‘Playoff Damien’ has arrived. This Chief is peaking at right time after a trying year
The mornings were the most difficult. On some days, with an alarm as background noise, Chiefs running back Damien Williams thought about staying in bed.
Other days, he wondered if he could talk his way into being healthy. Tell the trainers the hamstring didn’t hurt anymore; that his knee was fine; that he could play through sore ribs.
Members of the Chiefs’ training staff, which he calls the best in football, were waiting for him at the team’s complex. And while he is close with many of them, he had grown tired of seeing them morning after morning, hour after hour.
“There are days where you’re like, ‘Man, I don’t wanna go up there,’” Williams said. “But you have to be mentally strong and just find a way to push yourself.”
Life in the NFL entails a certain risk of injury, necessitating daily rehabilitation and treatment regimens, the depths of which stay outside the view of cameras and away from reporters’ notepads. Most players go through it at some point, and Williams understood that. He’d been playing the game long enough to get it.
But this year was supposed to be different. His first chance to start. His opportunity to carry over a breakout postseason and take on the load for the top offense in the NFL.
Instead, as weeks passed, he watched those plans unravel before ever they had gained momentum.
An injury-riddled season
Williams departed Kansas City last January expecting to return atop the depth chart. He altered his training routine. Woke up early for workouts. Prepared his body for the rigors facing an every-down back, a responsibility he had yet to absorb.
On days in which the training sessions became less appetizing, he reminded himself of the reason he was doing it.
“I’d always been a special teams guy the first couple of years. At the end of the day, everyone trains hard, but it was a different mindset this offseason knowing what was coming this season,” Williams said. “I had to prepare a little differently and take care of my body more.”
Days after Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy reinforced Williams’ role as a three-down back, he injured his hamstring in training camp. Spent most of the St. Joseph residence watching from the sideline.
The Chiefs signed veteran LeSean McCoy shortly before the season started. Williams was reduced to a time-share, and eventually fell out of the rotation altogether with a knee injury. He carried the ball just once in a Week 6 loss to the Houston Texans.
The visions of a breakout season were slipping away.
“Man, there’s days when it was tough,” he said.
In one run, it all came returned. Williams busted a 91-yard touchdown through the teeth of the Minnesota defense during a three-point win to open November. He felt like he was back.
Instead, another setback. Two more, actually.
He blamed himself for the Chiefs’ loss in Tennessee, his fumble putting seven points on the Titans’ portion of the scoreboard. And two weeks later, the training room returned to being his primary home, rib soreness the culprit this time.
William emphasized the importance of taking “mental reps,” a concept of envisioning himself in the midst of a play-call as he stood on the sideline. He wanted to stay fresh in anticipation of a late-season return. But in their sessions with media, Chiefs coaches had begun to classify their backfield as a committee.
“I can’t hide it, either,” Williams said of the pain of losing his spot because of injuries. “My facial expressions, people see me and know. They’re like, ‘Damien’s not feeling well.’
“But you’ve still gotta be mentally strong. You’ve gotta push yourself each and every day or it’s never gonna come together.”
Playoff Damien
Twenty minutes after that loss in Tennessee, as Chiefs players showered, dressed in front of their lockers and packed their bags, Williams didn’t flinch. He hardly even blinked. Tears streamed down the right side of his face. He’d blamed himself that day.
Two months later, Williams and the Chiefs have another shot against the Titans, this one in the AFC Championship Game. The two teams have undoubtedly changed since their first meeting in November. It will be a completely different game, Reid said, a message that resonated with some.
But that loss still plays a factor with some, too.
“The type of personality that I have, I can’t have someone beat up on me and then come to my house and think they’re gonna beat up on me again,” Williams said.
It’s the middle of January, and the process is finally unfolding the way in which Williams envisioned 12 months ago, back when the alarm clock signaled workouts in preparation for a long season facing a No. 1 running back, not rehab and treatment.
Some inside the Chiefs’ facility have started to call Williams “Playoff Damien.” After scoring four touchdowns in two postseason games last year, the encore arrived with three touchdowns in the Chiefs’ AFC Divisional Round win against the Texans.
“He’s playing good football,” Reid said. “He was banged up and worked through it. I think he’s done a nice job. He’s physical and running hard. I’ve been impressed with his game catching the ball.”
Williams was on the field for 62 offensive snaps, missing just two, against Houston last Sunday, more than he saw in any of his regular-season games. A role he once feared had slipped away from him has returned.
He’s the guy on a team favored to win the Super Bowl.
“It’s a big reward,” Williams said. “When you’re out, people think you’re out and not doing anything, but I’m working even harder to get back on the field. So it feels good to be able to get back into things and keep things rolling.”
This story was originally published January 19, 2020 at 5:00 AM.