Roy Williams played the best 60 minutes of his NFL career, and the next day it took him almost that long to get out of bed.
He didn't mind. Not after setting career highs of 10 catches and 161 yards in the Detroit Lions' first win of the season, a 20-17 decision over the Buffalo Bills.
``That's how this game is,'' he said Monday. ``You have to accept the pain if you want to win.''
Williams hurt his neck and back early in an Oct. 8 loss at Minnesota, but was determined to play against the Bills. He just wasn't sure how it would go.
``I've never been nervous about a football game before, but I was Sunday,'' he said. ``Not about performing, but about how my neck would handle the contact.
``The first time I got hit and my neck stayed attached to my head, I was good.''
Well, at least until Monday morning.
``I started to get up, and I got a cramp in my right hamstring, so I worked that out and laid back down for a while,'' he said. ``I tried again, but I had to crack my back and neck once I got up.
``I took one step and decided to sit back on the bed for a while. Once my legs got working again, I got up for good.''
Williams wasn't the only Lions player to have a big Sunday. Kevin Jones rushed for 127 yards after getting just eight against the Vikings, and coach Rod Marinelli didn't think that was a coincidence.
``You could see it when Roy went out early against the Vikings,'' he said Monday. ``They were able to pack eight guys in the box and take away the running game.
``When Roy and Kevin are both going, we can get you either way. If you bring eight guys up, Roy gets some freedom. If you only bring seven, it gives us some chances to run the ball.''
Marinelli hopes that the same concept is taking hold on the other side of the ball. After Shaun Rogers dominated the Seattle Seahawks in the season opener, teams have focused on him, and no other player stepped up.
Against the Bills, though, James Hall had a career-high 3.5 sacks, and Marinelli said he thinks Hall will be the subject of increased attention from the New York Jets this weekend.
``When one guy produces like that, the other teams will start to scheme him _ he'll get chip blocks and guys staying in against him,'' Marinelli said. ``But they can't do that without creating a weakness somewhere else, and we need one of the other players to take advantage of that weakness.''
Williams, never lacking for confidence, thinks his teammates will step up.
``We could string together 10 more wins and make the playoffs,'' he said. ``With Mike Martz's offence, Jon Kitna's smarts and Kevin Jones running the football, no one can stop us.
``We can only stop ourselves.''
