Watch Sam Williams get carted off after scary injury during Cowboys training camp

After the departure of Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler Jr. this offseason, 2022 second-round pick Sam Williams was in line to have a bigger role on the Dallas Cowboys' defensive line in 2024.

However, those plans may have to be put on hold after Sunday's Cowboys training camp practice. Williams left practice early after sustaining a right knee injury and the optics are not great for the promising, young defensive end.

After laying on the ground in obvious pain, Williams was unable to walk off the practice field under his own power. Williams had to be carted off the field as he could not put any weight on his left knee. This is never a good sign when it comes to a lower-body injury.

A serious Sam Williams injury would be disastrous for Cowboys defensive line

Update: Jerry Jones said Sam Williams is undergoing an MRI and that the team "didn't like what we saw".

Dallas has already lost several key members of last year's defensive line (amid a defensive coordinator change, nonetheless), and having Williams go down only exacerbates the issue. After playing a rotational role in his first two seasons Williams was in line to play a much bigger role with many Cowboys fans excited to see what he could do.

Instead, the Cowboys may have to go to the drawing board for other depth options if Williams' injury is indeed serious. At this point in time, it is too early to tell how serious the injury will be but it is hard to be optimistic when he had to get carted off the field.

Dallas still has DeMarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons to lead the charge and that is better than what most teams have. However, Lawrence is entering his age-32 season, which always comes with risks. Parsons, meanwhile, is still waiting to get a new contract from Dallas, which could have a trickle-down effect on his play in 2024 (even if he is downplaying the situation).

At this point, Cowboys fans just have to cross their fingers and hope that Williams escaped anything overly serious. He definitely will be out of practice for some time, and in a perfect world, it will have a minimal impact on the 2024 season.

But from a realistic point of view, it might be time for the Cowboys to consider other depth options as losing Williams is a big blow to the defensive line. Hopefully, the bad injury luck stops there and does not become a trend.

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