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He's not a joke. Crayton had a bad game at the worst time in front of the world. He is still more than a decent WR.
i was hoping that we would trade up in the 2nd round and get sombody like limas sweed but no wr's again is a dissapointment. T.O. cant carry the wr duties 4ever and jason witten can only do som much. I really dont know about terry glenn. and patrick Crayton is a joke.
good article on jones' thinking...
http://www.dallascowboys.com/news.cf...CCC574D451A19E
WR Priority Takes Back Seat to Glenn, Current WR's
IRVING, Texas - Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is known for his ability to take risks. When it comes to draft day, he is known to gamble, and he even proved that this weekend by making six different trades.
Taking risks often comes down to playing the percentages and odds.
And long before the first pick went off the board on Saturday, Jones said he was weighing his options at the wide receiver position. He said he even made himself a chart.
Jones said he jotted down on a piece of paper all of the logical options for his team at wide receiver.
"I did a chart, sat down with everybody, I looked at all the (veteran) receivers who would fit the definition of somebody who could play opposite of Terrell (Owens), and I put the odds of who likely we were to get that," Jones said of the idea of adding a high-priced veteran, which never happened with his team or any other this weekend. "And that was one odd. I then I put, what are the odds of Terry Glenn coming back? If we got the very best receiver in the draft, what are the odds - this coming year, not in the future but this year - what are the odds there?
"What are the odds of (Sam) Hurd and those guys taking another step? You add the in-house guys and the odds of Terry Glenn up against the odds of getting a free agent and really be the balancing act, and our best odds are here right now. And they're not unrealistic odds either."
When asked for a specific number of the odds that Glenn would be able to return to form this year, Jones had a quick response.
"Fifty. Terry has a 50 percent chance of being exactly what we want, which is being a veteran guy that the defenses are afraid of," Jones said of Glenn, who had two arthroscopic knee surgeries last season that forced him to miss the first 15 games before returning just before the playoffs. "Can he be Terry Glenn and a starter? If he can be Terry Glenn and a starter, we all realize we can't do better than that. And what we're talking about is this year - this year. Just this year. At 33 years old, for this coming year, we could have a far better season than anybody younger than you, opposite of Terrell Owens."
While Jones prefers to take a long-term approach, it doesn't appear he is taking one at the wide receiver position.
When it came down to the draft, which was the first time since 1990 that no wide receiver even went in the first round, the Cowboys apparently didn't see a receiver who not only could challenge for a starting job, but even compete for playing time with the current roster.
"We liked what we have here, better than what was out there," Jones said, referring to Patrick Crayton, Hurd, Miles Austin, Isaiah Stanback and even Mike Jefferson as players who will battle for playing time next season.
Now, this isn't to say the Cowboys have no need to upgrade wide receiver.
Even Jones admitts the possibility of adding a veteran such as Cincinnati's Chad Johnson, Detroit's Roy Williams or Arizona's Anquan Boldin were certainly intriguing. Jones has said the Cowboys have inquired about a veteran receiver, likely to be one of those three, at some point this off-season.
But all three of those teams have said publicly there was no interest in trading them. This weekend, Jones said the possibility to make a trade for a receiver never materialized.
But the option was there, and it was one he even included in his chart.
But at this point, the wide receiver position appears to come down to Glenn, whose career has been in question with the latest knee injury. Set to turn 34 before training camp, Glenn has pondered the idea of undergoing microfracture surgery, which would likely forfeit his chance to play this year, and maybe ever again.
However, it doesn't appear Glenn has any intentions of having a surgery, much less hanging up the cleats. The veteran has participated in the team's off-season conditioning program, an encouraging sign for Jones.
"We saw really good stuff from here out here," Jones said. "You can talk about what he is and what he can do, but you just have to see it. He's back here, he's doing all the kind of things . . . you can't tell by that. He would be a progress-stopper if he were here and you had 10-percent odds. So if we didn't think that he didn't have a chance to be everything we wanted him to be, then we wouldn't have him back here. It would push back the progress of the other receivers."
But instead, Glenn is making his own progress, and apparently enough for Jones and the Cowboys to start counting on him for 2008.
"We're seeing everything we need to see," Jones said. "He's out here working with the quarterbacks. He's out here, and we're seeing it."
He's not a joke. Crayton had a bad game at the worst time in front of the world. He is still more than a decent WR.
http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/ar...-his-mout.html
Martellus Bennett learned one major difference between college and the pros within 24 hours after being drafted.
"In college, if you get in trouble, they call your mom," the ex-Texas A&M tight end said. "Here, if you get in trouble, they call you."
Some Valley Ranch folks got their britches in a bunch about an innocent Jessica Simpson joke Bennett made during his media conference call minutes after he was drafted. TE coach John Garrett called Bennett to let him know that Jessica jokes are a no-no around these parts.
"I apologized," Bennett said. "I didn't mean to be rude."
hah...awesome.
Dallas Cowboys must establish roles for running backs
10:58 PM CDT on Saturday, May 3, 2008
By ALBERT BREER / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]
IRVING – With the NFL draft in the books, the Cowboys know which pieces they'll be working with at running back in 2008.
But how those pieces fit together remains to be seen.
Last season, Julius Jones started all 16 regular-season games and alternated series with Pro Bowler Marion Barber. Jones has since departed for Seattle, and Felix Jones and Tashard Choice were drafted in the first and fourth rounds, respectively.
Because of the turnover, there's a ways to go before roles are carved out the way they were last season.
"We feel like we have some talented players at that position, and they each can do some different things," coach Wade Phillips said. "Marion's gonna be our workhorse, and rightfully so. We believe we have a place that Felix fits, as far as what we want him to do, and Tashard does, too."
The Cowboys were able to alternate series between Julius Jones and Barber last season because both backs were versatile and experienced, making them viable options in any situation.
In that sense, Choice may be more advanced than Felix Jones. Choice played in a pro-style offense under Chan Gailey at Georgia Tech, which gave him experience catching passes and picking up the blitz in the passing game. Jones, on the other hand, played in a spread-option attack at Arkansas and, while he flashed ability as a receiver at this weekend's rookie minicamp, he caught only 39 passes in three collegiate seasons.
"Most guys that come from college, they haven't had an extensive opportunity in pass protection, regardless of what team they play for, unless they play in a pro-style offense," running backs coach Skip Peete said. "I think [Jones has] shown the willingness to block. Is he capable of playing on third down? In my mind, he can."
If that's true, Jones could prove a valuable weapon in passing situations. Jones has big-play ability in the open field – Phillips likened it to that of Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas – and is versatile enough to line up at multiple spots, which might allow the Cowboys to put Barber and Jones on the field at the same time.
So you could see the rotation working by down, rather than by series, with Barber getting a break in passing situations.
As Phillips was quick to note, fewer teams around the league are hitching their running game fortunes to a single back.
"It's a two-back league," the coach said.
That should create a healthy compe ion for carries.
"You practice hard, do things hard, just to show the coaches you deserve this spot just as much as [the other guys do]," said Jones, who split carries at Arkansas with Darren McFadden. "But once we get on that football field, it's about winning."
The coaching staff must figure out the backfield arrangement that gives the Cowboys the best chance at winning.
"We liked both of our backs last year, because they were versatile," offensive coordinator Jason Garrett said. "They both could run inside, they both could run outside, they could catch, they could pass protect, they could do a lot of things. And we envision the guys we drafted or brought in being able to do those same kinds of things. The fact that they're rookies makes that more difficult."
Man-coverage not a comfort zone for Dallas Cowboys' Williams
09:34 PM CDT on Friday, May 2, 2008
By CALVIN WATKINS / The Dallas Morning News [email protected]
IRVING – Pro Bowl strong safety Roy Williams said he's still trying to get comfortable in the Cowboys' defense and admitted he sometimes doesn't want opposing quarterbacks to throw the ball toward him.
"I will admit at times, when I had one-on-one situations and you're head up on a tight end or a receiver that can go left or right, it's tough," Williams said Thursday on the Michael Irvin radio show.
"I mean, it's just tough. Sometimes you just hope they don't throw the ball your way, because sometimes you're like, if they go inside, you don't have any help; if they go outside, you don't have any help."
Defensive coordinator Brian Stewart said it is difficult to cover man-to-man but hopes his players "want a part of the action, no matter what it is."
Williams, however, said he is still trying to find a comfort zone in coach Wade Phillips' 3-4 defense. The scheme requires Williams to take the tight end in pass coverage at times, and play close to the line of scrimmage and make plays against the run at others.
"I'm going to have to get comfortable in the system," he said. "It's not easy with the coaching change. You're used to one thing and then you have to adjust to another playing style."
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is hopeful the addition of secondary coach Dave Campo, – Williams' first NFL coach in 2002 – will help.
"We want turnovers, and Roy is a turnover guy," Jones said. "I think we shouldn't dismiss it that it can be a part of his game."
Roy finally admits it.
What a .
HBO Knocking On Cowboys’ Door Again
http://blog.dallascowboys.com/blogs/...5/1204280.aspx
You think this year’s training camp is going to be exciting for Cowboys fans?
Apparently, HBO thinks so.
With Terrell Owens, Tony Romo and now probably Pacman Jones all headed out to Oxnard, Calif. this summer, the cable network reportedly would like to put the Cowboys back in front of the cameras again, filming the club in its series “Hard Knocks” a weekly behind-the-scenes look at an NFL team preparing for the upcoming season.
The Cowboys were a part of “Hard Knocks” back in 2002, a year after the series first debuted, featuring the Baltimore Ravens. HBO took five years off from filming the series, before returning to the screen last year when they featured the Kansas City Chiefs’ training camp. In 2004, NFL Network made a similar show with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
In the Cowboys’ first time around with “Hard Knocks”, Dave Campo was in his last year as the head coach as the team trained in the Alamodome in San Antonio.
That year, storylines included the former baseball-pitcher-turned-quarterback Chad Hutchinson, the injury saga of wide receiver Anthony Lucas, a longshot receiver named Richmond Flowers, former special teams coach Joe Avezzano who was doubling as the Dallas Desperados head coach and of course, who could forget some of the harsh realities we saw and heard with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. It seemed like that ended up stealing the show.
But the closed-door access of the team and coaches and even owner Jerry Jones is priceless for any fan.
Just like having two regular-season games on the station made some fans scurry to get NFL Network last year, it’s likely Cowboys fans will do the same to get HBO as well.
Training camp is expected to start in late July, with the Cowboys headed back to Oxnard for the fourth time in the last five years.
-- Nick Eatman
Glad to hear they're back on Hard Knocks.
well.. romo should be done. apparently engaged to joe simp.. err.. jessica simpson.
not that i mind, as a cardinals fan and all heh
Cardinals suck
A engaged QB that is still better than any clown you have on your pathetic roster. But hey, you shouldn't expect more from a sorry ass franchise like the Cardinals.
IRVING, Texas - Rookie mini-camps are filled with players who have long odds on making an NFL roster. But former Texas Tech wide receiver Danny Amendola has been battling those odds as long as he has been playing football - and winning.
So maybe it shouldn't be a surprise he was one of the players catching the eye of Cowboys coaches and even owner Jerry Jones this past weekend here at the Cowboys mini-camp. Video: Danny on "catching" Jerry Jones' eye!
"I just can't wait to see him go against the veteran guys and just watch him work," Cowboys wide receivers coach Ray Sherman said after just the first day of practice.
It was that kind of weekend for the smallish (5-10, 183 pounds) receiver who finished his Red Raiders career with 204 catches for 2,246 yards and 15 touchdowns.
"It's almost surreal, being in this locker room, seeing Terrell Owens' locker," Amendola said. "It's crazy but it's exciting."
Amendola grabbed some of the mini-camp attention during the very first workout Friday morning when he didn't drop a pass.
That perfection didn't continue, but Amendola's ability and skills were hard to ignore for those who will make decisions.
Sherman said the way Amendola makes his cuts and runs his routes makes him stand out, even this early in the talent evaluation process when he was basically going up again other guys just leaving the college ranks.
"I think he did some good things, he really did," Sherman said. "I was impressed with him."
Amendola comes to Dallas as an undrafted free agent. But that doesn't seem to bother him. In fact, it's one of the reasons he chose Dallas over the nine other teams that reached out to him after the draft.
The Cowboys have a history of not being afraid to keep a rookie free agent over a fringe veteran or even a draft choice. One of the more recent examples is Sam Hurd, who made the team's 53-man roster in 2006 after not being drafted out of Northern Illinois. Same went that year for Miles Austin out of Momouth University. Both made the team at eventually the expense of fourth-round receiver Skyler Green.
So Dallas seemed like a good choice for Amendola, considered a Wes Welker knock-off, and probably until he was up to here with the comparison over the weekend.
Of course, there are the intangibles also.
"Playing college ball in Texas, you follow the Cowboys," he said. "It's America's Team, of course. It's a dream to be here."
Amendola knows it will be hard work to even get close to a roster spot. He and the other receivers got the playbook they would use in practice less than a day beforehand. The practices are fast-paced with coaches seeing who can handle the pressures of pro ball and the margin for error is small.
"That's the business of the NFL. You catch on pretty quickly or you don't catch on at all," Amendola said.
Catching on will likely include Amendola playing on special teams. But he's prepared for that too. He did kickoff returns while at Texas Tech and even was on the frontline of the return team for part of his senior year.
"So I can do some blocking," he said.
Amendola said he was prepared to do whatever necessary to play his way onto the team. And it looks like he took a small step toward that goal this past weekend.
http://www.dallascowboys.com/news.cf...599454A2EF07D3
i rather him jessica simpson the matt lientart and kurt warner each other
http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/ar...eadership.html
Zach Thomas' definition of leadership
11:32 AM Thu, May 15, 2008 | Permalink | Buzz up!Yahoo! Buzz
Tim MacMahon E-mail News tips
There's been a lot of talk about the leadership qualities that LB Zach Thomas will provide the Cowboys, so I asked the Pampa, Texas, native what that meant to him.
It's safe to say that we won't see Thomas beating his chest in a rah-rah manner during the OTAs and minicamps.
"Leadership is shown by actions," Thomas said. "If you're making plays and doing everything the right way - doing what they're telling you to do in the weight room, showing up for everything, being consistent and being accountable - that's leadership. It's not giving a great pep talk. If you give a great pep talk and do all the right things and don't play well, there really isn't much leadership there. My leadership is coming in and playing well and getting the respect of my teammates."
Defensive coordinator Brian Stewart has little doubt that Thomas will take care of business.
"Zach Thomas gives us a guy that's been a leader, so he's going to go in there and be confident," Stewart said. "Because he's been a leader before, he's going to make sure he does whatever he can to stay ahead of the curve, know what's going on and understand our defense so he can maintain leadership qualities."
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...s.2e196b8.html
Hard Knocks won't stand in Dallas Cowboys' way
12:45 PM CDT on Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Bill Parcells couldn't win a playoff game in four seasons with Dallas, and he would never, ever – even on his deathbed – let the Cowboys be a part of Hard Knocks.
So maybe, it's not such a bad idea.
And let's not compare this year's Hard Knocks to the 2002 version. That team was horrible.
Quincy Carter and Chad Hutchinson, the top two quarterbacks on that team, aren't in the NFL anymore. Actually, they're long gone.
These Cowboys are among the most talented teams in the NFL. Players like T.O., Tony Romo and Pacman, if and when he shows up, are used to drama.
Do you really think having NFL Films around is going to have a huge effect T.O. or Romo? I don't.
Whether this team plays to its potential has nothing to do with NFL Films' cameras or HBO. It has to do with whether Romo can finally play as well in the postseason as he does in the regular season and whether Wade Phillips can control this team and get it to play to its potential.
We won't know the answer to either of those questions until January. By then, Hard Knocks would have been long gone.
Really excited about Hard Knocks being back featuring the Cowboys. A nice treat for us fans.
Nick Eatman
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
May 20, 2008 2:13 PM
IRVING, Texas - What an off-season it has been for Cowboys cornerbacks.
First they make a controversial trade for one with a sketchy past. Then they draft another corner with one of their two first-round picks.
And now the Cowboys have made Terence Newman one of the highest-paid players at his position.
With the Cowboys just beating the deadline to sign players under the current collective bargaining agreement, Newman signed a six-year extension, totaling the package as a seven-year contract in the neighborhood of $51 million.
The Cowboys might not be finished either, as a deal with running back Marion Barber could get finalized as well.
The NFL owners announced Tuesday in Atlanta they will opt out of the current CBA agreement. All contracts completed after 3 p.m. (CDT) on Tuesday would follow the new rules, which would've prevented the Cowboys from prorating his signing and roster bonuses past five seasons.
The Cowboys did ignite contract talks with the agents of Barber and Ken Hamlin this week, although no deals were done as of early Tuesday afternoon.
Both players have yet to sign their one-year offers. Barber has a restricted tender of $2.561 million and Hamlin was given a franchise tag of $4.33 million, although the Cowboys have said they would like to get both players re-signed to long-term deals.
But for now, the Cowboys settled for locking up Newman.
A five-year veteran who was drafted fifth overall in 2003, Newman's original contract expired after the 2008 season. Apparently, the Cowboys aren't too concerned about his age. Although he's played just five years, Newman will turn 30 just before the start of the regular season.
Despite missing three games and six starts because of injuries, Newman was selected to his first Pro Bowl this past season, recording four interceptions and 62 tackles and tying for the team high with 15 pass deflections.
Newman, whose contract was set to expire after the 2008 season, will participate in the start of the Cowboys' OTA (organized team activity) practices, which begin Tuesday and run through Thursday for the next three weeks.
Newman's contract will rank right up with other cornerbacks who have recently signed new contracts, including Seattle's Marcus Trufant, who signed a six-year, $50.2 million deal in March. San Francisco gave Nate Clements an eight-year, $80 million deal last season and Oakland recently signed DeAngelo Hall to a seven-year, $70 million contract after acquiring him in a trade with Atlanta.
Newman hasn't been widely considered one of the NFL's top cornerbacks, mainly because of his lack of interceptions.
While the argument could be made that opposing teams usually don't test him much, other critics claim that Newman doesn't have the knack for the big play.
That changed somewhat last season.
In his first start in 2007, Newman picked off a fourth-quarter pass against Buffalo and returned it 70 yards, which led to a field goal in a game the Cowboys rallied for a 25-24 win.
He also stalled a fourth-quarter drive against Washington with an interception in the final minutes of a 28-23 victory. Newman returned an interception against the Jets 50 yards for a touchdown on Thanksgiving. He also picked off a deflected pass by Brett Favre in the Cowboys' win over Green Bay for his third interception in a three-game span.
Newman has just 16 career interceptions in five seasons, but don't forget Deion Sanders had just 14 picks in his five years with the Cowboys.
Newman's new deal comes on the heels of the Cowboys trading for Pacman Jones, who has yet to be reinstated by the NFL after serving a one-year suspension. The Cowboys also drafted South Florida's Michael Jenkins with the 25th overall pick.
While the Cowboys appear to have a crowded group of cornerbacks, head coach Wade Phillips and secondary coach Dave Campo have made it clear they subscribe to the theory of 'you can't ever have too many good cornerbacks.'
Newman and fellow starter Anthony Henry both missed considerable playing time last season with injuries.
Newman suffered a torn plantar fascia in his right foot, which forced him to miss the first two regular-season games and limited him to nickel duty until the fourth game of the season, when Henry suffered a high ankle sprain that caused him to miss three games and a total of six starts.
Jacques Reeves, who ended up starting 13 games, and Nate Jones were called upon to fill in. However, both signed with other teams in free agency, Reeves going to Houston and Jones becoming one of several former Cowboys players and coaches to sign with the Dolphins
http://www.dallascowboys.com/news.cf...AFD72A9BCF0F32
They got him so cheap. Awesome job Jerrah
Its crazy, he got like 20 mil less than Hall, who I dont think is anywhere near the player. I hope they lock up Hamlin next.
Looks like MB3 just got done
7 years, 45 mil, 16 mil guaranteed for Marion. Good job, even if it is a little pricey.
Now...time to get Hamlin locked up.
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