Spencer Out Due To Injury

Cowboys linebacker Anthony Spencer is expected to miss two-to-four weeks after having surgery on Wednesday.  Spencer had a chip removed from his right knee in an arthroscopic procedure.  He joins inside linebacker Kevin Burnett on the disabled list.  Burnett had knee surgery last week and could miss the season opener as a result.

Owens Promises Fans Not To Worry-It’s Only Preseason.

In an extensive interview yesterday with the AP prior to Cowboys’ practice back in Valley Ranch, Terrell Owens answered any questions fans might have about their performance to date in the preseason (0-2) by stating, “We’ll be fine once the season starts, I promise you. Once the preseason is over, I think it’s almost like another switch is turned off and another one is turned on.”

Bold words, yet somehow gratifying to a Cowboys nation that hasn’t seen their team perform up to expectations so far against San Diego or Denver.  When asked about Friday’s match-up with the Texans and whether it will be more of “dress rehearsal” than previously, Owens said simply, “We’ll play however much Coach Phillips says we will play.” 

When questioned about the unfortunate injury to WR Miles Austin and the other young receivers on the team’s status, Owens was confident that the team was in good shape with what we have regardless of his status but he was much improved over last year.  Sam Hurd, who Owens has worked with quite extensively, also has been performing well in camp and preseason. 

Regarding the much-hyped Super Bowl talk, Owens said, “Obviously everybody wants to win the Super Bowl.  My goal is different.  My mentality is I want to win a Super Bowl, but we can’t win a Super Bowl without winning a playoff game.  So my thinking is let’s win a playoff game.” 

You can’t really argue with that logic, sort of a “horse before the cart” type of thinking on his part.  Which is the proper way of looking at it, I’d say.  As for last year’s playoff loss to the Giants, Owens had four catches for 49 yards and a touchdown, but all in the first half, so when asked about that, he said, “If you go back and watch that game, I felt like I could have done more.”

Frankly, the entire team “could have done more” but it’s nice to hear someone take some responsibility for that game.  It’s always entertaining when T.O. has these little press interviews, but this one was probably great to read just for the timing of it after the loss to the Broncos. 

In other news/rumors, the requested trade by Cardinals’ WR Anquan Boldin has renewed the rumor of the Cowboys having an interest in acquiring him.  But most believe this won’t happen for two basic reasons, the Cardinals don’t want to deal him to a team they have to play this season and the Cowboys won’t have enough salary cap room to negotiate for him.  So you might as well not count on that happening if you’re a fan who’d like to see Boldin in a Cowboys uniform this year.

Broncs Overtake CowBoys 23-13 At Home

The second preseason game for Dallas wasn’t much better than the first, and worse in some ways.  The first-team offense and defense didn’t accomplish much, allowing Denver to score on their first two possessions while putting up a big goose egg on the scoreboard themselves.  Denver’s Jay Cutler shredded the Dallas secondary, mainly rookie CB Mike Jenkins, for two long passes and a TD pass to Branden Marshall on his first series for a quick 7-0 lead.

On Dallas’ first possession, Dallas moved the ball after a good kick return by Isaiah Stanback, but then costly penalties moved them back, namely a personal foul call on RT Marc Colombo and the drive ended after another penalty prevented a short 4th down chance leading to a punt.  Terrell Owens did make several short catches on the drive, but Romo missed him on a long crossing route when he was wide open.  Romo finished the day just 6-of-9 for 33 yards.

The special teams coverage was much improved, but the defense committed too many penalties to hold the Denver starters inside their own 5-yard line thanks to a questionable late-hit call on LB Bradie James that gave the Broncos a first-down outside the 20-yard line.  They then promptly drove the remainder of the field for a second TD, this time on a Selvin Young 1-yard rush to extend their lead to 14-0. 

Dallas’ second drive stalled just past mid-field on their next possession, again assisted by several miscues and penalties.  That would be the end of Romo, Owens and Barber’s game, as Brad Johnson, Felix Jones and the first-team OL continued for the rest of the first half.  Johnson looked much better than in San Diego, leading the Boys to a TD and FG before half to cut the lead to 14-10.  Unfortunately, his favorite target during the TD drive, WR Miles Austin, was injured on the kick-off following his TD reception from Johnson and missed the rest of the game.  It was later learned Austin suffered a sprained right knee.

One serious issue that came up in this game, unlike in SD, was injuries.  The opening kick-off saw injuries on both teams, but FB Deon Anderson, who got his bell rung on the play, would return to action.  Chris Canty then was injured on the first play by the Broncos and wouldn’t return to the game.  He was said to have a mild hip injury that wasn’t too serious but he was held out as a precautionary measure.  Several Cowboys players were already not going to see action due to injury, most notably Terrence Newman, still sufferring from a groin strain.  The list continued to grow as reserve LB Justin Rogers and FB Ronnie Cruz were injured in the third quarter.  Rogers had been performing well before he sprained his left shoulder making a tackle on the sidelines. 

After the game, Head Coach Wade Phillips took responsibility for the loss saying that his team “…played too vanilla against them.”  Dallas played their base defense for the majority of the game and didn’t use many blitz packages or pressure schemes to disrupt a crisp Jay Cutler.  In the meantime, Denver used a different offense than what they had been showing in practice during the week. 

QB Richard Bartel played well, coming close to a scoring drive, but WR Todd Lowder zigged when he should have zagged down by the goalline and Denver picked off his pass.  Bartel made a touchdown-saving shoestring tackle to prevent the Denver player from taking it all the way to the endzone, but it was the last significant threat posed by the Dallas offense in the game as the two teams traded FG’s in the fourth quarter.

Other players did get to see some action this week, such as Keon Lattimore, the younger brother of Ravens’ LB Ray Lewis, who has been featured on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” during training camp.  Also the aforementioned Lowder and TE Martellus Bennett made some plays during the game.  WR Danny Amendola didn’t do too much, he did have one reception and one punt return during the game, but nothing spectacular yet from the Tech speedster.

Penalties are again the story of the game, with Dallas committing 9 for 78 yards, most of them either drive-killers or drive-extenders against the defense.  There is definitely much work to be done before this team starts living up to its potential.

Cowboys Play Second Preseason Game At Denver Tonight

After last week’s loss in San Diego, the Cowboys broke camp and headed east to practice with the Broncos at their practice facility in Denver for the rest of the week.  Bad weather and injuries plagued both teams as Kevin Burnett, LB for the Cowboys, had to return to Dallas for a scope on his left knee and will miss about 2-3 weeks.  Denver lost two promising rookies to injury during the practices also, RB’s Ryan Torain and Anthony Alridge.

Coach Phillips expects to see some different looks on the Cowboys’ coverage teams to try and improve from last week’s disasterous results, but with Burnett out, it could be another tough week for those guys.  He’d also be happy with less penalties and turnovers than the team had against the Chargers, with several of each leading to points for San Diego.. 

There should be some fireworks though due to last year’s preseason match-up when S John Lynch, now with the Patriots, accused the Cowboys of “blitzing too much” and generally playing too hard in the Cowboys’ 31-20 victory over the Broncs at Texas Stadium.  There could still be some bad blood between the two teams as a result.

Since it will be a “messy” game with predictions of rain and wind in the open-air conditions at the new Invesco Field, there may not be much to watch for except the play of special teams and maybe one series by the offensive and defensive starters.    In other words, be prepared for a big dose of Brad Johnson, who was given more reps with the first team offense this week. 

The game is scheduled on CBS at 9:00 p.m. EST.  GO COWBOYS!!!!!

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Jones to Submit Reinstatement Letter Thursday to Goodell

Adam Jones has been tyring to play it safe in order to be able to get back on the field and play with his new team, the Dallas Cowboys.  He will take that hope another step further on Thursday when he submits a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell asking for full reinstatement.

The Dallas Morning News is reporting that Jones will submit the letter, and should have an answer before the start of the season.  “I’m feeling real good,” Jones told the newspaper in reference to his letter. “It’s just a letter why I feel I should be reinstated. It’s my chance to respond and we’ll see how it goes.”

Right now the troubled corner is able to practice with the team and play in the preseason games, but has yet to know for sure if he’ll be able to take the field for the Cowboys when they play opening day in Cleveland vs the Browns on September 7th.  “This limited reinstatement is a step in the process,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. “Adam is aware of the things that need to be done in order to take the next step.”

Jones did play vs the Chargers this past weekend, and made one tackle.  Jones has been arrested six times and has been involved in 12 incidents requiring police intervention since being drafted in the first round two seasons ago by the Titans.  They gave up on him this past offseason and moved him to Dallas, where he’s hoping to revive his career.

Cowboys Practicing In Denver

The Cowboys will spend the next few days working out with the Denver Broncos in advance of a preseason match between the two teams this Saturday.  The Cowboys broke camp in Oxnard on Tuesday.  Their first practice session is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. today, to be followed by a news conference with head coach Wade Phillips shortly after noon.

Chargers Drop Cowboys 31-17 In Preseason Opener

The first series for both the starting defense and offense looked good, but unfortunately the game lasted longer than the first series for both teams.  After stuffing the Chargers’ first-team offense, led by an early sack by Tank Johnson, the Cowboys’ offense promptly marched down the field for an early 7-0 lead.  Romo and Barber were impressive in the series as well as Jason Witten and Patrick Crayton.  FB Derek Anderson scored from 2-yards out after an impressive 54-yard drive on Dallas’ first possession.  Terrell Owens was strangely absent from the action and never had a pass thrown his way during the series.

Things would go downhill quickly from there though when rookie WR Danny Amendola fumbled the punt after the Chargers were stopped again on their next possession by the defense, and this would lead to a tying touchdown drive, which was assisted greatly by an interference call on Ken Hamlin in the end zone.  This turned out to be an omen for the remainder of the game as once again Dallas committed too many penalties, with three pass intereference calls, and two costly turnovers giving the Chargers a 24-10 half-time lead they would never lose.

But since it was just preseason, let’s get down to the real issues at stake in this contest.  There was much talk of certain players finally getting some real playing time to show their wares, so let’s just do a grade of some of these to see what we really wanted to know about tonight’s performance. 

Adam “Pacman” Jones:  I’d give him a D.  He was burned for a long pass right after entering the game, missed several tackles and was called for pass interference negating a Pat Watkins interception in the second quarter.  Not too much help from him tonight.

Felix Jones:  Most definitely an A.   One of the few highlights of the evening with several good rushes and a couple of catch-and-runs from the backfield.  The pass and YAC he got in the second quarter led to a Nick Folk field-goal and he was impressive.

Mike Jenkins:  Probably a B+.  He was good in coverage and made several tackles when the first team defense was in, but still not enough playing time to really see if he’s the next Terrence Newman.  Good game for him though.

Zach Thomas:  I’d also give him a B.  Made some tackles early on and one was behind the line of scrimmage on a very fast and tricky Darren Sproles for the Chargers.  He may still have what it takes to be a good LB in the NFL.

Other Rookie Notables:  Of the remaining draft picks and rookies who needed to make something happen to impress the coaches, the person who showed up the biggest tonight was RB Tashard Choice.  Choice made some tough runs and scored on a 15+ yard run up the middle in the third quarter.  He also showed some prowess in pass blocking.  Very good outing for him!  Martellus Bennet didn’t have quite the game expected with a dropped pass and some missed blocking assignments, but did have a couple of short catches later in the third quarter before hitting the sidelines.  But the biggest disappointment by far was WR Danny Amendola.  He did show some promise with punt/kick returning, but the early fumble didn’t do much to help his stock rise with the coaching staff.  Plus, he dropped a short pass late in the game. Not much would have come from it, but you can’t make those kinds of mistakes as a rookie free agent. 

Overall, the same problems appear to still be facing this year’s team that hurt them against the Giants.  Penalties and bad special teams coverage.  And strictly my opinion, I would definitely look for another second-string QB.  Brad Johnson was horrible tonight with a pick and several sacks where he simply held the ball too long.  He is simply just much too slow to compete at this level any longer.  Richard Bartel would get my vote for back-up QB at this point.  Again, that’s just my opinion based on one preseason game.

Cowboys vs. Chargers: What to Watch For

We’re one day away from the Dallas Cowboys preseason opener, but some people may feel like they do not know what to expect when the Boys face the San Diego Chargers. Worry no more, for I’ll give you a few things that deserve your attention.

1. As reported earlier, Adam “Don’t Call Him Pacman” Jones will not be starting in place of the injured Terence Newman. Rookie CB Mike Jenkins will have the honors of lining up on the left side of the first-team defense. If you’re worried about the rookie being overwhelmed, listen to what Kevin Burnett, a Cowboys middle linebacker has to say: “31 might be one of the best young corners in the league right now. If he can get on the field I see defensive rookie of the year for him easy.”
Don’t expect to see too much out of Tony Romo and Marion Barber.

2. Depending on how things go, Romo will play about 2 or 3 series. Barber will be right there with him. The first quarter might have a steady diet of The Barbarian, but after that, you should be getting a good look at the young backs.

3. Jason Garret has been very creative with the combination of Marion Barber and Felix Jones. They’ve lined up in an offset I with Barber leading the way. Jones split wide and slot while Barber 3.0 was the lone back. There was also a very dynamic two-back set when Romo was under center and at shotgun. Look for lots of creativity from these two tomorrow and all season.

4. The defensive line has been very competitive in Oxnard. Jay Ratliff and Tank Johnson are making it hard for the coaches to decide whose job it is. Both of these men will be causing a lot of trouble for the Chargers’ offensive line. Chris Canty and Marcus Spears have their jobs locked down for now, but Jason Hatcher is in both of their rear-view mirrors. Look for the second team DE’s to look just as impressive as the first.

5. Make sure to keep an eye on Zach Thomas’ acclimation to the Cowboys defense. He has had a nose for the football his whole career and don’t expect it to be any different in Dallas. There might also be some backup defensive ends seeing time at linebacker when the second and third teams hit the field.

6. Least but certainly not least: young receivers.

Miles Austin, Isaiah Stanback and Danny Amendola have been doing very big things lately. Miles showed his capabilities late last season while Danny Amendola is emerging as a favorite of the coaching staff. They seem to have more chemistry with the second and third string QB’s so look for them to make the highlight reel late in the game.

Honorable mentions are Nick Folk looking locked in and Adam Jones fielding kicks after the first quarter. With the depth chart being as jam-packed as it currently is, there is no reason to turn the channel before the clock hits all zeros. Make sure to catch phase one of an exciting season.

Cowboys Kick-Off Preseason Tomorrow Night

Yes, that’s right, the day is almost here when we get to watch our beloved Cowboys actually play a game again!  Albeit a preseason one, tomorrow night at 9 o’clock central time, they will take on the San Diego Chargers in San Diego, CA.  Not far from where they’ve been holding training camp in Oxnard, CA.

We’ll finally get to see Felix Jones and Pacman Jones in action with stars on their helmets, not to mention the usual suspects of Romo, T.O. and Marion Barber.  Most likely they will only be in for one series, but that should be enough to wette our appetites for the remainder of the season.  We’ll also get to see Zach Thomas and DeMarcus Ware put some hits on someone other than other teammates and possibly find out if there are some other potential gamers among all the rookies that have been practicing and waiting for this time to get their chance to make “America’s Team”.

Yes, Cowboys Football is almost upon us and the excitement for this year is almost palpable after last year’s 13-3 season and the return of 13 Pro Bowlers.  Whether they win tomorrow night or not is irrelevant, it only matters if they show us the promise of what is yet to come this season.