Getty Jamaal Williams rushes for yardage against the Ravens.
The Detroit Lions were disappointed in their narrow and somewhat improbable defeat to the Baltimore Ravens, but even though the team lost, there wasn’t a “woe is me” attitude permeating the locker room after the game.
Listening to running back Jamaal Williams speak, in fact, it looked like quite the opposite was true. Following the 19-17 loss on the longest field goal in NFL history that may have been mired in controversy again, Williams was taking more of a positive approach with his team in spite of the obvious gut-punch.
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Speaking after the game with the media on September 26 in an interview posted to DetroitLions.com, Williams was asked if the idea many possess that the Lions are destined to lose close games plays into some of the losses. As he said, that is far from the truth.
“Hell no, when people think that, those are people we don’t have around us right now. That’s what makes us who we are, the new Lions,” Williams told the media. “We’re working, we’re doing the best we can. Today wasn’t enough. It’s just a mindset. We got the mindset of never quit. I watch too much anime to give up. I’m going to keep pushing. I’m going to keep being me, keep giving energy to my teammates and let them know we’re all in this together.”
Though the Lions ended up losing the game, Williams can be counted as someone who was very impressed with what he saw from his side during a fierce battle against the Ravens.
“It shows we can play with anybody. That’s all I care about is we know we can play with anybody and we know we can come out and win, but it’s just up to us to keep fighting, keep playing and not worry about what’s happening right now,” he said.
Count on Williams keeping the team focused and grounded as they push forward.
Lions Not Cursed According to Williams
Many believe defeats like the one Detroit sustained only points to the fact that the team is cursed. As Williams said, though, that doesn’t play a role for the players in the locker room, who are only focused on doing their job in order to win games.
“It’s more of people coming in and I feel when you come to a team like this where they’re already “cursed” or whatever, it depends on just how your mental is if you’re going to let what everybody else is saying about a team that you just got to (define you). You know it’s not that type of team, it’s not cursed. It’s just us, we need to be mentally, physically focused. We need to be mentally focused and just quit with all the mistakes we had today. I feel we wouldn’t have put ourselves in this position in the first place. It’s football, we jus learn from it and have to come back faster.”
Mentally, Williams seems to know that the Lions need to move on and find a way to focus in between the lines. If the team does that, they will find a way to avoid losses that force folks to wonder if the team is indeed cursed as many suspect.
Williams: Lions Must ‘Keep Playing For Each Other’
Specifically, Williams was asked about how he believes the Lions can turn things around moving forward off a difficult loss, and as he said, it’s simply a matter of sticking to the plan and realizing that losses happen in football, but can be turned around in a big way very quickly.
“It’s football. It’s part of it. It’s a long season. You’re going to win some, you’re going to lose some. Might go on a streak of losses but you can always come back next week and start something over,” Williams said. “So it’s just us playing together and being professionals but at the same time, letting everybody know we got each other’s back. That’s our motto, we got each other’s back. Keep playing. Keep playing for each other, that’s all we need.”
During the game, Williams surely did his part with a solid effort on the day, rushing for 42 yards and 1 touchdown and going for 25 yards receiving on the day. That example is something that will have to funnel down to the rest of his teammates the rest of the season.
It’s clear that Williams has a strong belief in the character of his team, which is something that will help in picking up the pieces from a tough loss on the field.
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