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Fraley: Finally, Cowboys WR Roy Williams starting to catch on
12:51 AM CDT on Monday, August 2, 2010
Column by GERRY FRALEY / The Dallas Morning News | gfraley@dallasnews.com
Gerry Fraley
Archive | Bio | E-mail
SAN ANTONIO – Through 14 training camp practices, Cowboys wide receiver Roy Williams has yet to make one memorable leaping, twisting, diving and sprawling catch. His plays are met with yawns.
That is how it should be.
The Cowboys' lightning rod, after more false starts than a Flozell Adams game, could finally be headed in the correct direction.
"Football is fun for me again," Williams said Sunday.
Dramatic catches can be deceiving. Sometimes, they are the result of superlative efforts. Sometimes, they are the result of the receiver zigging when the quarterback expects him to be zagging.
Injured rookie Dez Bryant, a catalyst in this relationship, has wowed the Alamodome crowds with catches only to be told that he made the play more exciting than it had to be by running to the wrong spot. It happens to rookie receivers.
Williams and quarterback Tony Romo have lived that way for one-plus seasons together. In 25 regular-season games, Williams caught only 57 of the 128 throws from Romo.
By the end of last season, they lived in different parallel universes. Romo threw only one pass, an under-pressure incompletion, to Williams in the final six quarters.
Now, in the midst of their second training camp together and after their second off-season together, Romo and Williams have altered the dynamic. Each seems to understand what the other wants to do.
"It's coming together with Romo," Williams said. "That's the number-one thing. A receiver and a quarterback have to learn each other. We've finally got it."
Said Romo: "For me, it's slowly getting better each time out. It's a gradual progression."
Consider a snapshot from the Saturday morning practice. Romo had an overall mediocre day, but he and Williams twice connected on touchdown passes during the red-zone drill. Williams went to the proper spot, and Romo made the proper throw.
It was smooth and machine-like, the way good pass-and-catch combinations work. It was nothing like before, when Romo and Williams seemed to be speaking different languages.
"Roy is doing a better job of being where Tony thinks he'll be," coach Wade Phillips said. "That communication is better."
For the Cowboys, that is a promising sign. With Bryant nursing a high-ankle sprain that could prove troublesome for an extended period, the Cowboys are back to needing production from Williams.
He remains the starter but must not disappear as was the case last season. Williams had six games, including the playoff loss at Minnesota, with one reception or none. Defenses are going to focus on wide receiver Miles Austin and tight end Jason Witten and dare Williams to beat them.
"I know how good I can be," Williams said.
There are likely other reasons for Williams' better showing.
After dropping eight passes last season, he did off-season work on his hands. Williams can now position himself about one foot in front of a machine that spits out footballs at a high speed and catch a bullet pass.
Williams also accepted the Cowboys' suggestion that lighter is better and reported at 210 pounds, nearly 10 pounds lighter than last season. Receivers coach Ray Sherman said that has helped Williams.
Bryant's presence cannot be discounted. Like any veteran, Williams has his pride. He was not going to be rendered obsolete by a rookie without a fight.
"It's my time," Williams said. "And it's Miles' time, and it's Dez's time. It's time for all of us. But I can't worry about anybody else but me."
Let others make the highlight-reel catches, Williams said. He's happy to be in the right place at the right time.
Left behind
A look at where Roy Williams ranks among NFL receivers for regular-season games since Oct. 26, 2008, when he debuted with the Cowboys:
Category Total NFL rank
Receptions 57 T-106th
Yards 794 81st
Yards/catch 13.9 37th
Touchdowns 8 T-37th
25+ yd. rec. 7 T-65th
12:51 AM CDT on Monday, August 2, 2010
Column by GERRY FRALEY / The Dallas Morning News | gfraley@dallasnews.com
Gerry Fraley
Archive | Bio | E-mail
SAN ANTONIO – Through 14 training camp practices, Cowboys wide receiver Roy Williams has yet to make one memorable leaping, twisting, diving and sprawling catch. His plays are met with yawns.
That is how it should be.
The Cowboys' lightning rod, after more false starts than a Flozell Adams game, could finally be headed in the correct direction.
"Football is fun for me again," Williams said Sunday.
Dramatic catches can be deceiving. Sometimes, they are the result of superlative efforts. Sometimes, they are the result of the receiver zigging when the quarterback expects him to be zagging.
Injured rookie Dez Bryant, a catalyst in this relationship, has wowed the Alamodome crowds with catches only to be told that he made the play more exciting than it had to be by running to the wrong spot. It happens to rookie receivers.
Williams and quarterback Tony Romo have lived that way for one-plus seasons together. In 25 regular-season games, Williams caught only 57 of the 128 throws from Romo.
By the end of last season, they lived in different parallel universes. Romo threw only one pass, an under-pressure incompletion, to Williams in the final six quarters.
Now, in the midst of their second training camp together and after their second off-season together, Romo and Williams have altered the dynamic. Each seems to understand what the other wants to do.
"It's coming together with Romo," Williams said. "That's the number-one thing. A receiver and a quarterback have to learn each other. We've finally got it."
Said Romo: "For me, it's slowly getting better each time out. It's a gradual progression."
Consider a snapshot from the Saturday morning practice. Romo had an overall mediocre day, but he and Williams twice connected on touchdown passes during the red-zone drill. Williams went to the proper spot, and Romo made the proper throw.
It was smooth and machine-like, the way good pass-and-catch combinations work. It was nothing like before, when Romo and Williams seemed to be speaking different languages.
"Roy is doing a better job of being where Tony thinks he'll be," coach Wade Phillips said. "That communication is better."
For the Cowboys, that is a promising sign. With Bryant nursing a high-ankle sprain that could prove troublesome for an extended period, the Cowboys are back to needing production from Williams.
He remains the starter but must not disappear as was the case last season. Williams had six games, including the playoff loss at Minnesota, with one reception or none. Defenses are going to focus on wide receiver Miles Austin and tight end Jason Witten and dare Williams to beat them.
"I know how good I can be," Williams said.
There are likely other reasons for Williams' better showing.
After dropping eight passes last season, he did off-season work on his hands. Williams can now position himself about one foot in front of a machine that spits out footballs at a high speed and catch a bullet pass.
Williams also accepted the Cowboys' suggestion that lighter is better and reported at 210 pounds, nearly 10 pounds lighter than last season. Receivers coach Ray Sherman said that has helped Williams.
Bryant's presence cannot be discounted. Like any veteran, Williams has his pride. He was not going to be rendered obsolete by a rookie without a fight.
"It's my time," Williams said. "And it's Miles' time, and it's Dez's time. It's time for all of us. But I can't worry about anybody else but me."
Let others make the highlight-reel catches, Williams said. He's happy to be in the right place at the right time.
Left behind
A look at where Roy Williams ranks among NFL receivers for regular-season games since Oct. 26, 2008, when he debuted with the Cowboys:
Category Total NFL rank
Receptions 57 T-106th
Yards 794 81st
Yards/catch 13.9 37th
Touchdowns 8 T-37th
25+ yd. rec. 7 T-65th
