Training Camp/OTA's Chatter Thread...
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Three thoughts on Day 6 of Cowboys camp
July, 29, 2014
By Jean-Jacques Taylor | ESPNDallas.com
OXNARD, Calif. -- Three thoughts on Day 6 of Dallas Cowboys' training camp:
1. Matt Johnson is never going to play for the Dallas Cowboys.
He has yet another hamstring injury -- this is three training camps in a row -- and he’s expected to miss at least a week. That said, who among us will be shocked if he misses more than that.
The Cowboys have liked Johnson’s potential so much that they’ve kept him on the roster, even though the former fourth-round pick has never appeared in a game in his first two seasons.
He’s been good in practice, according to coaches and teammates, but will that be enough?
It’s hard to believe they would keep him for another year, which means paying him for a third year, if he can’t stay healthy and compete for a job. The competition at safety is taut. Every day he misses diminishes his slim odds of making the team.
2. Sean Lee is the kind of player you hope has success because he’s the epitome of what coaches want in a player and what players want in a teammate.
Yes, he’s been hurt frequently. Too frequently. And the reality is the Cowboys can’t really depend on him because he hasn’t shown an ability to stay on the field.
But his injuries are the result of bad luck -- not poor conditioning or training -- and you can tell he’s miserable about the missed time. He doesn’t have to be at training camp.
He could be rehabbing in Dallas, but he wants to be around his teammates. He’s sitting in on meetings and film sessions. He’s doing everything the other linebackers are doing except playing.
Not many other players would do that.
3. Henry Melton's knee is essentially fine from a structural perspective. Any athlete who’s had a knee injury will tell you the most difficult part of recovery is trusting the knee again.
That’s why the preseason games will be so important to Melton, especially as an interior lineman. He must get used to players falling on his legs or banging into them.
He must get used to the game’s physicality, and he must become adept again at maintaining his balance and staying on his feet when guys around him are falling down.
When he does -- no matter how long it takes -- that’s when he’ll return to being a Pro Bowl-caliber defensive tackle.
Key Number: 71
The Cowboys gave up 71 pass plays of 20 yards or more last season. No team allowed more.
Super Bowl champion Seattle allowed 30. The 12 playoff teams yielded an average of 51.
The Cowboys have no chance to win if they don’t stop the big plays. It makes it too easy for the offense. Improved safety play will help, but the Cowboys must figure out how to rush the passer and remove quarterbacks from their comfort zone.
Player to Watch: Cole Beasley
This is the first time Cole Beasley has ever entered training camp with outside expectations.
He seems ready to meet them.
He caught 39 passes for 368 yards and two touchdowns last season. More important, he earned Tony Romo's trust.
On third down, he caught 14 of the 18 passes directed toward him for 146 yards, 11 first downs and a touchdown. When the Cowboys use Beasley in the slot on third downs along with Jason Witten at tight end, it gives Romo a pair of players with good hands who can work underneath and make first downs.
Beasley played only 247 snaps last year. Miles Austin, who had 541 snaps, is gone. Look for Beasley to gobble up a bunch of Austin’s playing time, which means he could easily catch 60 passes this season.
July, 29, 2014
By Jean-Jacques Taylor | ESPNDallas.com
OXNARD, Calif. -- Three thoughts on Day 6 of Dallas Cowboys' training camp:
1. Matt Johnson is never going to play for the Dallas Cowboys.
He has yet another hamstring injury -- this is three training camps in a row -- and he’s expected to miss at least a week. That said, who among us will be shocked if he misses more than that.
The Cowboys have liked Johnson’s potential so much that they’ve kept him on the roster, even though the former fourth-round pick has never appeared in a game in his first two seasons.
He’s been good in practice, according to coaches and teammates, but will that be enough?
It’s hard to believe they would keep him for another year, which means paying him for a third year, if he can’t stay healthy and compete for a job. The competition at safety is taut. Every day he misses diminishes his slim odds of making the team.
2. Sean Lee is the kind of player you hope has success because he’s the epitome of what coaches want in a player and what players want in a teammate.
Yes, he’s been hurt frequently. Too frequently. And the reality is the Cowboys can’t really depend on him because he hasn’t shown an ability to stay on the field.
But his injuries are the result of bad luck -- not poor conditioning or training -- and you can tell he’s miserable about the missed time. He doesn’t have to be at training camp.
He could be rehabbing in Dallas, but he wants to be around his teammates. He’s sitting in on meetings and film sessions. He’s doing everything the other linebackers are doing except playing.
Not many other players would do that.
3. Henry Melton's knee is essentially fine from a structural perspective. Any athlete who’s had a knee injury will tell you the most difficult part of recovery is trusting the knee again.
That’s why the preseason games will be so important to Melton, especially as an interior lineman. He must get used to players falling on his legs or banging into them.
He must get used to the game’s physicality, and he must become adept again at maintaining his balance and staying on his feet when guys around him are falling down.
When he does -- no matter how long it takes -- that’s when he’ll return to being a Pro Bowl-caliber defensive tackle.
Key Number: 71
The Cowboys gave up 71 pass plays of 20 yards or more last season. No team allowed more.
Super Bowl champion Seattle allowed 30. The 12 playoff teams yielded an average of 51.
The Cowboys have no chance to win if they don’t stop the big plays. It makes it too easy for the offense. Improved safety play will help, but the Cowboys must figure out how to rush the passer and remove quarterbacks from their comfort zone.
Player to Watch: Cole Beasley
This is the first time Cole Beasley has ever entered training camp with outside expectations.
He seems ready to meet them.
He caught 39 passes for 368 yards and two touchdowns last season. More important, he earned Tony Romo's trust.
On third down, he caught 14 of the 18 passes directed toward him for 146 yards, 11 first downs and a touchdown. When the Cowboys use Beasley in the slot on third downs along with Jason Witten at tight end, it gives Romo a pair of players with good hands who can work underneath and make first downs.
Beasley played only 247 snaps last year. Miles Austin, who had 541 snaps, is gone. Look for Beasley to gobble up a bunch of Austin’s playing time, which means he could easily catch 60 passes this season.
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Hamstring to keep Matt Johnson out a week
July, 29, 2014
By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com
OXNARD, Calif. -- A hamstring injury will keep Dallas Cowboys safety Matt Johnson out for at least a week if not more in training camp, continuing a trend that started soon after he was drafted in 2012.
Johnson suffered the injury in a pursuit drill in Sunday's practice, ending his day. It is the same leg he injured in the spring during organized team activities that kept him off the field. He missed most of his rookie season with recurring hamstring injuries and did not play last season because of foot surgery.
"Yesterday I was talking to my brother and stuff and I had a pity party, and you can't do that because it's not going to solve anything," Johnson said. But I just don't know. I've done everything I could -- stayed late, get here early, rehab it. I've done more in the month off that we had from the summer than I ever have in my life. Not as far as overworking it but as far as trying to get it ready. The conditioning test, felt fine. The first couple three days, felt good. I felt really good warming up I was like, 'You know what I'm going to give it all I had,' and ... it wasn't anything bad, but it's just frustrating knowing you can't got 100 percent and in the NFL you have to go 100 percent."
Johnson had an MRI on Sunday that revealed a strain. Coach Jason Garrett said defensive tackle Terrell McClain (ankle) could miss a week or so. Darius Morris (hamstring), Will Smith (groin) and Ben Gardner (shoulder) did not take part in the walkthrough. Executive vice president Stephen Jones said he hoped Gardner could practice in the afternoon.
July, 29, 2014
By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com
OXNARD, Calif. -- A hamstring injury will keep Dallas Cowboys safety Matt Johnson out for at least a week if not more in training camp, continuing a trend that started soon after he was drafted in 2012.
Johnson suffered the injury in a pursuit drill in Sunday's practice, ending his day. It is the same leg he injured in the spring during organized team activities that kept him off the field. He missed most of his rookie season with recurring hamstring injuries and did not play last season because of foot surgery.
"Yesterday I was talking to my brother and stuff and I had a pity party, and you can't do that because it's not going to solve anything," Johnson said. But I just don't know. I've done everything I could -- stayed late, get here early, rehab it. I've done more in the month off that we had from the summer than I ever have in my life. Not as far as overworking it but as far as trying to get it ready. The conditioning test, felt fine. The first couple three days, felt good. I felt really good warming up I was like, 'You know what I'm going to give it all I had,' and ... it wasn't anything bad, but it's just frustrating knowing you can't got 100 percent and in the NFL you have to go 100 percent."
Johnson had an MRI on Sunday that revealed a strain. Coach Jason Garrett said defensive tackle Terrell McClain (ankle) could miss a week or so. Darius Morris (hamstring), Will Smith (groin) and Ben Gardner (shoulder) did not take part in the walkthrough. Executive vice president Stephen Jones said he hoped Gardner could practice in the afternoon.
L.T. Fan
I'm Easy If You Are
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If Romo really does have a problem what would be the point of hiding it. If I were coaching and that was the situation I would let everyone know just to keep the rumor mill from running full tilt. I don't think there is a problem, I think they're being overly cautious
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Cowboys QB Brandon Weeden: I’m preparing like I’m going to start; ‘That’s the only way to do it’
By Jon Machota jmachota@dallasnews.com
5:24 pm on July 29, 2014 | Permalink
OXNARD, Calif. – With Tony Romo sitting out another training camp practice on Tuesday, Brandon Weeden will again be working with the Dallas Cowboys’ first-team offense.
Since Romo has been gradually working his way back from December back surgery, Weeden has taken advantage of the extra reps.
Weeden was under center with the Cowboys’ first-team throughout OTAs and minicamp.
“I got to prepare like I’m going to play,” Weeden said. “I got to prepare like I’m going to start. I think that’s the only way to do it.”
Weeden signed a two-year contract with the Cowboys in March. Part of the reason the former first-round pick chose Dallas was because of their offensive philosophy.
The Cowboys run a similar offensive system to what Weeden played in while with Cleveland the previous two seasons.
“The nice thing is there’s quite a bit of carryover from what I did last year, so I’m not having to relearn the entire book, but there’s 30-35 percent of it that I’m having to learn,” he said. “My comfort level is getting there. There’s still a couple nuances throughout the day, a play here, a play there that I’d like to have back, a throw or a read. But that’s why we’re doing it right now.
“I got a long way to go. I think I’ve done some decent things, but I still need to get better.”
When it comes to the nuances, Weeden doesn’t have to go far for advice. Romo has been there to share his experiences, especially when it comes to routes and protections.
“He’s done it for so long, he’s seen so many things, he can basically tell you one thing and 99.9 percent of the time it holds up,” Weeden said. “Those certain things, I just kind of stick with them. Don’t even think about it. Just do it and live with the result, he’s really helped me as far as that goes.”
Weeden has 20 career starts under his belt. With Kyle Orton no longer the team’s No. 2 quarterback, Weeden could add to that total this season if Romo is unable to stay healthy.
Does Weeden think his best football is ahead of him?
“I hope so,” he said. “I’ve only got two years in this league. I’m learning. I got to assume that if I continue to work, good things will happen.”
By Jon Machota jmachota@dallasnews.com
5:24 pm on July 29, 2014 | Permalink
OXNARD, Calif. – With Tony Romo sitting out another training camp practice on Tuesday, Brandon Weeden will again be working with the Dallas Cowboys’ first-team offense.
Since Romo has been gradually working his way back from December back surgery, Weeden has taken advantage of the extra reps.
Weeden was under center with the Cowboys’ first-team throughout OTAs and minicamp.
“I got to prepare like I’m going to play,” Weeden said. “I got to prepare like I’m going to start. I think that’s the only way to do it.”
Weeden signed a two-year contract with the Cowboys in March. Part of the reason the former first-round pick chose Dallas was because of their offensive philosophy.
The Cowboys run a similar offensive system to what Weeden played in while with Cleveland the previous two seasons.
“The nice thing is there’s quite a bit of carryover from what I did last year, so I’m not having to relearn the entire book, but there’s 30-35 percent of it that I’m having to learn,” he said. “My comfort level is getting there. There’s still a couple nuances throughout the day, a play here, a play there that I’d like to have back, a throw or a read. But that’s why we’re doing it right now.
“I got a long way to go. I think I’ve done some decent things, but I still need to get better.”
When it comes to the nuances, Weeden doesn’t have to go far for advice. Romo has been there to share his experiences, especially when it comes to routes and protections.
“He’s done it for so long, he’s seen so many things, he can basically tell you one thing and 99.9 percent of the time it holds up,” Weeden said. “Those certain things, I just kind of stick with them. Don’t even think about it. Just do it and live with the result, he’s really helped me as far as that goes.”
Weeden has 20 career starts under his belt. With Kyle Orton no longer the team’s No. 2 quarterback, Weeden could add to that total this season if Romo is unable to stay healthy.
Does Weeden think his best football is ahead of him?
“I hope so,” he said. “I’ve only got two years in this league. I’m learning. I got to assume that if I continue to work, good things will happen.”
p1_
DCC 4Life
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The reason would be to delay the immediate collapse of the coming season if we were faced with Weeden starting for a full 16 weeks. That would be nightmarish for all of us. Best to delay that type of death knell as long as possible.
L.T. Fan
I'm Easy If You Are
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I'm not sure I know what that means. When game 1 rolls round and there is no Romo the hoping for a reasonable season would be pretty much upside down. Why create that kind of bad PR? Early disclosure would condition the fan base to a let down sooner. They would more likely attend games with the known factor than the would if they felt like they were duped.
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Ankle is the new hamstring.
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Yep, the other McClain has an ankle injury, too.
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Injured reserve. Imminent.
D
Deuce
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He's a solid PR too.