Thursday, June 18, 2009

Dallas Cowboys: Three Dots and a Cloud of Dust

By Richie Whitt in Dallas Cowboys

Quick takes from a Wednesday's minicamp workout at Carrollton's Standridge Stadium:

*Tony Romo says the story that appeared in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about him being told to lose weight is total bullshit. "That never happened," Romo said with a smile. "It just didn't." ...

*From what I could tell, the defense was kicking the offense's ass. Patrick Watkins intercepted Romo's deep pass off a flea-flicker, and rookie Mike Mickens picked off a deflected Jon Kitna pass over the middle ...

*Kitna effortlessly threw a pass 55 yards. In other words, forget Brad Johnson ...

*If you hear a quarterback barking "Omaha!" at the line scrimmage, don't be surprised to see a quarterback draw. Don't remember that - or the flea-flicker - in last year's playbook. You? ...

*Biggest talker on the team is - surprise - second-year running back Tashard Choice ...

*Even though the Cowboys say Felix Jones' bruised thigh is no biggie, I'm starting to worry about his durability.

*Roy Williams has great hands, but sporadic effort. I know it's just minicamp and players were without pads, but you could tell within two steps if Williams was the play's intended target.

*Williams says he won't invite friends and family to training camp in San Antonio. Why? "I got so much pressure on me, I need to concentrate only on football." Good. I think.

*7th-round pick Manny Johnson, a receiver from OU, can play.

*During a 7-on-7 drill safety Ken Hamlin appeared to hold tight end Jason Witten, who appeared to first push Hamlin. When offensive players screamed for a flag, Hamlin yelped: "Y'all stop pushing and we'll stop holding!" I love football.

*Rich Behm and Joe DeCamillis<> weren't the only ones injured in the May 2 collapse of the practice facility. College scouting director Chris Hall was hobbling around minicamp with his right shoulder in a sling and left knee in a big brace.

*Martellus Bennett looks bigger, faster, stronger. Better.

*It's hard to take the Cowboys serious when you see Bobby Carpenter trotting onto the field.

*Romo on the difference between this year and last: "We have an urgency to do things the right way, right now, every play and every practice. Sometimes we didn't have that last year." ...

*Head coach Wade Phillips on Romo's maturation process into a team leader: "He's always had exceptional practice habits. I don't know how those rumors got started. But he's a competitor. He wants to win every snap. I wish every player had his work ethic. He's not a yeller, but he's growing into that role of a leader. You have to be careful to fit it to your personality, though. I was with Ken Stabler, who never said a word to nobody, and with Jim Kelly, who was flambouyant and talked to everyone after every series. You can lead a bunch of different ways." ...

*41 days until the first training camp practice in San Antonio.