Cowboys end OTAs, prep for veteran minicamp
By Calvin Watkins | ESPNDallas.com
IRVING, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys finished three weeks of organized team activities Thursday with a high school football camp. Next up is the mandatory veteran minicamp June 11-13 at Valley Ranch.
Defensive end DeMarcus Ware (shoulder) and quarterback Tony Romo (back) are expected to miss the sessions as they recover from injuries.
How the Cowboys go about their business during the minicamp remains the same.
"We can have a little bit longer day with them in minicamp, but we still want to keep it tight and want to get them to come out and get their work done and get them out of here," coach Jason Garrett said. "It's a good review off what we just did in the OTAs, and we'll see how guys are doing. It's a good way to wrap up the offseason and give them a little bit of time before we go to camp."
The three weeks of organized team activities went off without much fuss in terms of attendance, but there were some other issues.
Fullback Lawrence Vickers (back) and nose tackle Josh Brent (non-football illness) missed the sessions, as did Romo, who is recovering from back surgery.
And of course there was Tuesday's drama with Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones implying that Bill Callahan will call the offensive plays. Callahan later confirmed it, while Garrett didn't.
Running back DeMarco Murray missed four OTA sessions with hamstring issues, and several players, including Miles Austin and Jay Ratliff, were given some time off to rest their bodies.
"We almost had 100 percent attendance throughout the offseason and 100 percent attendance through OTAs," Garrett said. "You put a lot of information in front of these guys each day and you see how they respond to it. This is the first day of installing your offense, your defense and your kicking game. Our guys responded well to it. We'll have a chance to look at it in minicamp next week."