The Dallas Cowboys are not considered as deep at edge rusher as they have been in recent years, at least not with proven depth. Their 1-2 punch of Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence is as formidable a duo as any in the NFL, but behind them they lost a ton of experience in the offseason.
Gone are Dorance Armstrong, Jr. and Dante Fowler, owners of 26 sacks combined over the last two seasons. Replacing them were third-year defensive end Sam Williams and second-round rookie draft pick Marshawn Kneeland. There’s a lot of promise between the two but now that may be in doubt as Williams left Sunday’s practice on a cart.
Williams suffered an apparent leg injury during special teams drills and has been taken to get an MRI.
Breaking news from camp. #Cowboys DE Sam Williams injured on a routine drill pic.twitter.com/4n5BajiB1v
— Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) July 28, 2024
The team doesn’t sound hopeful as owner Jerry Jones said, “We don’t like what we saw.”
Jerry Jones said Sam Williams is undergoing examinations and the team will get a final diagnosis at midday West Coast time. “We didn’t like what we saw,” he said.
— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) July 28, 2024
Williams has yet to start a game in his career, but the 2022 second-round pick from Ole Miss was expected to be next up in the rotation after four and 4.5 sacks in each of his first two seasons. Williams has had a propensity for both dominant and boneheaded plays since joining the league, and the prevailing hope was moving to Mike Zimmer’s show would lead to more discipline in his approach.
Now the Cowboys are left waiting to hear some hopefully good news as their first major injury concern during training camp 2024 has occurred.
Durrell Johnson, Villiami Fehoko and Tyrus Wheat are behind Williams and Kneeland on the depth chart.
Dallas is coming off of three consecutive 12-5 campaigns but has changed defenses to try and be more consistent. With plans to play Parsons more as a linebacker blitzer, Williams is key to their approach.