Live from the Alamodome XIII

Sorry I'm a little late. I spent the last half hour with longtime NFL ref Gerald Austin, who was kind enough to go over the new NFL rules video and answer questions from the media. More on that stuff later.

We've got full pads for today's only practice, and Lucky Watkins has already informed you that T.O. is dressed out, so we should have some excitement.

Oh, and Austin's crew has their stripes on and their penalty flags ready. I think they'll be working practices through Saturday.

It's the usual routine -- follow the jump, repeat and refresh.

2:36 -- The Inspiring Body of Christ guys are still belting out songs and chants. They were hollering, "WAAAAADE!!!" and got a wave from the head coach.

2:38 -- Wade Phillips is having fun. He just jogged over to the IBOC folks, pointed to the roof and yelled, "I saw the light!" They granted the request and belted out the catchy church song.

2:40 -- Just wondering if Bill Parcells ever saw the light.

2:44 -- Offense is working hurry-up stuff. They're going against air, so there wasn't much of a celebration when the starters scored. Just getting used to the QBs running the show on the go.

2:47 -- Proud papa Kyle Kosier is back at left guard. ... Greg Ellis, Alonzo Coleman and Isaiah Stanback are working out on the side again. ... IBOC folks are chanting, "Start thinking Super Bowl!!"

2:50 -- Will answer some questions during position drills. ... Tyson Thompson and Miles Austin could definitely both make the team. In fact, if the cuts happened today, I bet both would. ... Will keep an eye on T.O. and Aaron Glenn this afternoon. They're not going full speed now, so can't really say how they look. ... I predict 15 TDs for T.O., but I could be talked into 16. ... Defense usually looks better than offense early in camp, but don't think that's been the case here. ... I'm ignoring the question from the Quincy Carter impersonator. ... Matt Moore's decision making must have been pretty good when he went 182 passes without a pick as an Oregon State senior. We won't really know how that translates to the NFL until we see a couple preseason games.

2:59 -- Breaking news!!! Damarius Bilbo has been moved from safety to receiver. For the vast majority of you not familiar with Bilbo, he's a former Georgia Tech QB. His biggest contribution as a Cowboy so far is serving as the scout-team QB the week they played Mike Vick.

3:05 -- Still doing position drills, so I'll answer more questions. ... Glenn Carano is no longer a Cowboy, but his daughter is apparently one of the toughest Ultimate Fighting League ladies. I'm not making that up. ... I just can't see the Cowboys cutting a fourth-round pick two straight years, especially since they drafted Isaiah Stanback as a project and knew his injury situation at the time. Think Jamaica Rector would have a better shot than Jamel Richardson, but Rector has been sitting out with a sore knee this week. ... Count on Ken Hamlin being an upgrade over the Pat Watkins/Keith Davis combo, but it's way too early to say whether he's the long-term solution. The Cowboys obviously weren't sure, or they would have signed him to a deal longer than one season. He'll have to prove that during the season, not the first week of camp. ... Marcus Spears has been active the last few days, but I was more impressed with Jason Hatcher before his controversial hamstring injury. Chris Canty has been a consistent beast. ... Jason Garrett is a pretty hands-on guy, especially with his positions of expertise (QB/WR/TE). Wade Phillips' involvement with the offense consists of general direction stuff, such as saying we want to control the clock this week or so-and-so needs to get the ball more often. Garrett's running the offense with a lot of help from veteran assistants like Tony Sparano and Ray Sherman, who both have play-calling experience.

3:13 -- Team drills started. Roy Williams avoided a block by Bigg Davis and met Marion Barber about three yards from the line of scrimmage on a counter play. ... Williams made another nice play on the second snap. They tried an end-around to T.O., but Williams wasn't fooled and would have made the tackle at the line.

3:16 -- Bobby Carpenter put the refs to work, jumping offsides on a blitz up the middle.

3:17 -- Working on third-and-1 stuff now at what Wade Phillips calls "teaching speed," which is about three-quarters speed with no tackling.

3:19 -- Ken "The Hammer" Hamlin might have missed the memo about no tackling. He put a pretty good shot on TE Andy Thorn to send him flying out of bounds. ... Hamlin flew into the backfield on the next play to blow up a sweep to Marion Barber. He didn't lay out Barber.

3:21 -- I've been asked a lot about how big a role Anthony Fasano will have. It will be significant. They're working on two-tight end stuff now, and they put him in the slot on the last snap. They also want to see how well he handles fullback/H-back duty. If he does well, they might only keep one true fullback.

3:26 -- Working on punt coverage now. Aaron Glenn looks a little rusty, muffingg a punt. Terence Newman is also back there, but he's chatting with a couple refs. Remind me to tell you about Newman's role in the NFL rules video later. ... About to look at some questions.

3:28 -- Bigg Davis, who probably has the lowest body fat percentage of any Cowboy OL, is extremely explosive for a giant. His quickness out of his stance allows him to get to LBs on running plays. His lateral quickness ain't so hot, and that gets him in trouble as a pass blocker. ... Nose tackle is your biggest concern as far as depth goes. Think the O-line is fine, because Pat McQuistan and Cory Procter can play multiple positions. CB depth is OK, depending on what you think of Lancaster's Jacques Reeves. ... Roy Williams is essentially playing linebacker in their dime package. He'll be in the box more than recent season in other situations, but it's not like they can cheat him up every play. ... Looks like we've got 7-on-7 and pass-rush drills coming up ... Will try to get to more questions later.

3:33 -- Working on two-TE stuff in 7-on-7. After a lot of shifting, Anthony Fasano split wide left and Jason Witten lined up at the regular right TE spot. T.O. was wide right with Patrick Crayton in the right slot. ... All that moving around, and they ran a 6-yard hook to T.O.

3:35 -- 7-on-7 is working in the red zone. Romo just hit Jason Witten on a hook route to the 1, eerily similar to the one right before the Seattle Slip. ... I've been bragging on Anthony Fasano, but a TD pass clanked off his hands a second ago. ... Proud papa Kyle Kosier muttered to himself after Chris Canty blew by him. Marcus Spears did the same thing to Bigg Davis moments earlier.

3:37 -- I'm guessing No. 62 is training camp newcomer Pete Lougheed. Not impressed with his work against Stephen Bowen. ... Anthony Henry broke up a fade route to undrafted rookie Mike Jefferson, who had a great practice yesterday. ... Undrafted rookie Jerard Rabb caught one on Terence Newman the next play. Matt Moore threw a nice pass -- hard and high to his back shoulder.

3:40 -- Looked like a little miscommunication between Tony Romo and Patrick Crayton when Romo tried to hit him between a few defenders in the end zone. Looked to me like Jason Witten was open on the play, which I'm sure Witten will tell his pal. ... Romo hit Witten on a quick hook for a TD the next play.

3:42 -- Big boys are doing stunt drills now. Undrafted rookie Marcus Smith slipped under Bigg Davis on an inside stunt when Marcus Spears looped around. ... Kyle Kosier did a nice job picking up Chris Canty on a similar stunt.

3:44 -- False start, Bigg Davis. Refs were on the other end of the field, but you didn't need stripes on your shirt to see that one. ... Horn blew, so those drills are over.

3:49 -- More fun special teams work, so I'll answer some questions. ... Kevin Burnett is not practicing. ... Not sure if Bilbo has spent any time at WR here or not. Judging by the fact that he was left out of the media guide, I don't like his chances to make the team at any position. ... Don't think Anthony Fasano will catch much more than the 14 passes he snagged last season. He's just too far down on the pecking order of Tony Romo's receivers to get many more chances. ... I'm not aware of Greg Ellis pantsing Jerry, but it'd be about as successful as the other negotiating tactics Ellis has tried. ... I've uppped the over-under on DeMarcus Ware's sack total from 13.5 to 14.5.

3:54 -- Patrick Crayton has joined the punt returners. If I had to guess, he'll end up splitting those duties with Terence Newman, who is faster than T.O. and would whup him in a fight. ... 11-on-11 stuff about to start.

3:56 -- Tony Romo hit Patrick Crayton on an 18-yard out to the 7, but he probably would have been sacked. DeMarcus Ware and Chris Canty were in his face.

3:58 -- They tried bringing Terence Newman on a blitz, but Flozell Adams didn't let the little fella slip past him.

3:59 -- Tony Romo hit Jason Witten for a TD on a third-and-goal out route. I saw Witten push off on Terence Newman, but the ref standing right there missed it.

4:03 -- Ken Hamlin denied Witten another TD. Witten caught a pass from Brad Johnson at the 1, but Hamlin hit him before he could turn upfield.

4:06 -- T.O. hasn't done a whole lot of note this practice. Watched him on the last couple plays, and he looks slow out of his breaks. That's to be expected of a guy that's been out with a sore hammy.

4:08 -- Andy Thorn is no Jason Witten, that's for sure. Thorn dropped a would-be TD pass from Tony Romo that hit him between the numbers.

4:11 -- Matt Moore, who is getting more reps than Richard Bartel again, hit Jerheme Urban on a short crossing route for a TD. Akin Ayodele got beat on the play.

4:12 -- Nice touch by Moore on a 1-yard TD pass to TE Adam Bergen. It was a bootleg left, and Moore lofted the ball high and away from CB Anthony Henry.

4:15 -- Starting O starts a two-minute drill at the minus-40. ... Romo looks sharp, hitting T.O. on a quick hook and Jason Witten on a curl, then Witten on a seam route.

4:17 -- Crowd is fired up after Joey Thomas made a nice break to break up a curl to T.O. Defensive coordinator Brian Stewart is pretty excited, too, pumping his fist and hollering at Thomas.

4:18 -- Romo extends the drive with a fourth-down hook to Patrick Crayton. ... Incomplete to T.O. on first down from 12. Ball went off his hands, but it was a tough catch on a ball behind him.

4:20 -- Scattered boos to T.O. after a ball goes through his hands. Romo tried the Marinoesque fake-spike, quick throw. Looked like T.O. went for the fake.

4:22 -- Doug Free is having all kinds of trouble with DeMarcus Ware. ... Funny moment: Brad Johnson gets Chris Canty and Anthony Spencer to jump with a hard count, pulls a penalty flag out of his britches and fires it way up into the air. His arm might be stronger than I thought.

4:25 -- Aaron Glenn almost had a pick when Johnson tried to force an out route to Miles Austin. The ball went off Glenn's chest. ... Glenn, by the way, is lined up at left CB in the dime package. They put Terence Newman in the slot.

4:27 -- Let's see if the first-string Dime D can get a stop against the backup O. Second-and-10 from the 12 after an Anthony Spencer hurry. ... So much for that. Johnson hit Jamel Richardson on a slant for a TD. Anthony Spencer and Ken Hamlin (kinda) had the coverage.

4:28 -- Grapevine's Richard Bartel is getting a shot now. Almost threw a pick after scrambling on third down.

4:30 -- Bartel extended the drive with a fourth-down scramble. He had his next pass batted down by rookie DE Marcus Smith.

4:32 -- That didn't go so well for the Grapevine guy. Bartel threw up a prayer that was picked off by Courtney Brown in the end zone. ... Practice is ending, so gotta go. ... Sorry I didn't get to many questions. Feel free to answer each other. ... Back with much, much more after another exciting Wade Phillips press conference.

Posted by Tim MacMahon at 4:05 PM (E-mail this entry)