May 28, 2025; Woodland Hills, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams cornerback Darious Williams (24) during organized team activities at Rams Practice Facility. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Rams Defensive Masterminds Praise Veteran Defender

Originally posted on Los Angeles Rams on SI
By Brock Vierra | Last updated Sep 19, 2025 12:00 PM ET

WOODLAND HILLS, Ca. One of the big surprises from the start of the season was the decision to keep Darious Williams on the bench, electing to use a three cornerback rotation with Ahkello Witherspoon, Emmanuel Forbes, and Cobie Durant playing the snaps on the outside.

Despite being benched, Williams remained a true professional, and after Witherspoon got hurt, Williams stepped in and stepped up in week two. With Williams set to play critical snaps against the Eagles, I got the perspectives from Rams defensive coordinator and Rams assistant head coach Chris Shula and Aubrey Pleasant on how Williams has handled the past several weeks.

Chris Shula

“It's seamless," stated Shula. "He was ready to go at all times. [Head Coach] Sean [McVay] had a bunch of talks with him about staying in the game and being ready to roll. That second half, he makes a huge breakup on the fade that I think changed the turning point of the game to calm the backside of three by ones down and some back shoulder fades. He's a guy that, I feel like I've known him forever. I think it was 2018. We've known him since. We've had a lot of ups and downs together. We knew at some point he would play a critical role for this defens, and it just happened to be last week.”

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Aubrey Pleasant

Pleasant spoke about the process of informing Williams he wouldn't be a part of the rotation and Williams' response.

"I think one, it goes with communication, and it also goes with history," stated Pleasant. "You know, this is not D-Wills first rodeo with me. You know, he was here on my first stint, one of the best seasons he had in his career. He was a rotational player and I think sometimes people get so caught up on who's starting instead of who's playing."

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

"I think at the end of the day, as long as you're playing, you should be proud of that. Now I know at the end of the day, going out there, starting, who goes out there for us, there's a lot of things that come along with that, but we try to really blunt out and try to eliminate the outside rhetoric when it comes to those things, so you can really be your best self. Because if you're so worried about the external things, you can't be your best self when it's time to play. With him, it's well deserved, and that's why our communication is the way that it is. So we understand everybody's perspective."

Williams didn't buy into outside rhetoric; he bought into the process, and thus, he has his platform to prove it was the wrong decision to bench him.

This article first appeared on Los Angeles Rams on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: