One of the biggest reasons for the Las Vegas Raiders’ struggles on the offensive side of the ball in 2019 was their lack of a true No. 1 wide receiver.
Antonio Brown was supposed to fill that role, although that didn’t work out as planned as he caused nothing but drama during training camp and then was released before the start of the season.
That left Tyrell Williams as the team’s top receiver, and he got off to a good start to the season. He wasn’t able to maintain that throughout, however, as he dealt with plantar fasciitis in both of his feet for a majority of the season, limiting him to 14 games.
While he only missed two games, it was clear that he wasn’t himself on the field as a wide receiver must rely on his feet for success. He wound up finishing with 42 receptions for 651 yards and six touchdowns.
After a full offseason to get healthy though, Williams says the plantar fasciitis is now behind him and he is ready for the 2020 season, via Kyle Martin of Raiders.com:
“I feel good coming into this season, compared to how I was feeling last year with my feet and everything,” Williams told reporters Wednesday. “I feel a lot better, feel 100 percent. I’m excited and feel fast, I feel back to myself. I’m glad to feel that way finally and kind of be passed that.”
Williams also discussed what the recovery process was like dealing with such a unique injury:
“It took a while, took a pretty long time into the offseason to finally start feeling better,” he said. “With the virus, I was able to take more time off, which was helpful. I do a lot of daily maintenance stuff before and after practice to make sure that it doesn’t come back. Just trying to find different things — I don’t know what it was that finally got me over the hump. I’ve tried a million different things and now I’m trying to add whatever feels good, so I can keep [my foot healthy].”
Having a healthy Williams should be a big boost for the Raiders, who will have a much-improved wide receiving corps after adding Henry Ruggs III, Bryan Edwards and Nelson Agholor this offseason.
With so many weapons at his disposal, Derek Carr could be in for a big season, and he is ready to prove his doubters wrong in 2020.
