DMN Blog: Live from Oxnard XII: Starting OTs get morning off
by Tim MacMahon
Weather: 64 degrees and cloudy.
It's a sleepy Saturday morning in Oxnard. Cowboys are wearing helmets and shoulder pads for the first of two practices today.
Follow the jump, refresh, etc.
11:01 -- Greg Ellis, who has a sore back, is dressed out again. We'll see how much he participates. He was basically a spectator yesterday.
11:05 -- Sure is quiet here. Other than your hard-working DMN crew, the only person in the media tent a couple minutes before practice was Sports Illustrated's Peter King. ... Stretching just started.
11:12 -- OTs Flozell Adams and Marc Colombo aren't out there. I wouldn't get alarmed about this. It's probably just a couple veterans getting a rest in the middle of the grind. Pat McQuistan is playing RT and Doug Free is at LT with the first-team offense.
11:19 -- No sign of CBs Terence Newman (groin), Quincy Butler (hamstring) or Alan Ball (ankle). Those guys and the starting OTs are the only ones who aren't out here.
11:22 -- Let's answer some questions while Cowboys warm up with position drills. ... To be honest, I haven't noticed Tony Curtis much over the last few days. I need to check in to see what's happening in the No. 2 TE competition. ... Not quite sure what to think of the DL shuffle at this points. Spears has played solely NT and Ratliff solely DE for the last four practices. If you take Wade Phillips at his word, the coaches just want to create some position flexibility to add to the DL depth and allow them to create favorable matchups.
11:26 -- The WRs are running corner routes, and T.O. dropped one right in front of the crowd. The fans went crazy when he caught the next one. I think they're desperate for some excitement at this point. ... Adams and Colombo just walked onto the field, wearing shorts and T-shirts. ... WR Todd Lowber has been impressive for a guy who was unemployed on the first day of training camp. He's long and athletic, but I can't see him cracking the 53-man roster.
11:30 -- Todd Archer confirmed that the OTs are just getting some rest.
11:32 -- We're about to get some 11-on-11 action. It's coming my way, so I don't have to leave my seat. ... First two plays were fullback dives with Deon "Cricket" Anderson. Zach Thomas stuffed the second one. ... Jay Ratliff is back at NT with Marcus Spears sliding over to DE. ... Greg Ellis is sitting out.
11:36 -- Felix Jones showed his burst by turning the left corner on a sweep. ... CB Evan Oglesby, who had a great day yesterday, stumbled to let Miles Austin turn upfield after catching a short pass. ... Oglesby just broke up a fade route to Austin, who tried to make a leaping catch.
11:39 -- T.O. went in motion from right to left and was pitched the ball. It would have been about a 5-yard gain. T.O. wasn't able to plant his foot and get north-south. ... Roy Williams forced RB Keon Lattimore to fumble. Ken Hamlin recovered the ball. .... Adam "Pacman" Jones and Mike Jenkins are splitting the first-team reps at left CB. ... Horn sounded.
11:45 -- They're doing special teams drills on the field close to the crowd. The gunner candidates are working on their releases. Those jobs belong to Sam Hurd and Pat Watkins at this point. Courtney Brown, who saw some time there last season, is probably next in line.
11:49 -- The injured cornerbacks are on the other field, doing resistance band work with associate athletic trainer Britt Brown. They're not going full speed, but I don't see any hitch in the giddy-ups of Terence Newman and Alan Ball.
11:51 -- First-round CB Mike Jenkins has extra tape over his left shoe. We'll try to find out why after practice. ... Mat McBriar just boomed a punt that had Adam "Pacman" Jones backpedaling to catch it. Jones and Patrick Crayton are catching punts, but they aren't returning them. ... The punt team isn't running downfield, either. Looks like they're working on blocking assignments.
11:55 -- Horn sounded. More 11-on-11 work about to start. It's on my end of the field, so I'll stay here.
12:00 -- Brad "Checkdown" Johnson is living up to the nickname Patrick Crayton calls him. ...After three short passes, Johnson threw a 15-yard slant to Isaiah Stanback, who made a one-handed catch on a ball behind him in the end zone.
12:05 -- Richard Bartel was fortunate that his out to Mark Bradford wasn't picked off. Anthony Henry broke up the pass. ... Jason Witten made a tippy-toe catch on the sideline. ... Starting offense seems to be having some communication issues. They just had to huddle back up after apparently screwing up a formation.
12:08 -- LB Bobby Carpenter picked off a Romo pass intended for Tony Curtis. Carpenter would have had an easy TD return. ... Another catch for Isaiah Stanback across the middle. ... Horn sounded.
12:13 -- Back to special teams drills. This would be a good time for a quick nap.
12:20 -- Fifth-round CB Orlando Scandrick just flashed his kick-blocking ability. Mat McBriar didn't actually punt the ball, but Scandrick would have blocked it if he did. Scandrick, a 4.32 40 guy, came flying in from McBriar's left.
12:22 -- Another cornerback injury? Evan Oglesby just jogged off the field with head athletic trainer Jim Maurer. We'll get an update ASAP. ... Horn sounded.
12:25 -- Oglesby is back on the field. Maybe he just needed to get some tape dixed or something. .... 11-on-11 starting.
12:27 -- Mike Jenkins held T.O. to keep him from catching the ball after running an out at the goal line. The side judge threw a flag, which T.O. caught and tossed at Jenkins. ... Martellus Bennett caught a 2-yard TD pass from Romo on second-and-goal. Romo scanned the field before hitting Bennett in the right flat.
12:31 -- Another nice play by Bobby Carpenter. Brad Johnson dumped the ball off to Miles Austin across the middle. Carpenter arrived a split-second after the ball and could have had a huge hit. ... Johnson missed a wide-open Isaiah Stanback on a corner route in the end zone. Stanback laid out for the ball but couldn't get his hands on it.
12:34 -- In goal line work, undrafted rookie TE Drew Atchison got behind Justin Rogers for a TD. ... There's the TE screen to Jason Witten again. Didn't work this time. Undrafted OLB Darrell Robertson met Witten near the line of scrimmage.
12:39 -- The Bobby Carpenter Show continues. He broke up a pass in the end zone to TE Martellus Bennett after Tony Romo rolled right. "Way to go, Bobby!" Wade Phillips hollered.
12:40 -- Sack for DeMarcus Ware, who blew by LT Doug Free. ... The side judge let FS Ken Hamlin get away with holding TE Drew Atchison in the end zone on second-and-goal. ... Jason Hatcher blew up a running play on third-and-goal. ... Horn sounded. Practice over.
Weather: 64 degrees and cloudy.
It's a sleepy Saturday morning in Oxnard. Cowboys are wearing helmets and shoulder pads for the first of two practices today.
Follow the jump, refresh, etc.
11:01 -- Greg Ellis, who has a sore back, is dressed out again. We'll see how much he participates. He was basically a spectator yesterday.
11:05 -- Sure is quiet here. Other than your hard-working DMN crew, the only person in the media tent a couple minutes before practice was Sports Illustrated's Peter King. ... Stretching just started.
11:12 -- OTs Flozell Adams and Marc Colombo aren't out there. I wouldn't get alarmed about this. It's probably just a couple veterans getting a rest in the middle of the grind. Pat McQuistan is playing RT and Doug Free is at LT with the first-team offense.
11:19 -- No sign of CBs Terence Newman (groin), Quincy Butler (hamstring) or Alan Ball (ankle). Those guys and the starting OTs are the only ones who aren't out here.
11:22 -- Let's answer some questions while Cowboys warm up with position drills. ... To be honest, I haven't noticed Tony Curtis much over the last few days. I need to check in to see what's happening in the No. 2 TE competition. ... Not quite sure what to think of the DL shuffle at this points. Spears has played solely NT and Ratliff solely DE for the last four practices. If you take Wade Phillips at his word, the coaches just want to create some position flexibility to add to the DL depth and allow them to create favorable matchups.
11:26 -- The WRs are running corner routes, and T.O. dropped one right in front of the crowd. The fans went crazy when he caught the next one. I think they're desperate for some excitement at this point. ... Adams and Colombo just walked onto the field, wearing shorts and T-shirts. ... WR Todd Lowber has been impressive for a guy who was unemployed on the first day of training camp. He's long and athletic, but I can't see him cracking the 53-man roster.
11:30 -- Todd Archer confirmed that the OTs are just getting some rest.
11:32 -- We're about to get some 11-on-11 action. It's coming my way, so I don't have to leave my seat. ... First two plays were fullback dives with Deon "Cricket" Anderson. Zach Thomas stuffed the second one. ... Jay Ratliff is back at NT with Marcus Spears sliding over to DE. ... Greg Ellis is sitting out.
11:36 -- Felix Jones showed his burst by turning the left corner on a sweep. ... CB Evan Oglesby, who had a great day yesterday, stumbled to let Miles Austin turn upfield after catching a short pass. ... Oglesby just broke up a fade route to Austin, who tried to make a leaping catch.
11:39 -- T.O. went in motion from right to left and was pitched the ball. It would have been about a 5-yard gain. T.O. wasn't able to plant his foot and get north-south. ... Roy Williams forced RB Keon Lattimore to fumble. Ken Hamlin recovered the ball. .... Adam "Pacman" Jones and Mike Jenkins are splitting the first-team reps at left CB. ... Horn sounded.
11:45 -- They're doing special teams drills on the field close to the crowd. The gunner candidates are working on their releases. Those jobs belong to Sam Hurd and Pat Watkins at this point. Courtney Brown, who saw some time there last season, is probably next in line.
11:49 -- The injured cornerbacks are on the other field, doing resistance band work with associate athletic trainer Britt Brown. They're not going full speed, but I don't see any hitch in the giddy-ups of Terence Newman and Alan Ball.
11:51 -- First-round CB Mike Jenkins has extra tape over his left shoe. We'll try to find out why after practice. ... Mat McBriar just boomed a punt that had Adam "Pacman" Jones backpedaling to catch it. Jones and Patrick Crayton are catching punts, but they aren't returning them. ... The punt team isn't running downfield, either. Looks like they're working on blocking assignments.
11:55 -- Horn sounded. More 11-on-11 work about to start. It's on my end of the field, so I'll stay here.
12:00 -- Brad "Checkdown" Johnson is living up to the nickname Patrick Crayton calls him. ...After three short passes, Johnson threw a 15-yard slant to Isaiah Stanback, who made a one-handed catch on a ball behind him in the end zone.
12:05 -- Richard Bartel was fortunate that his out to Mark Bradford wasn't picked off. Anthony Henry broke up the pass. ... Jason Witten made a tippy-toe catch on the sideline. ... Starting offense seems to be having some communication issues. They just had to huddle back up after apparently screwing up a formation.
12:08 -- LB Bobby Carpenter picked off a Romo pass intended for Tony Curtis. Carpenter would have had an easy TD return. ... Another catch for Isaiah Stanback across the middle. ... Horn sounded.
12:13 -- Back to special teams drills. This would be a good time for a quick nap.
12:20 -- Fifth-round CB Orlando Scandrick just flashed his kick-blocking ability. Mat McBriar didn't actually punt the ball, but Scandrick would have blocked it if he did. Scandrick, a 4.32 40 guy, came flying in from McBriar's left.
12:22 -- Another cornerback injury? Evan Oglesby just jogged off the field with head athletic trainer Jim Maurer. We'll get an update ASAP. ... Horn sounded.
12:25 -- Oglesby is back on the field. Maybe he just needed to get some tape dixed or something. .... 11-on-11 starting.
12:27 -- Mike Jenkins held T.O. to keep him from catching the ball after running an out at the goal line. The side judge threw a flag, which T.O. caught and tossed at Jenkins. ... Martellus Bennett caught a 2-yard TD pass from Romo on second-and-goal. Romo scanned the field before hitting Bennett in the right flat.
12:31 -- Another nice play by Bobby Carpenter. Brad Johnson dumped the ball off to Miles Austin across the middle. Carpenter arrived a split-second after the ball and could have had a huge hit. ... Johnson missed a wide-open Isaiah Stanback on a corner route in the end zone. Stanback laid out for the ball but couldn't get his hands on it.
12:34 -- In goal line work, undrafted rookie TE Drew Atchison got behind Justin Rogers for a TD. ... There's the TE screen to Jason Witten again. Didn't work this time. Undrafted OLB Darrell Robertson met Witten near the line of scrimmage.
12:39 -- The Bobby Carpenter Show continues. He broke up a pass in the end zone to TE Martellus Bennett after Tony Romo rolled right. "Way to go, Bobby!" Wade Phillips hollered.
12:40 -- Sack for DeMarcus Ware, who blew by LT Doug Free. ... The side judge let FS Ken Hamlin get away with holding TE Drew Atchison in the end zone on second-and-goal. ... Jason Hatcher blew up a running play on third-and-goal. ... Horn sounded. Practice over.
posted by The Gryphon at 12:25 PM
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