D.J. Williams insists he wrestled cows in the off-season. Credit: Mark Hoffman

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Green Bay - Green Bay Packers tight end D.J. Williams is a smart, affable guy. He's witty, too. And he has had an excellent two days of training camp.

But when he told a group of reporters Friday that the way he got stronger during the off-season was wrestling cows in Arkansas, you had to wonder if he was a little woozy or just having a bit of fun with everyone.

"That works out real good, especially if you get them with the baby calf, they're really aggressive," Williams said of his cow adventures. "That really helped. It starts out as cow-tipping but once they start charging, you have to go to defense mode."

Several times Williams was asked if he was kidding and every time he insisted he wasn't. After a while he sounded believable, but when he started talking about cow tipping attracting women you started to doubt he was serious.

"I guess it's three things: for a good time, for football, obviously, and it's a good way to impress a girl," he said. "It's very impressive. Usually, you say, 'Let's go cow tipping' and they feel it's a good rush when the cows start chasing you and stuff.

"They think it's to impress them, but I'm really working on my football stuff at the same time. Two birds, one stone."

Whether Williams was wrestling cows or giving elephants piggyback rides doesn't seem to matter much, because whatever he did in the off-season allowed him to firm up his body and come to training camp ready for business.

"He's playing with much more balance and strength," coach Mike McCarthy said. "That's one of the things you see with a younger player. They're not off their feet very often and that's obviously important.

"D.J. is stronger, more comfortable. He's doing a lot better job of attacking the middle of the field. I'm excited to see him put the pads on and do the interior stuff."

Drafted in the fifth round out of Arkansas last year, Williams came to the Packers with lofty pass-catching credentials. He caught 54 passes for 627 yards and four touchdowns his senior year and was named the John Mackey Award winner, given to the nation's top tight end.

Only 6 feet 2 inches and not known as a blocker, Williams didn't get that much attention in the draft. But McCarthy loves tight ends who can split out as receivers or in the slot, so general manager Ted Thompson delivered him one to go along with Jermichael Finley.

Early in the season, Williams saw an increasing amount of snaps in place of injured Andrew Quarless and looked to be carving out a spot as an H-back in McCarthy's offense. But against Minnesota in the ninth game of the season, he came onto the field late, lined up wrong and forced quarterback Aaron Rodgers to take a timeout near the goal line.

He was inactive the next three weeks.

Williams made a bit of a comeback late in the year, moving around to fullback, receiver, slot and in-line positions, but he caught only one pass for 6 yards and was inactive for the playoff game against the New York Giants.

Seven months later, Williams opened camp with the catch of the day, a one-armed snatch of a ball thrown way behind him on a slant route from a receiver position. Then, on Friday, he got free on a scramble play and dived for a low ball, snaring it with his left arm as his right shoulder hit the ground.

He followed that with a nicely run post-corner route that netted 30 or so yards.

"I think D.J. has had two very good practices," McCarthy said.

Williams said he's far more comfortable after a year in the offense. Last year, he was behind because he had no off-season due to the lockout, and when he did catch on he was used as a blocker because Quarless was injured most of the year.

With Finley sidelined with a slight concussion, Williams is getting all of his reps and finally getting a chance to show his pass-catching ability.

"I just want to establish my role first no matter what that may be, whether it's coming in (when) 'J-Mike' needs a break or that utility back that the NFL is starting to use," Williams said. "I feel comfortable doing (that). I've done it since high school.

"I'm excited to see how this camp goes and then the preseason and then off to the regular season."

Williams learned a lot about blocking last year, which wasn't his primary function at Arkansas. He said he spent the off-season studying tape so he could spot areas where he wasn't fundamentally sound.

He convinced himself that he'd be better off executing the blocks the way they should be done rather than trying to knock every linebacker into next week.

"It's not necessarily who's going to run in there with their hair on fire," he said. "You're not going to just hit somebody and see what happens. It's technique. It took me awhile to understand that."

Apparently, he has the strength to carry it out, too. How he got it might be up for debate, however.

"It's interesting," said a skeptical Tom Crabtree, Williams' fellow tight end. "I don't know. Maybe I'll have to get down there next off-season and try the cow-tipping program."

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