Spears Looking To Give Parcells More Production
Rob Phillips
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
December 6, 2006 6:31 PM
IRVING, Texas - Marcus Spears didn't have to listen to Bill Parcells' Monday news conference to know what's expected of him this Sunday against the Saints.
Spears said he recorded one tackle in the Cowboys' 23-20 win over the Giants "when I should've had about four." And while he vomited before the game and hasn't been feeling well for the last few days, the Cowboys' starting left defensive end refused to offer an apparent virus as an excuse.
"I just have to play better than I played Sunday," Spears said Wednesday. "That's the bottom line."
Parcells has said Spears, one of two first-round picks last year, and fellow starting end Chris Canty need to play at a higher level or he might have to shake up the rotation. Canty, a fourth-round pick in 2005, had two tackles last Sunday.
Spears ranks eighth on the team with 35 tackles, along with one sack. But Parcells evidently wants more from the 23-year-old Spears, who has started 22 of the first 28 games in his career.
"That's expected," Spears said of Parcells' need for more production. "I'm one of the guys that he drafted last year and he expects the production level to go up. So I have to get it done, and if I don't, then changes will have to be made."
And after getting some advice from inside linebacker Bradie James, his college teammate at LSU, Spears has vowed to boost his intensity at practice. Evidently he did, getting into a brief scuffle at Wednesday's practice, though he said it had nothing to do with trying to prove his enthusiasm based on Parcells' comments earlier in the week. Parcells also said Canty curiously got into a little scuffle in Wednesday's practice, too.
"I have to keep my motor running like games," said Spears, who talked with James about staying full speed during the week. "Instead of trying to turn it on and turn it off, I've got to go in practice and play kind of the same speed that I'm going to play when I play Sunday."
Spears said he also spoke with Parcells at practice about how to improve his production over the final four games this season. He admitted he might've been pressing too much against the Giants.
"I tried to make the play maybe in the backfield or tried to come off and make a great play instead of just making the play," he said. "As a young player, when you get coaches telling you need to be more productive, you need to turn your production up, you start pressing. You kind of forget about your technique and you forget about the things that were working and the reason why you were.
"For a D-lineman in this defense, you can play a great game and have two tackles. But in that game I should've made more plays."
And that's something he plans to fix Sunday against New Orleans.
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
December 6, 2006 6:31 PM
IRVING, Texas - Marcus Spears didn't have to listen to Bill Parcells' Monday news conference to know what's expected of him this Sunday against the Saints.
Spears said he recorded one tackle in the Cowboys' 23-20 win over the Giants "when I should've had about four." And while he vomited before the game and hasn't been feeling well for the last few days, the Cowboys' starting left defensive end refused to offer an apparent virus as an excuse.
"I just have to play better than I played Sunday," Spears said Wednesday. "That's the bottom line."
Parcells has said Spears, one of two first-round picks last year, and fellow starting end Chris Canty need to play at a higher level or he might have to shake up the rotation. Canty, a fourth-round pick in 2005, had two tackles last Sunday.
Spears ranks eighth on the team with 35 tackles, along with one sack. But Parcells evidently wants more from the 23-year-old Spears, who has started 22 of the first 28 games in his career.
"That's expected," Spears said of Parcells' need for more production. "I'm one of the guys that he drafted last year and he expects the production level to go up. So I have to get it done, and if I don't, then changes will have to be made."
And after getting some advice from inside linebacker Bradie James, his college teammate at LSU, Spears has vowed to boost his intensity at practice. Evidently he did, getting into a brief scuffle at Wednesday's practice, though he said it had nothing to do with trying to prove his enthusiasm based on Parcells' comments earlier in the week. Parcells also said Canty curiously got into a little scuffle in Wednesday's practice, too.
"I have to keep my motor running like games," said Spears, who talked with James about staying full speed during the week. "Instead of trying to turn it on and turn it off, I've got to go in practice and play kind of the same speed that I'm going to play when I play Sunday."
Spears said he also spoke with Parcells at practice about how to improve his production over the final four games this season. He admitted he might've been pressing too much against the Giants.
"I tried to make the play maybe in the backfield or tried to come off and make a great play instead of just making the play," he said. "As a young player, when you get coaches telling you need to be more productive, you need to turn your production up, you start pressing. You kind of forget about your technique and you forget about the things that were working and the reason why you were.
"For a D-lineman in this defense, you can play a great game and have two tackles. But in that game I should've made more plays."
And that's something he plans to fix Sunday against New Orleans.
posted by The Gryphon at 6:19 PM
<< Home