Friday Night Lights’ Gaius Charles Returns to the Field for Necessary Roughness

Gaius Charles admits he was a bit hesitant when he was first approached to play a football player on Necessary Roughness. After all, Charles had already clocked serious playing time on the Dillon Panthers' high school football team as Brian "Smash" Williams on Friday Night Lights — a role he is still widely known for four years after leaving the series.

"My initial reaction was: 'Do I really want to play another football character?" Charles tells TVGuide.com. "And then I had the chance to look at the material and see how different it was from [FNL]."

Necessary Roughness: Will Dr. Dani be fighting for her job?

Charles, 29, makes his Necessary Roughness debut Wednesday (10/9c on USA) as the New York Hawks' potential draft pick, college wide receiver Damon Razor. While Smash was loud, outspoken and a show-off who loved being the center of attention, Razor is soft-spoken, unassuming and seems perfectly content to stay under the radar. "I can play the cocky, bombastic, extroverted jock but what about the other guy?" Charles says. "What about the guy on football team who is struggling? Who is introverted and who is not so sure of himself?"

At first, Razor seems like a good fit for the New York Hawks — especially considering the questionable health of the team's star wide receiver, T.K. (Mehcad Brooks), who was shot last season. However, when Razor fails to live up to his stats during a visit to the Hawks' stadium before the draft, Dr. Dani (Callie  Thorne) discovers that Razor may suffer from imposter syndrome — a psychological phenomenon where people feel like they are a fraud. "My character is at the doorway to NFL success and somehow he feels like he doesn't deserve it," Charles says.

Character Chatter: Join in the conversation with other Necessary Roughness fans

Charles says he is a "fanatic" when it comes to researching roles, and did lots of reading — in addition to listening to NPR — to educate himself on the rare disorder. "It was something that I could identify with just as an actor who is also in a very intense business and has either seen that in friends or has brushed with it in my own journey," he says. "I thought that that was a cool role to play, but because the actual diagnosis is very rare, I had to find a way to make this guy distressed enough to really have the diagnosis, but also not overplay it to the point where it is either melodramatic or not real."

Just when it looks like the condition will sideline Razor's football dreams forever, Dr. Dani comes to the rescue. "Dr. Dani helps Razor frame his situation to a point where it's manageable for him and he can deal with his past," Charles says.

Watch this exclusive sneak peek as Dr. Dani helps Razor get it together on the field: