Can Ware force foes to beware? (Haley called Ware)

By MAC ENGEL
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

IRVING - It was just a phone call, and the voice on the other end had no clue as to what the immediate future held, but the timing turned out to be cruelly coincidental.

When former Cowboys defensive end Charles Haley phoned current Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware two weeks ago, the purpose was to offer some advice.

Advice about Ware's need to develop a different move. An inside move. Haley's point was that, no matter how difficult it might be, pass rushers must go inside.

One week later, Ware is going to have it difficult regardless of the direction he takes to the quarterback.

Without Greg Ellis, who is out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon, Ware becomes the No. 1 target of opposing blocking schemes.

Having already heard that the Cowboys should have selected Shawne Merriman rather than himself, Ware might have no better time to establish himself as a premier pass rusher, and a defensive wrecking ball, than now.

"I put a lot of pressure on myself now," he said. "The little mistakes that I probably made when Greg was in there, I can't make those mistakes now. I've got to be a more effective guy in what I do, even if they try and double-team."

Ware has five sacks this season. The NFL leader (Carolina's Julius Peppers) has 11.

And Ware knows. He knows.

Merriman has 81/2 , even though he has played in two fewer games because of his suspension for using steroids. Ware knows that whatever he does will be compared against Merriman, who was selected one pick later in the 2005 draft.

"No matter what, you look up my name on the Internet, you always see it," Ware said. "My wife has done that. I've always been with Shawne the way Greg [Ellis] is with Randy Moss."

Unlike last season when Ware was an NFL rookie learning how to play a position he had never played before, the transition is over. Or at least the excuse is gone.

And getting used to seeing the constant double teams, that's over. That's part of his life now.

"A lot of [opposing players] will say, 'Ware is on this side! We're chipping this way!' " Ware said. "I hear it all the time now."

What's left is to use his wealth of athletic ability, and become the consistent "pressure player" the Cowboys expect. That's why Haley called; to implore him to develop a different move other than just relying on his exceptional speed.

"This guy is the best athlete, overall, I've seen defensively," Cowboys linebacker Akin Ayodele said.

Coach Bill Parcells calls Ware an "improving player." A player he wants to rest more often.

With Ellis out, that task just became more difficult.

And the word people use to describe him is "close." Close to notching a few more sacks. Close to making even more dramatic plays. Close to becoming frightening.

But he's not there yet. He's close.

"I get close so many times; you get so close and maybe [the quarterback] gets rid of the ball," Ware said. "You know, as a pass rusher, they are going to say he only has [five] sacks. They don't see the pressures or the batted-down balls, how many times you get your hand in a quarterback's face to force an incompletion. It's the same thing.

"I always want the sacks, and you do judge yourself with that."

Without Ellis on the opposite side, the sacks will be harder to come by. When both of them were on the field, opposing offenses were unsure if Ellis would rush. Or Ware. Or both. Or neither.

Now, there is no confusion.

"Now," Cowboys linebacker Bradie James said, "everybody knows it's D-Ware."