A week after he enjoyed a breakout game with six receptions for 106 yards and two touchdowns, Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Sammy Watkins drew just two targets in a win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4. Unlike two years ago, he now understands that the final score is all that matters.
During the 2015 season, Watkins infamously declared that the Buffalo Bills were making him look bad by not getting him the ball enough. While speaking with reporters this week, Watkins expressed regret over once demanding at least 10 targets a game.
“Two years ago, it would’ve probably been different,” he said, via Nick Veronica of the Buffalo News. “I would’ve probably gone to the media and been saying whatever, trying to get the coach’s attention. That’s how I used to do it back then. Like, ‘I need more targets.’ Then that comes to the coach, and me and him have to talk.
“I felt like I was consumed, and I was angry. It was affecting my relationships with the coaches and with the players. I wanted to be great so bad, but I was also selfish, too. Because there were some games that we won and I didn’t get the ball, and I was upset. I looked at both sides of it, like, yeah, it is a point where you want to be great, but you also have to understand what we have on this team.”
Watkins seems fully healthy for the first time in a while, and we can expect more big games from his this season with the Rams’ offense finally clicking under new head coach Sean McVay. But Watkins understands there are a lot of mouths to feed.
“I have to just be honest with myself: There’s a lot of guys who are really good in this wide-receiver room,” he said. “Not just wide receivers, but you have the tight ends, you have a running back who needs his touches, and there’s a lot of guys who can do just about the same that I can do. When you have as much potential in one room, I have to be honest and say I’m not going to get 20 targets like an Odell Beckham or a Julio Jones or these other guys.
“But I’ll take winning games over making myself feel good.”
Expectations surrounding Watkins were astronomical after the Bills took him with the No. 4 overall pick in the draft. That’s probably why he was frustrated that he wasn’t being treated as one of the best receivers in the game, and he even took it out on the fans at one point. Kudos to the 24-year-old for acknowledging his mistakes.
