“Cincinnati will forever hold a special place in my heart and for everything that we accomplished there,” he said. “But, I’m excited for a new beginning, a fresh start. I’m excited to be here.”
Before Wilson even landed in Dallas, his excitement likely grew even more when he learned of the trade for Jets DT Quinnen Williams, who should help free up the linebackers even more to make plays.
And making plays is one of the traits Wilson used to describe his playing style when asked to give a self scouting report.
“Tough physical, hard nose attitude,” Wilson said. “Try to find a way to make plays on the ball and get the ball back to our offense.”
Sometimes, getting the ball back to the offense comes from Wilson, himself. Since entering the league in 2020, Wilson has 11 interceptions, to go along with six forced fumbles and three recoveries.
This year, Wilson was credited with 45 tackles, as he tried to extend his streak of four straight 100-tackle seasons with the Bengals, including a career-high 135 in 2023.
At linebacker, so much about having success is reactionary. Wilson said being good on Sundays starts with prep work throughout the week.
“Yeah, you’ve got to understand your keys, you got to understand formation tendencies – who can flashback across formations that changes run gap fits, and all those different things that go into that. A lot of that comes with experience, and I played a lot of football. And so just understanding how teams are trying to attack you, by watching film and going from there.”
Wilson will have some time to do even more of that with the Cowboys having a bye week before the next game Nov. 17 in Las Vegas.