It would be a bad combination for the Cowboys, to have the Chargers come to town this Sunday on one hand and to have star defensive lineman Quinnen Williams not on the field when that happens. Even with some of the struggles the Cowboys have had defensively in the past two weeks, Williams is a rock at defensive tackle, and rates at No. 2 at his position on Pro Football Focus’s rankings.
Williams, when it comes to run-stopping, has a grade of 90.5. That ranks No. 1 in the NFL in that category, per PFF.
The Chargers, meanwhile, have rushed for 1,728 yards this season, 11th in the league. Omarion Hampton and Kimani Vidal give the team a fearsome 1-2 punch, and PFF rates L.A.’s overall run game as the best in the NFL. It would be very useful indeed for the Cowboys to have Williams on the field against that team.
Cowboys Did Not Have Quinnen Williams Practice on Wednesday
The problem for Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer, though, is that Williams is still in concussion protocol from a blow to the head he took late in the loss to the Vikings on Sunday night. The Cowboys practices in pads on Wednesday, and Williams was listed as “did not practice” for that one.
Still, Schottenheimer held out some hope for Williams’ availability this week. Concussions have some randomness to them–CeeDee Lamb suffered what appeared to be a tough one in Week 14, but still was able to make it on the field for Week 15–so it is hard to say whether Williams will be cleared in time to get on the field.
Said Schottenheimer: “Quinnen is doing better. We’ll see how he moves through the protocol, he is doing better. … We’re in pads so he won’t do anything today.”
Schottenheimer also said that left tackle Tyler Guyton, who is out with ankle injury, is iffy for Sunday. Guyton did not practice on Wednesday.
Schottenheimer Aware of Disappointment in Defense
In the first three weeks after the Cowboys acquired Williams from the Jets in a surprise deadline trade that sent out a second- and a first-round pick plus Mazi Smith, the Cowboys defense appeared to respond well, allowing 21.6 points and spurring three straight wins.
The defense slipped badly against the Lions in Week 14 and the Vikings in Week 15, though, allowing 39.0 points per game. Owner Jerry Jones expressed his disappointment in that performance, and Schottenheimer said he is aware of the boss’s displeasure.
“We meet all the time after games and we talk and we go through the game as coordinators and staff. …” he said.
“None of us played good enough. We talked about the defense quite a bit. We just have not played to the level we wanted to play and we know that. But you have to just keep working. That’s what we have to do. We have another great opponent coming in this week with a great quarterback and weapons that he knows how to do, and they run the hell out of the football. We’re going to focus on the Chargers.”
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