Cary Williams apologizes to Eagles

REPORTERS, mashed into a dense throng sprouting microphones and lenses, jostled for space around Cary Williams' locker cubicle after practice yesterday, as they have done before, and as they almost certainly will do again.

The 29-year-old Eagles cornerback who apologized to Patriots coach Bill Belichick last month for waving the Spygate banner as the Birds were about to visit New England stood in front of a much larger audience yesterday morning for a similar act of contrition.

"I spoke to the team today. I addressed each man in there. I told them I was sorry for what I said. I put them in a difficult situation. I told them it won't happen again," Williams said, 2 days after telling reporters the reason the Eagles get off to slow starts in games is that their legs are dead from too many practice reps, and that other players feel the same way, but he is the only one with the courage to speak up. This happened minutes after the Birds' stirring, 37-34 victory over the Washington Redskins, and it struck a very odd note, especially given that the Eagles are outscoring opponents by 74-24 in the second half this season.

"I told them I won't talk negatively about the team or where we're going. We are 3-0, and that's something to be proud of . . . It's great that we've got a great group of guys here that understand when somebody makes mistakes," Williams said.

He has given them some practice at the understanding thing. Shortly after getting here, in the 2013 preseason, Williams complained that the Eagles' defensive personality and culture was much more wussified than that of his previous team, the Baltimore Ravens. He got in a practice fight with wide receiver Riley Cooper, after Cooper had left the team for counseling, returned and ostensibly smoothed over the bad feelings from Cooper's use of the N-word to a security guard at a concert.

Then there was Williams' declaration this summer that he had no use for joint practices, and that the Patriots hadn't won a Super Bowl since their habit of taping other teams' workouts was uncovered in 2007.

Asked about Williams' apology yesterday, middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans chuckled and looked skyward.

"He said he made a mistake with what he said, he's still all-in with the team . . . I don't have a problem with Cary," Ryans said. "We all mess up at times, say some things we shouldn't say, do some things we shouldn't do. Cary's not just ostracized because he made one comment and everybody blew it up. He's still part of this family, and we're all in it together."

No teammate heartily embraced Williams' perspective, after what - coincidentally or not - seemed to be a short Tuesday practice. But fellow corner Brandon Boykin noted, "That's a tough and touchy subject. As a defensive back, we run a lot in practice and in the games. For us to be healthy and for us to do what we need to do on Sundays, we gotta take care of our bodies during the week, and the coaches and the staff have to take care of us, too.

"I think that's what Cary was saying. I don't think he was trying to put anybody out or make anybody look bad, but after a game and when you're mad, things may come out how you don't want 'em to . . . at the end of the day, that's definitely my teammate. I know what he was trying to say. I'm going to have his back. I got my team's back, as well."

Yesterday, Williams didn't exactly disavow his comments, he said he wished he hadn't aired his thoughts in public.

"I said it, yeah. I try not to lie. In that situation, I don't think I did. I still should have kept it in-house," Williams said.

There are two sides to Williams. There is the hothead who spoke "out of anger and frustration," he acknowledged yesterday, a huge NFC East win apparently not soothing his raw emotions after Washington threw for 427 yards, and Williams was left in the dust by yappy ex-teammate DeSean Jackson to the tune of an 81-yard touchdown, expected help from safety Nate Allen never arriving.

And then there is the 7-year veteran, often thoughtful and composed, who saw he'd caused another commotion, and drove right in to speak with Eagles coach Chip Kelly on Monday without being asked. (Williams also apologized to Allen individually yesterday, after TV cameras caught him berating his teammate during the game.)

"That's what a responsible individual would do," Williams said, when asked about his meeting with Kelly. "Obviously, it was something we needed to discuss . . . We had a great conversation, and got something great out of it . . . He listened. I talked. He talked and I listened. We got some great information from each other."

On Monday, Kelly said he had no problem with Williams. He also said the Eagles monitor players every day and adjust each player's practice regimen accordingly. Defensive coordinator Bill Davis said yesterday that he has "zero concern" about overworking anyone.

"We train in a great way. The sports science we have, the way we handle it, there's no concern. I actually think we're the strongest team in the fourth quarter, and it shows . . . Where others don't have it in the tank, we have it in the tank," Davis said.

Davis said the Eagles take into account players' "feelings, thoughts and health . . . more than any team I've ever been with."

Williams said he got "great feedback" from teammates after he "stood before 'em and confessed like a man, said that I put them in a compromising situation . . . When you're a pro for 7 years and you make a mistake and you understand you've affected the welfare of everybody in this locker room, then you have to address those guys man-to-man and let 'em know that you're sorry for that."

Williams said he doesn't worry about the possibility of a DeSean Jackson-like exit in the offseason, he only worries about a day at a time.

Williams was asked if Kelly indicated he was open to changing anything. Williams said he would keep the coach's words private, but "we've got a little bit more of an understanding . . . both points were valid. We were able to agree on some things, and that was that."

Williams said that given the way people "tend to take things the wrong way" if they aren't on the inside, don't understand the context, he agreed with a reporter's suggestion, which he repeated: "Honesty isn't necessarily the best policy all the time."

"I just gotta be smarter with what I say, man," Williams concluded. "I gotta be more cognizant of what's going on and what's the bigger picture . . . I gotta think about the consequences of what I may say, and the way people perceive me, because I'm anything but a selfish guy, I'm anything but a guy who doesn't want to excel, anything but a guy who doesn't want to succeed in this league, and I definitely know what it takes."

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