News: Cowboys Arrive In Oxnard For Camp; First Practice Set For Saturday

[CCBoy]

Cowboys Arrive In Oxnard For Camp; First Practice Set For Saturday
Thursday, July 28, 2016 7:52 PM CDT

By Rob Phillips
@robphillips3
http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2016/07/28/cowboys-arrive-oxnard-camp-first-practice-set-saturday


OXNARD, Calif. – The 2016 football season begins in 45 days. The journey to Week 1 begins out west.

The Cowboys arrived in Oxnard on Thursday for their 11th training camp on the West Coast since 2001, looking to build the foundation for a winning season after an injury-plagued 4-12 record a year ago.

Players, coaches and staff stepped off their charter flight at approximately 4 p.m. Pacific Time. The team is scheduled to hold its annual camp-opening press conference Friday and the first practice Saturday. Camp in Oxnard breaks Aug. 19.

In between is the annual Blue/White team scrimmage Aug. 7 and the Aug. 13 preseason opener in Los Angeles against the relocated Rams.

“Real excited. Any time we have a new, fresh season where we can show people what we’re made of, it’s a beautiful thing,” wide receiver Cole Beasley said.

Returning healthy are quarterback Tony Romo and wide receiver Dez Bryant, who played only three games together last year; and cornerback Orlando Scandrick, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last August during camp in Oxnard. The absence of all three veterans contributed to the team’s struggles in 2015.

Romo had a productive offseason after recovering from a collarbone fracture last November, and Bryant will look to rejoin team drills in Oxnard coming off January foot and ankle surgery. Defensively, Scandrick’s return will bolster the secondary, but the Cowboys must overcome NFL suspensions for defensive ends Randy Gregory and DeMarcus Lawrence and linebacker Rolando McClain to start the season.

“We definitely have guys that can step up in their spots and hopefully be able to fill the void while they’re gone,” safety Barry Church said. “If they can, hopefully they’ll make our defense stronger.”...

 

[CCBoy]

Jerry Jones loves the attention.

But sometimes the attention is not flattering and can lead to on-field issues.

A week ago Elliott was part of a domestic violence allegation and is the subject of an investigation by the Columbus, Ohio's prosecutor's office as well as from the NFL and its personal conduct policy.

On Sunday, the Cowboys' luxury bus was involved in an accident near Las Vegas that killed four people, but Nevada police absolved the driver of any blame. None of the four staffers on the bus were hurt, but there are emotional scars.

On Tuesday it was learned Randy Gregory was facing a longer suspension due to another violation of the substance-abuse policy. Gregory is not with the team in training camp. Instead, he is at a treatment facility and might not play this year or again.

And then Thursday happened. Rolando McClain, who will be suspended the first 10 games, was not among the players disembarking from the plane. He was supposed to. His name was listed on the flight manifest. He had not arrived in Oxnard, California, before the team and if he does not arrive by 2 p.m. PT today, he would be subject to a fine.

Of course, by then Jones, executive vice president Stephen Jones and coach Jason Garrett might have already announced a decision regarding McClain's future at their state of the Cowboys news conference.

A lot of things come with the dinner, as Garrett likes to say, when it comes to the Cowboys. They will face outsized attention and outsized expectations. Sometimes it will be good. Sometimes it will be bad.

They will be relevant all of the time.

But there comes a question as to whether it all affects the team on the field.

Clearly the suspensions of McClain, Gregory and DeMarcus Lawrence will affect the Cowboys.

"It's definitely a blow to our team as far as those guys," safety Barry Church said. "Those guys are three huge contributors to our defense especially. Our thoughts go out, prayers go out to those guys to make sure they get everything right to make sure they're doing everything they need to do. But right now we're focused on camp and getting ready and getting stronger and ready for the season."

The start of training camp signals the official end of last season's miserable 4-12 record. The returns to health of Romo and Bryant and the addition of Elliott have the Cowboys believing they can contend in 2016...

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas-cowb...easons-cowboys-cant-wait-to-get-back-on-field