GREEN BAY, Wis. – Until Sunday, Green Bay Packers offensive lineman John Williams was better known for being an aerospace engineering major in college than for anything he’d done in the NFL.

Williams was a seventh-round pick in 2025 after being a two-year starting left tackle at Cincinnati. He spent his entire rookie season on injured reserve with a back injury that required surgery.

When Sunday’s game at the Lions kicked off, he had played in five games this season with all 23 snaps coming on special teams. And then, disaster struck. On the fourth snap, Josh Jacobs was tackled into the back of starting center Sean Rhyan’s leg. Jacob Monk finished the series but dropped out after five snaps with a quad injury.

The next man up to the next man up was Williams.

“Obviously, a nightmare scenario and, really, not the first time that’s happened to us,” Williams said on Tuesday, two days before potentially making his first NFL start against the Carolina Panthers. “Always got to be ready. Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready.”

Coach Matt LaFleur, who after the game called the scenario “a little bit terrifying,” wouldn’t commit to Williams being in the lineup this week.

“Pretty impressive to be able to go in there a first time and play the way he did, I was really impressed by it,” LaFleur said on Tuesday evening.

John Williams Thrown Into the Fire

There are a lot of things that made it impressive.

First, Williams was drafted last year but really is a rookie because of the injury. Second, he had no game experience at center at any level of football or in this year’s preseason. Back on the field after last year’s injury, he spent the offseason practices and start of training camp at center but bounced back out to left tackle for all three preseason games. Third, few venues could be tougher for a player who ostensibly was making his NFL debut than Ford Field.

“Well, obviously, I’ve done it before,” he said of playing center. “I hadn’t practiced center in a while but I’ve done it before, so you’ve just got to get back to it. Took a few practice snaps on the sideline and got to get going.”

Asked to define “a while,” he said it’d been a couple weeks since he’d practiced at center.

“I mix it in here and there,” he said.

What was going through his head as he got thrown into the fire?

“Take a few practice snaps on the sideline and then got to get to it,” he said. “Sh**, ain’t got much time to really dilly-dally, panic, think about what’s going on. Just got to go in there and get the job done.”

Williams wasn’t in-his-prime Corey Linsley, but he mostly got the job done amid all the challenges in his first career snaps on offense. In 58 snaps, Sports Info Solutions charged him with two blown blocks – one pressure in the passing game and one in the running game.

His performance impressed left guard Laken Tomlinson, who is closing in on 11,000 career snaps.

“I thought he did great,” he said. “For a guy to have to come in – and, like I told him – not blink at all, it was amazing. Especially in a hostile environment like that, man, kudos to him, for real.”

The center is the quarterback of the offensive line. His intelligence was a major factor in getting things organized at the line of scrimmage.

“That’s the thing. The way he handled it, the way he communicated with confidence, the way he was tripping with the guys, it’s great,” Tomlinson said. “Especially when you have a guy like that, who’s obviously not taking the reps in practice and then coming out and executing in the game, it was phenomenal.”

On the practice field, quarterback Jordan Love works almost exclusively with Rhyan and perhaps a little with the backup, Monk. So, Sunday’s game was probably the first time they’d worked together.

“I think John did a great job,” Love said. “Like you mentioned, coming in, not expecting that situation to happen with two guys going down, but for a guy that hasn’t gotten a lot of reps, obviously, hasn’t taken a lot of center reps with us going into that week,” Love said.

“I think it’s just a great job by him, obviously, being prepared, knowing the plan. Obviously, he’s making a lot of calls at center, and I thought he handled it really well with the noise, the environment and everything. I thought he did a great job.”

John Williams’ Golden Opportunity

Williams wouldn’t go that far. He limited it to “pretty well” considering the circumstances.

“I think I did all right,” he said. “Want to win. Got to win. That’s what we need to do. Win.”

Williams was the 250th out of 257 selections in the 2025 draft. The Packers were intrigued by his versatile skill-set; after he was drafted, he said he could play all five positions.

However, because of the injury, a roster spot had to be won during training camp. By playing left tackle and center, he earned his place.

“It felt good being back out there, especially after everything that happened last year,” Williams said. “Just feels good to be a part of the team, feels good to contribute.”

Williams isn’t a lock to start – the Packers could go with rookie Jager Burton or even Donovan Jennings – but how he performed on Sunday under the most dire of circumstances should get him in the lineup in a big game against the Panthers.

It’s not just this game. Monk was placed on injured reserve on Monday and Rhyan could join him before the week is over. That means Williams could be the team’s starting center for at least the next four games.

“I just like to contribute, be part of the team,” he said. “Whatever they need me to do, that’s what I’m going to do.”

The Panthers have one huge weakness.

Can the Packers take advantage?

That's part of @JacobWestendorf's weekly game matchups. ⬇️https://t.co/o5zsHv671H

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) October 27, 2026