Cowboys Corner

Playoffs

If the Cowboys lose Sunday, they will play at Minnesota or at Arizona in the wild-card round of the playoffs. The Eagles earn a first-round bye with a victory. If the Cowboys win, they could host Philadelphia or Green Bay in a wild-card game. Or they could earn a first-round bye.

Dallas needs to beat the Eagles and have Minnesota AND Arizona lose to get next week off.

Wade Phillips said Thursday that the Cowboys will have Monday off if they play Saturday. They will have their regular Tuesday off day otherwise. The NFL will announce next week's playoff schedule on Sunday night.

-- Charean Williams

No New Year's Eve party

The Cowboys had a regular practice day Thursday, meaning the players left Valley Ranch sometime around what normally is rush hour. They have 8:30 a.m. meetings Friday. Thus, Cowboys coach Wade Phillips is not expecting his players to be out on the streets celebrating the new year at midnight.

"They've got meetings," Phillips said. "They know that. And they have to be on time. They know that too."

-- Charean Williams

Fletcher fined

Redskins linebacker London Fletcher was fined $10,000 for his hit on Cowboys receiver Patrick Crayton on Sunday. Crayton said this week that he thought the hit across the middle deserved a flag. The league agreed, saying Wednesday that Fletcher had struck a "defenseless receiver in the head area."

-- Charean Williams

We Love Roy, Day II

Roy Williams said yesterday that Jason Garrett and Tony Romo have lost confidence in him. Wade Phillips said that was not true. Jerry Jones said that was not true.

And the latest disclaimer comes from Romo, who met with the media on Thursday and proclaimed his admiration for the struggling wide receiver.

"We haven’t lost any confidence in Roy," Romo said -- and perhaps it was significant that his nose did not elongate. "That’s the best part of this football team – people want to look at themselves and improve. I’m the same way. We all do that, whether or not you express it to others. That’s part of being in this locker room, to continue to improve. I have to continue to work on that. So does Jason Witten, everybody around here does. That just shows you the type of people we have in here. No one has lost any confidence in Roy. Roy is going to be a huge part of this going forward. He knows that. Hopefully we’re all going to have some good football ahead of us."

In retrospect, Williams might have made his best move of this season. By talking openly about the issue, Williams has generated publicity and reporters have followed up on his comments. Everyone now has been forced to declare their allegiance to and confidence in Williams.

So would any of us be surprised if he was targeted about 10 times on Sunday? The test for him is whether he makes catches early in the game. If he does, then it wouldn't be shocking to see him get more opportunities, which, of course, would prove that everyone still has confidence in him.

And that he created opportunities for himself by simply being honest.

-- Jan Hubbard

Kosier honored

The Cowboys voted guard Kyle Kosier the recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award. In a vote of his teammates, Kosier was selected for his "hard work and perseverance" in overcoming a foot injury that landed him on injured reserve last year.

The team's past four recipients were safety Keith Davis in 2008; nose tackle Jay Ratliff in 2007; offensive tackle Flozell Adams in 2006; and tight end Dan Campbell in 2005.

The Cowboys also honored special teams coordinator, Joe DeCamillis, who received the Special Courage Award. DeCamillis fractured four vertebra in the collapse of the team's practice facility May 2, and he ended up in the hospital last week during the Washington game, undergoing an emergency appendectomy and hernia surgery.

-- Charean Williams 

Oh yes, we have confidence in Roy

It's fair to criticize Roy Williams for not playing consistently good football this year, but if you're looking for anyone besides Williams to be honest about the way he's been playing, forget it. Williams said earlier in the day that if he kept playing poorly, he might find himself on special teams. And he said offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and quarterback Tony Romo had lost confidence in him and that it was up to him to win their confidence back.

But when Cowboys coach Wade Phillips was asked about it at his afternoon press conference, he denied that anything is different with Williams.

"I didn't hear him say that, but there hasn't been any confidence [lost]," Phillips said. "You can ask Jason and Tony. There is no confidence lost in Roy. That's my answer to that."

You don't expect coaches or quarterbacks to admit that they have lost confidence in a receiver, but when a guy who is supposed to be a No. 1 receiver catches two passes for 18 yards in two weeks, then it's obvious something is going on.

Credit Williams on this one. It may be easy to criticize him for not playing well and for dropping balls, but at this point of the season, he is assessing blame to no one but himself. And that may be his first step of getting out of his slump -- and winning back the confidence of the coaching staff and quarterback.

-- Jan Hubbard

Bringing Wade back?

Owner Jerry Jones again expressed his support for his coach and refuted the suggestion the Cowboys need to win a playoff game for Wade Phillips to keep his job.

“That’s too succinct,” Jones said before the Cowboys’ practice at Valley Ranch. “We especially, since, the best thing to do for the future for us other than to get to the Super Bowl, is not have any coaching changes, that’s the best thing to do.”

However, although Jones continually given Phillips a vote of confidence, he has not given him a contract extension. Phillips is in the final year of his three-year deal. The Cowboys hold an option for 2010.

Phillips is 32-16 in his three seasons, but he has yet to win a playoff game. He is 0-4 in his career in the postseason.

-- Charean Williams

Roy acknowledges the obvious

You can criticize Roy Williams all you want, but you probably won't be any harder on him than he is on himself. For all the bad things you say about him, and there are plenty of bad things to say, give him his due about being accountable. He stood up Wednesday and acknowledged if he doesn't play better, he's going to end up on the bench. Basically, he benched himself, saying he's "disappointed" in his play.

"Confidence is still high. It’s still high," Williams said Wednesday. "I have to get the confidence of my quarterback, because I didn’t get a look after the first half [against Washington]. I didn’t get a look in the second half, so that’s telling me my quarterback lost that confidence in me, and so did the coordinator calling the play for me. I don’t blame them. I blame myself. So I have to get my [stuff] together and try to right this thing and help this team win some games in the playoffs."

Williams has been targeted on 85 passes this year, according to STATS, Inc. He has caught 38 of those. His percentage of catches (44.7 percent) ranks him sixth-worst among receivers with at least 50 catches. (By comparison, Jason Witten has caught 75.2 percent of the passes directed his way.) Williams has 10 drops, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. No receiver has more.

-- Charean Williams

Miles happy about Pro Bowl

Before the season started, the Cowboys thought they would have a Pro Bowl receiver. But they expected it to be Roy Williams, not Miles Austin.

Austin started his season with five catches for 81 yards and a touchdown in the first four games. Now, he is on his way to his first Pro Bowl. In the past 11 games, beginning with the team-record 250 yards against Kansas City, Austin has 69 catches for 1,149 yards and 10 touchdowns. 

Austin was watching Sherlock Holmes in a theater my himself when the Cowboys called to tell him he had made the Pro Bowl. He called them back after the movie ended.

This, after all, is a man who had waited four years for his chance to show what he could do. What was another few minutes?

"It feels good," Austin said Wednesday. "It was a shock. ...I did enjoy it yesterday for a couple of hours, but now I'm back on Philly. One thing at a time."

Austin now has something in common with the Larry Fitzgeralds and the Hines Wards. From now on, he will be known as a Pro Bowler. 

"I'm in a group with those guys in a couple of weeks," Austin said. "It's pretty cool, but you know that being said, we've got a long way ahead of us."

-- Charean Williams

DeCamillis back at work

Cowboys special teams coach Joe DeCamillis said he was a "little rough around the edges," but he is back at Valley Ranch. DeCamillis returned to work Tuesday, two days after undergoing an emergency appendectomy and hernia surgery at a Virgina hospital.

Doctors found the hernia when they were taking out his appendix Sunday afternoon. He watched the Cowboys' 17-0 victory over the Redskins from his hospital bed.

"It was a feeling of oh, no, I can’t believe this," DeCamillis said Wednesday. "I don’t think that was exactly the words I used, but that was definitely the feeling I had."

DeCamillis flew home on Jerry Jones' private jet Monday. He had game film delivered Monday night returned to his office Tuesday. He will be on the practice field later today.

DeCamillis, 44, fractured four vertebra in the collapse of the team's indoor practice facility May 2. He was back on the practice field 15 days later.

"I think my family is really going to be glad when 2010 gets here, that’s for sure," DeCamillis said. "But you never know. You never know what that brings, too. Hopefully, it’ll be a little bit easier as far as the health issues."

 

-- Charean Williams