He's still walking around the Bills practice facility with a bit of a limp, but Buffalo's two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle is very encouraged about his rehab progress coming off his second offseason Achilles surgery in as many years.
"Getting better," said Williams after he took in Tuesday's OTA session. "It's always good to get better rather than get worse."
Bone spurs on both of his heels have forced Williams to gut his way through each of the past two regular seasons. The bone spur on his left heel had him cut short his 2011 season as it had frayed his left Achilles, prompting him to have the tendon detached so the bone spur could be removed. Then the tendon was re-attached.
Williams played the entire 2012 season, but as early as Week 5 a bone spur on his right heel was causing a similar problem. At season's end it was determined the best course of action would be to perform a similar surgery to remove that bone spur to prevent any damage to his right Achilles.
"It wasn't as extensive as the last one," said Williams. "But there was a bone spur that's been there and it got to the point where it needed to be taken care of and we took care of it."
The defensive tackle had surgery the first week in February and is on target for a full return in training camp at the end of July.
"We should be good for training camp," he said. "That's what we would think. Based on the time that the last one took, this one, that's the reason we said let's go ahead and do it. We've got time to do it, time to get back from it and hit the ground running."
Much like the last time, Williams very soon after surgery felt a dramatic difference in his heel after experiencing a great deal of stiffness and limited range of motion the past year.
"You can definitely feel the flexibility," said Williams. "As soon as you get it out of the cast and start moving it around a little bit you know and as far as from a structural standpoint it's healed. It's all about getting the strength and the power back in it and getting ready to go and that's where we are right now."
