Patriots DC Terrell Williams on Being Cancer-Free: 'It's Been Joyous For Me'

Every Monday when he could, Terrell Williams would show up for New England's defensive meetings and praise the unit for an interception, sack or pass breakup during the previous game, and his players found joy in seeing the strength of their coach as he fought cancer.

"I feel like he never lost it," linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson said. "He still had the charismatic energy and kept a smile on his face; he kept being positive. You wouldn't be able to know anything was going on with him. I appreciated everything that he showed throughout the process."

The defensive coordinator is now back with the New England Patriots for the Super Bowl on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks after a nearly five-month battle with prostate cancer.

Williams attended meetings at the Patriots’ facility during his treatment, but he hasn’t traveled with the team all season and hasn’t been on the sideline since Week 1. Inside linebackers coach Zak Kuhr filled in as New England’s defensive play-caller.

Williams was declared cancer-free during the playoffs and cleared to join the team at the Super Bowl.

He was diagnosed because he thought he had a stomach illness following a Week 1 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. When Williams told Mike Vrabel after the game he wasn’t feeling well, the head coach urged him to get checked out by the medical staff and Williams was immediately sent to urgent care.

"As they were doing tests, that’s when they found out about the cancer, so thank God that I had the stomach flu because if I didn’t, it just would have been business as usual," Williams said Monday at media night for the Super Bowl.

Chaisson said Williams provided everybody with an emotional lift with his presence and positive spirit despite the obstacles he