FRISCO, Texas -- It wasn't quite the "we're on to Cincinnati" moment that former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick provided in 2014, but Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Quinnen Williams used a form of the word "execute" 32 times during an interview on Wednesday that lasted a little more than five minutes.
The Cowboys' defense is 32nd in total yards (385.4), 32nd in rushing yards (152.8), 32nd on third downs (51.4%) and 27th in points per game (26.6).
"I think the biggest thing is just execute," Williams said. "We got to execute. We haven't been executing this whole season, and we executed for three quarters (against Arizona) and didn't execute the last quarter, and the film says it all. So, I think the biggest thing we got to focus on is execute and continue to stack days, and at the end of the day we got to execute."
The Cowboys (3-5) next play the Indianapolis Colts, who have fired their general manager and traded two of their best players -- Quenton Nelson and DeForest Buckner -- while speculation continues that they could trade even more players.
Colts running back Jonathan Taylor said teams are "foaming at the mouth" to play the Colts.
"Yeah, we got to execute," Williams said. "So that's the No. 1 thing. No matter what they're doing, no matter what no team in the NFL is doing, the Dallas Cowboys' defense has got to execute."
What about facing Taylor?
"I think the biggest thing is we got to execute," Williams said.
And the struggles of Colts quarterback Daniel Jones?
"I don't have no thought about that," Williams said. "We're kind of having a tough year on defense, so I just want to focus on executing and doing the best that we can do."
Williams has four sacks in the last three games, which he said is "the right direction on what I want to do, what I want to be, who I want to be, how I want to affect the game.
"And, like I said, I got to continue to execute, continue to do the things I know I can do to help this defense turn around and help this team at football games."
Maybe Williams' use of the word came from what Brian Schottenheimer said earlier in the day when the coach was asked what his message has been to the team following the Arizona loss.
"It comes down to execution," Schottenheimer said about being more consistent on offense and defense. "You got to know your job. I think these guys are working their butts off in preparation. You got to understand the importance of that job and then we have to do our job as coaches and players alike. And, so, I think that's what we're focusing on right now, is the cleaning up the execution as a whole."