SB Nation - Willie Reid

Vikings Fall to Cowboys 35-31 in Pre-Season Finale, and the Crowd Goes Mild

Gonzo — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 04:48:25 -0000

by Paul Battaglia - AP

"Okay, so with the way I looked this evening, I can drop my playbook off. . .right over there, huh?" (AP Photo/Paul Battaglia)

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The fourth pre-season game of the year was pretty much what you'd expect. . .a fairly entertaining football game played largely by people that we'll be seeing on practice squads and UFL rosters from coast to coast in a couple of weeks. In the end, it was a special teams blunder that cost the Beloved Purple a chance to go 4-0 in the pre-season in a 35-31 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

The Cowboys struck first, as Jon Kitna led his new team on a 12-play, 71-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Ogletree to give Dallas a quick 7-0 lead. After a three-and-out for the Vikings, Kitna proceeded to fumble a center/quarterback exchange, and Letroy Guion jumped on the loose ball at the Dallas 36. Two plays later, Tarvaris Jackson took a snap, rolled to his right, and lofted one downfield for a 36-yard touchdown pass to. . .Jeff Dugan?

Well, it is the pre-season, after all.

That tied things up at 7-7, and the teams exchanged punts. Dallas drove down the field again, and reached the Minnesota 34-yard line.

On a 1st and 20 play for the Cowboys, Brian Robison came steaming around the edge and knocked the ball away from an unsuspecting Kitna. The ball bounced off of a Dallas offensive lineman, and into the arms of Letroy Guion. In his march downfield, Guion had a moment of thinking that he was Adrian Peterson or Chester Taylor, and fumbled the ball without being touched as he tried to swtich hands. (Dude. . .you're a defensive lineman. Let's be serious here.) Fortunately, Kenny Onatolu was trailing the play and jumped on the fumble, and the Vikings set up shop at the 25-yard line. Six plays later. . .all runs. . .Ian Johnson blasted into the end zone to give the Vikings a 14-7 lead.

After the Cowboys went three plays without getting a first down, Mat McBriar punted a line drive to Darius Reynaud. Reynaud broke a tackle, made a couple of nice moves, and before you knew it he was standing in the end zone celebrating an 82-yard punt return and the Vikings were up 21-7, a score they took into the locker room. The Vikings really dominated the first half of football, and looked to be rolling along.

And then the second half started.

On the Vikings' first offensive play of the second half, Rosenfels threw a 25-yard touchdown strike to Patrick Watkins. This is unfortunate, because if you look at Minnesota's roster, you won't see a Patrick Watkins on it. There is, however, a Patrick Watkins on the Cowboys roster. So, you can probably figure out why the Cowboys narrowed the gap from 21-7 to 21-14 at that point. So, on the next offensive series, Rosenfels was replaced by John David Booty. After getting a first down on three straight running plays, Booty decided that he didn't want to feel left out, so he hit Dallas linebacker Steve Octaiven in the chest with a pass. Octavien returned the ball 44 yards for a touchdown, and after being the dominant team in the first half of football, the Vikings found themselves tied with the Cowboys at 21.

Rosenfels came back in, and I'm not sure if Mrs. Gonzo had a rerun of the Benny Hill Show on BBC America in another room, but I'm pretty sure I heard "Yakkety Sax" coming from somewhere.

After a fumble by Cowboys' running back Julius Crosslin, the Rosenfels-led Vikings engineered a six-play, 30-yard drive that culminated in Ian Johnson's second 1-yard touchdown run of the night to take a 28-21 lead, and added a 41-yard Ryan Longwell field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it 31-21. That would end the Vikings' scoring for the evening.

Not wanting to just roll over, the Cowboys and quarterback Rudy Carpenter. . .a rookie out of Arizona State that I was fairly impressed with this evening. . .marched 77 yards in 14 plays, ending with a 4-yard TD pass to tight end Scott Chandler to cut Minnesota's lead to 31-28. After the Vikings moved the ball to the Dallas 35-yard line, Chris Kluwe came in to punt.

Kluwe's kick went over the head of Cowboys' return man Willie Reid, and took a Cowboys' bounce. . .right into the hands of Dallas receiver Jesse Holley. As the Vikings inexplicably decided not to down the ball as soon as it started travelling the wrong direction, Holley was able to take the ball on the bounce, slip a tackle, and race 82 yards for the deciding score.

And there you have it. . .the fourth pre-season game of the year, and just eight days separating us from real football. Cutdown day is tomorrow, and the other half of my roster preview is forthcoming, so stay tuned for that. Enjoy the rest of your night, folks!

Dallas Cowboys 2009 Training Camp: Practice #8

Dave Halprin — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:27:11 -0000

More photos » by Eric Gay - AP

Roy and T-New battle for the ball.

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The Cowboys were in full pads this morning. The injury list is the same; Isaiah Stanback, Alonzo Coleman, Tim Anderson, Stephen Hodge and Michael Hawkins. Dallas made a change in personnel by releasing Michael Turkovich and adding Andre Douglas at tackle.

They started with special teams drills and then rolled into kickoffs. Felix Jones and Willie Reid were the return men again. David Buehler's kicks went to the goal line, the 5-yard line and the goal line while Nick Folk hit the 14-yard line, the 8 and then the 4 yard line.

They followed with warm-up drills, stretching and then a short session of drills by position.

They immediately went to 11-on-11. Romo started with a pass that was intended for MB3 but was deflected by Spencer, but the play was really dead because Ratliff blew past Gurode for a sack. They tried a pitch to Felix but Igor forced the play wide and eventually to the sideline. Carpenter had good coverage on Witten on the next play forcing Romo to throw it too high. Carpenter then stuffed a run by MB3 before Romo got some good yards on a designed QB draw. Kitna tried a pass but Derreck Robinson had pushed Holland back and deflected the pass in the backfield. Kitna threw a pass to high for Bennett because Hamlin2 had tight coverage. Jason Williams knifed through on a draw to stop Choice, and then Kitna hit Crayton for around 10 yards. They tried a FB run to Crosslin but Ware led a gang of defenders to the tackle for no gain, on the next play Keon Lattimore gained around 8 yards on a draw. McGee found Kevin Ogletree wide open in a big hole in the middle of the zone coverage, then Lattimore tried a run but Travis Bright got pushed back off the line and fell down creating too much traffic to get any yards. Willie Reid then caught a pass in front of Mike Mickens.

They moved on to 11-on-11 but starting in the redzone. Romo got a bad shotgun snap so he scooped it up and ran with it, on the next play he threw a precision pass to Bennett for a TD even though Bradie was draped all over Bennett in coverage. Romo was going to pass again but the coverage was too good so he basically threw it away. MB3 tried a run but Spencer stuffed it followed by Witten catching a short one in front of Watkins. Romo then made a huge mistake by throwing an INT right to Alan Ball in the endzone. Felix closed out Romo's session with a run for about 3 yards and a TD.

Kitna found a wide open Bennett on the sidelines at the 1-yd line, Felix ran a short one, then Kitna threw a swing pass to Choice but DeAngelo Williams and Mike Mickens were there for the stop. Phillips caught a low pass for a TD followed by a pass to Austin in the endzone but Scandrick had tight coverage and it was incomplete. Hurd then got wide open over the middle for a TD. Rudy Carpenter threw a TD to Ogletree who ran a nice route and made a great catch with Jenkins in coverage. Carpenter then threw one out of the back of the endzone followed by a QB draw for a TD but he paid the price as Watkins (I think it was Watkins) popped him hard at the goal line.

They backed up for another 11-on-11 session from the 40-yard line. Romo tried to hit MB3 but Brookings had great coverage. Romo forced one into double-coverage to Witten in the endzone but it was incomplete with Bradie and Sensabaugh having tight coverage. Romo looked like he completed one to Bennett on the next play but Brooking was able to strip it out of his hands for the incompletion. Then came the best play of the day; Roy ran a slant at the endzone and right as the ball arrived Scandrick laid a vicious lick on Roy knocking his helmet off, the ball popped up in the air and Ball managed to pick it off. After a false start by Bigg, Hamlin2 came untouched on a blitz for the sack.

Kitna gave it to Felix for a medium gain, Phillips caught a short pass over the middle, and then the defense blitzed heavily but Choice was able to break a run to the outside following a block by Phillips. Choice tried a sweep but Bradie had excellent pursuit and ran him out-of-bounds. Choice got another run and made a nice cut to the outside for good yards, but on the next play Choice ran again with Ware busting through to stuff it.

They ran another round of 11-on-11 but I had to leave practice early. This is my last practice report and I have to check out of the hotel to fly home. It's been fun watching the Cowboys and reporting it all back to you guys. Also, I want to say thanks to everybody who contributed to the training camp fundraiser, the half of the money I took paid for my flight and hotel, leaving me to pick up only my meals, drinks, etc. You guys are the best for contributing.

BTB's coverage of training camp doesn't end though with my departure, Raf will be in town on Tuesday or Wednesday and you know he'll kick butt on his reports. Expect to see a lot more about scheme, formations and strategy with the ever insightful Raf posting.

Thanks for reading BTB, the season is only just getting started and we have a long way to go. I hope you'll be reading and commenting everyday.

See ya on the flip side.

Dallas Cowboys 2009 Training Camp: Practice #7

Dave Halprin — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 23:15:05 -0000

More photos » by Eric Gay - AP

The return of a healthy Mat McBriar should cheer up any Cowboys fan.

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Full pads for today's afternoon practice. The injured list consisted of Isaiah Stanback, Stephen Hodge, Tim Anderson, Michael Hawkins and Alonzo Coleman. Before practice Sam Hurd took some reps as the backup holder on kicks while Mat McBriar is the primary holder.

After special teams drills they finally practiced real kickoffs. The first unit coverage team was Alan Ball, Orlando Scandrick, Justin Rogers, Deon Anderson, Sam Hurd, the kicker, Pat Watkins, Steve Ocatvien, Bobby Carpenter, Miles Austin and Gerald Sensabaugh. Returning the kicks were Felix Jones and Willie Reid. Folk had a couple of kicks that went to the 5-yard line and the 1-yard line while David Buehler put one 3-yards in the endzone, another to the 2-yard line and one that went 9-yards deep into the endzone.

After stretching, they practiced FGs, both Folk and Buehler looked good kicking the ball. They followed with a long session of position drills. One thing different about this camp is the variety of drills they are doing. At previous camps, the drills always seemed to be the same. This year, they are doing a lot of different ones, which should help the players stay sharp instead of just falling into a routine. For example, the offensive line was lining up with both hands on a small ball instead of one hand on the ground, and when they popped up out of their stance, they picked the ball up to their chest. My guess is this was to help them to get their hands up to their chest quickly when they come out of their stance. That is just one example of the variety of drills I'm seeing this year. They also spent some time practicing blocks against spin moves.

Next was a session of 7-on-7 at one end while the OL battled the DL at the other. This time, I followed the OL/DL matchup. One thing I noticed is that no matter how well the OL did, after each rep Hudson Houck was right in there critiquing and teaching. Colombo was able to push Brandon Williams wide the first time, the second time Williams got closer to the QB, but Colombo held him up. Bigg was able to stop Rat, the second time Rat tried to bull-rush but got off-balance and Bigg pushed him to the ground. Gurode rode Spears upfield past the QB, the next time Spears won the hand fight and Gurode was visibly mad at himself. Bowen put a nice move on Kosier for the win, the second time Kosier looked good. Ware circled around Flo and was probably too deep, but Flo never got his hands on him, Houck didn't like that. The next time Ware tired it again, but near the QB Flo got his hands on him to push him by. Octavien blew right by McQuistan, and got a good rush the second time but McQ managed to put up some resistance. Ryan Gibbons was good twice on Hatcher, then Marcus Dixon stepped in and was able to bull-rush Gibbons backward. Siavii tried a bull-rush on Procter but was leaning too far forward so Procter pushed him to the ground by the back of his helmet. Joans Seawright stepped in for Siavii and forced Procter to give up too much ground.

Holland stuffed Dixon in his tracks, and then Dixon tried a spin move next time but Holland was up to the task. Free had no problem with Victor Butler on the first go-round, the second time Free was good initially on Butler, but was moving too far back and Butler cut under him to the QB. Spencer was able to blow by McQ, he tried the same move a second time but McQ recovered at the last second for the save. Travis Bright looked OK on Dixon, the second time Dixon managed to push him back some but Bright never gave up the contact and held up well. Derreck Robinson blew up Greg Isdaner, actually knocking him to the ground, the second time Robinson beat him again, though not as easily.

Next came a session of 11-on-11. Romo dumped a short one to MB3 in the flats but Jenkins was there instantly for the stop. Spencer then blew through the blocking to stuff MB3 in the backfield. (BTW, Wade needs to put a coach along the line of scrimmage, Spencer was lining up off-sides almost every time). Roy got into a one-on-one with T-New on a bomb, but T-New was able to break up the pass. Crayton had a false start and was replaced, and then Witten caught one for about 8 yards between Bradie and Carpenter. Roy was able to out-leap Courtney Brown for a 10-yard catch. Kitna started by hitting Austin for about 25-yards between the linebackers and the safeties. Next was a short pass to Crayton with Alan Ball making the tackle. Derreck Robinson knifed through the blocking to probably tackle Choice in the backfield, it was a close call, Choice kept running and if it was a miss in the backfield then he had a big run. Lattimore took a pitch for around 10 yards before Hamlin2 made the stop. McGee threw one high out-of-bounds and then threw one short to Scott Chandler in front of DeAngelo Smith.

Romo was back and tried a hand-off but Spencer beat Kosier, who was pulling for a block, and made the stop. Ware and Brooking met at the QB for a sack, then Romo led Bennett by just a hair too much on a short pass, Bennett had the ball go off his fingertips. Austin caught a 10-yd comeback pattern in front of Jenkins, Felix tried a run up the middle, made a nice move to avoid a tackle then broke it outside. Crayton caught a short pass and Brown made the stop. Kitna dumped one off to Choice and while Choice was breaking it outside on the ensuing run, Bennett blew up Alan Ball who was trying to make the tackle, putting him to the turf and allowing Choice a big run. The gasp in the crowd was priceless, even Ball had to give Bennett a slap on the helmet in congratulations after he got up. (Corrected: I originally had Brown as the victim, I've been told it was Ball). Kitna threw a swing pass to Choice but Hamlin2 made the quick stop. Lattimore made a nice move in between two defenders for a decent run, Kitna dropped the snap on the next play, and then Choice had a nice run to the left side behind Gibbons and Free where he was untouched for about 20-yards. Rudy Carpenter closed out the practice with a short pass to Rodney Hannah and another short pass to Jesse Holley.

Practice over.

Dallas Cowboys 2009 Training Camp: Practice #6

Dave Halprin — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 23:18:54 -0000

More photos » by Eric Gay - AP

Hurd beats Scandrick.

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Practice was in shells this afternoon. Stephen Hodge dressed out but never managed to participate, he continued to work with the trainers instead. TE John Phillips took some reps as a long snapper early before practice started, joining LP Ladouceur and Matt Stewart. Early on they ran punt drills and Mat McBriar was booming the kicks, I counted at least three between 60-65 yards with nice hang time. They only had two punt returners catching the ball as they practiced coverage, Patrick Crayton and Felix Jones. That might be an indication of the direction they want to go.

After stretching they moved into positional drills and they added a new one today, the LBs covering the RBs on pass patterns. I didn't catch the whole thing but here's what I did see. Bobby Carpenter deflected a pass for Felix Jones but had held Felix before that to be in position. Marion Barber was able to shake free of Jason Williams, Asaph Schwapp caught a pass on Jason Williams but Williams was able to get his hands in and poke it free. Keon Lattimore got a step on Carpenter but the pass was overthrown. Brooking had good coverage on MB3, Felix and Williams collided at the break on the pattern knocking Williams down leaving Felix open. Choice cooked Carpenter on a long pass, Schwapp got a short one on Williams, and Lattimore was able to beat Brooking.

Make the jump.

While this was going on Hudson Houck was working with the whole line, including the TEs on run blocking from 2-TE sets. Mainly they worked on Witten coming down the line on a wham block or shuffling him into the backfield as a lead blocker. The DBs were working with Dave Campo on zone coverage responsibilities especially with two receivers crossing on the same side of the field. The WRs were going through the passing tree but did an extra session where they worked on double-moves on long patterns.

They broke up for 7-on-7 and OL/DL matchups. I followed the 7-on-7 so I could get a feel on the "Roy Question" that everybody seems to be concerned with. In general, what I saw was Romo hitting the first-read when it was open and that wasn't always Roy, accounting for stretches where Roy didn't see the ball. They were also using Roy to clear out the safeties deep or attracting two defenders in a zone and the QB hit the guy left open or the guy with single-coverage. For instance, Romo started off with a pass to Witten deep over the middle but Roy had taken the safety with him on a deep post opening up the middle zone. On the next play, Jenkins and Ware bracketed Roy in coverage leaving MB3 wide open in the underneath zone. Miles Austin ran a nice fade-stop along the sideline to beat Jenkins who had tight coverage but didn't put on the brakes quick enough to get back to the ball. Witten caught a slant, then they motioned Felix out wide and since Romo couldn't hit his primary read he dumped it to Felix in the flats. Romo then made a mistake and didn't see Mike Hamlin (Hamlin2?) in the middle and he almost picked it off but the pass was high and he just couldn't grab it, but he did break up the pass.

Kitna tried to Roy on a crossing pattern but the ball went just off the end of Roy's fingertips. Willie Reid made a nice catch on a crossing pattern, Kitna dumped one short to Alonzo Coleman, then hit Crayton deep who had gotten by T-New. McGee hit Julian Hawkins short over the middle and Bradie laid a pop on him that sent him to the turf but he held on to the ball. In a rarity for 7-on-7, McGee couldn't find anybody open on the next play, so he tucked the ball and ran it.

Romo hit Crayton deep over the middle again as Roy had cleared the safety from the zone. Witten got open on a deep in for a catch, Bennett caught one over the middle as Hamlin2 was late getting over, and then Hurd made a spectacular diving catch on the sidelines. Caryton beat Mike Mickens on an out pattern, then Romo forced one into double coverage of Hurd by Hamlin and Watkins, and Dave Campo managed to get in the way, leading to a mess and an incomplete pass. Kitna dumped one to Felix, then hit Kevin Ogletree on a seam route, followed by another short pass where he missed the read of an open receiver downfield. He closed by hitting Julian Hawkins on a deep pass, Hawkins had lost Courtney Brown on the coverage. Rudy Carpenter then hit Manuel Johnson on a dig route and then dumped a short one to Rodney Hannah.

After the water break, the all came together for a closing session of 11-on-11. MB3 tried a run but Rat blew it up in the backfield and Spencer got in on the tackle because Kosier was too slow on his pull-block. Next they blitzed Sensabaugh who got picked up by the back, leaving T-New alone with Crayton, Crayton was able to beat T-New and haul in a long bomb. Romo audibled the next time to a draw for MB3 and he found a lot of room up the middle before Sensabaugh finally made the stop. Romo audibled again and hit Hurd in the flats. MB3 followed with a short run, then Romo checked-down to a short pass to Hurd.

Kitna gave it to Choice on a run and he made some nice cuts before Watkins made the stop. John Phillips had a nice catch on a well-thrown ball that was over Matt Stewart's head but before the oncoming Hamlin. Hurd ended up wide open for a catch after Courtney Brown fell down. Marcus Spears clogged up a running play, then Willie Reid got open over the middle because the MLB's blitzed but the line gave Kitna time. McGee had to avoid a collapsing pocket and ran the ball, then he hit Phillips who made a nice catch just beating the attempt of Alan Ball to break it up. Lattimore had a short run outside then Spears penetrated the line and blocked a pass in the backfield.

Romo was back and threw a 10-yd pass to Roy up the seam and then MB3 had a short run up the middle. Romo led Austin to the sideline of the endzone but the pass just bounced off Austin's out-stretched fingertips for an incompletion. Witten made a very nice catch for about 15-yds while managing to keep his feet in-bounds, then came a nice surprise. The defensive line rushed and looked like they were going to sack Romo, but they had a screen set up for Bennett who caught it and followed Bigg and Kosier for major yards. Romo finished by hitting Bennett in the flats but Carpenter was all over him for the tackle.

Kitna and Felix collided in the backfield on a blown handoff, but Kitna atoned on the next play by hitting Austin for a TD, Austin had beat coverage by Ball and Brown. The pocket collapsed on the next play leading to a sack, then Kitna pulled a roll-out that fooled Octavien on the pass rush leaving him open to toss it to Ogletree, then he hit Willie Reid in the endzone for a completion. Rudy Carpenter dumped one short to Lattimore, Hatcher tipped the next pass in the backfield for an incompletion, Carpenter then made a really bad throw, and finished by trying to hit Phillips but Sensabaugh swooped in to break it up.

Practice was over. Today was by far the best I'd seen the offense operate in camp, they got the better of the defense on numerous occasions. Tomorrow is a two-a-day but the morning session is a walk-through so I probably won't cover that. In the meantime, I will try to post another summary that will include who I think is doing well and who needs to step up their game.

Dallas Cowboys 2009 Training Camp: Practice #5

Dave Halprin — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 16:57:51 -0000

More photos » by Eric Gay - AP

That's 4th and Long's Jesse Holley versus rookie Mike Mickens.

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The Cowboys were in full pads this morning in what turned out to be a very spirited practice. Things were getting a little chippy on the field, a couple of defensive players decided to tackle the ball carriers and there was some physical play from both sides.

As usual, they started with special teams, this time with punt drills. The gunners were practicing on one side and that group included Pat Watkins, Orlando Scandrick, Miles Austin, DeAngelo Smith, Courtney Brown and Alan Ball. At the other end punt formations were going on, Joe DeCamillis uses three protectors on punts, the first unit was Steve Octavien, Tashard Choice and Deon Anderson, the second group was David Buehler, Sam Hurd and Jerome Carter. Catching punts was the regular group of Terence Newman, Patrick Crayton, Willie Reid, Felix Jones and DeAngelo Smith.

On the injury front, Isaiah Stanback joined the group with a sore hamstring along with Stephen Hodge and Tim Anderson. I know, you're shocked Stanback was injured again.

After stretching and warm-ups they went into a feisty session of 9-on-9 while the WRs/CBs battled on the other side. I followed the 9-on-9 this morning. The first run was by MB3 up the middle but Igor Olshansky knifed into the backfield to stop it, MB3 tried another run towards the outside but DeMarcus Ware pursued it down the line to catch him before it could really get going. MB3 did manage to get a nice gain on a run to the right on the next play. Felix Jones started a run outside but cutback to the middle for around 5-yds before Bobby Carpenter made the stop. Doug Free had a false start and was replaced, then Felix took the handoff and after Julius Crosslin and Jason Williams had a big collision in the backfield, Jason Hatcher moved in for the stop. Choice tried the middle and got a few yards before Carpenter stopped him and started a little of the rough stuff that characterized the day by not just touching Choice but wrestling with him for a bit. Alonzo Coleman had a nice run through a big hole up the middle, next Victor Butler got fooled and gave up contain allowing Coleman to get wide on a pitch play. They followed with a draw to Coleman but Pat Watkins snuffed it out. Ware blew right by a Jason Witten block to stuff MB3, next MB3 had a short run, then Felix blew through a big hole up the middle. Felix then slipped the next run to the right and outran Carpenter who was in pursuit and turned it upfield for a nice gain. Choice then had a run to the right side but Carpenter made the stop and pushed Choice to the turf in a little more extra-curricular activity.

The next session was 11-on-11 with the defense lining up in a nickel package on some of the plays. The four down lineman on the nickel were Anthony Spencer, Jay Ratliff, Stephen Bowen and DeMarcus Ware. Carpenter replaced Keith Brooking in this package. Tony Romo started it off with a draw to MB3 for about 5-yds before Bradie James made the tackle. After a swing pass to MB3, Romo threw a bullet that threaded the needle between two defenders for a Martellus Bennett catch. Octavien got good pressure on the next play and probably would have got the sack so Romo tucked it and ran. Romo dumped one short to Felix but Brooking made the stop, then they ran a draw to Felix who had a big gain up the middle.

Kitna came on and threw to Bennett in the flats, then threw and incompletion after Carpenter broke through for what would have been a sack. Spencer broke through to stop Coleman in the backfield, but they let the play run some more and Coleman ran into Mike Jenkins - Coleman stiff-armed Jenks in the facemask which got Jenks upset and they wrestled around a bit after the whistle. Stephen McGee took over and made a nifty little flip-pass to Keon Lattimore while under pressure but Ratliff was there and he ended up tackling Lattimore to the turf. On the next play McGee lofted a floater to the sidelines which Kevin Ogletree caught but was probably out-of-bounds.

Romo was back and tried a draw to MB3 but Brandon Williams stopped it quickly, the next play Romo dropped back to pass but nothing came open and Romo had to hold the ball, frustrated, he just spiked it to the turf. Next, he hit Witten for 10-yards, then he had to avoid pressure from Butler and hit Miles Austin for 20-yds or so over the middle. Kitna hit Mike Jefferson in front of Mike Mickens, then got flushed from the pocket and tried to hit Crayton but Kitna was clearly past the line of scrimmage.

After a short water break they formed up for another round of 11-on-11. They were using quite a bit of 2-TE sets in today's sessions. Romo tried a hitch-screen to Roy but the pass was low and Roy couldn't scoop it up. MB3 tried to get wide on a run but Ware and T-New shut it off. Romo tried to hit Roy deep over the middle but Ken Hamlin swooped in at the last second to break it up. Felix ran a draw play and made a move that broke Bradie James' ankles in the hole and then he ripped off a nice gain. Austin made a nice catch for 15-yds or so beating Courtney Brown. Felix ran another draw for 10-yds before Jason Williams made the stop.

Kitna threw into the flats to Manuel Johnson and Scandrick made the tackle, Jefferson then dropped a pass that hit him right in the hands while he was wide open. DE Derreck Robinson blew right by an attempted block from Greg Isdaner to stop a Coleman run, then Butler had pressure again, probably a sack, but the play continued and Kitna hit Bennett for 15-yds or so. McGee threw to Jesse Holley in the flats and he made a nice move on DeAngelo Smith and Courtney Brown to get some extra yards. Lattimore tried a run but Derreck Robinson shot through the line again, this time beating Turkovich, and stuffed it for a loss.

Romo's last session started with a swing pass to MB3 that Brooking tracked down for a stop, then on the next play Rat was so quick getting through the line he actually hit Romo's arm as he attempted a quick pass to the flats and it fell incomplete. Crayton then caught one in the flats, Witten caught a short one, then Austin collected a pass in front of Jenkins for good yards. MB3 finished Romo's session with a nice run.

Kitna overthrew Hurd and then Choice ran the ball for a good gain. Kitna then threw a pass to the endzone from around 20-yds out that Roy Williams caught making a nice play beating DeAngelo Smith. Matt Stewart then stuffed a Coleman run. Rudy Carpenter threw one to Jefferson on the sidelines and then finished the practice with a throw-away pass out-of-bounds.

I'll be back this afternoon for a second practice.

Dallas Cowboys 2009 Training Camp: Practice #4

Dave Halprin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:37:19 -0000

Full pads for today's affair. Stephen Hodge, Tim Anderson still rehabbing. One thing I like, DeAngelo Smith was out on the field 30 minutes before practice catching punts from the machine. Nice to see a rookie dedicated like that.

Started out with special teams drills again, and then went into some punts. Mat McBriar was crushing the punts today, high and far. Catching punts: Felix Jones, Terence Newman, Patrick Crayton, and Willie Reid. After team stretching they went into some FGs with both Nick Folk and David Buehler.

The defense then broke off and did drills that were all about fumbles. They did stations were the defensive groups rotated - they worked on falling on fumbles and properly wrapping it up, stripping the ball from the QB from behind, trying to punch the ball out of the ball-carrier's hands from behind and keeping a fumble in-bounds so another player could fall on it. Nice, we need turnovers this year.

While all that was going on, Buehler was practicing on-sides kicks. The guy was pounding them into the turf and having them pop up, they were going almost exactly 10 yards and right into the hands of Folk. His accuracy at getting the distance and keeping it in-bounds w\as uncanny, Folk rarely had to move to catch it.

Make the jump.

The broke off into 9-on-9 on one side and WR vs. DB on the other. I followed the WRs/DBs. Jenkins had great coverage on Crayton for an incompletion, Austin caught a slant in front of Courtney Brown, then Scandrick had great coverage on Kevin Ogletree for an incompletion. Stanback made a very nice catch on Alan Ball, Jesse Holley cooked Mike Mickens on a bomb, Mickens had to commit pass interference to stop it. Mike Jefferson blew right by Newman for a bomb, Crayton made a great in and out move to lose Scandrick, and Willie Reid beat Ball for a tough catch.

Mickens had nice coverage on Hurd for an incompletion, T-New looked good against Austin, then Roy almost made a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch on a bomb with tight coverage from Jenkins, but just couldn't hold on to it. Stanback beat Scandrick short, Scandrick gave him way too much room, then Jefferson cooked Mickens on a stop and go pattern deep. Julian Hawkins made a nice grab against T-New but ended up out-of-bounds. Austin caught a short one on Jenkins and Crayton abused Courtney Brown on a deep pass. Roy and Scandrick had a real physical battle on a short pattern to the sidelines with Roy winning the battle and making the catch. Manuel Johnson had and easy time with DeAngelo Smith, Reid caught a short one on Mickens and Hurd ran an excellent route to shake Brown.

D. Smith came back with nice coverage on a deep pass, then Scandrick got inside Reid on a dig route to break it up and Jefferson spun Brown around to make a short catch. Hawkins ran a good route to shake Mickens, then D. Smith was all over Austin on a deep pass. Crayton ran a route to the sidelines and got his hands on the ball up high but Jenkins recovered to knock it out of his hands before he could complete the catch. T-New had no problem covering Reid, Roy beat Scandrick on a short pass to the sidelines and Holley was able to shake C. Brown for a catch.

After that, they did 7-on-7 while the OL battled the DL. I followed the 7-on-7. Romo overthrew Witten on an out pattern, Bennett caught a short pass then Romo tried to hit Witten deep but Bradie James had excellent coverage. Hurd made a nice catch while simultaneously being hit from behind by Jenkins, Scandrick broke up a pass for Bennett and Roy caught one over the middle in front of C. Brown. Kitna threw a short pass to Scott Chandler, had a terrible throw to John Phillips, hit Ogletree in front of D. Smith and finished with and overthrow of and open Reid on the sidelines. McGee hit Hawkins in the hands but he dropped it and then connected with Philips on a short one.

Romo came back on and threw short to Witten, hit Austin in the flats, then just missed Austin on an out pattern. He tried to hit Bennett on a deep pass but Bennett's feet got tangled up with T-New and the ball was incomplete. He finished with a pass that had beautiful touch and floated softly into Jefferson's hands and then threw a swing pass to Felix. Kitna threw short to Bennett, then tried a pass over the middle but Mike Hamlin tipped the ball in the air then dove to make the INT. Kitna finished with short passes to Bennett and Hurd. Rudy Carpenter threw short to Keon Lattimore and then got picked-off by Scandrick.

Practice closed with a long session of 11-on-11. Wade was turning the defense loose as they blitzed often and they used nickel/dime coverages where they were putting two safeties near the line and only one linebacker. The defense got the better of the offense most of the day. Romo started by hitting Witten over the middle between Brooking and Sensabaugh, then Ratliff stuffed an MB3 run. Roy caught one on the sidelines in front of Scandrick, Felix caught a swing pass but Carpenter had good pursuit, then Felix tried a sweep but Brandon Williams fought the block and turned it into traffic. Kyle Kosier had a false start and was replaced and Romo hit Hurd on a deep pass that Hurd leaped high to get. Kitna rolled-out under pressure from Ocatvien and hit Phillips on a short pass. He tried to go deep to Reid but C. Brown and D. Smith had bracketed coverage. Choice caught a short pass but Jason Williams was right there for the stop. Anthony Spencer timed a rush to get good pressure forcing a dump-off, and Bennett caught a short pass but Brooking was all over him. McGee handed to Choice up the middle but Carpenter stuffed it. Lattimore caught a swing pass but Jerome Carter came up and accidentally decked him. Lattimore tried a run but had no room and then Brandon Williams got good pressure causing a throw-away.

Romo was back and immediately felt pressure from Octavien, he threw it to Crayton who dropped it. After a dump-off to MB3, he threw to Roy but Mickens was there, they both caught the ball and Mickens ended up with it. Witten got loose down the seam and Romo hit him in stride, they tried a pitch to Felix but Brooking and Bradie ate it up. They tried a reverse to Felix but he was forced to cut it back inside where Bradie was waiting. Kitna started out by overthrowing Reid on the sideline, next threw an incompletion after B. Williams applied pressure, and then threw the ball right to Ball who dropped the INT. Choice took and inside handoff and cut back outside for a long run followed by an Alonzo Coleman draw play that went for big yards. Rudy Carpenter threw a dump-off to Manuel Johnson, then pitched it to Coleman but Spencer disrupted the blocking and Bradie made the tackle. They tried a screen that had no chance as the blitz was on him before it could develop and finished by having Jenkins break up a pass.

That was that.

Dallas Cowboys 2009 Training Camp: Practice #3

Dave Halprin — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 23:03:13 -0000

More photos » by Eric Gay - AP

Tashard uses the resistance-band to try and make Felix fumble.

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The second practice of the day had the players in shells only. Stephen Hodge and Tim Anderson were still on the sidelines rehabbing. Watch for Charley Casserly on the NFL Network soon, he was at practice and spent forever talking with Jerry Jones on the sidelines.

It looks like the standard pattern this year is that special teams will be the first thing they work on. They ran some special team drills then did some punting. Felix Jones, Terence Newman, Patrick Crayton, Willie Reid and DeAngelo Smith were catching the punts. The gunners were Orlando Scandrick, Kevin Ogletree, Michael Hawkins, Alonzo Coleman and Courtney Brown.

The went through the positional warm-ups and team stretching, then went back for a very long session of positional drills. I didn't notice this before but the WRs and RBs had the resistance-bands hooked to the football, one guy would jog and the other guy would tug on the band trying to make them fumble. I liked that, but the best part of this session was the secondary working on covering the bunch formation (three receivers bunched on one side). This formation has killed the Cowboys over the past few years, good to see they were taking a lot of time working on the coverages. The rest of the groups were doing things like the DL working on stunts, the WR/QB working the passing tree, etc.

More below.

They broke up into 7-on-7 and OL/DL blocking drills. I watched the OL/DL; they did every match-up twice in a row. Colombo held up pretty well against Brandon Williams both times and Bigg looked OK against Spears but gave up a little too much ground once. Rat made a quick move on Gurode and got by and the other time was pretty much a draw. Kosier handled Igor twice, Ware got a good bull-rush on Flo once, but Flo pushed Ware wide on the second try. Victor Butler went right around McQ twice, it wasn't pretty for McQ. Ryan Gibbons was OK once on Hatch, but couldn't sustain his block the second time. Procter did OK with Junior, but gave up a little too much ground on one attempt. Holland stuffed Bowen the first time, but he lunged the second time and Bowen beat him. Free gave up ground to Steve Octavien the first time but came back on the second attempt and put Octavien on the ground. Spencer went too wide on McQ but had better luck the second time, although McQ was much better than before. Marcus Dixon bull-rushed Travis Bright into the QB, the next time Bright got a good initial pop but couldn't sustain it. Procter fought Jonas Seawright to a draw, but the second time Seawright did a nice spin move to get around him.

Derrick Robinson (who?) cooked Greg Isdaner once and then got a nice bull-rush the second time. Michael Turkovich (who, again?) did well twice against Butler. The coach called in Bigg to take a rotation at LT, Bigg was pretty good against Ocatvien both times. Justin Rogers beat Colombo once, but Colombo was good the second time. Bigg faced off with Rat and gave him a nice initial pop but Rat recovered well, the second time Rat was able to beat him. Bigg then took a turn with Hatcher and did well. Spears took a rotation at NT and was pretty good against Gurode, but the second time Gurode stuffed him. Kosier finished up with two nice efforts on Igor.

They came back together for a long session of 11-on-11. Romo was in first but Crayton immediately had a false start and was replaced. MB3 took a hand-off and found a big crease up the middle. They tried a screen to MB3 next but Sensabaugh shot through the blocking to stop it. MB3 had to bounce one outside when the middle was clogged for a short gain. Felix tried a sweep but Carpenter was able to slash through to get him quickly. Felix was lined up outside for a pass, but he and Romo had a miscommunication. Romo threw what looked like an out or hook pass, Felix was running straight up field and it was incomplete. They had another false start, but I couldn't see on who, then they tried a bomb to Stanback but he couldn't make the catch.

Kitna started with a bubble screen to Ogletree but Mickens and Butler were there to stuff it. Ogletree then beat Hawkins on a short pass but turned it upfield for a big gain. Hurd caught a deep pass between the LB and the safety over the middle, Kitna then had to dump it to John Phillips because of pressure, and he finished with a draw to Coleman - Spears had great penetration but it was unclear if he could've made the tackle or not. McGee came in and threw in the flats to Coleman, then Lattimore tried a middle run that was stuffed, then he tried a pitch outside but Jerome Carter had good pursuit.

Romo was back in and threw a swing pass to MB3 but Jason Williams had good pursuit. Butler broke up a slant intended for Roy, then Hawkins broke up another pass intended for Roy. T-New made a tackle on a swing pass to MB3, Felix tried a run but Ware and Rat weren't having that, and Romo closed with a nice 20-yd or so completion to Hurd in front of T-New. Kitna was next and tried to hit Stanback deep but Courtney Brown had good defense, Stanback then caught one over the middle just beating the outstretched arm of Carpenter, then Choice had a nice gain running wide to the left side. Matt Stewart made a nice stop on Choice, then Butler put pressure on Kitna forcing basically a throw-away. Rudy Carpenter was on and handed to Coleman but that was stuffed by Butler after Derrick Robinson had excellent penetration. They tried a draw to Lattimore that went nowhere, Ratliff then broke through for a sack, and it ended with an attempted screen but Bradie and Brooking ate it up.

That was it. Overall though, the practice was kind of sloppy with too many mistakes and some dropped passes.

Dallas Cowboys 2009 Training Camp: Practice #2

Dave Halprin — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:55:47 -0000

More photos » by Eric Gay - AP

Joe DeCamillis is trying to shape up a special teams unit that was anything but special last year.

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This morning's practice was a full-pads practice. Stephen Hodge was still working on the side because of injury, and a big white guy was also over there but he didn't have a jersey on so I couldn't tell who it was. (UPDATE: Todd Archer sent me an email telling me the "big white guy" was Tim Anderson. Thanks Todd!)

The Cowboys seem to be placing an emphasis on special teams as they opened practice again by working on that area. First, they broke into groups; the gunners were working on techniques to get past the blockers, another group worked on punt return blocking from the middle and the third worked on blocking the gunners. It looked like they were emphasizing proper technique and balance. They moved to some actual punting with Mat McBriar, he had some good punts that were high but not very long along with a few that were not up to his standards. He looked to be kicking free and easy; his injury appears to be fully recovered. Catching punts were Terence Newman, Patrick Crayton and newcomer Willie Reid. Covering punts as gunners were Courtney Brown, DeAngelo Smith, Pat Watkins and Alan Ball.

After that session they broke into positional warm-ups then came together for team stretching. They broke off to work on FG's after that with both Nick Folk and David Buehler taking turns. They really didn't go for distance, but the sound of the ball coming off Buehler's foot was striking, the boom was just a little louder than Folk's.

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They broke off into positional drills with the offense going through some running plays and the defense practicing technique drills in their groups. During these drills on offense, the second team o-line was Pat McQuistan, Ryan Gibbons, Cory Procter, Montrae Holland and Doug Free. The defensive backs were working on close-coverage man-to-man techniques with the "offensive" player doing start-stop patterns and the DB was supposed to stay with him as he slowed down and sped up again. The WRs were working on different short pattern drills including catching with another guy's hand in the face.

Next came a round of 9-on-9 - no WRs or CBs. Tony Romo opened with a middle run to MB3 through a nice hole but Gerald Sensabaugh caused him to fumble. Felix Jones went left and followed a nice pull block by Leonard Davis. Tashard Choice ran a draw play through a huge hole in the middle. Jon Kitna gave Choice the ball but Stephen Bowen stuffed the play. Felix had a nice run up the middle and then Alonzo Coleman had a nice run on a delay. Stephen McGee took over and gave it to Coleman for a short run, then Keon Lattimore was stuffed by Victor Butler, and Justin Rogers stuffed a delay. Romo came back and gave it to MB3 who followed Bigg, Marc Colombo and Jason Witten for a nice gain, then MB3 had a good run after cutting off a block of Kyle Kosier, but on the next run Igor Olshansky shut it down. Kitna followed but the first run was doomed by Bowen and Bobby Carpenter, then Kitna dropped the snap on the next play. Felix had an OK run in traffic and was eventually stopped by Jerome Carter and they finished on a nice run by Choice behind the blocks of Doug Free and Montrae Holland.

The whole team reconvened for a session of 11-on-11. Romo handed off to MB3 who had a nice run up the middle, next was a counter roll-out with a short pass to Witten in the flats but Sensabaugh was not fooled and made the stop. Marcus Spears got good pressure on Romo who dumped it to MB3 but Keith Brooking was there for the tackle. They tried a pitch to Felix but Brandon Williams had good contain and Steve Octavien made the tackle. Romo hit Witten on an out after feeling the pressure, then he connected on a long pass to Miles Austin who found a hole in the zone coverage.

Kitna came on and gave it to Choice who made a nifty run through traffic, then he tried a pass but felt the pressure from Marcus Dixon and Michael Hawkins broke up the pass. They tried a run play but Holland, on a pull, collided with Kitna in the backfield from bad timing. Another little reverse roll-out pass connected with John Phillips, and Kitna finished by hitting Kevin Ogletree on a hitch with Orlando Scandrick making the tackle. McGee dumped a pass to Lattimore and then handed it to Lattimore who made a short gain in traffic.

Romo was back in, but Witten had a false start and was replaced by Bennett. MB3 had a nice run after Flozell Adams popped Brandon Williams on the edge, followed by Mike Jenkins making a nice break-up on a pass intended for Roy Williams, Ocatvien had gotten good pressure on Romo. Felix tried a run but Bowen was there to stop him, then they tried another counter roll-out but Dixon stayed at home and blew up the play. Kitna came on and pitched to Choice who had a nice run, on the next play Justin Rogers and Victor Butler met at the QB but they threw the pass anyway, but Hawkins had good coverage. DeMarcus Ware busted up a run in the backfield that was meant for Choice. Rudy Carpenter tried a handoff but Jay Ratliff busted through and caused a fumble on the exchange. Carpenter then tried to hit Mike Jefferson on an out but he ended up out-of-bounds.

After a short break, they came back for another session of 11-on-11. Romo threw a shot pass to Bennett but Sensabaugh closed it out quickly with a tackle. MB3 had a short run before Bradie James stopped him. Bennett had a nice 15-yard catch over the middle, Sam Hurd made a nice catch with Jenkins draped all over him, then Felix ran a pitch play following blocks of Bigg and Colombo. They tried Felix again in the middle but there was no room. Kitna started with an incompletion intended for Isaiah Stanback. He then dropped a shotgun snap halting the play, then John Phillips and Kitna almost collided after Phillips was in motion throwing off the timing of a pass play. Kitna finished with an OK draw to Lattimore. McGee hit Ogletree with a perfect pass but Ogletree dropped it. McQuistan had a false start and he was immediately replaced. (The Cowboys aren't tolerating the false starts in this camp). Under pressure, McGee had to dump a pass to Lattimore.

Romo was back in and ran a successful screen to MB3 who followed a block from Kosier. They tried a dump off to MB3 next but Jason Williams broke it up. Roy made a short catch in front of Scandrick, they tried a draw from the shotgun but Matt Stewart stuffed it. Romo hit Felix short over the middle but Victor Butler popped the ball out from behind for a fumble. Romo finished with a pass in the flats to Lattimore. Kitna hit Bennett on a pass, then tried an off-tackle with Choice but Ware and Ratliff both penetrated into the backfield. Ware followed that up by sacking Kitna. Kitna finished by overthrowing Willie Reid on a deep crossing pattern. Rudy Carpenter then tossed a sweep to Lattimore who made a beautiful cut towards the middle for good yards, then they tried a dump pass but Jason Williams was all over it.

That was it, another practice this afternoon.