Leonard Williams - Player, seahawks Event: Press Conference | Date: 2026-09-05 | Full transcript (primary source).
Leonard Williams spoke at a press conference for the Seattle Seahawks on September 5, 2026, as the team prepared for the start of the NFL season. The conference focused on the team's mindset and preparations as they approached their first game of the year, emphasizing the importance of maintaining focus amidst the excitement surrounding the season opener.
Transcript
Williams: Good, there's always gonna be a lot of excitement around week one, but there's a lot extra happening this week.
Reporter: What are the conversations that you're having with some of the guys in the locker room about keeping fall first and foremost?
Williams: Yeah, I mean, I think that's something that we do great around here is just keeping football the main thing. We're obviously focusing on our opponent. That's at hand right now. We're not focusing on the fact that we just played them in the Super Bowl. I feel like they brought in a lot of new people and we're studying as if you know the same way we would every week. We are excited to just be back at home in the stadium again for the first time in 2026 and you know seeing the energy from the twelves and all the fans.
Reporter: You guys been talking about you know running it forward going back to the offseason workouts now. You've gotten this far to week one. How do you feel like players have handled kind of all that extra that could have been a distraction this year?
Williams: To me better than I would have expected to be honest. I don't see a single person in the building patting themselves on the back for what we did last year. I think everybody in the building understands that we have to start from the bottom all over again to get to the top of that mountain. We got to start from the bottom and you know every single person is taking it day by day trying to increase and get better as a player. You know everybody regardless of what level you are in this league has something to grow and get better at as a player. And I think the team has done a great job of handling all of that.
Reporter: As a player, how do you handle the game planning perspective here when you played these guys in February, but obviously they have some changes in personnel? Like how do you handle that compared to say the coaching staff where Mike says you know? It's a fluid situation. What was it like for you going into a season opener against the last team you played against?
Williams: I mean, I feel like it was so long ago that you know we obviously have to restudy there. They still have some tendencies as all teams do, but they obviously brought in a lot of new receivers, a lot of new players. Overall we just have to relearn this team and take it day by day all over again. You know we obviously played them last, but I thought that was so long ago that you know we got to start all over again.
Reporter: Personally, like what was it? What was your process like of turning the page from? Imagine when you won a Super Bowl there you want to celebrate it and enjoy it for a time. But what was the process like of putting it behind you?
Williams: I mean, I think like you said it's like there's definitely time to process that we won and celebrate it. I mean having the parade through the city and celebrating with all the twelves was probably one of the most special moments of my career of my life. Shortly after that I had my son Zion, so I quickly forgot about the Super Bowl to be honest. He was like my new biggest thing. And then you know to start this season like I said I've just been impressed with myself, the team, the coaching staff like everybody in the building of how we've handled success coming off of a successful year. We're not trying to chase a previous team that we once were even though that was just a year ago or months ago. We understand that it's a whole new season, a whole new team, and we have to find a new identity.
Reporter: With the Ronnie Lott and Leonard Williams genetics, have you gotten any NIL offers for that one yet?
Williams: No, NIL offers yet, but you know a lot of people are talking about him. Some of my coaching staff even when they heard his full name and they all calling him like football royalty and stuff like that. So I'm definitely gonna try to convince him to go to USC at some point, but you know I'm gonna let him go wherever he wants.
Reporter: You've obviously been doing this a while now. Do you still feel this like the same excitement things like that when any season comes around?
Williams: Yeah for sure. I mean that's the best part about you know where I'm at in my career in life right now is you know I'm going into year 12, and I still feel you know the butterflies before the game starts during the national anthem. I'm still getting jittery and all that excitement and you know even coming into the building today you see like guys like J. Reed like guys who have been in this game for a long time like coming into the building with like just a brightness about them. Everybody talking about how they feel good after the little break that we just had after camp. And I think everyone knows that we're just you know we're in a good place coming off of a good camp to start the season.
Reporter: You guys were really looking forward to the first game last year and the game against 49ers, and it didn't go exactly as you wanted. A lot of frustrated guys after that game. How do you guys like make sure you get off on the right foot this year?
Williams: Honestly, we lost that game, but I think you know it was meant to be the way we started last season. I think that little fire in the guys it showed where we were as a team and you know it allowed us to grow and not want that feeling to happen in the locker room again. And you know from then on I think we had a great season. So I think regardless of you know win or loss in the first game I think it's all about just us preparing as a team and us showing up as the way we want to show up you know in terms of like how we play our style of football and things like that and you know we'll let the outcome be the outcome, but we obviously all want to win in this league and that's our goal is to win again this season, but you know I don't want to take the loss as you know the end of our season because it clearly turned it around for us last year.
Reporter: How much better do you take the challenge of doing this again? And how rare it is to go back to back and go all the way climb the mountain again? Starting over how much of that alone is a challenge for guys like you and DeMarcus been around the meanwhile?
Williams: I mean, I would say it's definitely a challenge. You know especially coming off of a Super Bowl. You know people are gonna play us differently. Teams are gonna see us as the Super Bowl champions defending champs and they're probably gonna play harder against us than they would other teams. And you know I have a great example in my father-in-law Ronnie Lott who's done it before and he talks about how hard it is and how much we have to forget about the last season and focus on now. And that actually gives me a lot of hope because I see that in the building like I've been saying the whole time I've been up here. Everybody's done a good job of like handling that success and just looking forward like nobody's talking about what we were last year. We're all focused on how can we get it done this year.
Reporter: Yeah, he brought it up to me just like shortly after the Super Bowl. You know he realized how many of our guys were like staying on the team. You know I was talking to him about you know D law coming back and me coming back and all these other guys that are vets and you know he talked about how hard it is to repeat and you know that was part of what he told me that's hard about it is you know guys look to that last season that they just had instead of looking forward, and you know we're not doing that around here.
Reporter: Have you had a chance to talk to any of the players that were on the 2013 team that won the Super Bowl and then came back to the next year and they managed to get back to the big game? Obviously, but he had a chance to talk to any of those guys about that?
Williams: Yeah, actually I have a good relationship with like Cam Chancellor and Richard Sherman, and they pretty much ultimately the same thing. You know Ronnie told me so it's clearly you know different phases of football different times, but it's all the same thing is like just focusing on what's ahead and not looking back.
Reporter: Speaking of looking ahead. What do you think's coming this year for Byron?
Williams: I mean he's just one of those players that I've seen steadily grow since he's gotten this league. He's a quiet humble kid, and he's just always looking to grow as a player. You know he's just super stout and dominant in the run game and I think he's just been growing and more and more as a pass rusher.
Reporter: It seems like you guys are going to use him at 3 more this year like what should that do to allow him for his pass rushing to come alive a little bit more instead of using the double teams all the time?
Williams: Yeah, for sure. I think being able to rush at the three technique is going to open up some opportunities and just him being you know in the system for three years now just more experience. He's been able to learn from a lot of vets in his D line room, and he's a sponge. He takes up a lot of information, and he's always willing to learn and grow. So I think he's gonna just continue to do that.
Reporter: Mike's defense is obviously not the simplest one for guys to come and learn. Where have you seen kind of what that experience has done for you guys a lot of you guys?
Williams: I mean it allows us to play faster just being under the same system under the same coach for this long. We understand the coaches' expectations, we understand expectations from each other and we understand where we got to be and the expectations of the defense. And by doing that for you know long enough with the same group of guys you start to learn each other's tendencies and understand what it takes to get the job done, and I think it just allows us to play faster especially at home. We got to you know work on different verbal communications, nonverbal communications and you know when you're in the system for this long it allows you to do that a lot faster.
Reporter: Different out of Sam Donald going against him in practice this year from say this time last year?
Williams: I haven't and I say that in a good way. Sam's been the same guy since he's come in the building and he's the type of guy who just working. He's the first one in last one out. You know he's a great leader just always watching film. You know when we're on the plane, and we have time to just mess around goof around and hang out with each other he's sitting there you know studying film and trying to work on his game and you know that's something I love about Sam is you're gonna get the same person with him no matter what day it is and no matter if we just came off of a win or a loss. You know regardless of what's going on outside of football for him, he's gonna show up as the same guy every day.
Reporter: Last year Sam was new a lot. There's a lot more new this last year scheme wise. Does it feel like the offense you've been ahead of what you saw last year?
Williams: Yeah, definitely the way they attacked the ball. You know though they get lined up fast. They have a lot of motions. You know they move the tight ends and full backs and stuff with that a lot. It makes it hard on our defense so there was a lot of good competition throughout camp and you know I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how they can continue to grow.
Reporter: Every contender needs a deep defensive line. What are you anticipating from Riley Mills this year?
Williams: I mean, I just played Riley to step up a lot this year. You know he had a great Super Bowl game which was like his first game back, but even before that game you know he was injured all season so you could see a different hunger and drive in him. You could tell that he was down a lot of the time last year and he's just ready to do whatever it takes to be out there on the field with us.
Reporter: Defensive coaches head coaches in the NFL have played the game. What about Mike has allowed him to be a guy that did not play at the highest level and still the defensive head coach?
Williams: I think it's you know just his work ethic, his determination, the way he chases edges. I've talked about this before you know he preaches chasing edges, and we see that in him. He's always trying to find ways to exploit an offense, put us in the right position, allow us to play fast and free and you know he's definitely got the respect of everybody in the building. You know especially on the defensive side he came in and we all just knew that he understands how to call defenses, and he understands how to exploit offenses. So I think it doesn't really matter if you played the game or not if you're good at doing that consistently and always finding new ways and chasing edges, and you're gonna get the respect from the guys in the building.