ROMO TAKES THE ‘HIGH ROAD’ WITH SULKY RECEIVER WILLIAMS

Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo had more to say about accusations from his sulky receiver Roy Williams that he’s somehow ‘sandbagging’ his performance by not throwing his balls as accurately or effectively.  To his credit, Romo is more concerned with his team’s performance and continued NFL success than his individual performance though enough of a leader to not directly throw Williams ‘under the bus’.

Williams has been a non-factor since coming to Dallas from the Detroit Lions, and more recently has struggled with injuries.  More significantly, he’s looked out of sync and listless as he runs sloppy routes, gives up on them too soon and otherwise not doing the little things that make for success as an NFL wide receiver.  He also leads the team in dropped passes. Somehow this is all Romo’s fault and no reflection on Williams.

After Williams suggested that those who didn’t believe his rant that every other receiver on the Cowboys is getting ‘preferential treatment’ from his quarterback Romo responded.  To his credit, he placed the blame on ‘the media’ rather than his underachieving teammate:

  "I don't look at the numbers. We've been through this before with people trying to intersect and divide a football team. This team is too strong from the core.

"I know the media is going to make certain things appear what they may not actually have been or things of that nature. This team is too committed to winning and too committed to improving to let anything like that or anything the media may present to us divide this team."

The rebuke had some effect, as Williams has since tried to backtrack from his statements and insist that all evidence to the contrary he wasn’t ‘complaining’:

"I didn't complain I didn't complain that I didn't get the ball. I got seven opportunities in [last Sunday's win over Seattle]. All I said was that, when it comes to me, it's not there. The percentages ... back my case. I'm not saying it can't be fixed because that's what we do every day. We try to work on it and get it fixed.

"I'm not a T.O. [Terrell Owens] or I'm not trying to be a T.O. I don't know why people are trying to put me in that category because I'm happy to win. I've said that 100 times."

For the time being, the issue is likely settled despite Williams’’ pointless decision to address internal problems through the media.  Even without any discernable contributions from him, the Cowboys are winning and the offense is producing.  Should they start losing a few games or struggle scoring points, don’t be surprised if the controversy begins anew.