Cary Williams: Teams don't fear Eagles defense; Scrimmage with Patriots would have been handled differently by Ravens

Cary Williams said that he wants to bring the nasty back to the Eagles and that the scrimmages with the Patriots last week would have been handled differently if he were still in Baltimore playing with the Ravens.

"No question," the Eagles cornerback back. "They came in there talking. They had a lot of jokes, and [he-hes] and laughs, a lot of dirty plays that were going on. So there was a reason behind what I did, there was a reason behind the madness. At the end of the day, I still got to do things the way coach wants me to do it, and I understand that. But it definitely would have been a different situation if it was in Baltimore. It wouldn't have been a fun practice for the Patriots, I can tell you that."

The Eagles cornerback got into a fight with Patriots receiver Aaron Dobson early during Tuesday's practice and was benched for the remainder of the day. Eagles coach Chip Kelly said last week that he and Patriots coach Bill Belichick had agreed to sideline any players that were involved in a fight.

"If you do that in a game, you get kicked out," Kelly said Sunday after practice at Lincoln Financial Field. "We practice like we play."

Kelly was asked if the Eagles defense needed more of an edge.

"No I don't," Kelly said. "I mean, we could go get in a street fight, that's not going to help us. There's a certain you're supposed to play this game between the whistles. And the stuff after the whistles is not what we're looking for. And our players knew in that game and Bill was the same way. One of the reasons we wanted to participate against the Patriots is because we knew this wasn't going to turn into a WWE brawl, because that's not what it is, it's a game of football."

Williams was acquired this off-season via free agency. He won a Super Bowl with the Ravens last year, but he hasn't practice much with the Eagles since the spring. He missed much of OTAs because he got married, was building a house and had dental work. And he's been bothered a by a hamstring injury since training camp started.

He said he wants to establish a toughness of defense.

"I feel like we need a nasty, no question," Williams said. "I feel like we got to establish a tenacity, a tough-nosed defense, a hard-nosed defense, something that's to be feared when it comes out to each and every week. Brian Dawkins alluded to it a couple of times when I spoke to him. He was talking about bring that fear back here. Right now, I don't know if there's anybody out there that fears this defense, especially after last week. So I think we have to come together, find a way to get back to those old days when Brian Dawkins was here. Strike the fear in individuals or teams."

Williams re-injured his hamstring and missed Friday night's preseason game against the Patriots. The first team defense didn't perform well and the Eagles missed a number of tackles.

"I think it was a lot of areas that wasn't crisp for us," Williams said. "It was the first preseason game. There's guys still trying going out there, trying to communicate and run the defense at a fast pace and that fast speed. It was a little bit difficult for us."

Williams returned to practice on Sunday and said there was "no question" he would be ready by the season opener. Williams hasn't missed a game in three seasons.