WILLIAMS READY TO GO....MILLER SAYS TAKE IT SLOW

Roughriders' Rey Williams
Photograph by: Roy Antal , Leader-Post file photo

REGINA — Rey Williams is trying to be persuasive.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders' middle linebacker — out since suffering a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee Aug. 7 — has resumed practising with the CFL team.

He was on the field at Mosaic Stadium again Thursday, doing individual drills with the other linebackers and footwork drills on his own. Williams' goal is to convince the Roughriders' coaches that he's healthy — and thus should be taken off the nine-game injured list early.

"The knee's A-OK," said Williams, 28. "I can run, I can cut, I can stop, I can jump. It's obviously not as stable as the other (knee), but the MCL is a funny injury. They say it never really gets back to as stable as it was. All you can do is strengthen up the muscles around it, and I do that every day. I'm ready to go.

"I didn't come here to sit, I came here to play football," added the resident of Atlanta. "All I have in Canada is football. My family's back home, so I'm going to do everything I can do every day to show (the coaches) that it's not a hindrance and that I'm able to contribute."

It sounds like he may have some more persuading to do.
Roughriders head coach Ken Miller said that although Williams may be back sooner than the team originally thought, his return is "still down the road a ways." Miller said the coaches need to see Williams deal with the athletic rigours of the game and develop the necessary strength in his leg.

So if Williams does those things, would Miller consider taking the third-year Roughrider off the nine-game injured list early?

"Really, that's a question related to salary cap and something that I'd have to confer with Eric (Tillman, Saskatchewan's GM) about before I'd be able to answer that question," said Miller, referring to the fact that the entire salary of a player who's taken off the nine-game list early counts against the cap.

Williams said he hasn't been told what the Roughriders' plan is, but he's hopeful he can talk them into letting him return early. If not...

"I'd probably be a little upset," he said. "When you can play, you don't want to sit there. But that's a decision the coaches are going to have to make and they'll do what they think is best for the team. Whatever their decision is, I'm just going to have to go with it."

Not surprisingly, Williams is frustrated that he's even in this position.

He was injured in the first quarter of the Aug. 7 contest against the host B.C. Lions when someone fell into his knee. Despite suffering what turned out to be a third-degree tear of his MCL, Williams finished the game.

"I'd never hurt my knee before and I figured, 'Ah, maybe it's just a strain or maybe I just stretched something,' " he recalled. "At the end of the game, I knew it was something more serious. I was hoping it wasn't anything that would keep me out for the rest of the season — and it wasn't. It could have been worse."
Not long after the Roughriders returned from Vancouver, Williams found out he didn't need surgery on the damaged joint. He also got some news from home about his 11-year-old son Isaiah which prompted a trip to Atlanta. Williams wouldn't elaborate, but said things at home are fine.

While in Atlanta, Williams spent time with a trainer who helped him rehab his knee. That process has continued since Williams' return to Regina — but it's not the work he wants to be doing.
"(Not playing) is tough," said Williams, who backed up Maurice Lloyd for two seasons before his off-season signing with the Edmonton Eskimos. "I've been waiting for the opportunity to start.

"It's a blessing to play all 18 games in a (regular) season, but that's what you train for. I've rehabbed extremely hard. I've gone at it six, seven, eight hours a day for the last two to three weeks. When you fall down, you try to get back up as soon as possible."

ihamilton@leaderpost.canwest.com