OXNARD, Calif. – No. 94 bears significant weight within the Dallas Cowboys franchise.
The second-round pick in this summer’s draft, Marshawn Kneeland out of Western Michigan, proceeds Cowboy greats and Pro Football Hall of Famers Demarcus Ware and Charles Haley to wear No. 94.
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The rookie entered his first NFL training camp with expectations to fight for positioning amongst the team.
Well, after 25-year-old defensive end Sam Williams saw his season end before it could begin, suffering a torn ACL and MCL while participating in a special teams drill early in camp — the expectations for Kneeland have skyrocketed.
“This is a tough loss that we have with him, obviously a great player, great person,” said Kneeland. “I know I got to step up, I got to be ready to play that much more. And, just take all of it seriously and keep sharpening each other during practice.”
Following Kneeland’s first practice since William’s injury, the rookie said Mike Zimmer has already made it known that he’ll be taking on a bigger role as camp progresses and maybe into the 2024 season.
“It’s going to be a lot more playing time that I’m gonna have,” Kneeland said. “Obviously, it’s unfortunate that happen. Just a lot more playing time.”
Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy showed his empathy for Williams’ unfortunate fate Monday morning as Williams was primed for a breakout season.
“That’s a really tough break, especially for him, because he was clearly going to be a primary contributor,” said McCarthy. I thought he had an excellent off-season.”
However, McCarthy left the door open to the possibility of the Cowboys finding Williams’ replacement in the free-agent market.
“As far as what we’re doing moving forward, frankly, this is really what training camp is about,” McCarthy said. “We have some young players that are going to have a great opportunity.”
The Cowboys are about one week into a month-long training camp period in Oxnard, California. So, McCarthy and company have plenty of time to fill the void left by Williams before embarking on a high-stakes campaign.
“To me, that’s all part of a normal training camp process,” said McCarthy. “We’ll see what the future brings.”
