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    <title>SB Nation User Blog:  Deke</title>
    <link>http://www.sbnation.com/users/Deke</link>
    <description>Posts made by Deke on SB Nation</description>
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      <title>A NEW Medical procedure??</title>
      <link>http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2008/11/29/675246/a-new-medical-procedure</link>
      <author>Deke</author>
      <pubDate>Sat, 29 Nov 2008 16:42:16 -0000</pubDate>
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&lt;blockquote&gt;Plaxico Burress' controversial year has just taken a turn for the worse.
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The New York Giants wide receiver accidentally shot himself in the leg on Friday night, FOXSports.com has learned, not long after being ruled out of Sunday's game against the Redskins with a hamstring injury.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;He spent the night in the hospital and the injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. The team is still trying to gather further information on the incident.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8866348/Giants'-Burress-accidentally-shoots-self-in-leg"&gt;http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8866348/Giants'-Burress-accidentally-shoots-self-in-leg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;We have an idiot on our team named Pac-rat, The Giants have their own idiot, Plaxico Burress.&amp;nbsp;When he's not getting fined over sixty times by his own team , yelling at his head coach on the sidelines and cant play due to a hamstring&amp;nbsp;injury Sunday against the Skins,&amp;nbsp;Plaxico found a new hobby friday night, or maybe in his case, a new medical&amp;nbsp;procedure &amp;nbsp;to&amp;nbsp;cure his hamstring injury, shooting himself in the leg, DOH!!!! WHAT AN IDIOT!!!!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I'll put this question to the&amp;nbsp;blogging the&amp;nbsp;Blog medical&amp;nbsp;consultant expert Mullin, Can you confirmed this Mullin, is shooting the hamstring a&amp;nbsp;new medical treatment for a hamstring injury???..LOL!!&lt;/p&gt;

  
  


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      <title>The Offensive line</title>
      <link>http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2008/11/23/668424/the-offensive-line</link>
      <author>Deke</author>
      <pubDate>Sun, 23 Nov 2008 17:09:40 -0000</pubDate>
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&lt;p&gt;Is it too much to ask&amp;nbsp;from this offensive line &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;Is it too much to ask from this offensive line&amp;nbsp;to build on the way it played as a unit&amp;nbsp;in the fourth quarter last week against Washington. We've seen small snippets this year of this Offensive lines potential dominance. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Is it too much to ask from this Offensive line to play with more consistency in the running game getting&amp;nbsp;the push&amp;nbsp;up the middle and keeping out of the third and long from which this team finds itself in too many times. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Is it too much to ask from this&amp;nbsp;Offensive line, one of the biggest in the league,&amp;nbsp;to play with more focus,intensity, urgency, toughness and HEART and start setting the tone early in games and imposing their will on defenses &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Is it too much to ask this from this Offensive line to play with more discipline and stop taking the numerous penalties every week, especially Flozell Adams&amp;nbsp;with his weekly false start penalties &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Is it too much to ask from this offensive line to start to play up to its potential and start setting the tone&amp;nbsp;for the rest of this team. For me, this offense is all about the offensive line, this is a power running team, not a finesse or throwing team. Controlling the clock by&amp;nbsp;establishing&amp;nbsp;a consistent&amp;nbsp;power running game&amp;nbsp;to set up&amp;nbsp; play action and staying out of all these third and long&amp;nbsp;is the key to this teams success and will keep our defense fresh and off the field. Trying to throw the ball all over the field more and trying to get it into the hands of T.O more is IMO, getting away from this teams strengths of a ball control power running team. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Can&amp;nbsp;this offensive line put it all together today,&amp;nbsp;building on how well this Offensive line played in the fourth quarter last week,&amp;nbsp;I don't know, it's frustrating watching this team at times every week, they're&amp;nbsp;so inconsistant along this line.&amp;nbsp;They just need to start&amp;nbsp;playing better now, impose their will and dominate the line of scrimmage&amp;nbsp;early in games, hopefully that starts this week...Is it too much to ask??? &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Dallas 27&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;San Fran&amp;nbsp;20&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

  
  


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      <title>Jefferson and Gibbons added </title>
      <link>http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2008/9/10/611496/jefferson-and-gibbens-adde</link>
      <author>Deke</author>
      <pubDate>Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:28:43 -0000</pubDate>
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&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Cowboys made official today the signings of wide receiver Mike Jefferson and offensive lineman Ryan Gibbons to the practice squad.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Jefferson was released Monday to make room for QB Brooks Bollinger after being called up to the active roster as an emergency for Sunday's game at Cleveland. He essentially takes the spot he held a week ago on the practice squad.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Cowboys hoped James Marten would clear waivers and sign on to the practice squad but he was claimed by Oakland (and Chicago too but awarded to the Raiders because they had the worse record of the two in 2007).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Gibbons was among the Cowboys' final cuts in training camp. He can play all three line spots, which is a plus for practice squadders&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/09/mike-jefferson-ryan-gibbons-on-practice.html"&gt;http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/09/mike-jefferson-ryan-gibbons-on-practice.html&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Jefferson was pretty much a no brainer that if he cleared waivers that he would be resigned to the practice squad, and with Marten being picked up by the Raiders, chances were hgh that the cowboys were going to sign another Offensive linemen to the practice squad to protect themselves in case Kosiers Foot doesn't come along and if Holland has trouble picking up the line calls. Gibbon's was one of the final cuts and his versitility to play three positions on the O-line makes him intriguing to the organization to keep around to develop, athough Marten was their first choice to keep.&lt;/p&gt;

  
  


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      <title>Marten Claimed by Oakland</title>
      <link>http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2008/9/8/610097/marten-claimed-by-oakland</link>
      <author>Deke</author>
      <pubDate>Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:21:09 -0000</pubDate>
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&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Cowboys hoped James Marten would get through waivers so they could put him on the practice squad, but that effort was thwarted by Oakland.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Raiders claimed Marten, a third-round pick in 2007, and he will be on their 53-man roster.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Marten was inactive for every game last year as a rookie and was cut last Saturday so the Cowboys could call up receiver Mike Jefferson from the practice squad. He joins the list of high-round misses in the draft with Jacob Rogers (second round, 2004) and Stephen Peterman (third round, 2004).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/09/james-marten-claimed-by-oakland.html"&gt;http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/09/james-marten-claimed-by-oakland.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;First Walden, now Marten. Looks like another draft pick that didn't work out for the cowboys. After moving marten from tackle to guard and then back out to tackle again, and&amp;nbsp;the trade for Holland pretty much sealed his fate in dallas. They tried to get him through waivers to get him another year on the practice squad to see how things would work out, but it just didn't happen. I hope Holland can step up and really show his worth. Rogers, Peterman and now Marten, can we not hire some people to better evaluate offensive linemen because we cant continue to fill roles at the position on the offensive line through free agency. We've got to start developing our own linemen&lt;/p&gt;

  
  


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      <title>Bollinger is signed. Bartel Released</title>
      <link>http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2008/9/8/609938/bolinger-is-signed</link>
      <author>Deke</author>
      <pubDate>Mon, 08 Sep 2008 17:51:45 -0000</pubDate>
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&lt;blockquote class="hot-entry"&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Brooks Bollinger has been added to the 53-man roster and wide receiver Mike Jefferson will be released by the end of the day to make room.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Bollinger will receive $569,411 for the rest of the season as the prorated portion of the veteran minimum for a sixth-year player ($605,000). He also received a $40,000 signing bonus. He will wear No. 5, which was last worn by Clint Stoerner in 2002.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If Jefferson is not claimed, then he will be added to the Cowboys' practice squad. The Cowboys will find out today if guard James Marten was claimed after his release on Saturday. If he clears, they would like to add him to the practice squad.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/09/brooks-bollinger-is-official.html"&gt;http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/09/brooks-bollinger-is-official.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Well this certainly cant be viewed as a surprise, a head scratcher for sure. I just dont see the logic in signing this guy, I dont see what this organization see's in him. i would not feel comfortable with Bollinger coming off the bench as a backup. This in my opinion isn't the upgrade backup I was looking for.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To make room Jefferson was cut, but if no one signs him, I'm sure he'll be back on the practice roster along with Marten and Bartel will be sent packing.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Update.....&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;bartel has been released. As I suspected, as soon as Bollinger was signed, there was no need to occupy a Practice squad roster spot on a QB. Marten's locker wasn't cleared out so He'll be resigned to the practice squad is no one signs him. Jefferson will probably make his way back to the practice squad tomorrow&lt;/p&gt;

  
  


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      <title>Marten has been cut</title>
      <link>http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2008/9/6/608794/marten-has-been-cut</link>
      <author>Deke</author>
      <pubDate>Sat, 06 Sep 2008 18:09:00 -0000</pubDate>
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&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I'm trying to escape New York before Hurricane Hanna hits the area, but wanted to update you on two Cowboys roster moves that just went down. Former third-round draft choice &lt;a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=10511" target="_new"&gt;James Marten&lt;/a&gt;, who moved from tackle to guard, was released Saturday morning to make room for wide receiver &lt;a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=10941" target="_new"&gt;Mike Jefferson&lt;/a&gt;, who's going to be activated from the practice squad.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://myespn.go.com/blogs/nfceast"&gt;http://myespn.go.com/blogs/nfceast&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;With Stanback still suffering with a shoulder injury, it only makes sense that the cowboys activate Jefferson to the active roster. It's just not a smart idea to go into a game with only three receivers, with one still injured.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;If Marten clears waivers, dallas will probably sign him to the practice squad&lt;/p&gt;

  
  


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      <title>Here's the Practice roster</title>
      <link>http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2008/8/31/605062/here-s-the-practice-roster</link>
      <author>Deke</author>
      <pubDate>Sun, 31 Aug 2008 22:09:28 -0000</pubDate>
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&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Here it goes.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Danny Amendola. One of the last cuts, could play at Cleveland.&lt;br /&gt;Mike Jefferson. Started the last pre-season game, also could move up to active roster.&lt;br /&gt;Marcus Dixon. Hurt all pre-season, team sees potential.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Rodney Hannah. Four tight ends. Yeah, Hannah is mainly special teams.&lt;br /&gt;Julius Crosslin. Showed an ability to block like a fullback.&lt;br /&gt;Alonzo Coleman. Improved from last season. &lt;br /&gt;Tearrius George. Last pre-season game helped his cause.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/08/the-practice-squad.html"&gt;http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/08/the-practice-squad.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Like the 53 man roster, I should preface this practice squad as, FOR NOW!!!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Dixon, Hannah,Crosslin and Jefferson I like, the rest I dont see making it through the year.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Terrius George is on this practice roster because Jerry got cute once again and lost Welden to Kansas City.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Very happy we were able to get Hannah back, I liked his progress over the last year.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Crosslin is on the practice roster just in case Cricket goes down with an injury.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I'd rather have kept Lattimore over Coleman&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Marcus Dixon is going to benefit greatly in the teams strength and conditioning program. This kid has alot of upside&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I doubt Amendola or Jefferson will be on the practice squad much longer if we acquire another wide out or if Hurd,Stanback and Austin are back soon.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I suspect Bartel will be back unless Dallas signs another backup to the active roster&lt;/p&gt;

  
  


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      <title>Witten sounds off on Bennett</title>
      <link>http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2008/8/27/602305/witten-sounds-off-on-benne</link>
      <author>Deke</author>
      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:35:46 -0000</pubDate>
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&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Rookie TE Martellus Bennett recalls a rather harsh response after asking Jason Witten for help early in training camp: "&lt;strong&gt;I'm not going to be [beep] doing this all the [beep] time. You've got to know what the [beep] to do."&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The message: Bennett better handle his business before he expects to get much help from the Pro Bowler at his position.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It's not like Witten, the game's best all-around tight end, is worried about the second-round pick cutting into his playing time or eventually replacing him in the starting lineup. Far from it.&lt;strong&gt; Witten wants Bennett to fulfill his potential, and he doesn't think babying the Aggie will help him&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It's the same way Dan Campbell, another Aggie tight end, treated Witten when he was a rookie. It's a tough love form of leadership.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/08/jason-witten-will-not-hold-martellus-ben.html"&gt;http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/08/jason-witten-will-not-hold-martellus-ben.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Martellus Bennett might take note of Witten's comments and start to take his job more serious. Witten does not seem very impressed with bennett's attitude and work ethic thus far.. Bennett has a great opportunity in dallas and has one of thee best tightends in the game to learn from, its time for bennett&amp;nbsp;to grow up and take his opportunity&amp;nbsp;by knowing his responsibilities and learn the finer points of the game from on of thee best tightends in the game in Witten,&amp;nbsp;instead of&amp;nbsp;acting like a&amp;nbsp;know it all.&lt;/p&gt;

  
  


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      <title>Kosier could be out six weeks</title>
      <link>http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2008/8/23/599924/kosier-could-be-out-six-we</link>
      <author>Deke</author>
      <pubDate>Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:10:33 -0000</pubDate>
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&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Injury report from Friday night's game.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Left guard Kyle Kosier could miss up to six weeks because of a sprained right foot and hairline fracture. Kosier left Texas Stadium in a walking boot.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Joe Berger is the favorite to take over for Kosier.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also, wide receiver Isaiah Stanback suffered a dislocated left shoulder on a kickoff. The Cowboys will wait to see how Stanback responds to treatment before determining if he needs surgery.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The biggest blow to the team is Stanback, we doubt he will play on Thursday night against Minnesota, because it cause depth issues at wide receiver&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/08/kosier-out-six-weeks-stanback-hurt-too.html"&gt;http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/08/kosier-out-six-weeks-stanback-hurt-too.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Certainly not the news anyone wanted to hear especially how well this O-line played Friday night. Most&amp;nbsp;hoped it was&amp;nbsp;just &amp;nbsp;a sprained ankle&amp;nbsp;but he's also got a hairline fracture. I guess Joe berger has to step up in his absence. You may see now just how valuable Kosier is on this offensive line.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Stanback, on the other hand may be lost for the year with another shoulder surgery, depending on how he takes to treatment. If the club&amp;nbsp;suggests surgery, Stanback will surely be placed on IR. We are certainly getting thin at the receiver position, cant afford any &amp;nbsp;injuries to the starters.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I'm sure Wade Phillips will bring up Stanbacks injury to justify his reasoning for NOT putting Felix Jones back there on kick returns.&lt;/p&gt;

  
  


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      <title>Merriman has serious knee problems</title>
      <link>http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2008/8/22/598953/merriman-has-serious-knee</link>
      <author>Deke</author>
      <pubDate>Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:14:01 -0000</pubDate>
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&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Shawne Merriman was in New York yesterday to see a specialist and was pondering seeing another doctor today, as he and his advisers attempt to gather enough information to decide when and if he will play this season.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;ldquo;It's finding out what do I need to fix, what I need to do,&amp;rdquo; Merriman said by phone. &amp;ldquo;If it's left up to me, I want to play football. I can't stand sitting out.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Merriman's options for fixing what he said was a torn posterior cruciate ligament (among other issues) in his left knee range from doing nothing to having a surgery that would delay the start of his season to undergoing reconstructive surgery that would keep him out all season.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/chargers/20080822-9999-1s22chargers.html"&gt;http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/chargers/20080822-9999-1s22chargers.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I&amp;nbsp;never&amp;nbsp;like to hear about a player with a serious knee problem, especially a game changing player&amp;nbsp;like Merriman that could cost him part of or all&amp;nbsp;of a&amp;nbsp;season or even shorten his&amp;nbsp;career, whether they play for the cowboys or not. Merriman has already had orthroscopic surgery in March on his knee, now they are talking about a possible&amp;nbsp;complete reconstructive surgery. That's never good to hear.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;After the first two years in the league, some cowboy fans thought that taking Ware over merriman was a mistake, but with Phillips new defensive scheme and the strides that Ware has made in his game, I'm sure with the recent developments with merriman's serious knee problems, all cowboy fans are happy with our selection.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

  
  


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