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This week got off to quite the start when Dallas Cowboys center Travis Frederick announced his retirement on Monday afternoon. While it isn’t exactly difficult to understand, it was obviously still somewhat surprising.
As far as the need this creates for the Cowboys, center is still not exactly their number one priority. Given that Dallas has already re-signed both Adam Redmond and Joe Looney they seem to have options, plus there is second-year guard/center Connor McGovern waiting in the wings which creates a number of opportunities.
From left to right, not counting center, the Cowboys will seemingly be what we’ve known them as for two years now: Tyron Smith, Connor Williams, Zack Martin, and La’el Collins. There are some voices that want to see a change at left guard, though. Through two years Connor Williams hasn’t been elite, plus he tore his ACL on Thanksgiving. Given that this was only four months ago people are wondering what his status for 2020 is.
Connor Williams has begun field exercises and is on track for his goal of starting in Week 1
If you follow Williams on social media, you know that he recently joined the popular platform TikTok, but that is hardly the most concerning news with him these days.
Williams appeared on Sirius XM NFL Radio on Tuesday night and noted that not only has he begun field exercises already, but he is on track for his own goal of starting in Week 1.
.@dallascowboys G @cwill told @Gil_Brandt & me on @SiriusXMNFL that he's 13 weeks removed from ACL surgery & he has begun field exercises. Says he's on track to reach his goal: Starting in Week One
— Alex Marvez (@alexmarvez) March 25, 2020
It should be noted that the future date of anything is up in the air right now given the circumstances in our world concerning the COVID-19 pandemic, but for the purposes of this conversation we will assume that Week 1 of the 2020 NFL season will begin as scheduled. This means that Sunday of Week 1 is September 13th.
Hearing that Williams is doing well is certainly very encouraging as he is a starter along the offensive line. Without Travis Frederick next to him (Williams did play his rookie year with Joe Looney at center), he will undoubtedly be tasked with more. It is essential for him to be in optimum physical condition.
As mentioned it’s hard to know when things like OTAs and training camp are going to begin and what the structure of them is going to be. We’ll obviously know more about Williams then, but for now this is a promising sign.