Cowboys Prepared to Replace Smith

Dallas Cowboy running back Emmitt Smith is expected to start in the Thanksgiving Day game against the Washington Redskins despite a gimpy right ankle, but Sherman Williams or Herschel Walker could play if Smith doesn’t produce.

Smith gained 18 yards in 11 carries and was benched in the fourth quarter in the Cowboys’ 20-6 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday. He has a sore ankle, but an MRI test was negative.

“If Emmitt is healthy enough on Thursday, he will start,” running backs coach Joe Brodsky said.

Williams has 160 yards in 34 carries, and his average of 4.7 is exactly a yard better than Smith’s 3.7 on 244 carries for 894 yards.

Walker has run four times for 12 yards. However, he is a better receiver out of the backfield and blocks better than Williams.

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Wayne Fontes, the embattled Detroit Lion coach, took verbal shots from his quarterback and his center and didn’t exactly get a ringing endorsement from club owner William Clay Ford, either.

“I’m not very happy on either side of the ball,” Ford said. “You can throw in special teams too, if you want to. To date, we haven’t put it all together. I wish I knew the answer, and probably Wayne wishes the same thing. . . .

“We have four games to go. There’s a slim ray of hope, and we’ll see what happens.”

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Rookie cornerback Tyrone Williams of the Green Bay Packers won’t have to begin serving a six-month jail sentence Dec. 3 in connection with a 1994 shooting incident.

The judge who sentenced Williams last week decided the former Nebraska player could remain free on $5,000 bond pending appeal.

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Green Bay Packer receiver Antonio Freeman, out because of a broken left forearm, will return this week and play for the rest of the season wearing a cast.