{"id":87229,"date":"2025-09-02T22:29:48","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T22:29:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=87229"},"modified":"2025-09-02T22:29:48","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T22:29:48","slug":"cowboys-6-foot-4-de-sends-bold-message-on-playing-without-micah-parsons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=87229","title":{"rendered":"Cowboys 6-foot-4 DE Sends Bold Message on Playing Without Micah Parsons"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-1741212371.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-1741212371.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-1741212371.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-1741212371.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Cowboys 6-foot-4 DE Sends Bold Message on Playing Without Micah Parsons\" width=\"780\" height=\"562\" \/><\/figure>\n<div>\n<p>Harry How\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>The Cowboys will have a big expectations for Sam Williams in 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Dallas Cowboys may no longer have the services of Micah Parsons, but his replacement isn\u2019t worried.<\/p>\n<p>Sam Williams, who Dallas expects to replace Parsons as the primary game-wrecking EDGE, detailed why he thinks the Cowboys are going to still be great even after they traded Parsons last week.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the Cowboys shocked the sports world by dealing Parsons to the Green Bay Packers for Kenny Clark and two first-round picks Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>In the trade\u2019s aftermath, the football world \u2014 including members of the Cowboys alumni \u2014 have been piling on football czar Jerry Jones and the Cowboys, who have not won the Super Bowl or even been to the NFC Championship Game since 1995.<\/p>\n<h2>What Did Sam Williams Say About Replacing Micah Parsons?<\/h2>\n<p>Football players are a famously confident, so Williams\u2019 words aren\u2019t surprising. But given Dallas defense\u2019s struggles in 2024 \u2014 and the fact Jones just traded arguably its most disruptive player \u2014 Williams\u2019 belief in himself, his teammates and his coaches may inspire cynicism.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery day they bring the energy,\u201d Williams said of the defensive coaches, led by defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. \u201cThe positions they put us in, I feel like we\u2019re just going to be great. It\u2019s like a blind trust. We can\u2019t see the results until we play.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just want us to be ourselves because only we can beat ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is a crucial year for Williams, since the fourth-year EDGE from Ole Miss is on the final year of his rookie contract. He has 8.5 sacks in 32 career games \u2014 he\u2019s never made an NFL start \u2014 but is coming off a lost 2024 season where he did not play due to a torn ACL and MCL sustained during training camp last July.<\/p>\n<p>But with Parsons gone to Green Bay, Williams is in line to start his first game on national TV against the reigning world-champion Philadelphia Eagles. Between that, and the nearly two-year layoff between regular-season game reps, Williams is chomping at the bit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m very hungry, but at the same time I\u2019m patient,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to get too excited, because that\u2019s where Sam starts making penalties and stuff.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just want to be great. I just want to go out there and showcase all the hard work I\u2019ve put in.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>What Did Sam Williams Say About Kenny Clark?<\/h2>\n<p>Lost amid all the drama between Parsons and Jones is the fact the Cowboys got a pretty-good roster player from the Packers.<\/p>\n<p>Clark, who will turn 30 on Oct. 4, is a three-time Pro Bowler who has started every game over the past four years.<\/p>\n<p>Though he\u2019s older and less agile than Parsons, Clark could help the Cowboys improve in both run and pass situations. Clark was 85th among 219 qualifying defensive tackles in 2024 according to PFF\u2019s grading (59.3) and was in the top-half in both pass-rush (63.1, 72nd) and run defense (57.1, 83rd) grades.<\/p>\n<p>So Williams is a believer in his new teammate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s a superstar player,\u201d Williams said. \u201cAt the end of the day, we just got to match each other and work as a unit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pat Pickens is an experienced sports writer and media personality who has written for outlets like NHL.com, the Associated Press, the New York Times and USA Today. He covers the NFL, NBA, NHL and NBA as a breaking news contributor at Heavy. More about Pat Pickens<\/p>\n<h2>More Heavy on Cowboys<\/h2>\n<p>Loading more stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Cowboys are going to Philadelphia to take on the reigning world champions on opening night, and even though few believe in Dallas, Sam Williams is a believer in his team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":87230,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cowboys 6-foot-4 DE Sends Bold Message on Playing Without Micah Parsons - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=87229\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cowboys 6-foot-4 DE Sends Bold Message on Playing Without Micah Parsons - 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