DMN Blog: Live from Oxnard VII: No Terence Newman
by Tim MacMahon
Weather: 68 degrees and cloudy.
Now that Todd Archer has crawled out from under the table, we're ready for another exciting training camp practice.
No Terence Newman (groin) sighting yet. His teammates are in full pads.
Rowdy is roaring around on his four-wheeler. Promise not to mention him again unless he gets in the action, such as when he kicked field goals yesterday. Follow the jump for a whole bunch of serious football stuff. ...
4:22 -- Wade Phillips and Zach Thomas are chatting with each other off to the side of the guys catching punts. Whole bunch of defensive knowledge in that conversation. ... What do you folks think of Jay Ratliff as a short-yardage fullback? He just took a handoff from Brad Johnson, just for fun.
4:28 -- The returners are competing to see how many balls they punts they can catch without putting a ball down. Adam "Pacman" Jones set an unofficial team record with six yesterday, which caused Jerry Jones to utter this classic quote. "Not a lot of people have seen six. Might've seen five, but not six. You're seeing his abilities." Yep, Pacman's ability to catch six punts will definitely play a key role in the Cowboys' Super Bowl run.
4:32 -- Longtime Cowboys personnel director Gil Brandt has arrived on camp. He'11 do his Sirius NFL Radio show from radio row about 40 feet to my left.
4:36 -- Stretching just started, and the excitement of it has apparently worn off for NFL Films/Hard Knocks cameras. I only see two on the field, half as many as Friday. I'm sure there will be plenty more once practice gets started.
4:42 -- Stretching over. Pursuit drills for defense. Offense running plays vs. air.
4:44 -- First-round pick Mike Jenkins continues getting reps at left CB with the first-team D. Adam "Pacman" Jones is running with the 2s at right CB. Still no timetable on Terence Newman's return. Dr. Wade Phillips ought to have something for us on that subject after practice.
4:49 -- OK, let's answer some questions. ... I thought we've gushed about Felix Jones a fair amount on this here blog. He's been impressive. Great burst and wiggle. Marion "The Barbarian" Barber has looked fine, but he can't do what he does best in training camp. You can't run over folks if they aren't allowed to tackle. ... Certainly would not say that Zach Thomas looks washed up. Yes, he got de-cleated by Leonard "Bigg" Davis yesterday. That happens to a lot of linebackers. ... NT Junior Siavii hasn't done anything remarkable while splitting third-team reps with Remi Ayodele. There's just not much opportunity for guys buried under Jay Ratliff and Tank Johnson, who have both been very good. ... Anthony Spencer looks like a starting-caliber OLB. He's a good pass rusher who has learned the nuances of the position over the last year, such as how to read the tight end.
4:56 -- LB Tearrius George (knee), CB Quincy Butler (hamstring), WR Daniel Polk and Newman are not practice. Not sure what's wrong with Polk, the South Oak Cliff/Midwestern State product. We'll have some news on Newman soon. Calvin "Lucky" Watkins is confirming as I type. ... Cowboys are doing position drills. Nothing competitive yet.
5:00 -- I'd like to apologize to the guy who was perturbed by my poor reporting on the punt returners during pre-practice warmups. They toss the ball to a staffer after catching the punt. Patrick Crayton might have the strongest arm on the team. Adam "Pacman" Jones throws a decent spiral. Anything else you want to know?
5:02 -- Sore hamstring for Daniel Polk, per Todd Archer. ... Still doing position drills.
5:07 -- QB coach Wade Wilson was out there acting like a cornerback during QB/WR drills. Moves pretty good for an old guy. ... Here comes some competitive stuff. I'm headed to the field. Be back in a bit.
5:10 -- Check that. Staying right here with 7-on-7 coming my way. ... Started with T.O. catching out route on Pacman right in front of the crowd. ... Patrick Crayton went over Alan Ball to catch a deep ball the next play. Pretty pass by Richard Bartel. ... Bartel just connected with Isaiah Stanback on another deep ball. Mike Jenkins stumbled on the play. ... Recent pickup Todd Lowber just burned Pacman deep. ... Great separation by Sam Hurd from Isaiah Stanback on out route. ... Nice PBU by Pat Watkins on curl by Martellus Bennett. Bennett caught an out in front of Roy Williams. ... Drop by T.O. after beating Pacman on a post route.
5:21 -- Undrafted rookie Mark Bradford got open on a crossing route for an easy catch against Anthony Henry. These drills are certainly not what Henry does best. ... Isaiah Stanback beat a jam by Mike Jenkins and made the first-round pick slip on a comeback route. ... Fifth-rounder Orlando Scandrick fell to the ground when Patrick Crayton made his break on an out route. Crayton is killing the backup corners today. ... Sam Hurd is simply too strong for Alan Ball to press him. Hurd easily got open on an out route. Hurd weighed in at 205 when he arrived to camp, up nine pounds from last season. ... Great catch by Isaiah Stanback on a deep ball he had to go to the ground to get. ... Miles Austin just beat Evan Oglesby pretty badly on a deep ball. ... T.O. caught an out route in front of Pacman.
5:22 -- Alan Ball just made a nice play, staying in Crayton's hip pocket on a crossing route and batting the ball away. ... That's it for 7-on-7. ... Couldn't see any of the inside run drills.
5:24 -- Special teams drills about to start.
5:29 -- Terence Newman is on the field, but he's wearing shorts, a T-shirt and a cap. He's got a shoulder around his shoulders and is shooting the bull with T.O. and Co. during a punt coverage teaching drill.
5:32 -- No action. Just teaching drills. Not even punting the ball. ... OL working on pass-block technique at far end of field. DL working on hand technique. QBs chatting with Wade Wilson and Jason Garrett. ... If there was a report that Nick Folk was at the beach during the earthquake, it's wrong. Folk and L.P. Ladouceur were in the Residence Inn hot tub. I know because I could see them from the media tent.
5:56 -- Terence Newman news here. ... Just got back from field. Pass-rush drills stuff first. ... Marcus Spears got some reps at NT. That's in case of emergency, not something you'll see unless the Cowboys are hit by injuries. He got stood up by C Andre Gurode one snap, then beat Gurode to the center's right the next. ... Jay Ratliff got some reps at LDE and looked pretty good against Marc Colombo. ... Backup LT Doug Free was abusing Marcus Dixon. ... Backup LG James Marten handled Stephen Bowen well, but he got bull-rushed by Chris Canty. ... RG Leonard "Bigg" Davis didn't budge against Spears. ... DeMarcus Ware beat Flozell Adams with a nice inside counter-move after trying to speed rush. OL coach Hudson Houck went through some footwork with Flo after the play.
6:01 -- 7-on-7 stuff. ... First bad session I've seen from Sam Hurd. He had two drops. He juggled the ball after running a hook route, and Adam "Pacman" Jones jarred it loose. Then Hurd couldn't come up with a pass after running a post. He was in traffic, but he got two hands on the ball. ... Brad Johnson gave Martellus Bennett a workout, throwing short pass after short pass to the rookie TE. SS Dowayne Davis had a PBU on one. Bennett made a diving catch with Zach Thomas on his back on another. ... Be back in a bit.
Weather: 68 degrees and cloudy.
Now that Todd Archer has crawled out from under the table, we're ready for another exciting training camp practice.
No Terence Newman (groin) sighting yet. His teammates are in full pads.
Rowdy is roaring around on his four-wheeler. Promise not to mention him again unless he gets in the action, such as when he kicked field goals yesterday. Follow the jump for a whole bunch of serious football stuff. ...
4:22 -- Wade Phillips and Zach Thomas are chatting with each other off to the side of the guys catching punts. Whole bunch of defensive knowledge in that conversation. ... What do you folks think of Jay Ratliff as a short-yardage fullback? He just took a handoff from Brad Johnson, just for fun.
4:28 -- The returners are competing to see how many balls they punts they can catch without putting a ball down. Adam "Pacman" Jones set an unofficial team record with six yesterday, which caused Jerry Jones to utter this classic quote. "Not a lot of people have seen six. Might've seen five, but not six. You're seeing his abilities." Yep, Pacman's ability to catch six punts will definitely play a key role in the Cowboys' Super Bowl run.
4:32 -- Longtime Cowboys personnel director Gil Brandt has arrived on camp. He'11 do his Sirius NFL Radio show from radio row about 40 feet to my left.
4:36 -- Stretching just started, and the excitement of it has apparently worn off for NFL Films/Hard Knocks cameras. I only see two on the field, half as many as Friday. I'm sure there will be plenty more once practice gets started.
4:42 -- Stretching over. Pursuit drills for defense. Offense running plays vs. air.
4:44 -- First-round pick Mike Jenkins continues getting reps at left CB with the first-team D. Adam "Pacman" Jones is running with the 2s at right CB. Still no timetable on Terence Newman's return. Dr. Wade Phillips ought to have something for us on that subject after practice.
4:49 -- OK, let's answer some questions. ... I thought we've gushed about Felix Jones a fair amount on this here blog. He's been impressive. Great burst and wiggle. Marion "The Barbarian" Barber has looked fine, but he can't do what he does best in training camp. You can't run over folks if they aren't allowed to tackle. ... Certainly would not say that Zach Thomas looks washed up. Yes, he got de-cleated by Leonard "Bigg" Davis yesterday. That happens to a lot of linebackers. ... NT Junior Siavii hasn't done anything remarkable while splitting third-team reps with Remi Ayodele. There's just not much opportunity for guys buried under Jay Ratliff and Tank Johnson, who have both been very good. ... Anthony Spencer looks like a starting-caliber OLB. He's a good pass rusher who has learned the nuances of the position over the last year, such as how to read the tight end.
4:56 -- LB Tearrius George (knee), CB Quincy Butler (hamstring), WR Daniel Polk and Newman are not practice. Not sure what's wrong with Polk, the South Oak Cliff/Midwestern State product. We'll have some news on Newman soon. Calvin "Lucky" Watkins is confirming as I type. ... Cowboys are doing position drills. Nothing competitive yet.
5:00 -- I'd like to apologize to the guy who was perturbed by my poor reporting on the punt returners during pre-practice warmups. They toss the ball to a staffer after catching the punt. Patrick Crayton might have the strongest arm on the team. Adam "Pacman" Jones throws a decent spiral. Anything else you want to know?
5:02 -- Sore hamstring for Daniel Polk, per Todd Archer. ... Still doing position drills.
5:07 -- QB coach Wade Wilson was out there acting like a cornerback during QB/WR drills. Moves pretty good for an old guy. ... Here comes some competitive stuff. I'm headed to the field. Be back in a bit.
5:10 -- Check that. Staying right here with 7-on-7 coming my way. ... Started with T.O. catching out route on Pacman right in front of the crowd. ... Patrick Crayton went over Alan Ball to catch a deep ball the next play. Pretty pass by Richard Bartel. ... Bartel just connected with Isaiah Stanback on another deep ball. Mike Jenkins stumbled on the play. ... Recent pickup Todd Lowber just burned Pacman deep. ... Great separation by Sam Hurd from Isaiah Stanback on out route. ... Nice PBU by Pat Watkins on curl by Martellus Bennett. Bennett caught an out in front of Roy Williams. ... Drop by T.O. after beating Pacman on a post route.
5:21 -- Undrafted rookie Mark Bradford got open on a crossing route for an easy catch against Anthony Henry. These drills are certainly not what Henry does best. ... Isaiah Stanback beat a jam by Mike Jenkins and made the first-round pick slip on a comeback route. ... Fifth-rounder Orlando Scandrick fell to the ground when Patrick Crayton made his break on an out route. Crayton is killing the backup corners today. ... Sam Hurd is simply too strong for Alan Ball to press him. Hurd easily got open on an out route. Hurd weighed in at 205 when he arrived to camp, up nine pounds from last season. ... Great catch by Isaiah Stanback on a deep ball he had to go to the ground to get. ... Miles Austin just beat Evan Oglesby pretty badly on a deep ball. ... T.O. caught an out route in front of Pacman.
5:22 -- Alan Ball just made a nice play, staying in Crayton's hip pocket on a crossing route and batting the ball away. ... That's it for 7-on-7. ... Couldn't see any of the inside run drills.
5:24 -- Special teams drills about to start.
5:29 -- Terence Newman is on the field, but he's wearing shorts, a T-shirt and a cap. He's got a shoulder around his shoulders and is shooting the bull with T.O. and Co. during a punt coverage teaching drill.
5:32 -- No action. Just teaching drills. Not even punting the ball. ... OL working on pass-block technique at far end of field. DL working on hand technique. QBs chatting with Wade Wilson and Jason Garrett. ... If there was a report that Nick Folk was at the beach during the earthquake, it's wrong. Folk and L.P. Ladouceur were in the Residence Inn hot tub. I know because I could see them from the media tent.
5:56 -- Terence Newman news here. ... Just got back from field. Pass-rush drills stuff first. ... Marcus Spears got some reps at NT. That's in case of emergency, not something you'll see unless the Cowboys are hit by injuries. He got stood up by C Andre Gurode one snap, then beat Gurode to the center's right the next. ... Jay Ratliff got some reps at LDE and looked pretty good against Marc Colombo. ... Backup LT Doug Free was abusing Marcus Dixon. ... Backup LG James Marten handled Stephen Bowen well, but he got bull-rushed by Chris Canty. ... RG Leonard "Bigg" Davis didn't budge against Spears. ... DeMarcus Ware beat Flozell Adams with a nice inside counter-move after trying to speed rush. OL coach Hudson Houck went through some footwork with Flo after the play.
6:01 -- 7-on-7 stuff. ... First bad session I've seen from Sam Hurd. He had two drops. He juggled the ball after running a hook route, and Adam "Pacman" Jones jarred it loose. Then Hurd couldn't come up with a pass after running a post. He was in traffic, but he got two hands on the ball. ... Brad Johnson gave Martellus Bennett a workout, throwing short pass after short pass to the rookie TE. SS Dowayne Davis had a PBU on one. Bennett made a diving catch with Zach Thomas on his back on another. ... Be back in a bit.
posted by The Gryphon at 5:52 PM
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