Football Williams says he, Romo not connecting

[GotGibson?]

Roy Williams remains the Dallas Cowboys' No. 1 receiver, at least in his mind.

After putting in a lot of extra offseason work with quarterback Tony Romo, Williams is stunned they haven't made more progress.

"It's just not even close," Williams said. "It's not even funny. Not even close."

Williams does not believe his poor production accurately portrays his performance.

"I'm the No. 1 receiver," Williams said. "But things are just going No. 2's way."

The No. 2 is Miles Austin, who has produced like a Pro Bowler since moving into the starting lineup. Austin has set an NFL record with 482 yards in his first three starts, scoring on five of his 21 receptions during that span.

Compare that to Williams' statistics in 16 games since arriving from Detroit in a blockbuster deal: 33 catches, 447 yards and three touchdowns.

Considering those numbers, how could Williams possibly still see himself as the Cowboys' No. 1 receiver?

"He gets the ball thrown correctly his way," Williams said of Austin. "I'm stretching and falling and doing everything. Everybody [else] who's been here's balls are there. Our footballs [from Romo to Williams] are everywhere right now."

Williams has caught only 14 of 37 passes thrown his way this season. Only four receivers in the league who have been targeted at least 25 times have caught a lower percentage of passes aimed at them.

Williams stressed that he's pleased that the Cowboys are winning, but he's frustrated that he hasn't been more effective. He isn't asking for more opportunities. He just wants to be put in better position to make plays -- which means getting on the same page with Romo.

"We're going to be fine there," Romo said after Sunday's win over the Seattle Seahawks. "I know what Roy's doing. It's just a matter of going back and looking the tape and seeing what we have to do better. But it's just part of growing with a receiver."

 

[GotGibson?]

Williams: 'I'm not trying to be a T.O.'

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo was defiant Thursday, saying that discussions about why wide receiver Roy Williams has such low numbers will not divide his team.

Williams has only 14 catches for 249 yards and two touchdowns heading into the Cowboys' game at Philadelphia Sunday night.

Williams said Wednesday that Romo throws better passes to the team's other receivers, and he can't figure out why.

Romo said the two are working hard in practices, even doing extra work, but for whatever reason, the chemistry is not there.

"I don't look at the numbers," Romo said before Thursday's practice at Valley Ranch. "We've been through this before with people trying to intersect and divide a football team. This team is too strong from the core.

"I know the media is going to make certain things appear what they may not actually have been or things of that nature. This team is too committed to winning and too committed to improving to let anything like that or anything [the media] may present to us divide this team."

For the past two days, Williams has discussed his lack of a connection with Romo. He said Thursday that he was getting tired of talking about it.

Romo has completed less than 40 percent of his passes to Williams, which is a smaller percentage than Patrick Crayton, Miles Austin and tight end Jason Witten.

"I didn't complain," Williams said. "I didn't complain that I didn't get the ball. I got seven opportunities in [last Sunday's win over Seattle]. All I said was that, when it comes to me, it's not there. The percentages ... back my case. I'm not saying it can't be fixed because that's what we do every day. We try to work on it and get it fixed.

"I'm not a T.O. [Terrell Owens] or I'm not trying to be a T.O. I don't know why people are trying to put me in that category because I'm happy to win. I've said that 100 times."