IRVING, Texas - Cowboys safety Roy Williams could miss several weeks with a fractured forearm he suffered in the third quarter of Monday night's win against the Philadelphia Eagles.
He returned to the sidelines for the end of the game with his right arm heavily wrapped. Team doctors said Williams would undergo surgery Tuesday morning to implant a plate and screws in the forearm to stabilize the fracture. The procedure is similar to one performed on former Cowboys safety turned cornerback Pete Hunter in 2002. Hunter missed about a month, but could have probably played three weeks after surgery, doctors said. Players tend to be hesitant to tackle coming back from the surgery, fearing re-injury to the arm, they said.
Williams had been demoted to first and second down duty in the team's base defense because of his problems in deep coverage. On Monday, Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson split he and cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones for a 60-yard gain.
In six-plus seasons, Williams has missed just one game, a Dec. 22, 2007 affair in Carolina while serving a one-game suspension for repeated "Horse Collar" tackles. He started every game since his rookie year in 2002 until last season, when twice teams forced him off the field by using extra receiver sets on their first play.
When Williams has been taken off the field in passing situations this season and last, it's been Pat Watkins replacing him at safety. Now in his third year out of Florida State, Watkins has excelled on special teams and played a significant role on the nickel and dime defenses. He started the first four games of his rookie year at free safety before losing his job after a poor outing.
"There are a lot of things you learn," Watkins said of his NFL maturation process since that rookie-year demotion. "I learned you have to have a short memory. I used to take it so personal when I would get beat. But at the same time I wouldn't take my studying seriously. I didn't know how to take it to the next level like I have now.
"I've come a long way from my rookie year."
He returned to the starting job later in the year, but the Cowboys signed Ken Hamlin from Seattle to replace him before the 2007 season. He is the presumptive replacement for any period Williams would miss. Chances are coaches would leave him at Williams' strong safety role rather than flip him to free safety and move Hamlin to the strong side. Watkins has been learning both safety spots anyway.
"This isn't the way I wanted to get back in," Watkins said. "I didn't even know he was hurt like that. It's pivotal because Roy is a big piece to our defense. Right now I'm going to pray for Roy."
Watkins had five tackles in Monday's game, four of them solos.
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