? And is it hard to believe that truly it’s that much of a difference between success and fail? Yeah, I mean it really is such a small margin and uh you know we see that every every weekend. Um you know it comes down to the last two minutes of the game a lot of times. Uh regardless of how the game is being played out, it can be really one-sided almost all game and then you know out of nowhere it comes down to those last two minutes. It comes down to a last second field goal. Uh things like that and um you know if we can clean up that that small margin um you know it can put us over that hump. you guys just coming off a game that had a lot of visibility, a lot of eye eyeballs on it, and now you’re playing a team that’s struggling a little bit more. How do you like sustain your standard, you know, week to week regardless of who you’re playing? Just going back to our process, which is, you know, something we’ve been talking about since OTAAS is just uh you know, it’s about us. Um, obviously, we’re studying the other team. We’re finding out ways to attack them and things of that nature. But um I think the major focus uh right now and this week is just focusing on like how we can clean up those small details, how we can get better as a team. They’ve only won one game, but they’ve been in almost every game all the way into the second half. Um what have you seen when you looked at this Titans team? I mean, what I see is they have great players, uh which is, you know, every team in the NFL. Uh you know, every team in the NFL has first rounders, pro bowlers, all pros and things like that. And I think if you, you know, sleep on any team in the league that, uh, they have potential to beat you. So, uh, you know, like I just said, you know, we’re focused on us and focused on getting better this week. And, uh, we’re never going to, you know, overlook a team. You guys obviously went to Nashville last summer for for the joint practices. What did you get out of that trip besides just the football practices, but just being a young team with new coaching staff being being away for a while? I mean, from my experience, I just love uh joint camps. I think it’s one of the best times uh your team has a chance to grow um with connection and things like that. It’s like especially on an away trip like that. Um you know, we’re all we got and we’re in enemy territory competing against another team in another team’s uh facilities and all those type of things. And uh you could just feel the energy of people just coming closer together. And um you know, we did it again this year and felt the same way. like said he looked at some of the tape from that and he was, you know, so he he’s glad nobody else is looking at it because it you’ve come a long way since then. I mean, does it feel like that was forever ago that you’re that new team? Yeah, I mean that does feel forever ago. And uh just as a whole, um I think we got better um you know, individually. Um you know, players have gotten a lot better, but as a whole, um I think our standard has gotten better. Um, and the way we play for each other and what we stand for and uh, our identity as a team has changed a lot. Earlier in the season when this team lost, it’s gone on win streaks after. After the opener, you won three in a row. After the second loss, you won four in a row. What is it about this team, the ability to kind of band together, regroup, and bounce back in that way? I mean, honestly, I think it just comes down to every week we’re trying to find ways to to grow as a team. Every week we’re trying to find ways to to be better individually. Um, I think every individual, we talk about, you know, the tip of the spear on this team a lot, and I think every individual wants to be the tip of the spear in their position group. Every position group wants to be the tip of the spear on, you know, their side of the ball, you know, and then every side of the ball wants to be the tip of the spear of the team. And, um, I think with that, it just creates a a growth mindset where, you know, especially after a loss, we’re our biggest critics. uh we’re watching film and you know we’re grading ourselves harder than you know any other critic or person out there and um you know that’s what gives us our edge to to just get better every week. That was one of the only times this year you guys have been outscored in the first quarter. Was there anything about the the start of that game that was different at all? I mean they obviously have a good offense. Um, I think our defense did a good job of uh, you know, they had a pretty long drive on that opening series, but we did a good job getting off the field. And then uh, we were obviously putting some uh, tough situations. Um, you know, starting off um, already in the red zone. Um, it’s going to be hard to stop good offenses from scoring when they’re starting in those positions. Have you ever played uh, all but four plays in a game? I think you played all but four plays in that game. Have you ever done that? Uh, maybe in college. I think I remember playing against Arizona and I had like 102 plays or something like that. like those West Coast offenses um you know run a lot of plays and I was obviously younger at that time so it wasn’t as much on my body but um you know luckily I think the they only had like 50 something total snaps so I think I average around that much a game anyways even when I do take plays off so it worked out. Did you realize as it was going or did it just kind of happen? I didn’t realize it as it was going, but you know, Demarcus Lawrence and Jay Reed and some of those, you know, older vets in our room do joke about uh how I’m I’m always that type of guy that like wants to be on the field in every situation. Like there’s times in practice and walkthroughs and stuff like that where, you know, coach are giving the younger guys opportunities to go out there and like take um you know, pressure off of the older guys legs and stuff like that. And when they call up the defense, I’m still like running out there just you know, not really aware that I’m supposed to be off the field. I just always want to be on the field. Can you tell like in the days after a game if you play 10 fewer snaps like does does can you really tell the difference? Uh not really when it comes to snap count but I think in the way um offenses play against us. Um you know the way we played the Rams um we were watching film and it was pretty much just hard double teams almost the whole game. Um, you know, JRE was watching film with us and he was like, “Man, I’m tipping my hats off to you guys because all you guys did was play double teams all game.” And, uh, you know, in a game like that, I definitely feel like it was a pretty physical game afterwards. When you go back and look at that film, were there parts of it that maybe weren’t to your standards or things that that uh that stuck out to you? I mean, I think every person um, especially in this building has plays that they wish they could take back, plays, you know, they wish they could have played with a little better details, a little better technique. Um, and that’s the beauty of this game is like no matter how many games you play, no matter how many years you’ve been in the league, you’re never going to play a perfect game. So, I think that’s something that’s so special about this game is like you’re always chasing perfection that you’ll never really reach. What did you make of the pass rush on Sunday? What’s that? What did you make of the pass rush on Sunday? Uh, from us? Yeah. Yeah. You’re um I mean, I think for the opportunities we had, we didn’t do too bad. Um, I think overall we just didn’t put ourselves in enough situations uh where they had to like truly drop back and pass. Um, but in those times where uh they did, I think we got pressure to Stafford and he had to throw the ball away a few times. Why is it important for you to be in every rep in practice even when it’s time for the vets to sit? I mean, I think it’s just a part of my leadership. Um, you know, I want to show the young guys, uh, you know, the work ethic that I have. Um, you know, that, you know, this is a type of game where, you know, it’s a what have you done for me lately type of league. And I never want to be, uh, lack of dasical or, you know, taking time off, taking plays off. Um, and that’s something that I believe in, uh, how I get better. Um, if I’m not putting myself in situations to learn, then I’m not going to get, you know, grow as a player. Going back to your your cleat for a second, uh you’ve talked about your journey uh before the league growing up, how you moved around and stuff like that. Do do you kind of just empathize with people who just don’t have whether it’s food, clothes, water, or whatever? Yeah, for sure. And I mean, I think that’s another interesting thing about uh the NFL is uh from my experience, a lot of NFL players uh didn’t come from much. And um it kind of shows me the reason why they have such a um you know strong work ethic and and grind and grit about them is cuz a lot of guys in that locker room have been through a lot and uh it’s definitely something that motivates me every year. Something I don’t forget. Uh when I was in the Giants I did a lot of stuff with um you know people experiencing homelessness and you know I’ve experienced that growing up. So I definitely uh sympathize with that. Anything else? Thank you sir. Yes sir.

Seahawks defensive end Leonard Williams discusses his support for Water Ion, a charity providing fresh water access worldwide (0:00). He emphasizes the importance of focusing on details to improve team performance, especially as they approach the playoffs (1:34). Williams highlights the team’s growth since their joint practices with the Titans, noting improvements in individual players and team identity (4:24). He shares insights on the team’s resilience and commitment to constant improvement (4:58). Williams also reflects on his high snap count in recent games and his desire to be on the field as much as possible (6:17). He concludes by discussing the importance of empathy and how his personal experiences motivate his charitable work (9:34).

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