DMN Blog: Live from Oxnard X: Chris Canty's kicking rear
by Tim MacMahon
Weather: 69 with some clouds.
No signs of any country music/reality TV stars in the crowd, so we'll just have to focus on football again.
The Cowboys are in full pads, so this should be an extremely entertaining practice after yesterday afternoon's special-teams session. Stretching gets started at about 4:30. Feel free to fire off questions to fill time before the action starts.
4:11 -- Super Bowl XXVIII hero James Washington is back to watch another day of practice. He's chatting up defensive coordinator Brian Stewart while the players warm up.
4:17 -- This will be the first officiated practice of training camp. A crew of zebras is here. This is also the day that the Cowboys get their annual talk about the rule changes and things the refs plan to emphasize this season.
4:20 -- Roy Williams is now talking to James Washington. I really haven't noticed much change in Williams this camp. He certainly hasn't morphed into a great cover man, but that won't matter as much this season, when he'll be covering Wade Phillips in most obvious passing situations. I'm not sure his work ethic has even been an issue. ... It'd be very surprising if fifth-round CB Orlando Scandrick didn't make the 53-man roster. The Cowboys like his potential at cornerback, and he can contribute immediately on special teams after blocking seven kicks at Boise State. ... I don't think Jay Ratliff will be solely a DE. Matter of fact, I would still bet that he'll be the starting NT. Wade Phillips says he wants Ratliff to be ready to play DE, so the Cowboys have the flexibility to create matchup problems with their DL. Not sure that idea has been communicated well to Ratliff.
4:27 -- More answers to reader questions: I doubt Danny Amendola would slip through waivers, but that depends on what he does during preseason games. I wouldn't count on him being on the Cowboys' practice squad, though. ... I'd like to wait a little longer than a week into training camp before declaring that TE Martellus Bennett was drafted too high. The 6-6, 260-pound Aggie has done some good things out here, but Tony Curtis would be the No. 2 TE if the season started today.
4:32 -- DeMarcus Ware, who got dinged during yesterday morning's practice, will sit thos one out. He's out there, but he isn't wearing pads.
4:33 -- Stretching just started. More answers: I wouldn't go so far as to say that Orlando Scandrick has more potential than Mike Jenkins. If that were the case, Jenkins wouldn't have been drafted four rounds higher. Jenkins is three inches taller with a lot longer arms and almost as fast. Jenkins will play in the Cowboys' nickel and dime packages. Scandrick won't this season unless there are injuries.
4:36 -- My crystal ball is a bit cloudy in terms of whether Isaiah Stanback will end up being a better receiver than Sam Hurd and Miles Austin. Hurd is the best route-runner and hands guy of the bunch, Austin is the best deep threat, and Stanback is the most dangerous with the ball in his hands. As far as Stanback's development, the coaches compare it to where Austin was a year ago. ... Don't see Marcus Dixon as a realistic candidate for this roster. ... Too early to tell with Courtney Brown, but he's a phenomenal athlete with intriguing playmaking potential at safety. The coaches are eager to see how he tackles in preseason games. ... I could see Keon Lattimore sticking on somebody's roster, but he's just a practice squad candidate here with Tashard Choice the clear-cut No. 3 RB. ... LB Bradie James will have a helmet radio, and I believe FS Ken Hamlin will, too.
4:41 -- Defensive pursuit drills started in an interesting manner at the end of stretching. A bunch of DBs chased defensive coordinator Brian Stewart over to the other field. ... Offense running plays vs. air on field close to fans.
4:45 -- Jerry is yapping in Wade Phillips' ear as the offense runs plays and the defense does position drills. If the conversation is interesting, we'll probably hear it on Hard Knocks. ... Speaking of the HBO show, we'll have major breaking Hard Knocks news tomorrow.
4:47 -- More answers: Junior Siavii is splitting third-team NT reps with Remi Ayodele. They are both roster long shots at this point, especially since Marcus Spears has been working at NT. ... Depth at safety is good enough that a pretty good player might get cut. Pat Watkins, who led the Cowboys in special teams tackles last season, will be here. Courtney Brown vs. Dowayne Davis is one of the better roster spot battles, although there is a chance the Cowboys could go with five safeties. .
4:50 -- The focus of this practice will be the two-minute drill. Should be fun to watch.
4:52 -- The RBs, LBs and TEs are doing a one-on-one blitz drill. Felix Jones got into Zach Thomas' chest and put the seven-time Pro Bowler on the ground. Thomas replied by hopping up and giving Jones a way-to-go slap to the helmet. ... Other than that, the LBs are pretty much dominating. ... WHOA!!!! Check that! Marion "The Barbarian" Barber just unloaded on Tyson Smith, putting him flat on his back. That's unbelievable power, considering Barber only took two steps before delivering the hit. Smith had to be helped off the field by trainers.
4:58 -- Something amazing will have to happen to bump Barber's block from Play of the Day. I'm still shaking my head about that. (And Tyson Smith's head will probably be sore for several days.) It was the kind of hit that you heard if you didn't see it. Got a big, ol', "OHHHHH!" from the crowd. ... Back into non-contact position drills. QBs throwing slants and corner routes to WRs in front of me.
5:01 -- One ref has started earning his paycheck by letting WRs know whether they're out of bounds after catching passes in the corner of the end zone. He signaled incomplete after T.O.'s right foot came down on the sideline. He hasn't put his arms up for a touchdown yet. Yet another example of anti-Cowboys bias!!!
5:07 -- Haven't seen Jay Ratliff described as disgruntled on this here blog or anywhere else. "Shocked" was his word. And, for the record, I think it's in the Cowboys' best interests for him to be ready to play both positions. However, he would prefer to focus on nose tackle. ... Still doing position drills.
5:11 -- Action about to start. I'm headed to the field. Be back with highlights in a bit.
5:26 -- Stuff from inside run first: DE Chris Canty was a beast, making plays in the backfield on back-to-back snaps. ... Marcus Spears got some reps at NT with Jay Ratliff at left DE again. C Andre Gurode and RG Leonard "Bigg" Davis, a pair of powerful Pro Bowlers, opened a big hole for Felix Jones between those two. ... Jones showed his burst by turning the corner against OLB Erik Walden on a counter pitch play. ... Marion Barber made a great cutback in traffic to avoid a tackler at the line of scrimmage. ... Courtney Brown came on a blitz to make a play in the backfield. ... The session ended on a TFL by DE Jason Hatcher. ... Back soon with 1-on-1 passing highlights.
5:30 -- Line of scrimmage was inside the 10 in these drills. ... T.O. was flagged for pushing off against Adam "Pacman" Jones on a fade route. While T.O. debated with the official, Pacman pretended to reach into his pocket and throw a flag. Pacman blanketed T.O. on another fade route, too. ... Another impressive session for Danny Amendola. He made Pacman fall down with a great move on a slant and got wide open on an out against Orlando Scandrick. ... Sam Hurd made Mike Jenkins turn his hips the wrong way on a crossing route. Jenkins did have great coverage on a Mike Jefferson fade route. .... Todd Lowber skied over Anthony Henry to make a nice catch on a fade. ... TE Martellus Bennett made a diving catch with Courtney Brown on his back on a crossing route.
5:36 -- Just wrapped up some punt return work. Would have been more exciting if they actually punted the ball.
5:38 -- More action about to start. They've got red-zone 7-on-7 on the other side of the field and one-on-one pass-rush drills in front of me. I'll sit here and live blog pass-rush drills. ... OLB Erik Walden made an inside move to get past TE Martellus Bennett, but there's no way he'd have that much room to work in a game. ... DE Jay Ratliff beat Pat McQuistan with an outside move. ... Tank Johnson blew by Cory Procter, and Chris Canty did the same to James Marten. ... Nice job by LT Doug Free on Greg Ellis when the vet tried an inside move.
5:41 -- Erik Walden showed good quickness on an outside move vs. Pat McQuistan, but he took too wide of an angle. ... Nice swim move by DE Stephen Bowen to beat James Marten. ... Ellis got by Free with a speed rush, but Free stuck with him and pushed him past the QB. ... NT Junior Siavii bull-rushed Ryan Gibbons, but Joe Berger stood him up the next snap. ... Chris Canty whipped Marten with an inside rip.
5:45 -- Walden needs to work on his technique if he plans to beat a vet like Marc Colombo with an inside move. ... DE Jason Hatcher got by Bigg Davis, but he didn't have a good angle on the QB. ... Andre Gurode roughed up Marcus Spears. ... Chris Canty is abusing anyone who lines up across from him. He sent Kyle Kosier stumbling sideways with a power move. ... Davis just put Hatcher on the ground after standing him up at the line of scrimmage. ... Flozell Adams handled an Ellis speed rush pretty well. ... Spears got stood up by Gurode again.
5:48 -- Canty met his match. Flozell Adams got his paws on Canty with his arms fully extended, and that was that. ... Looks like Kosier accidentally poked Stephen Bowen in his eye. ... Nice swim move by Marcus Dixon to beat Andre Gurode. Then he did the same thing to Kyle Kosier, except he beat him to the other side. DL is giving Dixon major props. ... Canty got inside Adams, but Adams stayed on his hip and pushed him past the QB.
5:52 -- James Marten is struggling in this session. He just ended up on his knees after Tank Johnson made him look like a turnstile. ... Doug Free, Adams' backup at LT, is getting a little work at left guard. He did a good job against Marcus Dixon. (Drills are 1-on-1, but the OL lines up as a unit.) ... Drills over.
5:57 -- Working on kick return stuff, all of it teaching speed.
6:02 -- Still special teams work. ... I've gotten some e-mails from folks wondering whether the Cowboys would consider signing WR Chris Henry, whose suspension will be four games. Never say never with Jerry, but does anybody think it's a good idea to have Henry anywhere near his ex-West Virginia teammate Adam "Pacman" Jones? I don't think Henry is worth the risk of getting Pacman off what appears to be the right path.
6:06 -- 11-on-11 about to start. Be back with highlights after practice.
Weather: 69 with some clouds.
No signs of any country music/reality TV stars in the crowd, so we'll just have to focus on football again.
The Cowboys are in full pads, so this should be an extremely entertaining practice after yesterday afternoon's special-teams session. Stretching gets started at about 4:30. Feel free to fire off questions to fill time before the action starts.
4:11 -- Super Bowl XXVIII hero James Washington is back to watch another day of practice. He's chatting up defensive coordinator Brian Stewart while the players warm up.
4:17 -- This will be the first officiated practice of training camp. A crew of zebras is here. This is also the day that the Cowboys get their annual talk about the rule changes and things the refs plan to emphasize this season.
4:20 -- Roy Williams is now talking to James Washington. I really haven't noticed much change in Williams this camp. He certainly hasn't morphed into a great cover man, but that won't matter as much this season, when he'll be covering Wade Phillips in most obvious passing situations. I'm not sure his work ethic has even been an issue. ... It'd be very surprising if fifth-round CB Orlando Scandrick didn't make the 53-man roster. The Cowboys like his potential at cornerback, and he can contribute immediately on special teams after blocking seven kicks at Boise State. ... I don't think Jay Ratliff will be solely a DE. Matter of fact, I would still bet that he'll be the starting NT. Wade Phillips says he wants Ratliff to be ready to play DE, so the Cowboys have the flexibility to create matchup problems with their DL. Not sure that idea has been communicated well to Ratliff.
4:27 -- More answers to reader questions: I doubt Danny Amendola would slip through waivers, but that depends on what he does during preseason games. I wouldn't count on him being on the Cowboys' practice squad, though. ... I'd like to wait a little longer than a week into training camp before declaring that TE Martellus Bennett was drafted too high. The 6-6, 260-pound Aggie has done some good things out here, but Tony Curtis would be the No. 2 TE if the season started today.
4:32 -- DeMarcus Ware, who got dinged during yesterday morning's practice, will sit thos one out. He's out there, but he isn't wearing pads.
4:33 -- Stretching just started. More answers: I wouldn't go so far as to say that Orlando Scandrick has more potential than Mike Jenkins. If that were the case, Jenkins wouldn't have been drafted four rounds higher. Jenkins is three inches taller with a lot longer arms and almost as fast. Jenkins will play in the Cowboys' nickel and dime packages. Scandrick won't this season unless there are injuries.
4:36 -- My crystal ball is a bit cloudy in terms of whether Isaiah Stanback will end up being a better receiver than Sam Hurd and Miles Austin. Hurd is the best route-runner and hands guy of the bunch, Austin is the best deep threat, and Stanback is the most dangerous with the ball in his hands. As far as Stanback's development, the coaches compare it to where Austin was a year ago. ... Don't see Marcus Dixon as a realistic candidate for this roster. ... Too early to tell with Courtney Brown, but he's a phenomenal athlete with intriguing playmaking potential at safety. The coaches are eager to see how he tackles in preseason games. ... I could see Keon Lattimore sticking on somebody's roster, but he's just a practice squad candidate here with Tashard Choice the clear-cut No. 3 RB. ... LB Bradie James will have a helmet radio, and I believe FS Ken Hamlin will, too.
4:41 -- Defensive pursuit drills started in an interesting manner at the end of stretching. A bunch of DBs chased defensive coordinator Brian Stewart over to the other field. ... Offense running plays vs. air on field close to fans.
4:45 -- Jerry is yapping in Wade Phillips' ear as the offense runs plays and the defense does position drills. If the conversation is interesting, we'll probably hear it on Hard Knocks. ... Speaking of the HBO show, we'll have major breaking Hard Knocks news tomorrow.
4:47 -- More answers: Junior Siavii is splitting third-team NT reps with Remi Ayodele. They are both roster long shots at this point, especially since Marcus Spears has been working at NT. ... Depth at safety is good enough that a pretty good player might get cut. Pat Watkins, who led the Cowboys in special teams tackles last season, will be here. Courtney Brown vs. Dowayne Davis is one of the better roster spot battles, although there is a chance the Cowboys could go with five safeties. .
4:50 -- The focus of this practice will be the two-minute drill. Should be fun to watch.
4:52 -- The RBs, LBs and TEs are doing a one-on-one blitz drill. Felix Jones got into Zach Thomas' chest and put the seven-time Pro Bowler on the ground. Thomas replied by hopping up and giving Jones a way-to-go slap to the helmet. ... Other than that, the LBs are pretty much dominating. ... WHOA!!!! Check that! Marion "The Barbarian" Barber just unloaded on Tyson Smith, putting him flat on his back. That's unbelievable power, considering Barber only took two steps before delivering the hit. Smith had to be helped off the field by trainers.
4:58 -- Something amazing will have to happen to bump Barber's block from Play of the Day. I'm still shaking my head about that. (And Tyson Smith's head will probably be sore for several days.) It was the kind of hit that you heard if you didn't see it. Got a big, ol', "OHHHHH!" from the crowd. ... Back into non-contact position drills. QBs throwing slants and corner routes to WRs in front of me.
5:01 -- One ref has started earning his paycheck by letting WRs know whether they're out of bounds after catching passes in the corner of the end zone. He signaled incomplete after T.O.'s right foot came down on the sideline. He hasn't put his arms up for a touchdown yet. Yet another example of anti-Cowboys bias!!!
5:07 -- Haven't seen Jay Ratliff described as disgruntled on this here blog or anywhere else. "Shocked" was his word. And, for the record, I think it's in the Cowboys' best interests for him to be ready to play both positions. However, he would prefer to focus on nose tackle. ... Still doing position drills.
5:11 -- Action about to start. I'm headed to the field. Be back with highlights in a bit.
5:26 -- Stuff from inside run first: DE Chris Canty was a beast, making plays in the backfield on back-to-back snaps. ... Marcus Spears got some reps at NT with Jay Ratliff at left DE again. C Andre Gurode and RG Leonard "Bigg" Davis, a pair of powerful Pro Bowlers, opened a big hole for Felix Jones between those two. ... Jones showed his burst by turning the corner against OLB Erik Walden on a counter pitch play. ... Marion Barber made a great cutback in traffic to avoid a tackler at the line of scrimmage. ... Courtney Brown came on a blitz to make a play in the backfield. ... The session ended on a TFL by DE Jason Hatcher. ... Back soon with 1-on-1 passing highlights.
5:30 -- Line of scrimmage was inside the 10 in these drills. ... T.O. was flagged for pushing off against Adam "Pacman" Jones on a fade route. While T.O. debated with the official, Pacman pretended to reach into his pocket and throw a flag. Pacman blanketed T.O. on another fade route, too. ... Another impressive session for Danny Amendola. He made Pacman fall down with a great move on a slant and got wide open on an out against Orlando Scandrick. ... Sam Hurd made Mike Jenkins turn his hips the wrong way on a crossing route. Jenkins did have great coverage on a Mike Jefferson fade route. .... Todd Lowber skied over Anthony Henry to make a nice catch on a fade. ... TE Martellus Bennett made a diving catch with Courtney Brown on his back on a crossing route.
5:36 -- Just wrapped up some punt return work. Would have been more exciting if they actually punted the ball.
5:38 -- More action about to start. They've got red-zone 7-on-7 on the other side of the field and one-on-one pass-rush drills in front of me. I'll sit here and live blog pass-rush drills. ... OLB Erik Walden made an inside move to get past TE Martellus Bennett, but there's no way he'd have that much room to work in a game. ... DE Jay Ratliff beat Pat McQuistan with an outside move. ... Tank Johnson blew by Cory Procter, and Chris Canty did the same to James Marten. ... Nice job by LT Doug Free on Greg Ellis when the vet tried an inside move.
5:41 -- Erik Walden showed good quickness on an outside move vs. Pat McQuistan, but he took too wide of an angle. ... Nice swim move by DE Stephen Bowen to beat James Marten. ... Ellis got by Free with a speed rush, but Free stuck with him and pushed him past the QB. ... NT Junior Siavii bull-rushed Ryan Gibbons, but Joe Berger stood him up the next snap. ... Chris Canty whipped Marten with an inside rip.
5:45 -- Walden needs to work on his technique if he plans to beat a vet like Marc Colombo with an inside move. ... DE Jason Hatcher got by Bigg Davis, but he didn't have a good angle on the QB. ... Andre Gurode roughed up Marcus Spears. ... Chris Canty is abusing anyone who lines up across from him. He sent Kyle Kosier stumbling sideways with a power move. ... Davis just put Hatcher on the ground after standing him up at the line of scrimmage. ... Flozell Adams handled an Ellis speed rush pretty well. ... Spears got stood up by Gurode again.
5:48 -- Canty met his match. Flozell Adams got his paws on Canty with his arms fully extended, and that was that. ... Looks like Kosier accidentally poked Stephen Bowen in his eye. ... Nice swim move by Marcus Dixon to beat Andre Gurode. Then he did the same thing to Kyle Kosier, except he beat him to the other side. DL is giving Dixon major props. ... Canty got inside Adams, but Adams stayed on his hip and pushed him past the QB.
5:52 -- James Marten is struggling in this session. He just ended up on his knees after Tank Johnson made him look like a turnstile. ... Doug Free, Adams' backup at LT, is getting a little work at left guard. He did a good job against Marcus Dixon. (Drills are 1-on-1, but the OL lines up as a unit.) ... Drills over.
5:57 -- Working on kick return stuff, all of it teaching speed.
6:02 -- Still special teams work. ... I've gotten some e-mails from folks wondering whether the Cowboys would consider signing WR Chris Henry, whose suspension will be four games. Never say never with Jerry, but does anybody think it's a good idea to have Henry anywhere near his ex-West Virginia teammate Adam "Pacman" Jones? I don't think Henry is worth the risk of getting Pacman off what appears to be the right path.
6:06 -- 11-on-11 about to start. Be back with highlights after practice.
posted by The Gryphon at 7:14 PM
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