‘Same sorry wide receiver’: Cowboys’ Roy Williams ready to answer criticism

Cowboys WR Roy Williams appreciates criticism

IRVING, Texas — Roy Williams appreciates all the criticism and questions, especially from those who have wondered out loud if Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made the right move acquiring him to be Dallas’ lead receiver.

“It’s funny to me. I mean, it’s really funny to me,” Williams said Tuesday. “Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, Deion Sanders, Darren Woodson, I love it. I appreciate it.”

Note the common thread of that list. All are former Cowboys standouts and commentators whose opinions still matter to many fans, and who have posed the question if Williams can handle the role as the No. 1 receiver.

“When I have guys, especially NFL greats and the greatest that played here in Dallas, saying that I can’t get the job done and I’m not a No. 1, it makes me feel good,” Williams said. “It makes me want to go out there and prove not only to them but everybody else across the world who listens to those guys, because obviously everybody thinks they know it all, that I can do my job.”

Jones gave up four draft picks, including first- and third-rounders this year, to get Williams from the Detroit Lions midway through last season. Then Williams got a $45 million, five-year extension through the 2013 season before even catching his first pass from Tony Romo.

Aikman has said the deal could be “one of the biggest busts” ever in the NFL if Williams doesn’t turn out to be a topflight receiver for the Cowboys.

With Terrell Owens cut by Dallas during the offseason and Williams getting more comfortable in his connection with Romo — such as one play in practice this week that Williams said “just clicked and looked real pretty on film” — now is the chance for the new No. 1 receiver to start providing an answer.

“But I’m just the same guy. I’m the same sorry wide receiver that Jerry traded for to get out of Detroit,” Williams said with a smile and a sarcastic tone. “That’s me.”

Williams caught five passes for 36 yards in the preseason home opener Friday night, after one catch for 12 yards in the first game at Oakland.

More important is the work Romo and Williams have done on the practice field, started with the routes run in February through summer workouts and the preseason work since opening camp in San Antonio a month ago.

“Our timing is pretty good,” Romo said. “It takes a little bit of time to understand people’s mannerisms. I play pretty fast. It’s just experience. We got quite a bit of that under our belt now. … After a little while it will become second nature.”

Williams got to Dallas from winless Detroit in mid-October, right after Romo sustained a broken pinkie on his throwing hand that forced him to miss three games. Williams, bothered by a foot problem later in the season, caught only 16 passes for 160 yards and no touchdowns in the seven games with Romo while T.O. was still around.

Except for one practice missed in San Antonio with a sprained left wrist, Williams has stayed on the field with Romo.

In 60 games over his 4½ seasons in Detroit, the former first-round pick from the University of Texas had 262 catches for 3,884 yards and 29 touchdowns. He even had a Pro Bowl season in 2006, when he caught 82 passes for an NFC-leading 1,310 yards and seven TDs.

Still, few people took notice of any success he had in Detroit because, well, it was the Lions. Now he is home and loving where he is at.

“This is another level here in Dallas than it was in Detroit,” Williams said. “That’s fine. I’ve been in the spotlight since I was little. I know how to handle it. I don’t let them get to me. I don’t have a big head.”

Even when there are questions about his new role.

Williams says none of the former Cowboys has questioned him in person. But what if he runs into one of them in the halls at Valley Ranch, or at a game they are working?

“If I was to see any of them, I’d say, ‘Hey, how you doing?’,” he said. “No need for me to talk football. Just, ‘How you doing? Much respect.’”