Mario Williams agrees with criticism: ‘I’ve got to play faster and play harder’

Mario Williams insisted Friday he was not angered by Vance Joseph’s extraordinarily blunt criticism of Williams’ uninspiring first five weeks in a Dolphins uniform.

“He’s got to play better, has got to play harder,” Joseph said Thursday.

On Friday, Williams basically agreed.

“We’re an open book here,” Williams said. “... I want to be more, I guess, free to do different things and cut it loose a little bit. … And I’ve got to play faster and play harder ... It starts with me.”

Williams has just one sack and seven tackles in 2016 -- well below what the Dolphins had expected when they gave him a two-year contract in March.

Williams added that he “came here to be a piece of the puzzle, to help the defense. ... At the end of the day, me being a veteran and everything, I’ve got to have more of an impact, create a little more chaos out there practicing and in the games.”

When asked directly about Joseph’s public criticism, the former first-round pick said: “It motivates me. Because, like I said, all this stuff is being translated in the meeting rooms, on the field, things like that. The way I take it is I just need to be me, be loose, don’t be uptight, don’t over-analyze every little thing because that only slows me down.”

This story was originally published October 14, 2016 at 3:50 PM with the headline "Mario Williams agrees with criticism: ‘I’ve got to play faster and play harder’."