Cowboys practice report: Day 1

[RS12]

OXNARD, Calif. -- Here's our daily practice report.

Enjoy.

*The Cowboys most likely lost backup defensive end Tyrone Crawford for the season with a torn left Achilles tendon. Crawford suffered the injury while going through the tackling dummies. He was carted off the field. When the swelling goes down he will undergo surgery. The Cowboys also lost starting defensive end Anthony Spencer as he tweaked his knee. Now, Spencer said he hurt the knee during Saturday's conditioning test but tried to practice on Sunday. Spencer suffered a hyperextended left knee during offseason workouts and it's still bothering him. Crawford and Spencer weren't alone in missing practice. Ryan Cook (conditioning test), Nate Livings (foot), Mackenzy Bernadeau (hamstring), Demetress Bell (conditioning test), LP Ladouceur (calf), Lavasier Tuinei (conditioning test) and Jay Ratliff(hamstring) didn't practice as well.

*Before Crawford was injured he was the second-team defensive end along with Kyle Wilber. Ben Bass and Nick Hayden were the defensive tackles. With Crawford out, Monte Taylor took over for Crawford and did a nice job on a few plays. Taylor flushed quarterbackKyle Orton out of the pocket on the pass rush. Taylor also got a good push on tackleJermey Parnell to make a tackle on a run play.

*Tony Romo made his debut of sorts on Sunday. It was the first time Romo has thrown a pass since the end of the regular season. Romo missed the offseason practices due to his recovery from surgery to remove a cyst. Romo's weight has been a subject of debate the last 48 hours, but he moved pretty well in the pocket when the pressure got to him. Yet, on his first 11-on-11 session in the afternoon practice, Romo went 1-3 to start. Terrance Williams hurt him with a drop. On Romo's second series, Romo went 2-6 with an interception. A tipped pass was picked off by inside linebacker Sean Lee. But it wasn't all bad for Romo, he did a fine job with the play fakes, holding the ball close to the running back until the last possible minute then he either pulls it back or hands off. Romo made a good throw to Dez Bryant on a comeback route near the sidelines. Romo threw with a good zip on the ball for most of the day.

*Running backs coachGary Brown said rookie running back Joseph Randle will be brought along slowly because he missed the entire offseason recovering from thumb surgery. The running back rotation is as follows: DeMarco Murray, Lance Dunbar, Phillip Tanner and Randle. Randle runs hard and finds his running lanes quickly. But you can tell he's a little rusty. He dropped a screen pass from quarterback Alex Tanney because he was in such a hurry to make a play.

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/cowboys/post/_/id/4710353/cowboys-practice-report-day-1-2

 

[RS12]

DALLAS COWBOYS OBSERVATION DECK:

Here’s what stood out from Day 1 of Dallas Cowboys’ training camp practices Sunday in Oxnard, Calif.:

• It was rare weather in Ventura County on Sunday for the first day of Cowboys’ training camp practice: overcast skies and misting rain at times. But that didn’t keep a crowd of 6,614 fans from showing up to kick off a second consecutive year for the Cowboys in Oxnard, Calif.
• WR Dez Bryant beat CB Brandon Carr for a catch from Tony Romo on the first play of 11-on-11 team drills in the afternoon practice.
• Carr came right back and made a good play defending rookie WR Terrance Williams. Tony Romo tried to connect with Williams near the sideline, and Carr broke quickly on the ball to knock it away. Jason Garrett told Williams afterward that he couldn’t “let him knock the ball away.”
• Running backs DeMarco Murray and Lance Dunbar had good first practices. Both looked quick.Dunbar showed great burst early in team drills on a run up the middle that would have went for several yards. He broke into the secondary before being touched. New RBs coach Gary Brown yelled, “That’s the way to run.”
• Also active on Day 1 of practice was DT Jason Hatcher. He jumped in front of a Tony Romo pass to Jason Witten and knocked the ball away. The play before, Hatcher would have sacked Romo, who couldn’t find an open receiver.
• Early in team drills, Tony Romo’s pass over the middle in traffic was intercepted by LB Sean Lee after the ball was tipped by LB Bruce Carter.
• RB Phillip Tanner dropped a pass in the left flat from backup QB Kyle Orton. On the next play, RB Lance Dunbar caught a pass in the right flat for a nice gain. Rookie RB Joseph Randle then followed with a dropped pass in the left flat.
• WR Eric Rogers made a nice catch on a pass from QB Alex Tanney that came in behind him. Rogers reached back against his body over the middle of the field to snag the wobbly ball.
• Kicker Dan Bailey was his usual self on Day 1, nailing all five of his field goal attempts.
• LB Deon Lacey couldn’t elude a tackling dummy during a special teams drill. He hit the dummy and then fell to the ground.
• In 7-on-7 drills, TE Jason Witten beat LB Sean Lee for a long gain down the left sideline. Tony Romo made a nice touch pass to connect with
• his favorite target.A few plays later in 7-on-7, Tony Romo’s deep pass down the left sideline to WR Dez Bryant was knocked away by CB Orlando Scandrick. But Scandrick would have likely been flagged for holding on the play as he was grabbing one of Bryant’s arms as he raced down the sideline.CB Sterling Moore ripped WR Dwayne Harris’ helmet off along the sideline in knocking him to the ground, but Harris held on for the catch in 7-on-7 drills.

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[CrazyCowboy]

LB Deon Lacey couldn’t elude a tackling dummy during a special teams drill. He hit the dummy and then fell to the ground.

Why embarass this player...........

 

[Carl23]

Why embarass this player...........

Yeah. No point in it...

 

[SportsGuru80]

Good recap, thanks!

 

[Dwight]

I hate to read that about Crawford. I was hoping that he contribute alot this coming season but that will not happen.

I have faith that he will get well.

I was already concern about the Dline's age and depth (talent) this offseason but I'm even more concern now.

 

[Bigdog]

I thought it said Monte Kiffin stepped in instead of Taylor. I was thinking he must look very good for a 72 year old. Sorry to about Crawford. Hope it is not serious.

 

[Doomsdayblitz]

The recent injuries to Crawford & Ratliff are prime examples of why the DL should have been addressed in the draft. Ratliff missed 10 games last season, & has been dinged up the last few years, Josh Brent was looking at hard time, & D-Ware was coming off shoulder & elbow surgery, yet they selected ZERO D-linemen in the draft. Now, they're super thin at DT & Spencer and Ware have little behind them. At least we have three starting TEs.

 

[texbumthelife]

The recent injuries to Crawford & Ratliff are prime examples of why the DL should have been addressed in the draft. Ratliff missed 10 games last season, & has been dinged up the last few years, Josh Brent was looking at hard time, & D-Ware was coming off shoulder & elbow surgery, yet they selected ZERO D-linemen in the draft. Now, they're super thin at DT & Spencer and Ware have little behind them. At least we have three starting TEs.

And had Witten and or Hanna been hurt what would be have done? Injuries happen. You can't plan for all of them. We have the salary cap flexibility now to go out and sign some veteran depth on the DL if we need to. The draft is over. Let it go.

 

[visionary]

The recent injuries to Crawford & Ratliff are prime examples of why the DL should have been addressed in the draft. Ratliff missed 10 games last season, & has been dinged up the last few years, Josh Brent was looking at hard time, & D-Ware was coming off shoulder & elbow surgery, yet they selected ZERO D-linemen in the draft. Now, they're super thin at DT & Spencer and Ware have little behind them. At least we have three starting TEs.

this is a great point
it seems that unfortunately our brain trust (the joneses and garrett) did not believe OL and DL were a priority

they have just awoken to the fact that they will have to spend actual resources to address the OL but are yet to have a similar epiphany about the importance of the DL

many of us felt that off season priorities were addressing OL, DL, and safety

lets hope one of the less heralded DL has a break out year