CNNSI Peter King: Cowboys Postcard
Where's Peter?
At the Dallas Cowboys camp site at the Marriott Residence Inn in Oxnard, Calif., which is a siren song of a place to work. In the mornings, there's a marine cloudiness to the practice fields behind the hotel, located about three miles from the Pacific Ocean, and the players love practicing with temperatures in the high 60s. In the afternoon, the clouds burn off, and the men can get a good sweat going, and the 3,000 or so fans who flood the place can get a good tan. I told owner Jerry Jones Friday that it'd be a shame if the team goes to San Antonio next year, which it is contractually obligated to do, and just forgets working here. The quality of work that gets done here is so good, in part because the players don't have spend half their time *****ing about the heat and humidity. Half the time, there is neither.
Three Observations
1. It's amazing how many big names and big stories there are here. Look, over there -- Dave Campo, back coaching the secondary ... and he's working with Adam (nee Pacman) Jones. With the linebackers, there's a new number 55 --Zach Thomas, the seven-time Pro Bowler coming home to redeem himself. That strong-looking whippet in the backfield? Felix Jones. And the guest coaches: Erik Williams, old Big E, is here on a minority coaching fellowship working with the line. Michael Irvin had been working with the receivers before leaving the other day for the Hall of Fame ceremonies. Dat Nguyen is working with the linebackers. And Nate Newton is hanging around, doing some media and promotional stuff.
2. The Cowboys have upgraded themselves at corner -- maybe in a big way. Even with Terence Newman out -- he'll miss much of camp with a groin pull -- the Dallas secondary is having a good camp. This morning, Anthony Henry (no, he has not been moved to safety yet, and may not be because of how often Dallas will use a third corner on defense) and rookie first-rounder Mike Jenkins took snaps with the first unity, with Jones and feisty fifth-rounder Orlando Scandrick backing them up. All four of those guys will make the team, with Newman likely to be back by early September. That's a quality group of five NFL corners.
3. Confidence oozes here. The players and coaches don't have to say anything. You can just feel it. They don't make excuses about their horrendous loss to the Giants in the NFC semis. They praise the Giants, in fact. "I've got tremendous respect for what the Giants did,'' Wade Phillips told me this morning before practice. "Think about it: They lose to us twice in the regular season, they lose to Green Bay, and they lose to New England?and then they beat us all in the playoffs. What are the odds of that? That's got to be unheard of in NFL history.'' But Dallas doesn't think Eli Manning will be able to shred them the way he did at times in that playoff game, and they're sure they'll protect Tony Romo better when the time comes. We'll see.
New Face, New Place
Middle linebacker Zach Thomas. We'd all given up on Thomas, who turns 35 on Labor Day. But the Cowboys haven't. He's embedded on first and second downs in the middle of the defense, and he should play enough to be in the top three on the Cowboys in tackles. Wade Phillips plans to play the rangy 242-pound Kevin Burnett in pass coverage and in two-minute and no-huddle situations. "I want to keep Zach fresh,'' he said. Thomas is revved up to prove he doesn't have a concussion problem. (More about that in the next Monday Morning Quarterback.) Even Cowboys you talk to with the notebook put away think Thomas will be a 16-game player, even though the odds are against it in the vortex of a physical defense in a physical division. "There's no question in my mind,'' Thomas said about playing a full season. We'll see.
Looking at the Schedule
September and December: brutal. October and November: manageable. Dallas opens at Cleveland, Philly at home, at Green Bay, Washington at home. The Cowboys finish at Pittsburgh, Giants and Ravens at home (both in prime time), at Philly. The only edge I see is favorable bye -- Nov. 9, between road tests at the Giants and 'Skins -- and the 10-day breather after the Thanksgiving Day game to prepare for the tough December slate.
Memorable Image from Camp
Felix Jones is going to be good. Maybe really good. He runs smoothly and with a fluid determination. You aren't going to see many backs cut with the quickness and decisiveness Jones runs with. Friday afternoon, in an 11-on-11 drill, Jones cut to the right, shot forward through a hole around right end, and, just as a safety came up to wrap him up, Jones planted his left foot, zigged to the right and shot forward, the defender left to grab air. I'm not saying he's Barry Sanders, but Jones is a talent. "I haven't played that much,'' Jones told me walking off the field afterward. "But I've been able to become a student of the game. I've watched a lot of film. I know how defenses want to play me.'' Remember this number: 129. Jones played three years in Darren McFadden's shadow at Arkansas, and that's how many carries he averaged per year. But the Cowboys all along loved the 6-foot, 212-pound Jones, and it could well turn out to be a big advantage that he carried it so sparingly. Maybe he'll have more tread on his tire when he's called on late in the fourth quarter at the Meadowlands if Marion Barber gets dinged. "We did a study before the draft on carries,'' said Cowboy scouting czar Tom Ciskowski. "That back at Central Florida [Kevin Smith] carried the ball more last year [450 times] than Felix did his entire career [386]. I think if he'd been the feature back at someplace like Memphis State or Oklahoma State, he'd never have been there for us.'' Dallas got him with the 22nd pick of the first round.
Parting Shots
• Terrell Owens might be the most media-friendly guy in camp.
• In the worst-kept secret in the history of pro football, Adam Jones will be reinstated by the commissioner as long as he has an uneventful next month.
• "I haven't thought about left tackle in years,'' Jerry Jones said after Friday's second practice, and he can sleep at night for good reason. Flozell Adams is one of the top three left tackles in the NFC, and at 33, looks in terrific shape.
• Patrick Crayton will be the second starting wide receiver -- with Sam Hurd and Miles Austin likely winning the third and fourth slots -- but I don't think he'll catch more than 50 balls. I think Jason Witten and Terrell Owens will both exceed 90. I asked Todd Archer of the Dallas Morning News what the odds were that the Cowboys will make a trade for a receiver before opening day, and he said: "10 percent.''
• Over-under on Felix Jones carries: 145.
• Don't know why exactly, but rookie TE Martellus Bennett does not impress me. He seems to sulk, and he's not particularly energetic.
At the Dallas Cowboys camp site at the Marriott Residence Inn in Oxnard, Calif., which is a siren song of a place to work. In the mornings, there's a marine cloudiness to the practice fields behind the hotel, located about three miles from the Pacific Ocean, and the players love practicing with temperatures in the high 60s. In the afternoon, the clouds burn off, and the men can get a good sweat going, and the 3,000 or so fans who flood the place can get a good tan. I told owner Jerry Jones Friday that it'd be a shame if the team goes to San Antonio next year, which it is contractually obligated to do, and just forgets working here. The quality of work that gets done here is so good, in part because the players don't have spend half their time *****ing about the heat and humidity. Half the time, there is neither.
Three Observations
1. It's amazing how many big names and big stories there are here. Look, over there -- Dave Campo, back coaching the secondary ... and he's working with Adam (nee Pacman) Jones. With the linebackers, there's a new number 55 --Zach Thomas, the seven-time Pro Bowler coming home to redeem himself. That strong-looking whippet in the backfield? Felix Jones. And the guest coaches: Erik Williams, old Big E, is here on a minority coaching fellowship working with the line. Michael Irvin had been working with the receivers before leaving the other day for the Hall of Fame ceremonies. Dat Nguyen is working with the linebackers. And Nate Newton is hanging around, doing some media and promotional stuff.
2. The Cowboys have upgraded themselves at corner -- maybe in a big way. Even with Terence Newman out -- he'll miss much of camp with a groin pull -- the Dallas secondary is having a good camp. This morning, Anthony Henry (no, he has not been moved to safety yet, and may not be because of how often Dallas will use a third corner on defense) and rookie first-rounder Mike Jenkins took snaps with the first unity, with Jones and feisty fifth-rounder Orlando Scandrick backing them up. All four of those guys will make the team, with Newman likely to be back by early September. That's a quality group of five NFL corners.
3. Confidence oozes here. The players and coaches don't have to say anything. You can just feel it. They don't make excuses about their horrendous loss to the Giants in the NFC semis. They praise the Giants, in fact. "I've got tremendous respect for what the Giants did,'' Wade Phillips told me this morning before practice. "Think about it: They lose to us twice in the regular season, they lose to Green Bay, and they lose to New England?and then they beat us all in the playoffs. What are the odds of that? That's got to be unheard of in NFL history.'' But Dallas doesn't think Eli Manning will be able to shred them the way he did at times in that playoff game, and they're sure they'll protect Tony Romo better when the time comes. We'll see.
New Face, New Place
Middle linebacker Zach Thomas. We'd all given up on Thomas, who turns 35 on Labor Day. But the Cowboys haven't. He's embedded on first and second downs in the middle of the defense, and he should play enough to be in the top three on the Cowboys in tackles. Wade Phillips plans to play the rangy 242-pound Kevin Burnett in pass coverage and in two-minute and no-huddle situations. "I want to keep Zach fresh,'' he said. Thomas is revved up to prove he doesn't have a concussion problem. (More about that in the next Monday Morning Quarterback.) Even Cowboys you talk to with the notebook put away think Thomas will be a 16-game player, even though the odds are against it in the vortex of a physical defense in a physical division. "There's no question in my mind,'' Thomas said about playing a full season. We'll see.
Looking at the Schedule
September and December: brutal. October and November: manageable. Dallas opens at Cleveland, Philly at home, at Green Bay, Washington at home. The Cowboys finish at Pittsburgh, Giants and Ravens at home (both in prime time), at Philly. The only edge I see is favorable bye -- Nov. 9, between road tests at the Giants and 'Skins -- and the 10-day breather after the Thanksgiving Day game to prepare for the tough December slate.
Memorable Image from Camp
Felix Jones is going to be good. Maybe really good. He runs smoothly and with a fluid determination. You aren't going to see many backs cut with the quickness and decisiveness Jones runs with. Friday afternoon, in an 11-on-11 drill, Jones cut to the right, shot forward through a hole around right end, and, just as a safety came up to wrap him up, Jones planted his left foot, zigged to the right and shot forward, the defender left to grab air. I'm not saying he's Barry Sanders, but Jones is a talent. "I haven't played that much,'' Jones told me walking off the field afterward. "But I've been able to become a student of the game. I've watched a lot of film. I know how defenses want to play me.'' Remember this number: 129. Jones played three years in Darren McFadden's shadow at Arkansas, and that's how many carries he averaged per year. But the Cowboys all along loved the 6-foot, 212-pound Jones, and it could well turn out to be a big advantage that he carried it so sparingly. Maybe he'll have more tread on his tire when he's called on late in the fourth quarter at the Meadowlands if Marion Barber gets dinged. "We did a study before the draft on carries,'' said Cowboy scouting czar Tom Ciskowski. "That back at Central Florida [Kevin Smith] carried the ball more last year [450 times] than Felix did his entire career [386]. I think if he'd been the feature back at someplace like Memphis State or Oklahoma State, he'd never have been there for us.'' Dallas got him with the 22nd pick of the first round.
Parting Shots
• Terrell Owens might be the most media-friendly guy in camp.
• In the worst-kept secret in the history of pro football, Adam Jones will be reinstated by the commissioner as long as he has an uneventful next month.
• "I haven't thought about left tackle in years,'' Jerry Jones said after Friday's second practice, and he can sleep at night for good reason. Flozell Adams is one of the top three left tackles in the NFC, and at 33, looks in terrific shape.
• Patrick Crayton will be the second starting wide receiver -- with Sam Hurd and Miles Austin likely winning the third and fourth slots -- but I don't think he'll catch more than 50 balls. I think Jason Witten and Terrell Owens will both exceed 90. I asked Todd Archer of the Dallas Morning News what the odds were that the Cowboys will make a trade for a receiver before opening day, and he said: "10 percent.''
• Over-under on Felix Jones carries: 145.
• Don't know why exactly, but rookie TE Martellus Bennett does not impress me. He seems to sulk, and he's not particularly energetic.
posted by The Gryphon at 4:00 PM
<< Home