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GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- Tramon Williams' season to date: Three straight starts, three interceptions.

Not bad for a former practice squad player thrust into a more high-profile role in the Green Bay Packers' defense after an injury to Pro Bowl cornerback Al Harris.

"I guess so," Williams said, breaking into a broad smile.

"I made a few plays," Williams said. "I'm just trying to continue building on it. None of that means (anything) right now. That's history."

And somewhat unlikely.

Williams grew up in Napoleonville, La., a town of about 600 people where he was a high school teammate of New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs. He went on to play college football at Louisiana Tech, but wasn't drafted after graduation.

He signed with Houston as a free agent and was cut before training camp in 2006.

"I believed I would make it to this level -- easily," Williams said. "I never had a doubt in my mind I could compete on this level. It's just about getting chances, and a lot of guys miss out on getting chances. There's a lot of guys, probably, on the street who are some great football players. But they never got that chance."

Williams got another one when the Packers signed him to their practice squad for the final five weeks of the '06 season and brought him to training camp last year, where he quickly earned attention by making a huge hit in the Packers' intrasquad "Family Night" scrimmage.

Instead of getting cut or ending up back on the practice squad, he made the 53-man roster. Williams spent last season playing in the Packers' nickel and dime packages and returning kickoffs, averaging 22.8 yards per return.

This year, he solidified his spot as the Packers' nickel back in training camp. That made him the next man in line when Harris sustained a spleen injury in the Packers' loss to Dallas Sept. 21.

"You don't want to see anybody get hurt," Packers cornerbacks coach Lionel Washington said. "That's the first thing he said. You don't want to come in and start (because of an injury). But that's just the name of the game, in football, guys get hurt. He's responded really well."

Williams started alongside Charles Woodson and came up with interceptions at Tampa Bay, at home against Atlanta -- where he made a one-handed catch of a Matt Ryan pass in the end zone -- and at Seattle.

"It's been a long journey, but I always looked forward to it," Williams said. "I've always been a hard worker. Work's never been a big thing for me. I'll just go out there and do what I've got to do, and it's going to play out how it's going to play out, regardless."

Packers coach Mike McCarthy pointed to Williams as an example of a player who worked his way up the depth chart.

"He did it the right way," McCarthy said. "He worked and earned himself a spot on special teams, and performed well there. Now he is having an opportunity in the defensive backfield and has performed well. He is just a young man that you could see the ability in and continues to grow."

Despite making big plays in a critical role for the Packers -- Green Bay's defense is based largely on aggressive cornerback play, Harris' hallmark -- Williams hasn't been perfect.

"Is he where he wants to be? I'm certain that if you ask him, he'll probably say no," Packers defensive coordinator Bob Sanders said. "But he's done a lot of good things."

Even when Harris returns to the field -- he's expected to play after the Packers' bye next week -- Washington said Williams has taken another big step.

"He's made our secondary and made our defense better," Washington said. "And now he's not seen it all, but he's seen a pretty big part of what teams will try to do to him. It's a big plus for the team."

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)