Training camp thread...

Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
125,596
:lol

When I first read about this the other day, I thought it was to be used as a teaching tool, as many colleges already do.

Now, it is a marketing tool for the fans and our RB coach is like "hey, I might try that."

Christ.
I was afraid it might be something like that.
 

boozeman

29 Years And Counting...
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
136,935
Tues. Practice Report: Parnell Sits Out; Johnson Limited

Posted 10 hours ago

By DallasCowboys.com Report








OXNARD, Calif.– The Cowboys continued their 2013 training camp Tuesday evening with an intense practice. This year, Jason Garrett’s new schedule gives even more time between the lighter morning walk-through and the afternoon practice.

Each night, DallasCowboys.com will feature the second practice of the day with the big news, the highs and lows and notable standouts.

Main Event:

The Cowboys just can’t get through a practice without some kind of injury. The latest setbacks include players expected to battle for a starting job.

Jermey Parnell sat out of Tuesday’s full-padded practice with a hamstring strain. Parnell was supposed to compete for the starting right tackle position with Doug Free, who consequently has played well in the first few days of practice.

Matt Johnson, who had three different hamstring injuries last season, sat out most of practice due to cramping. It left the door open for rookie J.J. Wilcox, who had some head-turning plays in the team period, including a vicious hit on running back Phillip Tanner in the open field.

The injuries are alarming because they’ve been consistent from the start of camp. Tyrone Crawford is out for the season with a torn Achilles injury while Anthony Spencer is headed to Dallas later this week to undergo arthroscopic surgery for a left knee that also has a nagging bone bruise.

Quick Hits:
•The first padded practice of training camp was the first time to implement a new NFL rule, forcing players to wear both thigh pads and knee pads. Tight end Jason Witten, who appeared to have the thinnest pads possible to keep him light on his feet, said “it’s probably been since college or maybe my rookie year (2003) since I’ve worn them.”
•Kicker Dan Bailey said he was told the league isn’t forcing the kicking specialists to wear the pads. “That’s good news for me. I wasn’t sure what the rule was on that, but they told us we’re good.”
•After the first handful of plays in the team period included two offside penalties and a dropped pass by Dez Bryant, coach Jason Garrett huddled the entire team for a quick meeting, likely drilling the team to stay focused and concentrate on the little things. After that, both sides of the ball came through with big plays, especially in the 1-on-1 drills. Anthony Armstrong and Eric Rogers each had big catches, while cornerback Sterling Moore made two nice plays guarding Terrance Williams.

Notable Standouts

Doug Free– The spotlight has faded on Free since he took his paycut to remain with the Cowboys. But there’s no doubt the team is counting on the veteran to pull his weight this year. Free looked spritely and aggressive during individuals and team workouts, as he held off pressure from Ben Bass and Monte Taylor with relative ease.

Orlando Scandrick– This is a product of three full days of work from Scandrick. In individuals Tuesday, he was one of a select few corners who won the majority of his battles. He shut down Dwayne Harris on multiple occasions and even held his own against Dez Bryant when given the opportunity.

J.J. Wilcox– Definitely the rookie who is making the biggest impact to this early point in camp. Wilcox is getting plenty of work in individuals as a second-string safety. On Tuesday he made the hit of the practice when he laid the wood on Phillip Tanner in the defensive backfield. It brought the team and the crowd to attention.

Play of The Day:

It’s been a talking point around this team all offseason that Dez Bryant vs. Morris Claiborne is absolutely must-see action and one of the highlights of any Dallas practice. That maxim held true Tuesday afternoon, when the pair went at each other in one-on-one pass reps.





Bryant took off on a deep route down the left-hand sideline, and Claiborne followed suit with blanket coverage. The two worked their way down toward the goal line, with Claiborne obstructing Bryant’s view of the ball.

No matter. Bryant turned himself around and adjusted his body to make a falling catch, despite Claiborne’s perfect positioning. The second-year corner looked absolutely exasperated that Bryant still managed to make the catch.

“That’s Dez,” Claiborne said. “If the ball is near him anywhere and you don’t have great enough coverage on him, he’s going to catch the ball.”

Injury Report:

Returned Practice:
G/C Ryan Cook (conditioning test)

Limited Practice:
S Matt Johnson (cramps)

Missed Practice:
OT Jermey Parnell (hamstring)
DE Anthony Spencer (knee)
WR Danny Coale (knee swelling)
TE James Hanna (hamstring)
DE Tyrone Crawford (Achilles)
DT Jay Ratliff (hamstring)
G Mackenzy Bernadeau (hamstring)
LS L.P. Ladouceur (calf)
G Nate Livings (foot)
WR Lavasier Tuinei (conditioning test)
OT Demetress Bell (conditioning test)



Transactions:

July 21:

Signed T Demetress Bell, QB Alex Tanney and Lavasier Tuinei. Placed G Mackenzy Bernadeau and DT Jay Ratliff on the active/physically unable to perform list and placed the following players on the active/non-football injury list: T Demetress Bell, C/G Ryan Cook, LS Louis-Philippe Ladouceur, G Ronald Leary, G Nate Livings and WR Lavasier Tuinei.

Upcoming Schedule:

Wednesday, July 24
10:30 a.m. (PDT) Walk-Thru
12:00 p.m. (PDT) Coach Garrett press conference
4:00 p.m. (PDT) Practice

Thursday, July 25
No practice
 

Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
125,596
S Matt Johnson (cramps)

This made me guffaw yesterday when I saw this.
 

boozeman

29 Years And Counting...
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
136,935
S Matt Johnson (cramps)

This made me guffaw yesterday when I saw this.
At first I wondered if hamstrings can cramp, then realized he's in his menses. Cut him some slack.
 

boozeman

29 Years And Counting...
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
136,935
Camp observations: Pads pop on Day 3

July, 24, 2013
By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com

OXNARD, Calif. – On Day 3 of Cowboys’ training camp the pads came on and the physicality was noticed immediately.

** While there were a number of big hits, S Barry Church had the most notable when he dropped WR Dez Bryant on a bubble screen. Church was able to slice his way through some blockers to hit Bryant just as the receiver caught the ball and dropped him to the ground with a thud. It was Church’s best play of camp so far. Church offered Bryant a hand after the hit to help him off the ground.

** In one on one drills, LB Ernie Sims popped TE Colin Cochart with a semi-blindside hit. Cochart got up but appeared to be somewhat confused at being hit that way by a teammate. After a nice gain by RB Phillip Tanner, S J.J. Wilcox sent him to the ground in the secondary. Tanner got up and completed his sprint.

** LT Tyron Smith has his hands full with DE DeMarcus Ware every day. Smith did a nice job of warding off Ware to create a lane for RB DeMarco Murray on a run.

** It was not a good day for rookie CB B.W. Webb. He was hearing it all day from secondary coach Jerome Henderson. After pulling up while covering WR Eric Rogers on a slant, Henderson told Webb to get off the field. After he allowed a catch to WR Terrance Williams in the slot, he got yelled at by Henderson for not rallying to make the tackle.

** LB Sean Lee did a nice job of breaking up a seam throw to WR Miles Austin a good 35 yards down the field. Lee reached up at the last second to make the play, but Austin could have made the contested catch. On the next play, CB Morris Claiborne made a nice twisting breakup of a sideline throw to WR Anthony Armstrong.

** With TE James Hanna sitting out with a hamstring injury, rookie Gavin Escobar got his most work of camp. He came up with a nice catch in front of Church on a drag route and followed that up with a catch in the flat on the next play.

** It was a rough start to practice for the offense in the afternoon walkthrough. They had to run the first scripted play three times before they got it right and had to re-huddle three snaps later. For the defense, their first two full-team snaps resulted in offsides penalties to Ben Bass and Ware. The first-team was yanked both times in favor of the second team for a play.

** Players were a little testy with the officials on hand for practice. Bryant was looking for a hold on CB Sterling Moore as he attempted to get down field for a Romo throw. Ware was looking for a hold on Jason Witten on a running play.

** K Dan Bailey missed a kick, which was almost earth-shattering. His 41-yarder from the right hash was just wide to the right. He made his other five kicks from 35, 40, 43, 40 and 37 yards. He is now 10 of 11 in camp.
 

Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
125,596
boozeman said:
In one on one drills, LB Ernie Sims popped TE Colin Cochart with a semi-blindside hit. Cochart got up but appeared to be somewhat confused at being hit that way by a teammate
:lol
 

Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
125,596
Cowboys Tracker: Dez Bryant

July, 24, 2013

By Tim MacMahon | ESPNDallas.com


OXNARD, Calif. – There could be a lengthy debate about which Dez Bryant catch during Tuesday’s practice was the most spectacular.

The top candidates:

*Bryant soaring over safety Barry Church and cornerback Brandon Carr to snag a touchdown pass on a seam route during team drills.

*Bryant making a diving catch on an overthrown deep ball – his body parallel to the ground when the ball arrived – after getting past Morris Claiborne on a go route during 1-on-1s.

*Bryant jumping to grab a high ball on a back-shoulder fade, snatching it despite snug-tight coverage by Claiborne in 1-on-1s.

*Bryant using only his left hand to cleanly catch a hard-thrown ball on another back-shoulder fade in team drills, muscling Carr with his right arm to prevent the cornerback from making a play on the ball.

Those were just the plays that Bryant made that drew the most oohs and ahhs. He caught a bunch of other balls. It’s hard to imagine a wide receiver having a more dominant practice performance.

“I always feel like there’s always room to get better,” Bryant said. “I think just by going in, getting everything I already know, cleaning it up, sharpening it up the best way I possibly can and just learning more and more the coaches give me, I feel like I’ll be taking a step each and every day.”
 

Texas Ace

I'll Never Dream Again
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
26,881
I think you're in for a surprise then. This is going to be the best team we have had since 07. Bryant is driven. So is Romo. We will see Bryant in beast mode every Sunday. Bryant will elevate the play of the defense too, just by having to cover him in practice.

Depression? I'm more excited about this team than I have been in years. The early injuries are pissing me off, but this is going to be a very deadly team, I'm convinced.
That's nice.

So what about the offensive and defensive lines? If they aren't very good, then this team won't be either.
 

Carp

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
15,221
Sterling Moore is solid...never understood why he did not stick in NE.
 

Texas Ace

I'll Never Dream Again
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
26,881
Dez Bryant is starting to show signs of the good side of Michael Irvin.

If he has his drive and his leadership, it might just be good enough for an extra win or two.
 

boozeman

29 Years And Counting...
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
136,935
W2W4: Cowboys practice Day 4

July, 24, 2013
By Calvin Watkins | ESPNDallas.com

OXNARD, Calif. -- The weather here is fantastic here.

Wake up and it's about 60 degrees, watch practice in the late afternoon and it's in the 70s. But enough about the weather out here, let's preview the fourth day of training camp practice.

Bass vs. Wilber: Ben Bass took over as the first-team defensive end at Tuesday's practice over Kyle Wilber. Will that continue today? I assume so, but at times the Cowboys are mixing and matching players at different spots to see what they can do. Bass is a defensive tackle and Cowboys defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin moved him to end. The Cowboys always want their linemen -- on the offensive and defensive sides -- to have position flexibility. This is the case with Bass. Can he maintain the spot? We'll see today.

Offense catching up: The offense gut beat up in the first two days of training camp. There were dropped passes, linemen on the ground, plenty of yelling from the coaches at the offensive players. Tuesday's third practice was different. Forget about what Dez Bryant is doing to the defense for a moment, but the interior of the line performed better Tuesday with fewer linemen hitting the ground and the quarterbacks getting more and more time to complete passes. There were more defensive coaches upset than offensive coaches. Kiffin threw his hat down twice Tuesday and secondary coach Jerome Henderson yelled at his secondary players. Linebackers coach Matt Eberflus told his group if they made a mistake they were going to run sprints.

Wide receiver battle: Let's get this out the way now: Miles Austin, Dwayne Harris and Bryant are locks to make the roster. Terrance Williams is on the 53 too because he's a third-round draft pick. Williams is getting snaps with the first-team in three receiver sets, but he's not performing like he should keep that role. Williams has dropped some passes and isn't getting off the line of scrimmage fast enough on a consistent basis. Maybe he needs more time to develop, but right now, Eric Rogers and Jared Green are playing better than him. Slot receiver Cole Beasley has been steady, but nothing special right now. If the Cowboys keep five receivers, that last spot is going to be a fight.

More hamstring issues: The Cowboys are awaiting the MRI results on backup tackle Jermey Parnell's hamstring. He's another player out because of the injury. Jay Ratliff, Mackenzy Bernadeau and James Hanna are on the list too. There's one thing for a player to get hurt as a result of getting hit or something happening in a non-contact drill, but are players getting stretched enough? Are the players following directions of the strength and conditioning staff? Something is not right.

If you come today: Practice starts at 4 p.m. PT on Wednesday. Watch for these players: B.W. Webb, who struggled Tuesday, needs to bounce back. Dez Bryant is someone you can watch every day. Tyron Smith's battles vs. DeMarcus Ware are fun. Linebacker Ernie Sims doesn't get a lot of press, but he's a solid player who understands his role; monitor how he's always around the ball.
 

Carp

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
15,221
We value position flexibility on the OL for everyone but Costa.
 

NoDak

Hotlinking' sonofabitch
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
26,088
There were more defensive coaches upset than offensive coaches. Kiffin threw his hat down twice
When an old man burns the energy needed to throw his hat down twice, you know he's pissed.
 

Carp

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
15,221
When an old man burns the energy needed to throw his hat down twice, you know he's pissed.
6646888.jpg

Someone needs to remind him that the hat covers that crazy shit on top of his head.
 

boozeman

29 Years And Counting...
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
136,935
Meanwhile....

Adam Schefter ‏@AdamSchefter 32m
Former Falcons DE John Abraham is visiting the Arizona Cardinals today, as XTRA 910 Phoenix reported

Aaron Wilson ‏@RavensInsider 4h
Source: Rocky Bernard visiting Lions today:

--------------

The Lions are going two and three deep with veterans on their DL. I am fricking jealous.
 

boozeman

29 Years And Counting...
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
136,935
I'd like to know why Rocky Bernard doesn't fit for us.
Same reason why all these other guys don't....uhhh...errr...

Can't tell me it is cap room because we are now sitting at $10M.
 

Carp

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
15,221
I'm to the point where guys like Abraham or Bernard are just not going to make that big of a difference. If I thought their addition would mean that we'd be in the Super Bowl hunt, sure, but you are just putting lipstick on a pig.
 

boozeman

29 Years And Counting...
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
136,935
I'm to the point where guys like Abraham or Bernard are just not going to make that big of a difference. If I thought their addition would mean that we'd be in the Super Bowl hunt, sure, but you are just putting lipstick on a pig.
All it tells me is that all this crap about Jerry being "all in" to building a winner and is "passionate" about getting things right is just bullshit.

We may suck and be stuck in .500 hell, but it isn't like we are "changing" and "learning" from anything.

We have this bizarre aversion to signing veteran players to fortify the holes we don't draft.

Sorry, that's just laziness. Or arrogance. Or both.
 
Top Bottom