by TIM COWLISHAW, wtcowlishaw@dallasnews.com timcowlishawblog.dallasnews.com , THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS

That was always the intent, always the dream of wide receiver Roy Williams. So far, after a year as a Cowboy, about the best we can give him is: "He will talk on Wednesdays."

I have no doubt that Williams' midweek comments were not meant to be critical of Tony Romo, and his reference to himself as "the No. 1 receiver" merely echoed questions he gets constantly about being "the No. 1 receiver."

As for ESPN's "DISSENSION IN DALLAS" story line, it ranks right up there with the network's report last December that sources said Terrell Owens had called Jason Witten a name in practice.

But the funny thing is just how much of the stage Williams commanded in the week leading up to what should be an entertaining and significant NFC East battle for first between the Eagles and Cowboys.

I mean we're talking about a receiver who, with a few nice grabs, might vault right past the Rams' Keenan Burton and maybe even the 49ers' Josh Morgan in the receiving yards standings.

Williams' $9 million average salary and the number of draft picks he cost the Cowboys might make him a No. 1 receiver in theory. On the NFL's receiving yards chart, Roy checks in this week at No. 79.

But from a Cowboys fans' standpoint, I can't think of a better time for Williams and Romo to demonstrate that some of that extra off-season work or those post-practice tosses this week are paying off.

This is the first time in Romo's NFL career that he goes into an Eagles game in which Donovan McNabb has equal or possibly even superior weapons.

You can't tell it from the teams' total yards figures. The Cowboys rank No. 2 behind the New Orleans Saints while the Eagles are a rather distant 15th.

However in scoring, the Eagles are No. 3 with 29 points a game while Dallas sits in sixth at 28.1.

If you factor in Brian Westbrook's return from a concussion, the play of first-round draft pick Jeremy Maclin (fourth among rookie receivers) and second-round pick LeSean McCoy (second among rookie running backs) and the big-play threat that DeSean Jackson poses - he has a catch of more than 50 yards in all but two games this season - then it's clear that McNabb is blessed with targets and tools that he hasn't had since that guy named Owens helped him get to a Super Bowl five years ago.

Given the high picks that the Eagles have used to accumulate this firepower (Jackson was a second-round pick), then wouldn't this be a grand time for Williams - the seventh overall pick in 2004 - to make a dramatic "Hello, World" entrance as a Cowboy?

For his part - and this is true no matter how his remarks were characterized this week - Williams has been consistent about not complaining about his lack of production.

Frustrated and embarrassed at times? Sure.

But as Williams said this week, "I'm not trying to be a T.O. I'm happy to win, and I've said that 100 times. I don't know why people don't just accept that."

You can argue that as long as Miles Austin is producing at a level in which the Cowboys' record book is being rewritten, Williams' 41.5 receiving yards per game are just fine.

But in a pro sport in which so few games are played and the games are so dissimilar in degree of difficulty ("at Denver" and "home against Seattle" aren't quite the same), it's a fair bet that even a team that had 10 players catch passes last week will need all hands on deck Sunday night.

If Eagles cornerback Asante Samuel is making life more difficult for Austin than Seattle's Marcus Trufant was able to do in his first game back from injury, then the Cowboys might need Williams.

If Dallas falls behind early and the Eagles' crowd is as fully fueled as it is likely to be for a night game, then the Cowboys might need Williams.

And if Roy himself thinks it would be nice to talk to reporters about something other than a full season's worth of Cowboys games in which he has caught passes for well below 500 yards, then Williams needs to have a big night.

That could change something as simple as his image and be relevant to the standings in the NFC East.

7:20 p.m. Sunday (Ch. 5)

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