Los Angeles Rams starting running back Kyren Williams put together another elite game over the weekend in the team’s Week 15 victory over the Washington Commanders. Williams had 32 touches for 155 scrimmage yards and a touchdown, playing an instrumental role in the 28-20 victory that put the Rams back at .500 on the season and firmly into the postseason picture.
His production on the ground more than made up for the fact that Williams lost two fumbles — his first two lost fumbles of the 2023 season — during the game, allowing the Commanders to hang around longer than anyone in the Rams organization would have liked. Both lost fumbles came in the second quarter, as did Williams’ lone touchdown of the day.
But despite two early fumbles, the Rams continued to feed their young running back and give him opportunities to move the chains for the Rams offense. Williams knows, though, that ball security becomes a major focus for him as he looks to the weeks ahead, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“If I’m getting the ball that many times, I gotta deal be able to have great ball security, keep it high and tight no matter what the situation is,” Williams said. “Just being more aware, that’s on me. 100 percent on me. I’m going to fix it and be better next week.”
Williams was told that the coaching staff, and head coach Sean McVay, still had complete faith in him after the fumbles:
And right when those mistakes occurred, Williams said McVay told him he still had “100 percent trust” in him.
“I appreciate Coach McVay for always riding for me and letting me know,” Williams said.
So much of finding a successful running back is sticking with a player through mistakes and allowing them to flourish in spite of them. Running backs so often lose confidence when they’re benched after a couple of mistakes. Williams, though, was ready to pick himself back up after two fumbles because of the faith the coaching staff showed in him.
If Williams didn’t feel this way before, it’s clear now that the starting job is completely his as the Rams head toward a surprise postseason push.
Sean McVay explains confidence in Kyren Williams
McVay’s faith in his starting running back was unwavered after the two fumbles, and the Rams head coach explained exactly why following the win.
“I got a lot of confidence in him. Those are very correctable things,” McVay said about the fumbles. “You could see he was getting a little loose even on the great run that he had earlier in the game, it’s kind of getting away from his body. You credit them for being able to force those. But he’s a great player. We wouldn’t be in a lot of these situations in a positive way if it wasn’t for him.
“I love the way that he finished the game out. It’s always about your response and so he’ll learn from it and he’s the type of guy that has the right football character, the right mindset and mentality to be able to use these things as learning ops push forward in a positive way. And he still made big time contributions to this game in a positive way.”
