TAMPA, FLA.: Browns cornerback Tramon Williams has started every game in which he’s appeared the past six seasons, so the 10-year NFL veteran is grappling with some feelings of dissatisfaction.
Trade-acquisition Jamar Taylor has been practicing as the starting corner opposite two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Joe Haden since Sunday. Williams held the role last season after he signed a three-year, $21 million contract with the Browns as a free agent who spent his first nine seasons with the Green Bay Packers and became a Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion along the way.
“If you went to another job, and you’ve been the main guy for a long time and all of a sudden they tell you, ‘We’re going to just try out another guy right now,’ you’re going to feel some type of way,” Williams said Wednesday after the second and final joint practice between the Browns and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “But at the same time, you have to deal with it, and you have to be a professional about it. So that’s all I’m going to do.”
Williams has admitted he was upset with the way his first season with the Browns unfolded. The defense got gashed, some players were aggravated with the way the previous coaching staff used them and the team went 3-13. It was culture shock for Williams, who had been to the postseason seven times with the Packers.
This offseason, Williams felt rejuvenated by the arrival of coach Hue Jackson and defensive coordinator Ray Horton. Haden recently returned to action after undergoing ankle surgery in March. The planets were aligning in Williams’ eyes until Taylor began working in his spot.
“You figure OK, this is the time, this is what I came here for, and it’s definitely frustrating,” Williams said. “But at the same time, I’m a competitive person. You can only control what you can control, and it’s no worries here for me. I’m going to continue doing what I’m doing, and we’ll see what happens.”
Williams, who turned 33 in March, isn’t yet willing to concede he has lost his job.
“From what I’ve heard, I’m not going to say it’s gone right now,” Williams said. “I’m just going by what [the Browns] said.”
“I was told it was not from my play. So whatever the reason it is, you guys will have to figure it out yourself.”
No matter the reason, an injured toe may interfere with Williams’ plan to fight for starting status. He stopped practicing early Wednesday and said he doesn’t know whether he’ll play when the Browns face the Buccaneers in the third preseason game beginning at 8 p.m. Friday at Raymond James Stadium.
“I don’t know what’s the timetable on it,” he said. “But I think it will be fine.”
Even if Williams’ demotion becomes permanent, the team seems likely to use him as a nickel corner. He’s covered the slot lately while Taylor and Haden have lined up on the outside.
“He has done it here and done a good job of that,” Jackson said this past weekend. “Tramon is fine and will do a good job for us.”
Added Williams: “I’ve played nickel over the years. If that’s what I have to do, that’s what I’ll do. But at the same time, I can do everything. Obviously, it’s been shown that I can do everything.”
Perhaps the Browns believe they know what Williams brings to the table but can’t say the same about Taylor, a 2013 second-round selection of the Miami Dolphins who was traded to Cleveland on April 30, the final day of the draft.
“Maybe so. You want to give a different guy reps and see what he can do, especially with a different team,” Williams said. “So you have to go through those things, and right now I’m just at the point where I just have to sit and watch.
“I’m cool with it right now. I’m just going to go out and do my job. I’ve always been a team player. I’m not going to start not to be a pro now. I’ve been doing it for 10 years, and I’m going to continue to be a pro.”
Another possible reason for the switch is this fact: The Browns are in the midst of an aggressive youth movement, and Williams is eight years older than Taylor, 25. That raises a question about whether the franchise would part with Williams if he’s not starting.
“I’ve been in this game long enough to understand that once you get to a certain age, that they start to look at you in kind of a different way, but at the same time, is that what you really see on film?” Williams said. “I know I’m not slowing down any.
“I don’t know the reason, and I’m not really worried about it. I can’t control that. The only thing I can do is control what I can control and that’s continue to go out there and work. And whenever it’s my time to get back there, then I’ll be there, whenever it may be.”
However disappointed Williams may become if he doesn’t start again, he vowed not to create a problem in the locker room.
“This organization has kind of been in a rut over the last few years and for me to be a guy who would get in the way of that, bringing in new coaches, guys trying to get this organization going in the right way, I think that would be selfish,” Williams. “So I’m just going to do my part.”
Meanwhile, the savvy defender who went undrafted in 2006 will feel like an underdog again.
“I had to fight. I didn’t have a scholarship coming out of high school and went undrafted in the league, so nothing changes for me,” Williams said. “The chip is always there. Sometimes, somebody just has to remind you that it’s still there.”
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.