'The Magnet': Inside Cowboys' Donovan Wilson's Career-Best Year; Practice & Injury Report
The much-talked0about Dallas Cowboys defense has stars posted everywhere. Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence and Trevon Diggs get most of the plaudits, but another guy who has played lights-out through 12 games is safety Donovan Wilson.
In just his fourth year, Wilson has become a serious weapon for Quinn to utilize at important moments in games, often resulting in devastating results.
Against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night, Wilson played a role in the Cowboys' moving to 9-3 on the season. He totaled one sack, nine tackles, and a quarterback hit as the Dallas defense - top-three in the NFL statistically - took over the game in the fourth quarter.
But Wilson isn't getting caught looking too far ahead despite having a superb season statistically.
"Keep it one day at a time, one practice at a time," said Wilson. "We have to complete every process that we start and then, on Sundays, it's gonna be just like practice because practice was hard."
Wilson has already hit career highs through 12 games. His four sacks, eight quarterback hits and five tackles for loss are the most he has had in a season.
"It's just a culmination of everything — good coaching staff, good trainers, good weight room staff that helped us prepare for this season," Wilson said. "I'm just trying to show my all."
The defense has emerged as one of the league's best, leading in sacks (48) and ranking third for points allowed (17.9 per game). The Cowboys rank 11th in interceptions (10) and first in fumbles (11), and that has them second in the league for total takeaways with 21.
Head coach Mike McCarthy this week heaped the praise on the Texas A&M product affectionately known as "Dono."
"Shoot, I love the way he plays," McCarthy said. "You talk about a magnet to the football — loves contact, his intensity … the way he separates offensive players from the football. And he's the same guy every day. That's something I'm just a huge fan of. I think it's important for your ability to grow not only as a player, but as a defense and as a football team."
Quinn's unit has improved drastically since he has taken over as defensive coordinator and, for some is one of the main reasons for Dallas' 9-3 record. For this week and the Texans, the group is also relatively healthy, as shown in the Thursday report …
With young players in Damone Clark, Sam Williams, and DaRon Bland putting their best foot forward and the likes of Wilson, Parsons, Lawrence and Diggs continuing to show their worth, the Dallas defense - with help from the Cowboys' safety trio of Jayron Kearse, Malik Hooker and Wilson (who is in his final contractual year) - is poised to create serious headaches in the playoffs.
But as Wilson said, the team doesn't need to get ahead of itself. Contracts. Practices. Games. All just take it one at a time.
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