Williams ‘back here to work’

DAVIE, Fla. — Back in the Miami Dolphins’ backfield yesterday, Ricky Williams made all the right moves.

First, he showed up. Then he reached the end zone on his first carry, smiled at cheering fans, apologized for leaving the team in the lurch, said he was done with dope and calmly submitted to a media interrogation regarding his surreal one-year retirement.

One question — the first one — momentarily stumped him, though: Why did he return?

“Why? Why? I don’t know. I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve been away doing my own thing, studying a lot of alternate theories about life. To go into that answer — it can’t be picked up in a sound byte or easily understood. So the best way I can think of to put it is that I’m back here to work.”

Greeted with hugs from teammates and cheers from fans, Williams returned to the Dolphins for their opening training camp practice yesterday under new coach Nick Saban. Lining up for his first play since the 2003 season, Williams took a handoff from Gus Frerotte and sprinted 20 yards to the goal line.

But there was no defense on the field, and Williams is sure to meet stiffer resistance in the weeks to come as he tries to regain favor and reclaim a starting job.

“Look, we’re kind of in the risk-taking business,” Saban said. “I’ve talked to the team about it. I think everybody is accepting of his ability and respectful of him as a competitor. I think everybody is anxious to see that he is committed and to evaluate his level of commitment.”

At a team meeting Sunday after players reported for camp, Williams spoke briefly and apologized for the impact caused by his retirement a year ago last weekend. The Dolphins went into a nose dive and finished 4-12, their worst season since the 1960s.

“There were things about life that I wanted to explore outside of football, and I had never had the chance,” Williams said at a press conference after practice. “I realize by making that decision, I affected the team in a negative way and upset a lot of fans.

“I’m very regretful that people were hurt in the process of me doing that. I do realize that to a lot of people it comes off as being very selfish. So I do offer an apology to all the people who were negatively impacted.”

His words of contrition seemed to satisfy teammates, including center Seth McKinney, who a year ago called Williams a quitter.

“In the team meeting, he did what he had to do,” McKinney said. “He’s a man about it. We’re all being men about it. Nobody is holding any grudges. We all want him back. He’s a great player.”

Locker-room teasing helped lighten the mood, players said. Defensive tackle Larry Chester noted Williams’ long, scraggly beard and multidirectional hairdo.

“Guys were saying he looked like a little homeless guy,” Chester said. “It was all in fun.”

Williams said he found the warm reception from teammates surprising.

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