Browse > Home /

Dallas Cowboys Camp: Sunday Appetizer

July 27, 2008

Some “press pancakes,” complements of Chef Terence Newman:

Q: I see you guys practicing a lot of press coverage. Are you planning on being more aggressive this year?

Newman: I hope so. I hate sitting off, playing off-man. To me that’s not a great style of defense. There’s no aggresiveness in that, you’re just sitting back waiting. You know the guys on this team like to get up in people’s faces and make things happen, make them work a little bit… If we can get up and press and Demarcus Ware, Greg Ellis and Tank Johnson, if we get those guys to do what they do, this team could be awesome.

Q: All of you want that?

Newman: Yeah, we’re used to that. That’s what we’re capable of doing so why not allow your guys to go up, press, buy a little more time for the interior guys and make plays that way.

Q: Is that something you’ve asked coaches for in previous years and…

Newman: Oh, I’ve asked Stew [DC Brian Stewart] earlier this year, I said, ‘hey, let’s press some more…’ I know they want to do some zone blitzes and whatnot, that’s what they did in San Diego but with the players we have here I think you have to let them play to their abilities…

Q: does the defense feel that they’ll be the talk this year and take the ink away from the offense?

Newman: Offense is always going to get the hoopla, but we don’t care. We go out and do what we do. We’re the gritty side of it. We’ve got a lot of softer guys on offense, but defense is where all the tough guys are so, we’re cool with that.

Is he entirely tongue-in-cheek on that last one? I report, you decide.

Written by Rafael Vela · Filed Under Training Camp | 8 Comments 

Building Blocks — Camp Report, Morning, July 26th

July 26, 2008

The morning was surprising hot and so was the pace of the Cowboys first practice in full pads. The structure of the practice showed the emphasis on building units upon sound fundamentals.

Perhaps the best way to understand the work underway is to compare it to the structure and pace of Bill Parcells’ Oxnard camps, since this is the first session here for Wade Phillips.

The first and most noticeable difference is in tone. Camp Bill was fast paced and intense. It also had the shadow of paranoia about it. A high school coach who was spotted charting plays one year was brought before The Tuna by security and interrogated. The electronic press had their video access limited in year one.

And the practices were hard to view for the fans. There are two fields at Oxnard, one near the fans stands and another set behind it. Parcells always kept his offensive players on the far field and at the left end, where they were hardest to view.

Camp Wade, by comparison is an open city. The offense works out right in front of the fan stands, giving them what they want – the maximum chances to ooh and aah over a Tony Romo pass and a T.O. or Jason Witten catch.

Security is still tight – two bragged to me this morning of spotting and evicting a “reporter” with a counterfeit press pass, but everything sits in plain sight. HBO has brought “Hard Knocks” here, after all, and their cameras are everywhere, on the sidelines and in the bleachers. Players linger much longer after practice, working in small groups and signing autographs. At Camp Wade, openness and progress are not seen as enemies.

With that atmosphere surrounding them, the players jumped immediately into work. On defense, the initial drills emphasized chaos – for opposing offenses. Each position coach took a unit and stressed stripping the football, handing the football properly after an interception or fumble recovery and knocking down passes. After two minutes, the groups rotated to the next station, where they learned another way of disrupting an offense.

At this point, the offensive and defensive units returned to their respective coaches and worked from individual drills to unit drills. For instance, the quarterbacks and receivers worked together on routes and route combinations, with nobody opposing them. Then, the tight ends and running backs were summoned from the far end of the field, where those units were working with the offensive linemen on run blocking.

The QBs, RBs, TEs and WRs, then worked on integrated patterns. Later, they joined with their linemen and squared off against the defense.

The initial pairing saw the offensive and defense square off on running plays. The group then broke up and special teams coach Bruce Read took over, working today on punt coverage. He, like his coaching peers, broke the act down into discrete units: gunners worked in units on their releases, while the core group worked on blocking inside charges. The units later merged and worked on covering together.

Later, the team returned to 11 on 11 drills, with new units being run in on every play. The result was hard to track. The first offensive line, for example, would stay in for several plays while a new QB, RB, TE and WR set would enter on each play. The constant churn made it hard to get a feel for who looks good and who looks bad, since players didn’t have extended runs today. Nonetheless, here are some observations of scattered plays:

Sam Hurd’s route running looks very crisp. He got consistent separation on all CBs I saw in 1-on-1 drills and turned Terence Newman around on a comeback route.

Terrell Owens could start the season now. He torched Newman on a deep fade where T.O. started in the slot. He left Adam Jones in his wake a couple of times. I’ve watched enough camps now to get a feel for whether a player is doing well or the corners are stumbling. It’s only day two, and day one in pads, but don’t worry about T.O. slowing down.

– WR coach Ray Sherman and WRs Sam Hurd and Patrick Crayton all commented on Isaiah Stanback’s deep speed. He got behind Adam Jones with ease on a fly pattern but could not snatch a pass that was short and outside. He lined up exclusively as the flanker this morning.

– Anthony Spencer can’t be blocked by running backs or fullbacks on blitzes, at least not the ones I saw try to block him today.

– The defensive line, or at least the first unit, got the better of the offensive line in the 11-on-11 drills, which is no surprise on day two. The rushers put steady pressure on Tony Romo and Jason Hatcher batted down one of his passes.

Dallas is practicing a lot more press coverage. On one play the offense lined up in a slot formation and Anthony Henry and Terence Newman both took a man, lining up just two to three yards off the ball. Newman told me he has asked DC Brian Stewart to let the defense play more press. “I know they want to zone blitz, that’s what [Stuart and Phillips] did in San Diego, but with the players we have here, I think you have to let them play to their abilities.” Based on this morning’s work, the defensive coaches may have paid attention.

Other Notes:

– Felix Jones was not at the morning practice, but is expected to play this afternoon.

– Terence Newman and Adam Jones alternated returning punts. I asked Newman if he was going to return more kicks this year and he smiled, shook his head and said, “we’ll see when the first game comes…”

– The special teams punt coverage session was an ensemble production today: While ST coach Read focused on the inside blockers, Dat Nguyen coordinated the rotation of rushers. On the outside, TE coach John Garrett worked with the gunners on their releases.

Written by Rafael Vela · Filed Under Training Camp | 21 Comments 

DISCLAIMER: This site and its contents are for informational and amusement purposes only. This site is NOT officially sponsored by, nor endorsed by the Dallas Cowboys football organization, its players, coaches, staff, or the National Football League. Nothing written anywhere within this site is intended to be perceived as the site being so sponsored or endorsed. All original work, articles and comment posted by Rafael Vela, Raul Villaronga or invited guest bloggers, however, are protected by applicable copyright laws. Comments written by posters visiting the site are voluntarily submitted to stimulate discussion and debate without the expectation of copyright protection on the part of those visiting posters. It is not the responsibility of this site or its authors to enforce the copyright protection of such comments posted by visitors to this site. The authors cannot assume any liability for actions taken in reliance on these articles...that would be just silly and Don Meredith (who also does not officially sponsor nor endorse this site, but we love him anyway) well, he would just laugh at you. Thank you.