Coming off his worst game as a Dallas Cowboy, running back Javonte Williams responded with his second 100-yard rushing game this season in Sunday’s 44-22 win over the Washington Commanders.
Williams ran for 29 yards on 13 carries in last week’s loss to the Carolina Panthers, but he eclipsed that total with one 33-yard run Sunday and finished with 116 yards and a 2-yard touchdown on 19 carries.
Williams said he didn’t use last week’s performance as motivation.
“I don’t really focus too much on last week, because I know it’s all about what you do next,” he said. “So my focus really was just going out there, executing the game plan. I don’t really worry too much about it. I mean, just like this game, I know next week, what I did this week not even gonna matter. So, I mean, you got to put it past you and keep going.”
Offensive lineman Tyler Smith talked about how Williams and the run game turned things around after last week.
“The biggest thing is just making the corrections in practice and making it translate to the field,” he said. “I think it speaks to how special of a player he is. I mean, we had a couple of busted looks, a couple of looks that weren’t as clean as they could have been. He just dominated that, and I feel like that’s the X factor that he has, and it’s something that you know makes us be able to block harder, makes us want to hit those blocks a little better, because we know how explosive he can be. And I honestly don’t even think he’s played his best game yet, and I think that’s on us.”
If he hasn’t played his best game yet, the NFL should be on notice, as Williams came into the game as the NFL’s fourth-leading rusher. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones further complimented his running back, calling him one of the league’s elite.
“I think we have one of the best running backs in the NFL,” Jones said. “And the way he was running earlier in the game was important to us to get the momentum we got going in this game, and so I feel good.”
Next Sunday, Williams will have his chance for a revenge game when he faces the Denver Broncos, with whom he played the first four seasons of his career.
He joked postgame that he didn’t even want to talk about it.
The Broncos, who won on a last-second field goal against the New York Giants on Sunday, head into the game with the NFL’s 10th-ranked rushing defense.
The Cowboys (3-3-1) plays the Broncos (5-2) at 3:25 p.m. Oct. 26 at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver.