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The Defense Pushes Back, Cowboys Camp Report, July 30th

The Cowboys went through a spirited workout Wednesday morning, mixing in lots of one-on-on drills, giving us a better view of the players making pushes to make the team.

Joe Juraczek started the team off with their regular stretching drills. Fans should get the chance to see him lead the warm-ups. You might think this is a throwaway time but Juraszek makes sure each player works hard on his stretches. He commands their attention because he does them himself. Joe lies on the ground in the middle of the group and does the stretches himself, showing proper technique.

He also deserves a nod for getting the team in top shape. Wade Phillips mentioned that every player on the roster reported at his assigned weight. The Cowboys have lots of enormous linemen but you do not see any guts on them.

In the positional drills Todd Grantham worked with his guys on getting under a o-lineman’s punchout with rip moves. “Get your fist above his shoulder” he said over and over again. Later, the d-linemen were schooled on spin moves. More on this later.

In the middle of the far field the tight ends and defensive ends squared off in a one-on-one run blocking drill. The tight ends tried to engage, turn their man outside and maintain their blocks to the whistle. Some matchups were won by the offensive guys and some by the defensive guys but here are some mini-summaries:

Jason Witten is solid, as we might expect. He stalemated every end he faced, though Erik Walden did get past him on one rep.

Tony Curtis also shows solid blocking skills.

Martellus Bennett is up and down. He’s got the size and power to do this, but is still putting the whole package together. One one play he locked out his man and turned the LB outside but was chastised by John Garrett for not keeping his feet in motion. Bennett is clearly improving but you get the feeling he’s still working through mental checklists out there from time to time.

Rodney Hannah looks like a “bubble boy.” He’s huge but I saw Anthony Spencer fold him backwards.

The offense worked on its packages inside an opponents’ ten today. In the opening drills the offense worked alone on pass plays and draws from the defense’s nine yard line. In the later 11-on-11s, those same plays were tried on the defense.

The team then assembled for its first 11-on-11 session and the defense had the upper hand. Demarcus Ware gave Marc Colombo some problems off the edge; Kevin Burnett tipped a later pass for Tony Curtis; Jason Witten caught a short pass over the middle but Bobby Carpenter just missed the ball.

The offense also made its share of plays. Tony Romo checked down and found a tight end for a completion on a play where Anthony Spencer and Bobby Carpenter overloaded one side and Carpenter broke cleanly into the backfield. Tashard Choice stopped a Justin Rogers blitz and earned a complement from his position coach.

The team went back to 7-on-7 and Adam Jones started to notch some plays, shutting down Sam Hurd on a go route. Mike Jefferson made a nice catch of a deep fade over Evan Oglesby. Isaiah Stanback started to see more passes and made his balls count, catching a comeback route in front of Mike Jenkins and later making a sliding catch of a low Brad Johnson ball over the middle. He was open on a later corner route but Johnson badly underthrew him.

The team then had a special team’s drill that worked on kickoff coverage. Bruce Read worked with his group on beating the initial block and on blowing up an opponent’s wedge.

Later, the team broke into two groups. One ran another 7-on-7 in the red zone while the offensive and defensive linemen worked a one-on-one pass blocking/rushing drill. I focused on the linemen. The plays were a split decision and you have to look at each lineman to tell who “won” the drill.

Flozell Adams was solid, pushing Demarcus Ware around the outside on every one of his reps. He’s another vet who could probably start the season next week.

Kyle Kosier looks solid, though he was surprised by a Chris Canty spin move, with Canty applying what he worked on in his position drill.

Andre Gurode was solid, though Marcus Spears slipped past on one rep.

Jay Ratliff and Leonard Davis had an interesting standoff. Davis stopped Ratliff but was stunned by Ratliff’s punchout, which bent him backwards. Ratliff has strong hands and you wonder how many linemen who are not Davis’ size could recover from a burst like that?

Anthony Spencer threw a wicked inside counter at Marc Colombo and slid into the backfield.

Finally, the team moved to one last 11-on-11 drill, working on plays from the 30 and inside the ten. Some general observations:

Same as it ever was with Jason Witten. He’s open almost any time a QB needs a target.

Felix Jones is dangerous on draws. He slithered through the line for two big gains in the red zone.

Adam Jones ripped the ball from T.O. in the end zone, nullifying a good Tony Romo throw. Jones has been close all week, but had been missing close. He’s starting to break up more close plays now.

Dallas ran an I formation play where Felix was the tailback and Marion Barber was the fullback. Barber got the ball on a draw here.

Notes:

Why is Camp ’08 “Camp T.O?” Because Terrell Owens practices like Michael Irvin. Jason Garrett didn’t make that comparison explicitly, but see if the O.C.’s assessment of his star wideout reminds you of another star Dallas WR: “in every practice I’ve been around the guy he’s the first guy in line and he’s running harder than anybody else, and when you have your best players doing that, it just trickles down through the team like you can’t imagine. And on the good teams I was on in the ‘90s that’s what we had. Our best players were our hardest workers. They loved playing football and [on this team] Terrell is that guy.”

Mike Jefferson is catching lots of passes. I asked Ray Sherman if he’s making a push and was told that it’s partly the reads that are sending the ball his way. I asked for an update on the trio of understudies (Hurd, Austin and Stanback) and he told me Hurd “is really coming on.” Austin shows improvement but needs to show consistency. He was diplomatic on Stanback, saying “he’s made remarkable improvement” since the OTA and if he can continue to improve at that rate he has a chance to be active on game day.

Sherman deferred the question of whether the Cowboys would keep five or six WRs, saying that would be up to Wade Phillips and that special teams play would determine the final number.

Adam Jones worked with the first unit today. I asked Dave Campo if anything should be read into this and he said no. He stressed that there’s no set depth chart, simply a rotation and that every corner is getting his reps with the first-team front seven.

Marcus Spears worked a lot a nose tackle today and clogged things up. I may have received an inadvertent comment on Spears’ play when I asked Jay Ratliff why he was moved to end. I wanted to know if the team was trying to get him more reps but he looked at me a bit defensively and said, “I was told it’s because they want more size inside.” Draw your own conclusions.

Ratliff told me the toughest interior lineman he’s faced is Leonard Davis. He said Philadelphia and Minnesota have the toughest lines, because they’re the biggest and the most relentless.

Dave Campo complemented Alan Ball and Evan Oglesby, saying they’re having a great battle and “there are three or four guys fighting for spots and they’re two of them. They’re practicing hard, they’re competing and one of them is going to shake out hopefully.”

Campo waffled on whether the team would keep five or six corners, saying the final cut would be a “tough decision. A good one, but a tough one.”

Campo also singled out second year safety Courtney Brown, who made an impressive play in one of the 7-on-7 drills, saying, “there’s a battle going on a safety and he’s right in the middle of it.” Brown is playing mostly strong safety right now but Campo pointed out that the strong and free safety spots “are pretty much interchangeable in our system” and that Brown has the speed and athleticism to play free safety as well. One major question that might determine whether Brown makes the team is his tackling ability; Campo says the coaches won’t know until they see him in games.

Campo made an intriguing statement. When I asked if Anthony Henry was set at right corner, he said that none of the spots are set. You have to think Terence Newman is the left corner if he’s healthy and Campo stressed that nickel corner has to be considered a starter in today’s game. That said, you wonder if they’re waiting to see how Newman heals and if Adam Jones is reinstated before a final trio – and their relative positions – are set.

Impress your friends: The Cowboys packages are numbered 11 – for 3 WR packages; 12 for two-TE sets and 21 for two-back packages.

Anthony Henry mentioned that Terence Newman’s groin injury was not as bad as Newman originally feared. He’s still likely to miss most, if not all of the preseason, but this increases the odds he’ll be ready for Cleveland on opening day.

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