FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- A torn muscle in the chest is no laughing matter, but linebacker Demorrio Williams managed to crack a smile after the first practice of Russell Falcons Training Camp.
The four-year veteran tore a pectoral muscle April 26 in a freak weight room injury. He was expected to miss most of training camp, but he managed to recover well ahead of schedule and take part in drills Thursday afternoon.
"I was on the bench press -- it was a band bench with two rubber bands on each side," Williams said when recalling his injury. "I did like a set of 145 for five sets of three. I took that off and put 305 on. When I brought that down I kind of arched my stomach up a little bit and I just felt it pop when I went to push. At first I thought I might have dislocated my shoulder. I went down there and got an X-ray or whatever and they told me I tore the peck off the bone.”
Williams said the injury "wasn't all that painful" but it didn't help his mental state heading into camp.
The 6-foot, 232-pound defender started 16 games for the Falcons in 2005 and appeared in every game last season. At the time of the injury he was set to compete for a starting spot.
Thanks to the training staff and some old-fashion dedication, he's still in position to contend.
“I just stayed here and worked, believed in the trainers and believed in faith," Williams said. "I could have let the injury get me down or whatever but that wasn't my focus. My focus was working hard and to keep pushing myself to get back on the field.
“It feels real good just being out here with my teammates and going through the defense with them. It feels real good to be back.”
FIRST-DAY THOUGHTS: Head Coach Bobby Petrino liked what he saw out of his team on Day 1 of training camp, even if it wasn't designed to be completely at the tempo he would prefer.
“It was good to get out on the field and get practice in," he said. "I liked what our players did today. They did a nice job in the morning in meetings. We had a walk-through prior to lunch and I thought we got a lot accomplished there and then we got out on the practice field and practiced hard. It wasn't the best practice we’we ever had. We did a lot of things where we serviced ourselves where we didn't go offense-defense against each other too early in practice. That’s always hard on me because it slows practice down a little bit, but it is good teaching. Once we went offense versus defense I thought the tempo was good. I thought the focus was good. We certainly have a long ways to go. You can tell they’ve been off for a month and not working together and not changing directions. It takes a little bit of time to get everything back together timing wise. But I do really like our attitude and I like the way practice flowed.”
The team has two practices scheduled tomorrow. For more information on attending training camp, click here.
WORLD TRAVELER: Wide receiver Noriaki Kinoshita suited up for the first time as an Atlanta Falcon Thursday just 21 days after the team signed the him.
The NFL Europe standout and Japan native collected 909 combined net yards with the Amsterdam Admirals this past season, which ranked second in NFL Europa. He was the league’s fourth-leading kick returner after logging 532 yards on 23 returns for a 23.6 average. At the receiver position, Kinoshita finished the year with 21 receptions for 308 yards and two touchdowns, which was second-best on the Admirals. In 2006, Kinoshita earned All-NFLEL honors as he led the league with 19 kickoff returns for 530 yards (27.9).
About a dozen Japanese media outlets were on hand to cover his first day.
“Well we watched his video when he was in Europe," Petrino said. "We needed to bring a guy from that league here, which helps us prepare for the season. He was fast, caught the ball well and was also able to return punts and kickoffs. So, I think that’s the main reason -- his ability to do all three of those things.”
WEATHER REPORT: The Falcons practiced under partly cloudy skies this afternoon with an irregular breeze blowing in from the west. The forecast for tomorrow morning calls for a high around 70 degrees.
“It was hot out there and we got through one day," cornerback DeAngelo Hall said when asked about the weather and the first day of camp. "That was our focus from the time we broke the team meeting to heading into the individual meetings to heading out on the practice field. We are all waiting for the Bobby Petrino era. We want to see what the practices are going to be like and what the schedule is going to be like. It’s about getting back into the groove of things. We have one down and many, many more to go. I think everyone got better today.”
