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Wed August 1, 2007

Williams won't be backpedaling as much this season

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The Cowboys didn't give safety Roy Williams $25.2 million to cover people, they paid him to hit people. That's what new coach Wade Phillips has planned for his All-Pro defender. ASSOCIATED PRESS
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SAN ANTONIO — Although it's only training camp, former Oklahoma Sooner Roy Williams can't help himself when it comes to making big hits.

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Seeing Oliver Hoyte catch a pass in his vicinity Monday morning, Williams lowered his shoulders and flattened his teammate — just like he'd done to Miles Austin the day before and to Terry Glenn the day before that.

Ferocious blows are Williams' signature statement. They're a big reason why the Dallas Cowboys gave him a $25.2 million contract extension last summer and why he's been invited to the last four Pro Bowls.

It's certainly not for his coverage skills.

Williams' weakness as a cover guy was exploited more than ever last season. Of the 25 touchdown passes thrown against Dallas, a good chunk came with No. 31 in the area.

While Williams contends it was often a case of mistaken identity — "I'm supposed to be doing one thing, but then I try to help out with something and it looks like I'm getting burned” — it may not be a coincidence that new coach Wade Phillips plans to use his hard-hitting safety differently this season.

Williams is going to backpedal less and play close to the line of scrimmage more. Sometimes he'll be blitzing and sometimes he'll be there to make quarterbacks think he's coming.

"I would expect that if I were the other team,” Phillips said.

He'll still have some coverage duties, of course, giving him a chance to flatten guys wearing other jerseys. Part of his freedom comes from Dallas adding veteran Ken Hamlin to play free safety, ending last year's tag team of Keith Davis and Pat Watkins.

As Phillips likes to say about all his players, Williams will have a chance to do more of what he does best.

"He can strike a blow,” said Phillips, who counts Steve Atwater and Dennis Smith as the "really big-time hitters” that he's coached, with Wes Hopkins