Pittsburgh Steelers inside linebacker Vince Williams appeared on the Blitz on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Friday to discuss a multitude of things including Ryan Shazier, the New England Patriots and Houston Texans games, his success this year, his new nickname and T.J. Watt.
Williams provided a positive update on one of his closest friends. Shazier has been recovering from spinal stabilization surgery after suffering a serious spinal injury against the Bengals a couple weeks ago.
“Things are getting a lot better…they are improving at a rapid rate and he’s doing really really good.”
That is great to hear from a player close to Shazier. Williams also said he’s confident that Shazier is going to do everything in his power to get healthy again.
Shazier made a surprise appearance at the Patriots game last Sunday and when asked about the tough loss to the Pats, Williams said it’s in the past.
“We know we have to move on”, said Williams. “We have another game this week, another big game against another AFC opponent”
Going off of that comment, Williams gave high praises to Texans wide receiver, DeAndre Hopkins.
“What more can you really say about [Hopkins}… the guy is amazing.”
Hopkins has 92 Rec, 1,313 yards and 12 touchdowns this season.
“In my mind, he’s right up there, top three receivers in the league”, said Williams.
He emphasized limiting Hopkins will lead to the Steelers success on Monday afternoon.
Williams, who had his first career interception against the Patriots, is enjoying the best year of his career. He has 77 total tackles and 7 sacks along with that INT. He believes his success can be credited to the opportunity he has been given this year compared to in year’s past.
“I played behind two Pro Bowl caliber linebackers with Ryan Shazier and Lawrence Timmons and we just had a wealth of riches at the position and nobody really knew what I was capable of, but the people inside of this organization… I just had to capitalize on the opportunity.”
Because of his success this season, Williams talked about a nickname he gave himself on twitter: Bince Williams.
“I’ve been making a couple plays, time to add me to the Killer B bunch”, joked Williams.
Williams was also questioned about rookie T.J. Watt. Watt was quoted a couple days ago saying that there isn’t a rookie wall affected him. Williams backed up that claim.
“The things that would take a rookie longer to grasp, since [Watt] spends more time with the game of football, he grasps those things very quickly”, said “Bince”.
