Lance Dunbar out with Sprained Foot

As with a lot of the teams in the NFL, the Cowboys suffered another key injury during the preseason game against the Cardinals Saturday.  Lance Dunbar sprained his foot and will be out 3 - 4 weeks.  This is the same type of injury that DeMarco Murray had last year which cost him 6 games/weeks.  Hopefully Dunbar's injury is not as bad and he can get back quickly.  Unfortunately, if it's 3 - 4 week, probably no way he can make it for the Giants opening week game.  This is very disappointing, Dunbar had looked great with break away speed all through camp and the first 3 preseason games.
Click link below for a summary of Garrett's press conference from DallasCowboys.com

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/article-DavidHelman/Mon-Presser-Garrett-Hopes-Dunbars-Foot-Is-Only-Mild-Setback

Blogging The Boys

Bloggintheboys.com does a great job covering the Cowboys Training Camp...... here's some links to their site and stories from the day:

• pro football focus grades dallas cowboys hall of fame game performance
• dallas cowboys start fast again in oakland raiders tony romo bill callahan
• dallas cowboys in praise of jason witten from lacerated spleens to option routes
• jason garrett dallas cowboys 2013 training camp hot seat jerry jones
• Random Thoughts From Cowboys 2013 Training Camp: The Physical Nature Of The Game
• cowboys training camp report practice number thirteen: a crisp day in

A Few Good Men

You have to like the attitude and comments from Travis Frederick, the Cowboys first round draft pick Offensive Lineman who will most likely play Center but also played Guard Sunday Night in the Hall of Fame Game.  Here's a quote from Frederick from the Star-Telegram:

Travis Frederick liked his first NFL action at center.
“I thought that went pretty well,” he said.
His time at guard? Not as well. The Cowboys’ rookie first-round pick said he wasn’t as clean at right guard, where he played in the second half of Sunday night’s game against Miami.
“The mistake at guard was I overstepped on a shade technique in pass protection,” he said. “That was on me. It caused a pressure, not a sack. But a pressure is still not what we are looking for. I need to be solid.”
Frederick has been working at center the majority of the time in training camp, but the Cowboys are still looking at him at guard, potentially to play him at right guard and use veteran Phil Costa at center.

That's the kind of football players that are needed.  When asked about his performance, he talked about one technique misstep which created a QB "pressure", not a sack.  This attention to detail and desire to be perfect on every down is what has been missing for such a long time with the Cowboys.  There's a reason that only ~ 7 players are left on this team since Jason Garrett took over.  They didn't want to use the word re-building since Romo and Witten were in their prime.  But that's exactly what has been taking place.  And now we can only hope that the youth and "Garrett" kind of football guys can play at a level to help propel Romo, Witten, Ware deep into the playoffs before they are too old.  It may already be too late, but we'll see if the two timelines can overlap for a year or two before the "old" guys' physical ability begin to deteriorate to a fault.

Another point I want to make, is the drafting of Travis Frederick.  I get so tired of the "experts" in print, tv and radio, talking about how the Cowboys drafted Frederick too early.  If he ends up being a 10 - 12 year starter at center, gives continuity to the line, directs the line play calling, prevents pressure up the middle and clears holes for the RBs, then isn't that worth a first round draft pick?   My point is, you don't know how a good a draft is until at least 3 years later.  And amazingly, the "experts" love to talk about how poorly a team did with the draft, but they never come back and discuss their mistakes three years later.  I remember many experts saying that the Cowboys should've drafted Shawn Merriman instead of DeMarcus Ware.  So how did that work out??

I like the kind of people the Cowboys are drafting these days, and hopefully it will pay off in the next 2 -3 years before the "older" guys begin to fade.

Read more here: http://sportsblogs.star-telegram.com/cowboys/2013/08/tr.html#storylink=cpy

Let The Games Begin!

Sorry for disappearing last week.  I was hanging out in Charlotte, NC home of the Carolina Panthers.  I attended the Cowboys/Panthers regular season game in Charlotte last year, October 2012.  It was great fun and the tailgating was awesome.  Unlike Eagles fans, the Panthers fans were very hospitable.

Well, we finally have football!  Albeit pre-season football, but after 7 months of nothing, even pre-season football was an awesome respite.  Personally, I like the pre-season games.  While I think its ridiculous that teams charge full ticket prices for these games, they are fun to watch if you are looking at individuals and not the team prospective.  I really enjoyed watching the Cowboys rookie RB, Randle; first round draft pick Frederick, etc.  These guys get a full work out and while they are playing against other 2nd or 3rd string personnel, it's fun to see how they perform.

So my thoughts on the Cowboys after the first pre-season game.......

1. I thought the team as a whole looked very well prepared, especially when compared to the Dolphins.  There were very few penalties, both offense and defense were lining up properly, and they didn't have to call timeouts because the play didn't get in in time (unlike last year when this was occurring on defense as late as week 17).  There were no huge busts in position, (ie. a safety letting a WR run free for an easy catch).  While you might read this and say, these are pro-football teams they shouldn't have these problems, and you would be right.  But if you've watched many pre-season games, you will see this happens a lot, especially in the first one or two pre-season games where 3rd and 4th stringers are playing. So I thought the coaches had done an excellent job, particularly on defense where Monte Kiffin's new 4-3 scheme was being used for the first time.  So I would give Jason Garret an A on his first game as a "walk around" coach.
2. Speaking of coaching and changes, obviously the big story (other than Romo's cyst), has been the change in offensive play calling.  Both Garrett and Callahan have repeatedly discussed their need to run the ball more effectively.  When you talk about running the ball, obviously everyone thinks Running Back, but we all know, the offensive line is vital in running effectively.  Part of the reason the Cowboys ran so little in 2012, was the absolute inability to run the ball.  After a while you can only run into a brick wall so many times, until you say Eff it and throw the ball.  But last night, Callahan showed the Cowboys propensity to run the ball early and often.  And different from last night, they looked very effective doing it.  They rushed for a total of 170 yards and a couple of rushing TD's.  All of the backs looked very good.... Dunbar, Tanner, Randle..... of course we didn't see DeMarco, but the offensive line, grounded by Leary and Travis Frederick, opened some huge holes and the RBs did what they were supposed to do, which is make at least one person miss a tackle.  So it was a great first week outing for the running game which has to improve over last year.
3. Defense --- well the talk is of course about "can the Cowboys convert to the Mone Kiffin 4-3 defense?".  While I don't want to get too excited about the first of a 5 game preseason schedule, the simple answer is YES.  The defense looked organized, well coached, completed the simple tasks of lining up properly, no huge blown coverages, did well stopping the run, got multiple sacks on the QB, recovered a fumble, got an interception, then ran the interception back for a 75 yard Touch Down.  The squad played aggressively and instinctively, as though they had always played the 4-3.  But I think this is why the move to the 4-3 is good idea.  Because at the heart of defense, the 4-3 is just a simpler scheme than the 3-4.  And in an age with huge turnover in personnel from year to year with free agency, injuries that occur throughout the year and change in coaching, you need a simpler base scheme in order to be able to plug people in without them having to had been in the scheme for 15 years.  Can't say enough good things about the defense, but I would be remiss, if I didn't bring up Selvie.  He looked like a manbeast out there, throwing offensive lineman around like they were rag dolls.  We may have found the replacement for Tyrone Crawford who was lost for the year at DT with a torn Achilles.

So great start to a very long season.  And the best news of all, no major injuries.  Matt Johnson injured his ankle, but hey what else is new.  Other than that, no major injuries to speak of.  As a Baylor Alum, I was personally disappointed that I didn't get to see Terrance Williams play, but from what I have read, he will play Friday night against the Raiders.

Funny Jason Witten Story

This funny anecdote told by Jason Garrett explains the level of passion Jason Witten brings to the game every day.....

Slowing Witten down: The Cowboys use “veteran rest days” to keep older guys fresh in camp. DeMarcus Ware, Miles Austin and Jason Hatcher have all benefitted from one already. But one guy who’s not all that keen on rest days is Jason Witten. Jason Garrett relayed an anecdote from 2009, when he pulled Witten for one play of a game during which the tight end’s sole responsibility was to block. Witten was so upset, he wouldn’t talk to Garrett about it for a week.

“So literally we had a battle where he did not talk to me for a week about ‘Aggie 21’ and whamming the nose,” Garrett said. “So getting him to take a day off of practice is a little bit like the ‘Aggie 21’ story. You start the conversation, he nods his head and he continues to nod his head and he goes out to practice again and again and again. He’s a guy you want to make sure you give some rest… But he never wants to come off the football field. Somehow, some way, we’ve got to pry him off in the next five weeks.” 

Agreeing with Jerrah? This Can't Be Happening!

What's weird is that I am agreeing with what Jerry is saying.  Could it be it is because he is repeating what Jason Garret is telling him????  Either way I certainly agree with his comment below and the drafting of John Randle.  I think Randle will be better than where he was drafted.  The Big 12 gets no respect anymore in college football which is ridiculous.  If you are the leading rusher in the Big 12, that's a big deal.  And he didn't have injury problems like DeMarco throughout his pro AND College careers.

• Jerry Jones - "To totally count on that would give you visions of 8-8, because the last two years, we've had games that we didn't have Murray, and we didn't run the ball as well," Jones said, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Sunday. "We didn't have as good an offense within it. So if we have somebody that could possibly step up there and give you the respite that you need when you don't have Murray, that's a big deal for us."