SB Nation - Alonzo Coleman

The VRR: Three Vets Make Their Return; Team Makes Two Cuts

Aaron Novinger — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 03:06:14 -0000

It's good to see Terence Newman back playing ball. The Dallas defense is not the same without him.

Cornerbacks Terence Newman and Mike Jenkins, and receiver Roy Williams, all returned to practice today. Newman has missed the past 11 practices and the preseason game against Oakland with a strained groin, while Williams missed the Sunday afternoon practice with a sprained left wrist. Head coach Wade Phillips expects both players to play against Tennessee this Friday.

Williams could have held back in practice today, but decided against it.

"Going in for treatment the trainer said, you're going to run cords with Britt (Brown) and I said. No I'm not" said Williams who sprained his left wrist going after a pass and landing on it in Sunday's first work out. Williams then opted to play through the pain instead of going through the rehab. "It's a good thing i did, my confidence level went sky high because thought the ball would take my hand and break my wrist. Thank God I have strong hands" Williams said.

He had a tough time sleeping with the soft cast last night and did practice with the wrist heavily taped and he thinks he accomplished his goal of leading by example by not missing the only practice of the day.

"I practiced not only for my teammates and coaches but also for the media side of it as well" said Williams. "If i miss camp , it's a big deal. I don't want to be the guy that doesn't practice because of this or that. I've come to far not to go through camp, we're almost done, so get it over with, go through the pain, catch the football and do what i do."

Newman returned to his starting LCB spot, but will not be returning punts yet.

While Newman participated fully with the defense, he is not expected to play a significant role as a punt returner, which is how he injured his groin in the first place. He's only someone to be used in certain situations, if at all, Phillips said.

"He's been kind of on the edge of punt return anyway," Phillips said. "He's not the returner. He's a guy that we're looking at as a backup or maybe a guy that if we get them backed up, we want more of a speed guy and we could utilize him."

More VRR after the jump.

CB Mike Jenkins also made his return from an ankle injury, completing the reunion of the Cowboys' starting secondary.

"It's normal right now, just a little sore," he said of his ankle. "It's probably going to be like that through the whole season, but it's something I can work through."

Secondary coach Dave Campo said Jenkins might not be able to "do certain things" but that he didn't look rusty in his first day back.

"I thought he did a nice job," Campo said. "He moved around good. I was more looking at how he was moving than anything else. He looked fine to me."

Courtney Brown had a good practice today, making an interception and breaking up a couple of passes from his cornerback position. After the Raiders game, that should bode well for his confidence--something every CB needs. Here's what secondary coach Dave Campo had to say about Brown's practice.

"One of the keys with the younger guys, sometimes they can (get) beat down with us talking about things they're doing wrong. Sometimes they don't rebound from that. I thought he did today and did a nice job."

The Turk visited RB Alonzo Coleman and CB Michael Hawkins, today. Both players were cut by the team. That drops the roster down to 76. They don't have to get down to 75 until September 1, so there's a chance they can bring in another camp body to help fill a thin position.

Stephen Hodge vs. Jason Witten? It sounds like the two have already found some competitive fire between each other.

Maybe the most surprising sight from today's practice came from five time pro-bowler Jason Witten. He and draft pick Stephen Hodge got in some good battles and when a red zone completion ended, Witten heaved the ball at the rookie out of TCU.

"The first time I grabbed his shoulder pads, since tight ends most likely push, so I grabbed his pads, and next go around and I guess he thought I was trying to tackle him" said Hodge who returned to practice this week after missing time with a knee injury. " I was just trying to get the ball out and he threw it at me but it's not a big deal" Hodge said.

Nick Eatman reports that Coach Phillips plans to give the starters more snaps in this Friday's game against the Titans .

"We haven’t finalized how long we’re going to play them but we’ll play our starters more than the last game obviously," said Phillips, who added that decision was not affected by the Cowboys opening up the new stadium in Arlington. "No, we have to evaluate guys and also have to get our team ready to play the first ballgame against Tampa so that's what we're going to do. I don't think anything changes there."

Phillips said he expected Terence Newman (groin) and Roy Williams (wrist) to play some against the Titans and added rookie linebacker Brandon Williams (bruised shoulder) could also return to practice and possibly play Friday night.

Keith Brooking feels that moving to the Cowboys came at a good point in his career.

Tashard Choice is more than understanding about accepting his role behind MB3 and Felix.

"It's frustrating when you're not running the ball as much you want to. But you've got to understand that something is going to be better, something is going to work out here or down the line so you've just got to take it in stride. You can't complain about the position you're in. You're still playing football."

Like Choice, Orlando Scandrick is taking a "team first" attitude and sounds like he's tired of being asked about the starting RCB position.

"I don’t really want to talk much more about the competition or nothing like that," Scandrick said. "I’m hungry, and I want more. I’m not going to stop. I’m going to continue to make plays and, I mean, I don’t know what they’re going to do, but as long as I’m out here I’m going to continue to make plays."

Mickey Spagnola discusses Jason Garrett's options for spreading around the football.

While the Cowboys might not have a dominating offensive player, they have more weapons than you can shake a stick at, and they are now unencumbered to use them all at their discretion without having to worry about some verbal repercussion.

Just count them. You got two running backs now needing the ball in their hands, Barber and Jones, plus a third who can carry his own weight in Tashard Choice. They have a bevy of receivers capable of contributing in different ways, from Williams to Crayton to the emerging Sam Hurd and Miles Austin.

And as I pointed out at the start of camp, you will fall in love with the two-tight end sets formed by Witten and Bennett, their dual ability to not only block like tight ends but run the field like power forwards.

Apparently, DeMarcus Ware is the film study subject for several Tennessee Volunteers defensive ends.

Stars have to dance, right? Evidently, they do. Michael Irvin will headline the cast of ABC's "Dancing With The Stars".

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 #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.

The Valley Ranch Review: Miles Austin Signs and Jerry Jones is Confident in Roy Williams

Aaron Novinger — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:00:14 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

The Roy Williams trade is still being talked about but Jerry Jones has no doubts, he'd do it again.

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Barring some unforeseen trade, the Cowboys' absence in the first round this Saturday will continue the talk regarding the Roy Williams' trade. Jerry Jones said he'd do it again.

"I would do that trade again. The only fair way to look at that trade, at his age, is to give it the benefit of how and what it does as we go ahead over the next year or two."

He also spoke on RW's commitment this offseason.

"First of all, he's the first one here," Jones said. "And, secondly, he's lighting them up. He doesn't have any nicks. He's out there working with (receivers coach) Ray Sherman and those guys are elated. I'm not exaggerating, they are elated at the work he is getting in and what he is doing and his focus and his work habits and everything that he is doing. He had to make it happen, and he did it, and that's impressed everybody."

Here's another reason Jones thought giving up a first-rounder was worth it.

"One of the reasons we made the Roy Williams trade is to stay out of the first round," Jones said. "We were concerned as we went into this draft. Now I must tell you when we made the trade, I thought we would be at the bottom of the first round. We called on our scouting group and we projected out ahead, and we did think this was not the year, it's the year before going into an uncapped year, you've got different signing issues on picks than you had last year, and so, these are really going to be, this year, is going to be a real challenge in the first round."

Miles Austin signed his restricted free agent tender, but may have to show some of his expected potential to receive a long-term contract. Stephen Jones told DMN why he thought the Jets passed on committing to the wide receiver.

"On your second contract, you get paid off what you've done, not what you might do," Stephen Jones said.

[snip]

"I would have been surprised if they were the numbers that I was hearing," Stephen Jones said when asked if he was surprised the Jets didn't make an offer. "That's a lot of money to pay a guy who hasn't done it."

Jones declined to reveal the contract terms floated by Austin's camp, but he mentioned that a second-round pick would get "20 percent of that." Based on the contract of Jacksonville DE Quentin Groves, the 52nd overall pick last season, that puts the Austin camp's proposal in the four-year, $18 million range.

RB Alonzo Coleman and TE Rodney Hannah also signed their exclusive rights free agent contracts with the team.

Troy Aikman talks about how his background with baseball led him to purchasing a minority ownership in MLB's San Diego Padres.

Former Buffalo Bill and Texas Longhorn offensive tackle, Mike Williams, is making a comeback after sitting out of the game for two years. We've seen the Cowboys support and even sign these types of players. Could the former first-round bust pull a Marc Colombo?

Marion Barber out for Steelers game

Raul Villaronga — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 21:04:08 -0000

The Dallas Cowboys official website is reporting that RB Marion Barber is out for this week's game against the Steelers. Barber didn't make the trip.

Barber was held out of practice all week with a dislocated toe. The Cowboys will turn to rookie Tashard Choice and signed Alonzo Coleman from the practice squad as a backup.

Cowboys vs. Vikings: Offensive roster battles

Dave Halprin — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:08:37 -0000

The last preseason game. After tonight, the next time our Dallas Cowboys hit the field it will be for real. Yes, we are that close to actually starting the 2008 NFL season. We aren’t there yet though, we still have the last preseason game to complete and for the top of the roster it’s an opportunity to play dress up and not actually do anything, but for the bottom of the roster tonight means everything. Soon the Cowboys will have to get down to the 53-man roster limit meaning tonight will be the last time we ever see some players in a Cowboys uniform.

So what’s tonight all about? Roster battles.

Offense

QB - Richard Bartel vs. the practice squad. The Cowboys are deciding between three QB’s or just two. Bartel will get the whole game to prove his worth. My estimation is he probably can’t do enough in this game to stop the inevitable. Dallas enters the season injured and unsure about when they will have full health. They need extra players elsewhere. They are banking that they won’t get Matt Moore-ed by another team and that they can move Bartel to the practice squad. An eye-opening game tonight may sway that opinion, but the odds are not in his favor to make the roster.

RB – I’ve always contended they’ll keep three and I still believe that. Keon Lattimore and Alonzo Coleman haven’t forced their hand, one will probably make the PS.

FB – Julius Crosslin is still hanging around but hasn’t shown enough to make the Cowboys keep him. They decide to go short at FB to open the season with only Deon Anderson.

WR – Now this is tricky. It all depends on what they really think will happen with Isaiah Stanback and whether they think Miles Austin’s injury is a four-week deal or six. They need six WR’s to start the year unless the news on Austin and Stanback is so good and absolute, that they can revert to the philosophy from the beginning of camp; they were going to keep five and a sixth would have to force their way on the roster. I don’t think that’s the case right now, so Danny Amendola and Mike Jefferson have an opportunity here. I still think a vet signing is going to happen after league cuts, so even if they kept both, one may be gone within a week or so. I have Amendola slightly ahead of Jefferson at this point, mainly because of special teams work. Amendola has been playing on a lot of the units and has shown a little something along with his mistakes. Jefferson as a receiver can get open, his problem is catching the ball consistently and he’s doesn’t contribute much besides being a WR. Todd Lowber is still too raw and a mythical creation of Hard Knocks. (Because I wrote that, he’ll catch two TD’s tonight, it’s a given).

TE – The only possible question is keeping Rodney Hannah as a fourth TE and going long at a position to supplement the lack of FB’s, or go with three like normal. I don’t think Hannah has shown enough, he’s not special on special teams and he probably can’t block out of the backfield or handle other important TE jobs. He’s tall and athletic, but young and inexperienced, and we already have that guy in Martellus Bennett, and his upside is higher and was a second round pick.

OL – All eyes will be on Pat McQuistan and Joe Berger. Tonight is the final interview for the job of replacing Kyle Kosier for the first quarter of the season. Cory Procter is also in the mix but I think its McQ or Berger. Figuring out who it will be is the most important thing tonight, but the Cowboys need to decide if they will keep nine or ten offensive linemen. We know the starting five when Kosier is back, and we pretty much know that McQ or Berger will fill-in with the other being kept just in case. That gives you seven. Doug Free isn’t going anywhere, that’s eight, and Procter is the only true backup center giving you nine. That leaves James Marten and I don’t think the Cowboys want to give up on him yet and with the shifting around of the line because of Kosier, they probably hang on to him for insurance at this point.