Dallas Cowboys running back Javonte Williams has talked about his recovery from a torn ACL over two years ago as he prepares to enter the season as the team’s featured running back.
Williams tore his ACL in a game against the Las Vegas Raiders in October 2022, when he was still a member of the Denver Broncos, and managed to play in nearly every game for the Broncos in the last two seasons.
Dallas signed Williams to a one-year contract worth $3 million in free agency, looking to benefit from a bounce-back season after he produced just 513 rushing yards and four touchdowns last season.
Although last year was disappointing for the 25-year-old running back, he said he is fully healthy and ready to make an impact for Dallas in the upcoming season.
Williams said he is ready to go “as far as healing up” from these injuries, noting that every player has a different recovery time until they are back to their old selves.
“It just depends on who you are, it depends on your body… mine might take this amount of time, but somebody else might be different,” he added, per The Cowboys.
“It’s a lot that goes into it that people don’t really understand. Just to be back out here and have another opportunity and chance to show myself, I can’t ask for nothing else.”
Williams said that Dallas has not committed to a specific running back as the team’s lead, but he is prepared to take full control of the job after taking the majority of first-team snaps in practice.
“They didn’t really tell me too much about that stuff, all I know is just come in here and work every day, and everything else is going to take care of itself,” he said, per The Cowboys.
“I’m not really big on the expectations and goals and stuff like that, I just go out and play well.”
Williams said running the ball has been an important part of the Cowboys’ practices thus far, noting that it can help to open up other parts of the offense.
“From what I’ve seen, I feel like they’re trying to run the ball a lot,” he explained, per The Cowboys.
“Then, we’ve got a lot of playmakers on the outside and a great o-line, a great quarterback, so they’re going to do their thing too, but I feel like getting the run game of the ground is something that they’ve been preaching on.”
Dallas will look to decide upon the role of running back in the coming months as the team prepares for the regular season, which is scheduled to begin with a matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles on September 4.