NBC 5 sports anchor Newy Scruggs blogs on sports and other subjects.
The voluntary practices continue at Valley Ranch for the Cowboys. For some reason the media think it’s a big deal that Roy Williams is back at the OTA’s after skipping last week. Roy went on a cruise with his family.
Linebacker Greg Ellis was missing today. Should we be alarmed? I just don’t think it is a big deal. It is voluntary.
My man Nick Eatman has more from dallascowboys.com.
Sorry, players have lives.
Six years ago, former Cowboys linebacker Darren Hambrick uttered his best line, “What does voluntary mean?”
D-Ham was criticized at the time for not attending the club’s OTAs because he was unhappy with his contract. Players who have contract issues and complaints skip the “voluntary” OTAs. That doesn’t make them bad guys.
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson has destroyed his good-guy image with his trade demands and his unnecessary public spat with head coach Marvin Lewis and the organization.
Johnson is not wrong to boycott the OTAs because the players association has a deal with the owners that protects the players from being forced to participate.
Mandatory mini-camps are different. All players must show up.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe players should attend OTAs because it will make their teams better, but guys don’t have to have perfect attendance. I certainly can’t recall who decided not to come to all of last year’s voluntary work at Valley Ranch.
Bullies like Miami Dolphins president Bill Parcells want players to live and train year-round at the team’s complex.
Pro Bowl defensive end Jason Taylor skipped Dolphins workouts to participate on the hit show, Dancing with the Stars, and has angered the Tuna. Taylor’s situation has gotten so bad that he has asked the Dolphins to trade him.
It’s a shame, because Taylor was recently named the NFL’s Man of the Year for his work in South Florida. He’s the kind of player Parcells needs, but because he wants a life in the off-season, he is looked at as not being a team player.
Bears defensive end Adewale Ogunleye supported Taylor’s dancing on a Sirius NFL radio program this week. Ogunleye said too many NFL players never develop skills outside of football during their off-seasons and end up lost. Cowboys safety Roy Williams is on vacation with his family with the OK of coach Wade Phillips. In the eyes of some people who cover the team, you’d have thought he committed a crime.
There is a lot of speculation about Williams’ comfort and role in the defense, but missing one week of four scheduled weeks of OTAs will not get him cut.
The players don’t get paid for voluntary football practices. Voluntary means of one’s free will.
We should remember that.
Newy Scruggs is the sports director at NBC 5.
Cowboys Pro Bowl safety Roy Williams doesn’t like playing in the 3-4 defense. At least that is what Cowboys linebacker Greg Ellis told Sirius NFL Radio.
The Dallas Morning News Cowboys blog is all over this story.
“Greg Ellis made some pretty interesting statements about Roy Williams during an appearance on Sirius NFL Radio this afternoon. Ellis said that Williams doesn’t feel like he fits in Wade Phillips’ scheme and has been isolating himself from teammates.
Ellis said Williams first expressed concerns about the Phillips 3-4 during training camp in San Antonio.
“He said, ‘Greg, this defense does not fit me. I don’t fit in well with this defense at all,’” Ellis said. “So when he told me that, I was like, ‘Well, man, it’s still new. Get used to it and it’ll probably be fine for you.’” And obviously I think it came to be true. Just like he said, he doesn’t fit what’s going on here in Dallas right now.
“Now maybe this year, if they decide to keep him for this season, Wade and them will kind of adjust some things to fit him better.”
Todd Archer of the Morning News says it will cost the Cowboys 6.667 million to let him go. He’s got more.
Of course we wrote this may be Roy’s last year with the Cowboys a few weeks ago on the newdawgblog and for the Star-Telegram.
I love reading Peter King each Monday.
Even if he loves up the Patriots all the time. And I mean all the time.
He’s got his mock draft up. Here are his Cowboys 1st round picks:
22. Dallas. RB Rashard Mendenhall, Illinois. Jerry Jones is dancing in the draft room — he didn’t have to trade into the top of the draft for a back, and he ends up with a guy some in our business think is better and a lower risk than Darren McFadden. One question, though: Why couldn’t he beat out Pierre Thomas at Illinois two years ago?
28. Dallas. CB Aqib Talib, Kansas. If the Cowboys can get a veteran receiver in exchange for this pick — Roy Williamswould be the preference — they’ll jump at it. If not, they’ll solve the cornerback need and hope to get an experienced receiver this summer.
Now I see no way Mendenhall falls this far, but Steven Jackson fell to the Cowboys a few years ago and Parcells screwed up and traded out of the spot.
On Talib, I’m not sure if the Cowboys like some of his bad habits on the field.
Jerry Jones would love to trade a first round pick to the Lions for wide receiver Roy Williams, but the Leos say no way.
Why?
Because last year’s 1st rounder Calvin Johnson has a screwed up back. Read his horror here. As told to Tom Kowalski of Booth Newspapers
“I was on meds the rest of the season. I was taking Vicodin twice a game just to get through the game,” Johnson said. “I stayed hurt the whole season, probably because I was trying to come back too soon. But I’m not going to be the kind of guy who’s going to say, ‘I can’t do this or this because I’m hurt.’ ”
Fans did not know how severely Johnson was hurt, and it took the coaching staff some time to realize it, too.
This is a make-or-break season for Dallas Cowboys safety Roy Williams.
He might be the only man who has started in the Pro Bowl who has so many questions about his role in his organization. Some people at Valley Ranch don’t trust him on the field anymore.
Don’t be surprised if Williams is benched on third downs this fall. Teams love throwing to the tight end on third down to keep the chains moving.
Did you see the Cowboys’ schedule? It is loaded with some tough tight ends. Williams has struggled in pass coverage the past two seasons. Badly.
The Cowboys open in Cleveland. That means Williams will have to cover Pro Bowler Kellen Winslow. The Browns would be foolish not to try to isolate Winslow on him.
Some of the best tight ends in the game are on the schedule this year: Chris Cooley (Redskins), Jeremy Shockey (Giants), Todd Heap (Ravens).
Randy McMichael of the Rams has been a Pro Bowl alternate.
Vernon Davis was the 49ers’ second-leading receiver.
The Buccaneers’ tight end duo of Alex Smith and Jerramy Stevens combined for seven touchdown receptions.
Heath Miller of the Steelers caught seven touchdown passes in ‘07, and Donald Lee of the Packers snagged six.
Philly’s L.J. Smith will get two shots at the Cowboys’ strong safety. Ben Utecht of the Bengals is no slouch.
Seattle is the only team on the schedule that is weak at the tight end position.
Williams knows he’s not the same player he was a few years ago. His ears work. He knows the critics are out there.
He did himself no favors in the locker room last year by being suspended for a horse collar tackle on Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. Wade Phillips also chose not to start him for two games. He didn’t register a single sack in 2007.
The fifth straight Pro Bowl trip to Hawaii came to him because he was the first alternate and was chosen to replace the late Sean Taylor on the NFC roster.
Dump that No. 31 jersey, because he’s going back to the No. 38 he donned at Oklahoma. The old No. 38 was a feared man who made plays and made hard hits.
When Cowboys training camp opens in Oxnard, Calif., lots of eyes will be on Williams to see if he can return to his once dominating form. His career as a Cowboy depends on it.
Newy Scruggs is the sports director at NBC 5.
