No questioning this Terrance Williams decision; he makes 6 painful catches

Critics have had a lot to say about Terrance Williams during his blank seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, regarding his decision making and hands at times.

But no one could ever question Williams’ toughness and heart, which he put on full display in Sunday’s 19-3 season opening victory against the New York Giants.

A year after being derided for not going out of bounds late in last year’s 20-19 season-opening loss against the Giants, Williams made a big decision to return to the game after suffering a sprained ankle on the first play, battling intense pain to record six passes for a team-leading 68 yards, including five for first downs.

“It was hard to walk on. Very hard to walk on,” Williams said after the game while wearing a walking boot. “Trainers looked it. They said playing wouldn’t make it worse. It was just my pain tolerance. So I decided to keep going.”

Williams, limping noticeably between plays, showed some speed on a 23-yard reception that he said he would taken to the end zone if not for the injury.

“I would have been gone,” said Williams, who said he needed that one after the mistake in last year’s game.

What’s also true is that Williams was very good last year when being targeted by Prescott, who had a 124.6 quarterback rating on passes thrown to the former Baylor standout in 2016, according to Pro Football Focus.

He caught six passes on seven targets on Sunday.

“You know why,” Williams said. “Straight up. The rest of world don’t like me. I just got to do one thing. I got to catch ball when Dak throws it to me. So the rest of the world talks so much stuff but when Dak throws me the ball the only thing that goes through my mind is to catch it.”

Williams will be re-evaluated on Monday. He doesn’t know if he will be able against the Denver Broncos next week. His willingness to play through pain is not a consideration.

“If it’s based on my pain tolerance, I’m going,” Williams said. “When you try so hard and train so hard, you try your best not to do something that will be costly to the team. I try to be a great team player and help the best way I can.”

This story was originally published September 11, 2017 at 1:01 AM with the headline "No questioning this Terrance Williams decision; he makes 6 painful catches."