FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys defensive end Sam Williams was suspended for three games by the NFL on Monday for violating the league's personal conduct policy.
Williams has been on injured reserve all season after tearing the ACL in his left knee during special teams drills at training camp in August. He then had season-ending surgery. The suspension means he will not be paid for the next three weeks, but will be eligible for reinstatement Nov. 11 and won't have to miss any games when he returns from the injury.
Williams was arrested twice in 2023 because of traffic-related incidents.
After being pulled over in the Dallas suburb of Frisco in August 2023, right after the team had come home after training camp in California, Williams faced charges of possession of a controlled substance and unlawful carrying of a weapon.
That was seven months after Williams was charged with reckless driving after an accident a few days before Christmas 2022 when he was travelling nearly 100 m.p.h. and weaving through traffic before colliding with a vehicle driven by a 71-year-old woman. Neither driver was seriously injured.
Before getting hurt in camp this year, the 6-foot-4, 261-pound Williams had been expected to have a bigger role as an edge rusher. Defensive end Dorance Armstrong and outside linebacker Dante Fowler left the Cowboys in free agency during the offseason.
A second-round draft pick out of Mississippi in 2022, Williams played in 32 regular-season games over the past two seasons, including all 17 last year. He has 8 1/2 career sacks.
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