During a guest appearance on Sportsrap last fall, Dallas Cowboys’ coach Wade Phillips was asked about coaches often saying they don’t bother to read the sports pages of newspapers. Phillips said he couldn’t speak for others but for him reading anything and everything written about his team carried a high priority.

His reasoning was that he needed to know if there was anything out there that might be upsetting to a player or players, so he could deal with it head on. He didn’t want a real or imagined problem festering to the point it could impact upon his team.

Exhibit A for his philosophy played out last week around oft-burned safety Roy Williams. Linebacker Greg Ellis was quoted as saying Williams was upset with media and fan criticism of his play, had told him he wasn’t comfortable in Phillips’ 3-4 defense and had isolated himself from teammates by working out alone early in the mornings at Valley Ranch.

Once the remarks were read, they led to a 90-minute meeting between defensive coordinator Brian Stewart, safeties coach Brett Maxie and Williams. The former Oklahoma star said he felt better about things following the air-clearing session, but that will probably only last until the next time he gets booed for getting beat or gets flagged for a horse-collar tackle.

Williams, in short, has become a high-dollar liability for the Cowboys, and Phillips’ defense is hardly the reason. As Cowboy fans will recall only too well, the eighth player taken in the 2002 draft was often spotted following receivers into the end zone the final season of playing in Bill Parcells’ defense.

Despite winding up in the Pro Bowl last year, Williams’ stock has fallen so far the Cowboys would probably have a difficult time trading him. Cutting him loose isn’t much of an option either, because the five-year, $25 million contract extension Jerry Jones bequeathed on him in 2005 carries a massive salary cap hit.

So, for better or worse, Phillips and the Cowboys are stuck with a prone-to-pout, high-dollar defensive back opposing offensive coordinators can’t wait to isolate. The defensive staff will continue trying to put him in the best positions they can, hope for the best and develop a plan B in the process.

Expect 2008 to be a make or break season in Dallas for Williams.

Phillips, meanwhile, as the head coach of an organization that has more sub plots working than Desperate Housewives, is about to embark on the wildest ride of a coaching career that’s closing in on 40 years.

Let us touch on some of the more obvious story lines that will be playing out over the course of 2008.

For openers, owner Jerry Jones and the Metroplex media are expecting nothing less than a Super Bowl berth, after a 13-3 season that many in the media proclaimed a failure. Every time the Cowboys lose, Wade will be reminded in the newspapers that offensive coordinator Jason Garrett is one game closer to being head coach.

Other plots he must deal with are the arrival of the notorious Pacman Jones, all that entails the tabloid romance of Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson, the intrusive presence of HBO’s Hard Knocks during training camp, an aging receiver corps and oh, yes, Terrell Owens being in the final year of his contract.

Those, mind you, are merely the major theme twists on the radar at this point in time. As 20 years of Jerry Jones have shown us, things can and will change, and not necessarily for the better.

Don’t rule out, for instance, that Dallas might trade for another boat rocker named Chad Johnson. Cincinnati’s controversial wide receiver has become such an outspoken liability the Bengals may wind up giving in to his demands to be dealt to another team.

Naturally, his first choice is the Cowboys. Dallas is also the preference of banished Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry. Henry even went so far as to follow Pacman’s blueprint of going on Michael Irvin’s radio show in Dallas and repenting his sins.