Mike McCarthy: 'I believe in Sam Williams' following arrest

Following Dallas Cowboys defensive end Sam Williams‘ arrest, the team’s top brass are sticking by the former Ole Miss Rebel.

Williams was arrested Sunday for possession of a controlled substance, later revealed to be THC, and unlawful carrying of a weapon.

Head coach Mike McCarthy addressed the incident during a press conference on Thursday.

“I think the biggest thing is, in all these cases, you get all the information,” McCarthy said. “I visited with Sam right away. He knows what he needs to do. We can all be better.”

“I think anytime you make a mistake it’s a good wakeup call,” McCarthy added. “I believe in Sam Williams, obviously did when we drafted him and I do even more now. I’ve seen him grow in so many different ways. He needs to slow down. He knows that. That’s the first step.”

Asked specifically about the controlled substance found with Williams, which is legal in certain states but not Texas, McCarthy declined to “get into specifics.”

“I’m not going to get into specifics of that, because that’s a legal situation, but his story, when we first talked about it first thing Monday morning, I’m comfortable with the direction he’s going,” McCarthy said.

Drafted by the Cowboys in the second round in 2022, Williams has had a sack and a tackle for loss through two preseason games. Last season, he had 22 total tackles and four sacks, along with three fumble recoveries and 10 tackles for loss.

Jerry Jones: Sam Williams is ‘maturing’

After news of Williams’ arrest broke, Jerry Jones said that the edge rusher is maturing given he was going slower this time than he was last year when he got into an accident.

“He’s maturing and he is,” Jones said, via Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News. “He was going 66 miles per hour this year. So he’s 34 miles an hour less than he was last year, 98 to 66 so that’s improvement.”

The incident Jones referred to occurred three days before this past Christmas, when Williams was out driving his new black Corvette when he hit another car. The accident happened in the middle of the afternoon.

Police estimated he was driving the car at speeds near 100 mph up to a half second before he hit an SUV driven by a 71-year-old woman. Nearly three weeks after the incident, police charged Williams for reckless driving, a misdemeanor. This accident occurred in Plano, a bedroom community outside Dallas and near Frisco.

Fortunately, neither Williams nor the other driver were seriously injured. Williams suffered a concussion and missed a game.

On3’s Nick Geddes contributed to this report.