IRVING, Texas - His star quarterback could miss a month. His dynamic rookie running back/kickoff returner could miss at least two games. His Pro Bowl-caliber punter has been placed on injured reserve. Three more starters remain out with injuries, a fill-in starter - cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones - has been suspended at least four games for his latest violation of the NFL's personal conduct policy, and the team just lost its second game in three weeks.
Jerry Jones didn't panic or pout on Tuesday. He stayed proactive.
Less than an hour after the NFL announced Adam Jones' indefinite suspension, the Cowboys owner/general manager made a bold move to inject some Pro Bowl production into their battered offense, acquiring Detroit Lions receiver Roy Williams just before the NFL's 3 p.m. (CDT) trade deadline and signing him to a five-year contract extension through 2014.
Williams will arrive in time for Wednesday's practice and could play Sunday at St. Louis. He will wear No. 11.
The Lions will receive the Cowboys' 2009 first-, third- and sixth-round picks. Dallas gets Detroit's 2009 seventh-round pick in the Williams trade, plus Tennessee's 2009 fifth-round pick because of Adam Jones' suspension - a disappointing result following the league's week-long investigation of what it concluded was "an alcohol-related physical altercation" with his bodyguard at a downtown Dallas hotel last Tuesday night.
In a letter to Adam Jones, Goodell said he would readdress the issue following the Cowboys' Nov. 16 game at Washington, the fourth of this tentative four-game span. Goodell previously had expressed disappointment over having to answer further questions about Jones following last Tuesday's incident.
The team chose not to discipline Adam Jones last week after their investigation concluded that he and bodyguard Tommy Jones (no relation) took horseplay a bit too far in a hotel bathroom. Police reports said a glass light fixture was broken, but no arrests were made and no charges were filed.
In the suspension letter Adam Jones received on Tuesday, Goodell called this "a disturbing pattern of behavior and clearly inconsistent with the conditions I set for your continued participation in the NFL."
Jerry Jones supported Goodell's ruling on Tuesday and said he's hopeful the 25-year-old corner will comply with the league's "additional" stipulations for potential reinstatement.
"It was his decision to make because it related to his conduct policy," Jerry Jones said. "It was his determination and his to determine whether he had violated a very narrow window Adam had when he got reinstated. It was very narrow and had to do with behavior. It was not a traditional-type of behavior that would normally warrant club discipline."
Adam Jones' suspension further thins the Cowboys' corner depth with regular starter Terence Newman sidelined at least another three weeks following abdominal surgery. But almost simultaneously, the team took steps to bolster its offense by acquiring the 26-year-old Williams, who made his first Pro Bowl in 2007 and has caught at least five touchdown passes in each of his first four NFL seasons.
Jerry Jones said he's been trying to acquire Williams "for two years" and didn't finalize the trade until "two minutes" before the trade deadline. Team executive vice president Stephen Jones said talks with Detroit didn't heat up until "late morning."
Williams is thankful they did. He's dreamed of playing in his home state his entire life.
"I'm just a little boy from Odessa, Texas," said Williams, who starred at the University of Texas before Detroit took him seventh overall in the 2004 draft. "I've always wanted to be a Cowboys fan. I always wanted to be like Herschel Walker growing up. Just to know that I might finish my career there in Dallas makes me feel at home."
Williams (6-3, 220), who has been mentioned in trade rumors for weeks, instantly provides a speed complement opposite Terrell Owens and a big target for backup quarterback Brad Johnson, who has been ushered into the starting lineup with Tony Romo (fractured right pinkie finger) expected to miss three games. The offense also could use another playmaker with Felix Jones (hamstring) expected to sit out at least two games.
Less than two hours after the trade, Williams said he'd already received a congratulatory phone call from Owens, whom Jerry Jones described as "elated" to hear he'd be playing alongside another Pro Bowl receiver.
"I think we're going to make a good combination," said Williams, who had 17 catches for 232 yards and a touchdown in six games for the still-winless Lions. "All we want to do is win, and that's all I want to do. That's all I've been wanting to do since I left the University of Texas."
While Williams offers a new dimension on offense, the defense will try to forge ahead with rookie corners Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick, who should get significant playing time until Newman and/or Adam Jones return. Newman could return by mid-November, when Jones' initial four-game suspension ends.
But just like this past off-season, when Jones was fully reinstated after serving a year-plus suspension for league personal conduct violations, the final verdict rests in Goodell's hands.
"He stepped out of bounds, and I respect that (decision)," Jerry Jones said. "We'll go forward. It's not impossible. If he did adhere to what the commissioner has outlined, he can earn his way back in the league."
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