LOS ANGELES — As recently as a summer ago, Kyren Williams would work out two or three times a day. A young player, the Rams running back wanted to earn his opportunities and felt like he had to push his body to be ready for the coming season.
Entering his third season, Williams doesn’t have that concern. After a breakout 2023 in which he rushed for the third-most yards and seventh-most touchdowns in the NFL despite missing four games on injured reserve, Williams entered training camp as the Rams’ starting back. And that security allowed him to focus on different aspects of his game this offseason.
“I’ve already worked enough to get that confidence, to build that callous to where I can just go play now. There’s not really no thinking at all. I can just go play,” Williams said Thursday after the Rams’ second day of practice. “I know the game, I know what I got to do, I’ve seen it all last year. It’s just becoming a better player mentally for the game instead of physically. I’ve got it physically, so it’s mentally getting better.”
In each of his first two seasons, Williams has dealt with injuries. He broke his foot during OTAs his rookie season, an injury that lingered into training camp before suffering an ankle injury in Week 1 of that year. In 2023, he took over as the starter in Week 2 before spraining his ankle in Week 6.
His return in late November against the Cardinals, in which he gained 204 total yards and scored two touchdowns through the air, helped ignite the Rams’ late-season push to the playoffs. But he broke his hand in the playoff loss to the Lions, an injury which required surgery, then missed the Rams’ offseason program this spring with a foot injury.
So Williams took a “smarter, not harder” approach to this summer. He cut down on his workouts. He focused on keeping his body low to the ground while making cuts so he doesn’t leave himself vulnerable to damaging hits.
“Now that I’m a starter, I would say last year I was doing a lot of things differently than I am now. I want to stay there, I want to be able to have that position and be able to play 21 weeks,” Williams said. “That’s my biggest goal this season is staying healthy and being able to play the whole season. I’ve definitely been able to just work on my body, get my body right. … I’m not rising up. I’m able to keep my shoulders straight so I can make that vertical to go vertical because when you play against defenses and you go vertical, they have a hard time stopping that. I know this game kind of in a way, I’ve got the way of it now so I’m taking a huge step from where I was last year.”
The Rams used a good chunk of their cap space to keep improving the run game. First was re-signing right guard Kevin Dotson to a three-year contract before free agency opened. Then, the team added Pro Bowl guard Jonah Jackson on a three-year deal in the opening hour of free agency.
“I woke up to some good news that day,” Williams said with a smile.
The Jackson signing, which pushed Steve Avila over from left guard to center, gave the Rams three interior offensive linemen who stand at least 6-foot-3 and weigh at least 315 pounds. That size and muscle inside gives the Rams some new options in the run game that tantalize Williams.
“It allows us to be more athletic. We’re not scared to put our linemen one-on-one with a linebacker because we know we can get that job done,” Williams said. “To me, it’s just reading off my blocks. Making my blockers better players by setting them up and doing everything I got to do as a running back. I’m excited for what Coach [Sean] McVay has in store for us as an offense.”
That line provides protection for Williams, but the Rams coaching staff wants to protect him, too.
After taking over as starter a year ago, Williams played upwards of 90% of the Rams’ snaps for weeks at a time. McVay acknowledged that was unsustainable last season, and again has an eye toward making sure Williams stays healthy for an entire season.
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The Rams took steps toward easing Williams’ workload by drafting Michigan’s Blake Corum in the third round and bringing Ronnie Rivers back on a one-year deal. Both have had strong moments in the run game, albeit without pads, in the first two days of camp. Rivers added one of the highlights of the first week Thursday with a terrific catch on a wheel route.
“They both have done a great job these last two days. We’ve been feeding off each other, honestly,” Williams said. “We’re all toting the ball. It’s been cool, it’s been fun to see. I’m not sure what the season has in store, what it’s going to look, how it’s going to look, but I know we’re all going to play a dynamic role in this offense and be able to make it far because of the things we’re able to do it as a group.”
