How Did Jonah Williams Fare in First Game at RT? Bengals Coaches Weigh In

Ever since he reported for training camp, Jonah Williams said he had wanted to sit down and have a talk with the coaches about his switch to right tackle. On the day he decided he was going to do it, Cincinnati Bengals offensive line coach Frank Pollack approached Williams first thing in the morning and eliminated the need for a meeting.

What Williams wanted to communicate was his desire to get some preseason snaps at his new position, but that’s exactly what Pollack wanted to discuss during their early-morning talk last week.

How Did Jonah Williams Fare in His First Game at Right Tackle?

“Even coming into camp, I figured it would be good,” Williams said. “I didn’t know what their plan was for playing their starting guys in the preseason games. I thought, regardless of what happens with me in camp, I want to probably get some reps in a game just to feel the speed and stuff like that at a new position.”

Mission accomplished on all fronts.

Not only was everyone in agreement that Williams should play in the preseason, even when the rest of the starters weren’t, but the 11-snap toe dip during the 13-13 tie at Atlanta was exactly what the 2019 first-round pick and the coaches were looking for.

“I wanted to see him play comfortably, not look awkward. I wanted to see a guy who could play smooth in his sets. I saw that,” Pollack said.

“I thought he did a good job. I think he could sell play-action a little more at the line of scrimmage, but other than that, I thought he did good. He looked really confident and natural in his movements. And they had their starters out there, so it was great work for us and for him.”

Williams had requested a trade after the Bengals signed left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. in free agency, and he sat out the entire voluntary portion of the offseason. But Williams reported to the mandatory minicamp with a positive attitude and outlook about the position change. And Friday night only reinforced that.

Williams said he had three pass sets on his 11 snaps and felt he executed them well.

His desire wasn’t about building confidence in his ability to play right tackle. That’s already locked in, he said. It was more about the comfort level.

“It’s really more of a mental thing,” Williams said. “I get good, full-speed reps out there every single day at practice. It’s just come out in the stadium, feel that atmosphere, the warmup, dressing out, getting taped, all the sort of mental things and just feeling it on the other side. I was glad to have done it, and I feel better now going into the season.”

Williams earned a 73.3 pass-blocking grade in his limited action Friday night. His pass-blocking grade for the 2022 season was 63.9.

“He’s made a pretty seamless transition, truthfully,” offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said. “Probably better than a lot of guys might have. And to his credit, I think he deserves a lot of credit for that, for his approach, for how well he’s played at training camp and in the preseason games. Very excited about where he’s at and very appreciative of how he’s handled that transition.”

Williams admitted there was a little part of him that wanted to go back out for a second series, but the 10-play, 52-yard drive was plenty for what he and the coaches wanted to see/feel.

“I think if it were a short drive, I would’ve gone back for another one,” Williams said. “But their (offensive) drive was most of the first quarter, and then we put together another 10-play drive, so at that point, I felt like, ‘OK, I got my toes wet and felt pretty good about the amount.’”