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In 2024, the Dallas Cowboys were counting on a bigger contribution from Sam Williams in his third NFL season after losing defensive ends Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler in the offseason.<\/p>\n
But early in training camp, the former Alabama high school star sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament, and the knee injury caused him to miss the entire 2024 campaign.<\/p>\n
With the Cowboys set to kick off their 2025 season on Thursday night, Dallas is suddenly counting on Williams in a bigger way again, and he aims to deliver after the trade of Pro Bowl pass-rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just who wants it more, honestly, and I want it bad,\u201d Williams said on Monday about facing the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL\u2019s season-opening game. \u201cYou know, this is my first game back since being injured. I\u2019m very excited, but also patient. And I just want us to go out and be ourselves because only we can beat ourselves. And that\u2019s how I feel. So I just want to go out there and just play ball, like just play.\u201d<\/p>\n
A second-round draft choice from Ole Miss in 2022, Williams played in 32 regular-season games and three postseason games in his first two NFL seasons. He had 48 tackles, 8.5 sacks, 15 tackles for loss, 16 quarterback hits, two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. Williams has 576 defensive snaps and 544 special-teams plays in regular-season play.<\/p>\n
Parsons contributed 52.5 sacks over the past four seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you watch practice and stuff, I feel like the opportunity was going to be there anyways, even if he was here,\u201d Williams said. \u201cMore reps and opportunities because, like, every day in practice, there was no falloff. There was no falloff day. I went hard every day, and I gained the coaches\u2019 trust, my teammates\u2019 trust. And, like, if you ask them — you just ask them. Like, they\u2019ll tell you that Sam brought it every day. And that\u2019s the main objective, like, to gain the trust of the people around so I can be in those situations with Micah. But he\u2019s gone now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cowboys\u2019 depth chart for the opener shows Williams and Fowler as the starting defensive ends. Fowler recorded 10.5 sacks for the Washington Commanders in 2024 before returning to Dallas in 2025 as a free agent. They\u2019re backed up by 2024 second-round pick Marshawn Kneeland and 2025 second-round pick Donovan Ezeiruaku.<\/p>\n
A prep standout at Lee-Montgomery (now Percy Julian), Williams has never started an NFL game.<\/p>\n
Thursday night\u2019s game will mark the head-coaching debut of Brian Schottenheimer. He moved from offensive coordinator to the top spot after Dallas\u2019 7-10 showing in 2024. His new defensive staff includes former Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus as defensive coordinator.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re consistent,\u201d Williams said of the new coaches. \u201cEvery day they bring the energy, and the positions that they put us in, I mean, I feel like we\u2019re just going to be great. It\u2019s like a blind trust, you know? We can\u2019t see the results until we play.\u201d<\/p>\n
For his part, as he enters the final season of his rookie contract, Williams said he plans to \u201cjust give my all, man. Just be where I\u2019m supposed to be. Play hard and just do everything I can. You know, it\u2019s me versus me this year. I don\u2019t look at anybody else. I just look at the man in front of me, and I got to beat him. That\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dallas has Montgomery\u2019s Sam Williams lined up to make his first NFL start on Thursday night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":87947,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\n