Mike Williams Talks P.J. Fleck And His Beard
August 6th, 2012
Joe had a chance to chat with all-around good guy Bucs receiver Mike Williams after practice this morning. Williams talked about the talent among the Bucs receivers, how receivers coach P.J. Fleck motivates him, and why that nasty Grady Wilson-like shrubbery on his face likely isn’t going to get shredded any time soon.
JoeBucsFan: From the times spent out here at training camp, it seems the passing game is so much more improved. Is the Bucs passing unit really that much better?
Mike Williams: When you add Vincent Jackson and Dallas Clark on the field, you can spread the field now. And you add (Mossis) Madu as a compliment coming out of the backfield, it feels good to spread the field and [have the defense] pick the poison.
Joe: Tiquan Underwood is having an amazing camp. He makes plays out here every day. Clearly he is giving guys perceived to be on the bubble motivation and competition, but can Underwood’s play elevate the play of receivers believed to be ahead of him on the depth chart like you?
Williams: Oh, yeah. You go out there and see Tiquan making a lot of plays, that means everyone can make plays. That is our mindset. We [the receivers] are one. We go by P.J. Fleck’s rules. We cannot be stopped. Fleck has that attitude and he keeps us pumped up.
Joe: What’s up with the beard?
Williams: It’s something new. I didn’t have it last year and I am kind of superstitious. We didn’t win last year. I will shave it when we win the Super Bowl.
August 6th, 2012 at 2:32 pm
How about shave it when you have a winning record….say 1-0, 2-1, etc.
That thing is horrendous.
August 6th, 2012 at 2:37 pm
If it helps him and the team win, i say it should stay as long as he likes lol
August 6th, 2012 at 2:41 pm
I’ve gone to 3 practice sessions and I’m amazed at the energy that Fleck has. He leads by example. Glad he’s on our side.
August 6th, 2012 at 3:31 pm
Mike, I hope it doesn’t take 20 years to win a SB. If it does you’ll look like Rip Van Winkle.
August 6th, 2012 at 3:35 pm
Better order a longer chin strap because I think we’re a few years away….
August 6th, 2012 at 3:45 pm
Mike Will has very good NFL quality ability. He can make plays that only top talents can make.
The only limitation on Mike Will is that he is a difficult personality – he goes through periods where he loses focus.
He is better suited as a number 2.
Of DomDom’s 3 drafts, this is probably his best overall pick.
August 6th, 2012 at 3:56 pm
Keep the beard, Mike! It is a thing of beauty and power.
August 6th, 2012 at 4:02 pm
IDK, Thomas, “best pick” would have to between:
Mike Will or Adiran Clayborn.
Clayborn is an impressive talent.
August 6th, 2012 at 4:16 pm
You’re going to find out there are a whole bunch of good draft picks by Dom.
August 6th, 2012 at 4:20 pm
He never said he wouldn’t keep it trimmed.
It think Dominick’s best picks in order of best first are:
Adrian Clayborn
Mike Williams
Foster
Martin
Bubble guys that could make the list after this season if they stay healthy or take the next step:
Gerald McCoy
Benn
And I firmly believe Talib will be gone soon…if not this year then next.
August 6th, 2012 at 4:23 pm
Umm, no.. Josh Freeman is by far the best pick. You can’t have a consistent winning team without a franchise quarterback, no matter how much talent a team has.
August 6th, 2012 at 4:26 pm
It all starts with the quarterback.
August 6th, 2012 at 4:28 pm
Clearly, you guys must have forgot that DomDom drafted Josh Freeman.
August 6th, 2012 at 4:30 pm
I don’t know why I didn’t put Freeman in there.
August 6th, 2012 at 4:46 pm
I’m going with Freeman and McCoy being the best picks. McCoy will show why this year. Other solid picks are Williams, Bowers, Foster, Clayborn. Barron, David and Martin are gonna be studs. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Dom’s drafting. Players take time to develop and good coaching will bring out the potential in all these players.
August 6th, 2012 at 4:57 pm
Since Dominik has been unable to draft a player who is rated as a top 5 player at any position, its a good thing they were able to steal a couple quality players via free agency.
It looks like we will have lots of 7th round picks in the future especially since they’ll be dumping Benn soon.
August 6th, 2012 at 5:10 pm
FEAR THE BEARD !
August 6th, 2012 at 5:21 pm
@Pete,
You are still holding onto hope that Talib is gone. I’ll give you credit for being consistent.
August 6th, 2012 at 5:23 pm
Yet, you put Martin in there who has not even taken a preseason snap …SMFH
August 6th, 2012 at 5:26 pm
Best pick after this year, LaVonte David. Lol
August 6th, 2012 at 5:30 pm
Uhhh Miguel…….how many GM’s have drafted a player who is rated as a top 5 player in the first four years of their career?? I would think that’s a fairly rare event.
August 6th, 2012 at 6:12 pm
655 times.
August 6th, 2012 at 6:20 pm
Also Miguel….for the money they paid Vjax, Nicks, and Wright I don’t think they ‘stole’ anything in FA. Once again….”think before you post”.
August 6th, 2012 at 7:04 pm
Bobby:
Free will pan out, as will Mike Will and Clayborn. I am hopeful on Bowers and Foster. Every other DomDom pick has huge question marks leaning toward the bad pick label or worse, i.e. Price, Lewis, Benn, Miller, Bowden, Bradford etc.
The Schiano picks: Barron, Martin and David look good. And no, you don’t hire a coach, give him carte Blanche authority then make him take your 17-31 GM’s early round draft picks. DomDom always went QB or DL in the first round – that is his philosophy.
Schiano looked to fill the major holes with talent: Safety, RB and LB while supplementing in FA, WR, CB and OL.
This is Schiabo’s remake. DomDom is negotiating and signing deals that fit with our cap availability and providing monetary insight to Schiano.
DomDom and RahRah screwed this franchise up – Schiano will repair it. Don’t worry, be patient.
August 6th, 2012 at 7:05 pm
“its a good thing they were able to steal a couple quality players via free agency.”
The Saints wanted desperately to retain Nicks, they couldn’t afford to keep him.
The Chargers desperately wanted to retain Jackson’s talents. They simply couldn’t afford it.
I checked with Joesaintsfan and Joechargersfan, overwhelmingly they believe that the Bucs were guilty of grand larceny.
When Josh Freeman is stolen from the Bucs in a couple years by the Dallas Cowboys just like they stole our cornerback in the draft, you’ll probably be screaming theft as well.
As far as Wright is concerned, Detroit isn’t crying that hard.
The Red Sox stole Carl Crawford but I’m thinking they’ve got buyer’s remorse about now.
August 6th, 2012 at 7:15 pm
Love the beard!
August 6th, 2012 at 7:18 pm
the beard reminds me of the bad guys during my time in Afghanistan, unfortunately
August 6th, 2012 at 8:13 pm
@lion “Umm, no.. Josh Freeman is by far the best pick. You can’t have a consistent winning team without a franchise quarterback, no matter how much talent a team has.”
Been a bucs fan long? Late 90’s and early 2000’s we barely had an offense much less a franchise qb, and we were about as dominant as a team can get. However since we are an offensive team now I’m with you. josh may be our most prized player. he fails and we’re doomed. go josh and Gooo Bucs!!!
August 6th, 2012 at 8:24 pm
Miguel you are truely stupid. They did not steal “our” cb… they drafted “their” cb who has not been able to practice what so ever all off season or training camp so far due to injury. I think we made the right choice.
August 6th, 2012 at 8:30 pm
When did it Go from Dom’s picks to Schiano’s picks?
August 6th, 2012 at 8:36 pm
miguel, please look up the deinition of steal. paying more than someone else isn’t stealing.
how did the cowboys steal our cornerback? he was never a buc. you don’t even know if that is who they wanted. they wanted barron and thought the cowboys might take him, which the cowboys were interested in him. claiborne does not sound like a schiano soldier. hell, i just had to look up morris claiborne’s name to remember him.
i’m glad we got barron. it allowed us to steal doug martin from under the giants…lol
August 6th, 2012 at 8:55 pm
Claiborne is still having problems with his wrist and could actually miss some games. Miguel is genius.
August 7th, 2012 at 1:45 am
@Pete Dutcher
Aqib Talib isn’t Dom pick. I like all the name your mentioned, but lol for you for getting Free. And idk I think Dakota Watson was a pretty decent pick
August 7th, 2012 at 2:06 pm
I think that when it comes to off-season personnel moves, a lot of people are forgetting (or never considered) the act that the free agents available the past two years was one or two amazing players (that we would have had to sell the farm to get our hands on) or journeymen players that weren’t enough of an upgrade to warrant pulling the trigger on. This year’s free agent class was the FA class that Dom said he had been looking forward to for a couple of years as he had a good idea of who would be coming available and decided to stockpile cash in advance to pull the trigger on guys like Jackson and Nicks.
That’s why he didn’t spend much money on FA acquisitions the past two off-seasons and why he has spent money now, because of the talent that was going to be available this year as opposed to years past. I think that’s pretty good personnel management.