Cowboys WR Williams now knows he needs improvement

The Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Roy Williams kept dropping key passes that hit him in the hands for the last two games and eventually got to understand why the ball was not thrown to his way, but to the one in No. 19 Cowboys jersey most of the time.

Williams had been confident and upbeat in interviews every week, despite catching only 38 passes for 596 yards when he was supposed to be Tony Romo’s No. 1 target. But he understood why his quarterback lost confidence in him after he dropped a key pass shortly before halftime of Sunday’s win over the Washington Redskins, with no defender anywhere near him.

The Cowboys gave up four draft picks, including first- and third-rounders this year, to get Williams from Detroit midway through last season, and immediately gave him a $45 million, five-year contract extension. But he caught only 19 passes in 10 games last season. His status as the team’s top receiver was completely lost a few weeks into the season when he missed a game with rib injury with Miles Austin to be his replacement. Austin made the Cowboys see what a better receiver they had ignored because of focus on Williams.

Austin set a club record with 250 yards receiving in his first start and then has managed to lead the club with an NFC-best 1,230 yards on 74 catches, with 11 touchdowns, and on Tuesday was voted into the Pro Bowl, while Williams has had totally seven touchdowns.

“I don’t blame them. I blame myself. So I have to get my (act) together and try to right this thing and help this team win some games in the playoffs.” Williams said of having no other ball come his way after he dropped the pass in the rest of last Sunday’s game. But he still has the confidence that he has “the best hands in the league, top three at least.” What in his plan now is to put in more work after practice.

Cowboys LB Ware’s final playing status is Questionable

As the NFL required, the Dallas Cowboys had to provide linebacker DeMarcus Ware’s playing status by Friday, and the team’s final decision was to list him as questionable for this Saturday night’s game against the unbeaten New Orleans Saints.

But it seemed reasonable to be optimistic that Ware will wear back his Cowboys jersey to play the game as he is recovering from a strained neck he sustained in a headfirst collision during last Sunday’s loss to the San Diego Chargers and has been able to work out with his teammates.

Although Ware was listed as not participating on their practice report Thursday, he was indeed on the field during the 90-minute practice without pads that was like a walkthrough.

Ware has started all 77 of his regular-season games since being drafted by the Cowboys as the 11th overall pick in 2005. He himself has said he wants to play against the Saints. It seemed very likely as the three-time Pro Bowl linebacker attended all meetings and participated in walkthrough sessions this week.

Chargers RB Tomlinson broke record of most TDs in decade

Scoring on a 1-yard run in the first quarter of San Diego Chargers win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson matched Emmitt Smith’s record for the most TDs in a decade. And it is just reasonable to believe that he will set new record by having more TDs in the following games.

While Smith had 136 of his 164 career touchdowns from 1990-99, Tomlinson achieved it by having his 136th career rushing TD since 2001 in his second NFL game in Dallas. The last time he was playing in Dallas was in 2001, as a rookie playing his second career game, and Smith was also playing in that game wearing Cowboys jersey.

The 1-yard rushing TD also marked Tomlinson’s 10th rushing TD of this season and his ninth straight 10-touchdown season.