ARTICLE: Henson Not On Fire

dmq

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NFL: COWBOYS: Henson Not On Fire; Jones On Tagliabue
Mickey Spagnola - Email
DallasCowboys.com Columnist
March 20, 2006 6:42 PM

IRVING, Texas - Even though his NFL Europe Rhein team jumped off to a good start, defeating the Frankurt Galaxy,10-6, in the season opener Saturday night, Cowboys quarterback Drew Henson didn't exactly start off the spring season like a ball of fire.

Henson, starting and finishing his first football game of any kind since the 2000 season at Michigan, drove his Rhein Fire to just one score in seven possessions on a muddy LTU Arena field in Dusseldorf, Germany, and at that, an inauspicious drive. In fact, it was a one-play drive, Henson handing off to wide receiver Chris Samp, who pulled up on an end-around to throw a 45-yard pass to Juan Wong on Rhein's first offensive play of the game for what turned out to be the only touchdown of the evening.

"That was a great way to start the season," Henson said. "We had the defense on their heels and the situation was good to run the play, so we executed it. It never looked that good in practice, but it worked when it counted."

Henson completed just five of 11 attempts for 58 yards and suffered one sack. He did not throw an interception. Backup Timmy Chang played the second quarter, hitting on six of 13 attempts for just 59 yards.

During Henson's seven possessions, he had a hand in leading the Fire into scoring position three times, but Ola Kimrin missed a 36-yard field goal and had a 50-yarder smothered almost before he even got the ball off the ground.

That might have been Henson's best possession of the game, completing two of four passes for 30 yards, including his game-long of 21 yards on a nice pass up the middle to highlight the 44-yard drive.

His final full possession of the game ended at the Frankfurt 18-yard line when his fourth-and-1 pass to the tight end fell incomplete. Henson's final possession required him to simply kneel down to run out the clock.

Henson would seem to have a very limited receiving corps, since Rhein's top receivers in the game were Wong, a college player from Mexico who had spent time on the Dallas Desperados' practice squad, and Zuriel Smith, a Cowboys sixth-round pick who was never anything more than a kick returner.

The Fire next plays at Berlin on March 25, and the game is scheduled to air on the NFL Network at 7 p.m.

The Cowboys other two players allocated to NFL Europe also played in the game, receiver Tom Crowder catching one pass for five yards for Frankfurt while cornerback Lenny Williams had three tackles for the Galaxy.

Jones Praises Retiring Commish

The only NFL commissioner Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has really known, Paul Tagliabue, has decided to step down from his post after 16 years.

Tagliabue, 65, will retire in July and remain a consultant to the NFL for the next two years.

"Paul's legacy of leadership to the National Football League will be that he presided over - and helped further the development of - the most dramatic period of growth and popularity that any one professional sports league has enjoyed," Jones said in a statement. "Under his leadership I was always encouraged by one of his personal philosophies that he shared with the ownership on several occasions:

"'If it isn't broke,' Paul would say, 'let's fix it anyway.' That played well with me. It inspired me to think outside the box."

Taliabue took over for the retiring Pete Rozelle in 1989, the same year Jones bought the Cowboys. And even though Jones butted heads with Tagliabue on several occasions, especially when it came to marketing deals the Cowboys owner was knocking out independently of the NFL, the two seemed to work well together.

Jones was a big player in the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations two weeks ago in Dallas, helping Tagliabue to secure labor peace throughout his 16-year tenure after the strikes to hit the NFL in 1982 and then again in 1987. Tagliabue also has a hefty television contract in place.

"We didn't always agree, but he encouraged the airing of different opinions and philosophies amongst the entire ownership," Jones said. "From a personal perspective, I know he brought out the best in me in what I could do to serve the NFL and the fans of this league. That's leadership."
 

speedkilz88

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I still can't figure out what happened to Kendrick Starling. He was the one decent receiver on that team in camp and he isn't on the depth chart and didn't play. Still listed on the roster last time I checked.

Edit/ They updated their roster and have him on their practice squad. Doesn't make sense unless he has a minor injury or something.
 

TheSkaven

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It really was not a very good debut, made even worse by the fact that he was splitting reps with Tommy Chang. Henson didn't even get a snap in the 2nd quarter. :mad:
 

Cochese

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TheSkaven said:
It really was not a very good debut, made even worse by the fact that he was splitting reps with Tommy Chang. Henson didn't even get a snap in the 2nd quarter. :mad:

So what? He played the majority of the game, even though Chang arguably was better at moving the ball through the air in his one quarter.
 

TheSkaven

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JustSayNotoTO said:
So what? He played the majority of the game, even though Chang arguably was better at moving the ball through the air in his one quarter.
He is there so we can learn about whether or not he can play ball. We learn nothing while he sits on the bench. Tommy Chang is a nobody, a practice squad player at best for the Eagles. I want to see the kid get as many reps as he can otherwise it is a wasted trip.
 

Dave_in-NC

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TheSkaven said:
It really was not a very good debut, made even worse by the fact that he was splitting reps with Tommy Chang. Henson didn't even get a snap in the 2nd quarter. :mad:

Thats how the NFLE works. They usually switch halves or quarters.
 

Cochese

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TheSkaven said:
He is there so we can learn about whether or not he can play ball. We learn nothing while he sits on the bench. Tommy Chang is a nobody, a practice squad player at best for the Eagles. I want to see the kid get as many reps as he can otherwise it is a wasted trip.


The NFL Europe isnt a Dallas Cowboy developemental league. Each team plays 2 QB's, you dig? Drew Henson isnt a nobody? Come on he is 9 weeks away from completely failing at two major American sports. Say what you will about Chang, but his college career> Drew Hensons college career, and after suffering through the game last Saturday, I wouldnt be at all surprised if Chang over took Henson as the #1.
 

FuzzyLumpkins

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JustSayNotoTO said:
The NFL Europe isnt a Dallas Cowboy developemental league. Each team plays 2 QB's, you dig? Drew Henson isnt a nobody? Come on he is 9 weeks away from completely failing at two major American sports. Say what you will about Chang, but his college career> Drew Hensons college career, and after suffering through the game last Saturday, I wouldnt be at all surprised if Chang over took Henson as the #1.

Dude, you didnt watch Henson's reps obviously. He didnt look bad especially considering his receivers showed a penchant for not being able to get open.

When his receivers did get open he got them the ball.
 

Cochese

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FuzzyLumpkins said:
Dude, you didnt watch Henson's reps obviously. He didnt look bad especially considering his receivers showed a penchant for not being able to get open.

When his receivers did get open he got them the ball.

5-11 in a minor league football game is awful. Completely terrible. I wonder how that compares to people that actually had talent in the NFLE like Delhomme or Warner, or Brad Johnson. If DH had any of this supposed talent, that people swear he has, he would look like the best player on the field, or atleast do better than 5-11. The clock is ticking for him.

Look at the leading passers from last year, the supposed allworld Henson should be shattering these numbers.
http://www.nfleurope.com/stats/leaders/2005
 

proline

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I'd really like to see the play-by-play for each of his passes. Were his receivers dropping balls, was he throwing the ball out of bounds intentionally, were the DB's making good plays on the ball, or was he just missing open receivers.

5-11 doesn't tell the whole story.
 

JackMagist

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Good News that Tags is retiring. Now maybe we can get a Commish that doesn't believe we should be playing touch football. I won't go on about the salary cap or Free Agency...those things were almost inevitable. But Tags affect on the game play itself has been just horrible.
 

TonyS

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proline said:
I'd really like to see the play-by-play for each of his passes. Were his receivers dropping balls, was he throwing the ball out of bounds intentionally, were the DB's making good plays on the ball, or was he just missing open receivers.

5-11 doesn't tell the whole story.

I saw a lot of his passes and he was about even with the amount of players who weren't open or passes that went high. It was a rough outing, but definitely could be made better by a better receiving corps.
 

Juke99

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His performance was not very good. His passes weren't accurate. At times, his feet weren't set well.

He did show good mobility.

He did show a great arm on a few throws.

His command in the huddle and poise on the field was excellent.

The physical part of his game has, in my eyes, actually deteriorated since he joined the Cowboys. Hopefully repititions will fix that.
 

dwmyers

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We have a guy whose major problem is rust and game exposure and we wonder WHY he doesn't look good the first game of the NFLE season? Did we think NFLE was going to bring out Henson's "inner Aikman" immediately?

If we do, we're eediots! The right question is whether he improves (hopefully steadily).

:banghead:

David.
 

Jarv

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JustSayNotoTO said:
The NFL Europe isnt a Dallas Cowboy developemental league. Each team plays 2 QB's, you dig? Drew Henson isnt a nobody? Come on he is 9 weeks away from completely failing at two major American sports. Say what you will about Chang, but his college career> Drew Hensons college career, and after suffering through the game last Saturday, I wouldnt be at all surprised if Chang over took Henson as the #1.

Do you think Chang could have started at Michigan ? Think Henson would have backed up Chang in Ha. ?

Don't know what game you were watching...

"Backup Timmy Chang played the second quarter, hitting on six of 13 attempts for just 59 yards."

Chang really lit them up.

I can only speculate where your Chang love comes from.
 

trickblue

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No one looked very good as the field was coming up in clumps like when we played in Mexico City a few years back...

It made for a very sluggish slow game on both sides of the ball... a very boring game...
 

superpunk

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trickblue said:
No one looked very good as the field was coming up in clumps like when we played in Mexico City a few years back...

It made for a very sluggish slow game on both sides of the ball... a very boring game...

Plus, it was the first game for a bunch of new players from a BUNCH of different teams. Yeah, Henson didn't look good, in any sense, but it's not just gonna magically "happen." NFL Europe, for as much disdain as some people hold for it, requires the same type of chemistry and repetition that any level of football would require.
 

Zaxor

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Jarv said:
Do you think Chang could have started at Michigan ? Think Henson would have backed up Chang in Ha. ?

Don't know what game you were watching...

"Backup Timmy Chang played the second quarter, hitting on six of 13 attempts for just 59 yards."

Chang really lit them up.

I can only speculate where your Chang love comes from.

nice!!!:)
 
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