EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsOXNARD, Calif. -- Comfort matters to Quinnen Williams.When the defensive tackle arrived to the Dallas Cowboys in a trade from the New York Jets in November, he had to get accustomed to a new city, new defense and new teammates. In the seven games he played for the Cowboys, Williams had 20 tackles, 33 quarterback pressures, 1.5 sacks, a pass breakup and two tackles for loss.He was still named to the Pro Bowl for the fourth straight year, but he admits he could be better."I didn't have my best year when it comes down to statistically, as a pass rusher, last year and I want to be better," Williams said. "I want to do better. Not for myself but for this team, and I know I can be better. Definitely one of those things -- I will never stop learning, I will always continue to learn, continue to grow and try to get better every single year."Entering his first full season with the Cowboys and in the midst of his first training camp as the Cowboys learn a new scheme, Williams' influence on the field and in the locker room has grown.When last season ended, coach Brian Schottenheimer and Williams had a number of conversations about the importance of winning, the philosophy they will have on defense and some other things Schottenheimer kept private."The other day he was telling me how excited he was about this system," Schottenheimer said. "He's going to get a bunch of one-on-ones. He's going to get a bunch of situations where he's having to get blocked by guards with him and Kenny [Clark] working in there together. But I see his leadership style now, I mean, I feel him. Quinnen, he doesn't speak a lot, but boy, the way he works, the way he practices is impressive. But he's a grown-ass man."At 28 years old, Williams is entering his prime where his physical skills match up with his knowledge of the game. Dallas has a new coordinator in Christian Parker, so this will be Williams' third different defense in less than a calendar year, but Williams has high expectations."I think the skill set I have, I kind of fit any defense," Williams said.The Cowboys are not concerned. Executive vice president Stephen Jones said the Cowboys want to keep Williams, who is signed through 2027, "for the long haul." There have been preliminary talks but nothing that is close to being done. Williams said he wants to be with the Cowboys long term as well."I'm not really focused on no contract," Williams said. "I definitely want to be here for the long haul. I definitely will enjoy and love being here for the long haul, but I want to win. And that's kind of the only thing I'm really focused on is winning and kind of getting this defense into the groove where we can win football games for this team."Parker's defensive line is asked to do similar things to what Williams did at Alabama when he became the No. 3 overall pick in 2019 by the Jets. New defensive line coach Marcus Dixon coached Aaron Donald with the Los Angeles Rams. Parker was around tackles such as Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis with the Philadelphia Eagles."Man, a complete defensive tackle," Clark said of Williams. "He works hella hard. He understands the game. He's smart. He's physical. And he's eager to get better too. He don't feel like he's got all the answers. He wants to do more for himself. He knows he can do more. The other day he's playing all of the blocks true and all that and just playing the double-teams. [Later] he switched it up. It's cool to see him evolving in his game."When the Cowboys had a DeMarcus Ware or Micah Parsons, opposing offenses had to know where Nos. 94 and 11 were on each play. Schottenheimer believes that's the same with Williams' No. 92."If you try to single him, it's going to be a long day for whoever the guard is," Schottenheimer said.Noticeable on the field, Williams is quiet off it, but he said his leadership abilities have grown over the years. He is a member of Schottenheimer's leadership council.At the start of the offseason program back at The Star, Schottenheimer moved Williams' locker to the middle of the room, near quarterback Dak Prescott's, a sign of what the coach thinks of Williams' influence."It's super easy to kind of come to work and work hard when you got guys with the same mindset as you," Williams said. "But if you got guys you got to drag along and really babysit, it's kind of hard in that case. [But] we have a bunch of guys on our team and in our room that have the same mindset and the ultimate goal is to win."Winning is one thing that has eluded Williams in the NFL. He never made the playoffs with the Jets. New York never had more than seven wins in a season and never finished better than third in the AFC East. The Cowboys finished 7-9-1 last season, missing the playoffs and finishing third in the NFC East."As a competitor, man, I want to win it all," Williams said. "I compete in this sport. I'm an ultimate competitor and I want to win every single game if I can. I was bred to win from Coach [Nick] Saban and do the things that we can do there at Bama. And I wanted to bring that same mentality, especially to this defense because the offense have that mentality. Just trying to develop a new defensive culture, a defensive mindset."In training camp practices, the battles between Williams and All-Pro guard Tyler Smith have had Schottenheimer saying he would pay to watch it every day as a football junkie. Williams has displayed strength to handle the double-teams and the agility to split gaps."He keeps pushing us," Clark said, "and we keep pushing him. I think the sky can be the limit. He's going to do wonderful things this year. I can't wait to see what he can do."
