Quinnen Williams’ shift to the Dallas Cowboys surely turned out to be a wise move from Brian Schottenheimer, but not everyone seems to be happy about it. As the Philadelphia Eagles prepare to compete against the Cowboys this Sunday, their running back, Saquon Barkley, shared a sad verdict on the defensive tackle’s presence. According to him, it wasn’t a clever move from the New York Jets to give him up.

“He’s a heck of a player. I don’t know why New York traded him, to be honest, but I’m not gonna get into all that,” Barkley said, as reported by The Athletic’s Jon Machota.

“Sadly, he’s in Dallas. But I love our guys, so I love that matchup. It’s going to be a tough matchup, something we gotta keep an eye out for, but they have great players at all three levels.”

The confession came amid the Philadelphia Eagles’ dominance in their division (NFC East). Standing with an impressive 8-2 win-loss record, the team is now scheduled to face the Dallas Cowboys, who trail behind the Eagles with a 4-5 record. On that note, Quinnen Williams played a crucial role in the team’s indestructible defense.

In his debut game for Dallas, the defensive tackle secured 1.5 sacks and five quarterback hits while the team allowed just 27 rushing yards (a season low). His presence on the line also forced opponents’ offensive linemen to collapse plays and, therefore, created pressure, making him a “force multiplier” for his teammates.

The football world is also abuzz with his name. According to analyst Emmanuel Acho, the Cowboys have made their defensive tackle tandem one of the best in the league by pairing Williams with Kenny Clark. Addressing the fact, Williams also didn’t back down from highlighting the factors that helped him kickstart the commendable opening with the Cowboys.

Quinnen Williams gives a shoutout to his team following a massive start with the Cowboys

Quinnen Williams’ debut performance with the Dallas Cowboys might have satisfied those who believed in him, but he personally thinks it’s still not enough. While making it clear that he wishes to “stack” similar levels of performance throughout the season ahead, the 27-year-old highlighted the factors that helped bring the best out of him. He proudly named Kenny Clark as a strong supporter behind his commendable rise.

“I’m playing with some great individuals,” he said, as reported by the Cowboys’ official website. “You got Kenny Clark, you’ve got Osa, you’ve got [Ezeiruaku] … the guys around me were playing unbelievable. It helped me. 
All I just kind of needed to do was my job. Having a great group of guys around me makes it easy for me.”

With a total of 24 sacks and 640 combined tackles, the Cowboys are in a great position in terms of defensive stats. While a crucial showdown (against Saquon Barkley’s Eagles) stands ahead of them, it still remains to be seen if Williams maintains his strong level throughout.