Kyren

Kyren Williams did not know if the questions would come, but if they did he was prepared.

The Rams running back was less than a week removed from fumbling at the one-yard line during a 26-23 overtime defeat by the San Francisco 49ers.

Now he is in Pacific Palisades, preparing to work with youth flag football players practicing for the first time since last January’s wildfires.

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Gary Klein breaks down what to expect from the Rams as they prepare to face the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday before flying to London ahead of their Week 7 contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“If they ask me, ‘Man, why did you fumble?’” Williams said, raising the pitch of voice to resemble a child’s, “I’m going to tell them exactly why it happens — because it happens.

“They’re wondering more than anything. They’re not trying to knock you down. So for me, tell them how it was, be accountable. Be honest about it and tell them, ‘Man, mistakes happen. … I’m going to grow from this mistake and it’s not going to define who I am.’”

Williams, 25, is eager to get back onto the field on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens and show that he has moved on from his mistake.

The third-year pro, who received a $23-million extension before the season, is an integral part of an offense that features quarterback Matthew Stafford, the NFL’s leading passer, and receiver Puka Nacua, the league’s leading receiver.

Williams has rushed for 368 yards and a touchdown. He has 16 catches for 118 yards and three touchdowns.

In three-plus regular seasons and three playoff games, Williams has touched the ball as a running back or receiver 805 times. He has fumbled 11 times.

Williams was not the only running back to fumble against the 49ers. Backup Blake Corum dropped the ball on a pitch play.

But Williams’ miscue came at a more dramatic moment.

The Rams were trailing 23-20 when Stafford drove them to the three-yard line with just more than one minute left in the game. Williams took a handoff and plowed toward the goal line, but the 49ers knocked the ball from his grip and recovered the fumble.

Rams running back Kyren Williams, center, loses the ball on a fumble late in the fourth quarter against the 49ers on Oct. 2.

(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)

Williams also was stopped on a fourth-and-one play at the 11-yard line in overtime to end the game.

Afterward, he blamed himself for the fumble that he said cost the Rams the victory. The feeling lingered into the next week.

“Throughout the game, I had great ball security,” Williams said. “The one time that I saw pay dirt, I saw green, and I let up and I saw what happened.

“So for me the lesson I learned throughout the situation is, man, you can’t be comfortable until all double zeroes are on that clock.”

Coach Sean McVay said the Rams would take steps to improve ball security. But he stood by Williams.

“Love that guy.” McVay said. “I’m riding with him, and we have to figure out a way to improve, and he’ll be the first to take accountability, which is why you want to put your arm around him and be right there with him.”

As Williams moves forward, he anticipates sharing lessons learned from the situation during his charitable work.

Rams running back Kyren Williams instructs young flag football players in Pacific Palisades on Oct. 7.

(Gary Klein / Los Angeles Times)

Last Monday, Williams met with Molly Higgins, the Rams executive vice president of community impact and engagement, and told her that he wanted to commit to an event or an opportunity every Tuesday of the season.

“After a tough game on Thursday night, for him to want to sit down on Monday, I was fully prepared to say, ‘Hey, we can take a beat,’” Higgins said. “But he was like, ‘No, I want to sit down.”

Said Williams: “I know how when I was little, seeing people who I wanted to be like, how I was inspired and impacted and motivated. … So for me it’s remembering who I was and kind of trying to go above and beyond.”

Williams plans to do the same on the field when the Rams attempt to bounce back against the Ravens.

The fumble against the 49ers will not define him.

“I’m not happy that it happened the way that it did,” he said. “But I’m able to grow from the situation. I’m able to overcome it and show people that like, man, I’m so much better than what I put out there.

“So I can’t wait.”

Another week, another big-name running back across the field on the opponent’s sideline.

Rams running back Kyren Williams acknowledged the well-deserved attention Saquon Barkley received last week before the Rams played the defending Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.

Now Jonathan Taylor of the Indianapolis Colts, the NFL’s leading rusher, is coming to SoFi Stadium.

Williams said a “competitive mindset” drives him when high-profile backs are in the building.

“I know how people look at those guys,” Williams said, “and so it’s like, ‘Bro, you better look at me the same way.’ I love it.”

Williams, who signed a $23-million extension before the season, and second-year pro Blake Corum are providing the Rams with the backfield balance coach Sean McVay envisioned as the Rams built a team regarded as a Super Bowl contender.

Last season, the 5-foot-9, 207-pound Williams carried the ball 316 times. Only Barkley (345 carries) and Derrick Henry (325) of the Baltimore Ravens had more. The Rams averaged 103.8 yards rushing per game, which ranked 24th among 32 teams.

Through three games, the Rams are ranked ninth, averaging 127 yards rushing per game.

Williams, a fourth-year pro, has rushed for 226 yards and a touchdown in 55 carries (4.1 yards per carry). He also has five receptions for 35 yards and a touchdown.

Rams running back Kyren Williams celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Houston Texans on Sept. 7.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Corum has rushed for 99 yards and a touchdown in 14 carries (7.1 yards per carry). He has one catch for 14 yards.

“Those two play off each other really well,” McVay said, adding, “We feel really good about where both of those guys are at, and continue to lean into it and look for a good balance of being able to keep Kyren feeling good throughout it and take advantage of Blake’s skill set.”

McVay has said that ideally he would like to see Williams get 65% of the carries, Corum 35%. But the flow of the game dictates whether that plays out.

After Williams carried the ball 18 times, and Corum only once, in the opener against the Houston Texans, the duo provided more balanced production in the next two games.

They combined for 110 yards rushing in a victory over the Tennessee Titans. In last Sunday’s loss to the Eagles, Williams ran for 94 yards in 20 carries. Corum gained 53 yards in eight carries.

“It was a good one-two punch,” offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur said.

That is what McVay and general manager Les Snead aimed for after Williams carried a combined 544 times in the previous two seasons.

“We’ve got it kind of dialed into where, like, we’re able to feed off each other,” Williams said of he and Corum. “It’s like friendly competition as well. I go out and make a play, now Blake is going to come in and make a play.

“It allows me to stay fresh throughout the whole game. So it doesn’t feel like I just took 50 carries and it’s only the second quarter. To me it’s a great system.”

Rams running back Blake Corum carries the ball during a preseason win over the Dallas Cowboys in August.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Corum, a 2024 third-round draft pick from Michigan, is enjoying the expanded opportunity after getting only 58 carries last season.

“It’s been great getting my feet under me, being able to just go out there and play free and fast,” he said. “Kyren and I are feeding off each other, so it’s been phenomenal.”

Against the Eagles, Williams bested Barkley, who was limited to 46 yards rushing in 18 carries.

Taylor, the 2021 NFL rushing champion, arrives Sunday averaging 112.7 yards rushing per game. Last week, he gained 102 yards and scored three touchdowns in 17 carries against the Tennessee Titans.

After each of the last two games, Taylor was named AFC offensive player of the week.

Both Williams and Corum aim to continue their production, and to break free for long gains. This season, each of their longest runs has been 15 yards.

“I know I’m capable to create not those 15-yard runs but those 40- and 50-yard runs,” Corum said. “Just need to keep working in practice to hopefully go out and show that on Sundays.”

Kyren Williams will carry the ball for the Rams this season and beyond.

On Tuesday, the Rams and the fourth-year pro agreed to terms on a three-year contract extension, a person with knowledge of the situation said. The person requested anonymity because the deal has not been signed.

The extension includes about $23 million in guarantees, the person said.

Williams’ extension is the first by the Rams for a running back since they gave Todd Gurley a then-record deal in 2018.

The Rams and Williams’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, had been negotiating since the end of the 2024 season. General manager Les Snead had said the Rams would “definitely like to engineer a long-term partnership,” with Williams, but progress was slow.

Williams, a 2022 fifth-round draft pick from Notre Dame, is scheduled to earn $5.4 million in the final season of his rookie contract, according to Overthecap.com.

Williams rushed for more than 1,100 yards in each of the last two seasons, and is regarded as an integral part of an offense that features quarterback Matthew Stafford and receivers Puka Nacua and Davante Adams.

Williams said at the start of training camp that he gave no thought to not reporting or not participating in drills. Rosenhaus met with Rams executives at Loyola Marymount on July 23 but no agreement was reached then.

Williams said throughout the offseason and at the start of camp that he was confident a deal with the Rams would get done.

And now it has.

Xintong falls victim to Ding Curse

Zhao Xintong lost his first snooker match for nine months as he fell victim to the Ding Junhui Curse.

Kyren Wilson moved into Sunday’s final of the Shanghai Masters with a superb 10-5 victory over China’s reigning world snooker champion.

The Warrior, 33, scored breaks of 66, 75, 70, 95, 70, 101 and 51 across the 15 frames and crucially claimed all SIX frames in the evening session.

For Xintong, it was a first defeat since losing to Shaun Murphy in the Last 32 of the UK Championship in York on November 23, 2024.

After that loss in the North Yorkshire cathedral city, Xintong won an astonishing 26 matches in a row, which included lifting the Crucible crown in historic scenes for his country.

But Xintong’s Far East homecoming was ruined by the Kettering cueist as he completely flopped in the evening action.

The Cyclone potted breaks of 113, 59, 95 and then a 121 to lead 5-4 in the afternoon but when nighttime came, he was outclassed by the Englishman.

And forget all about the Crucible Curse, which he has to negotiate next spring in Sheffield – the Curse of Ding Junhui struck again in a competitive environment.

This was the 21st time in a row that someone had beaten Ding, 38, and then LOST their next match.

A run that stretches back to John Higgins being the first victim at the Players Championship in February 2024 in Telford.

Showboating Kyren Wilson spurned the chance to make history when he attempted a no-look shot on the black in his 6-5 victory over Si Jiahui at the Shanghai Masters.

The last-16 tie included six century breaks to tie the record for the most ever in a best-of-11 match – equalling Judd Trump and Neil Robertson’s meeting in the 2016 Masters and Robertson’s encounter with Mark Selby in 2020.

Wilson reached 97 in the deciding frame but opted for a no-look shot and missed the black.

The Englishman said he didn’t realise he was on the verge of breaking the record but said it wouldn’t have changed his approach.

“I did the silly no-look thing,” Wilson said.

“Especially in China, I feel the sport is blowing up out here and a lot of it is about doing things a bit differently. You have to have a bit of fun. The crowd appreciate that sort of thing.

“There’s no chance I’d have just rolled that black in, even if I knew about the record. It is still about doing things differently. We are stepping into a modern era in snooker.”

Elsewhere, defending champion Trump advanced with a 6-2 victory against Robertson.

Rams running back Kyren Williams is waiting patiently.

During the offseason, the team solidified its offense by re-signing left tackle Alaric Jackson and receiver Tutu Atwell, adding free-agent receiver Davante Adams and offensive lineman Coleman Shelton and adjusting the contract of quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Williams, who rushed for more than 1,100 yards in each of the last two seasons, is entering the final year of his rookie contract and is eligible for an extension.

In April, the Rams and Williams’ agent exchanged proposed contract terms. But with organized team activities scheduled to begin next week, a deal has not been done.

Still, Williams said he was “feeling good” about the situation.

“I know with time it’s going to happen,” Williams said last week in Pasadena, where he helped distribute new shoes to kids affected by the Eaton Fire.

And if Williams and the Rams do not reach a deal before the season?

“I would love for it to get done so I can take care of my family and the loved ones that helped me get here,” he said. “I’ve always got trust in God. Whether it happens now or I play out the season, I know it’s going to happen eventually.

“And so, time will tell. I just know I’ve got to do what I need to do each and every single day to make sure that it does happen in my favor.”

Rams running back Kyren Williams, second from right, helped distribute new shoes to kids affected by Eaton fire last week in a joint effort between the Seattle Seahawks and Rams.

(Gary Klein / Los Angeles Times)

Williams, a 2022 fifth-round draft pick from Notre Dame, was slowed by injuries much of his rookie season. But in 12 games in 2023, he rushed for 1,144 yards, scored 15 touchdowns and was voted to the Pro Bowl. In 16 games last season, he rushed for 1,299 yards and scored 16 touchdowns and helped the Rams advance to the NFC divisional round.

Williams, 24, leads a Rams running back corps that includes second-year pro Blake Corum, Ronnie Rivers, Cody Schrader and rookie Jarquez Hunter, a fourth-round draft pick from Auburn.

Williams is scheduled to earn about $5.4 million this season, according to Overthecap.com. The Rams have not given a running back a top-level extension since they awarded Todd Gurley a then-record deal before the 2018 season.

General manager Les Snead has said that Rams would “definitely like to engineer a long-term partnership,” with Williams. Coach Sean McVay said in April that “bridging that gap” financially was the challenge.

“We’ll see how far that we have to go with that but he is a very important part of what we want to be moving forward,” McVay said, adding, “He knows how much I love him, and so we’ll see if we can get something done.”

In the meantime, Williams is preparing for the season — and continuing to contribute off the field with actions consistent with those that made him the Rams’ nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award last season.

Williams directed his $25,000 from the NFL Foundation to the LAFD Foundation to help with fire relief efforts, said Molly Higgins, the Rams’ executive vice president of community impact and engagement.

“He’s been very vocal in saying, ‘However I can help with the fire-impacted families, let me know,’” Higgins said.

So when the Seattle Seahawks reached out to the Rams offering to combine forces to distribute sneakers to needy kids affected by the fires, Williams signed on to assist team mascots and several former Seahawks players at the Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena.

“I couldn’t imagine what these young kids and their families went through when they lost their houses and things due to the fire so just being able to be here — this is a blessing,” Williams said.

As his contract situation plays out, the work on and off the field will continue, Williams said.

“My only purpose is to continue to get better,” he said, “and finding joy in each and every single day and finding something to get better at.”