NFC East
A Day at Cowboy Camp
By Dennis Lee
Aug 6, 2007, 20:53

'Twas truly a joy at the Yours Truly household when the Boyz decided to return their preseason camp to San Antonio after a few years in California. Once again, the Better Half and I made a pilgrimage down to the Alamo City to view a day's worth of practices. This generally requires an entire day of our time, as San Antonio is an hour away (or more in rush hour traffic… which we found ourselves in both going and coming), practices are about two hours each, and there's about 5 hours to kill in between… but no sacrifice is too large for a true Cowboy fan and/or EFSNews writer.

The air in Camp Phillips (that would be Wade, the new HC) was decidedly different from Camp Parcells, or for that matter Camp Campo, the prior Cowboy regimes I have observed. Camp Campo was relaxed, lethargic - much like his team. Camp Parcells was all hustle and bustle and very regimented. Camp Phillips was somewhere in between. Practices moved well, but not like guys had guns pointed at their heads. The morning practice was in shorts and shells, and the afternoon practice was in half-pads.

Here are some observations, in no particular order:

1) The QB pecking order looks fixed: Romo, then Brad Johnson, then a clipboard carrier to be named later (either Richard Bartel or Matt Moore - both are projects). Neither of the vets stood out positively or negatively, and both of the youngsters were shaky at best.

2) Ditto the RB rotation: Jones and Barber look to be the RBBC. Tyson Thompson is the clear #3 at this point, but Jackie Battle looked good in stretches. Look for Battle and possibly Alonzo Coleman - who was working on the side, rehabbing an injury - to make the PS.

3) Receivers: T.O. was a no show with back spasms. So was Terry Glenn, but he is a week out from a knee 'scope. Patrick Crayton and Sam Hurd ran with the #1's. Surprisingly, Jerheme Urban got a lot of reps and looked really good, both as a receiver and as a returner. Miles Austin looked pretty fair, and the others were up and down. If I had to guess, the ones mentioned above make the team. Isaiah Stanback, the project QB-to-WR conversion, spent both practices on the sidelines although he looked good goofing around doing receiving drills before the actual start of practice. It shouldn't be long until he's in action, but he looks like a PS guy for this year.

4) OL: All of the starters were there, at least in the afternoon. Hard to tell anything other than they seemed to be moving well.

5) TE's: Witten looked sharp. Fasano was up and down. The #3 slot looks to go to Adam Bergen or Andy Thorn.

6) FB: Hoyte was running with the 1's. Deon Anderson got some reps and looked good. Where was Polite? Also, the Boyz ran some sets with one of the TE's in the backfield as a lead blocker, much like last year (which we had heard was going away).

7) XK: This is still a neck and neck race. The Hamburglar (Martin Grammatica) made all 5 of his tries. But so did rookie Nick Folk. And Folk kicked off about 2-3 yards deeper each try. Maybe they'll keep both.

8) DL: The usual suspects were there and getting most of the reps. Hard to tell anything useful, other than everyone seemed to be moving well. Marcus Spears is clearly lighter and faster than last year.

9) OB: Greg Ellis continues to work on the sidelines, trying to get rehabbed. Meanwhile Anthony Spencer is getting lots of reps. Ware got his reps, too. Burnett played some outside backer as well as inside. Camp fodder filled in for a few reps.

10) IB: The usual suspects did their things: James and Ayodele started and Carpenter and Burnett relieved. The camp fodder got a few reps.

11) CB: Same ole, same ole. Anthony Henry, Terrence Newman, Aaron Glenn are the big 3. Joey Thomas got a lot of reps. Rookie Alan Ball looked good in a couple of places. The others were just there.

12) S: Roy Williams is entrenched at SS, but FS seems to still be up for grabs with Hamlin and Pat Watkins sharing reps. Abram Elam and Keith Davis also got some quality time.

13) XP: Mat McBriar is Da Man. He pooched. He direction-punted. He boomed the long ones. Wow.

14) Coaching: Wade Phillips does not stalk around and glare like Parcells. Neither does he glad-hand everyone like Barry Switzer (who was in attendance, and on the field at the end of each practice session). He calmly talks to individuals, either players or coaches, during the whole practice. Jason Garrett is born to coach. He's there from before each session until well after, working with the offensive players. Sparano is very active in coaching the OL guys. The strength coach led two stretching sessions - one in the early parts of each practice, and one near the end, for each practice.

15) Practice tidbits: There was a bit more hitting in the afternoon, even though the players were only padded above the waist. On one play, Kevin Burnett leveled a kickoff returner (Austin?), mostly by accident. I think. On another, Jackie Battle caught a swing pass and ran flat over Ken Hamlin, ringing his chimes a bit. Pat Watkins safety-blitzed and was picked up by Julius Jones in a collision that turned into a 30-second scuffle before everything was broken up. In one drill, the OL was working on protection schemes against single and dual rushers, and there was the usual amount of pushing and shoving for such activities. Joey "Toast" Thomas lived up to his nickname a few times, then would turn around and give a handful of great plays. The man is a bit inconsistent. The Boyz worked on punt coverage (and blocking), kickoff coverage, punt and kickoff returns, and field goals - spread throughout the two practice sessions. The Cowboys' 4 Lombardi trophies were on display in an area outside the doors of the Alamodome. Lee Roy Jordan spoke to the team after the morning session; I couldn't figure out who he was until I read dallascowboys.com when I got home. I went through a long list of who he wasn't, though…

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