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Posted by jellis at 10/29/2009 1:22 PM CDT on truebluefanclub.com
In a perfect world the Cowboys would be able to have Jay Ratliff in on every play - he's that good. They do realize the Pro Bowl nose tackle needs a few breathers throughout a game, though.
Given the constant double teams a nose tackle has to take on, it's difficult for any player at the position to be on the field for every snap. Ratliff needs more time to recharge than a defensive end, and the Cowboys seem to have settled on giving him roughly 15 plays to rest each game.
"We really monitor him to see how many plays he's played in a row, those kind of things" Wade Phillips said Wednesday. "And sometimes it's how he feels when he's coming out or how we perceive him, those kind of things. It's a real feel thing, although we have a number of plays, we monitor how many each player goes and where we are in that situation.
"We want to keep him in as much as we can. He was out 16 plays last game, and that was about right."
Junior Siavii has played pretty solid in relief of Ratliff, which gives the Cowboys enough confidence to rotate.
"If Junior can play like that, especially on run downs, I think that helps us," Phillips said. "Because Jay's such a prolific pass rusher . . . we want him to play nose guard some, certainly, and then passing situations we like to have him in there on third downs for sure."
In a perfect world the Cowboys would be able to have Jay Ratliff in on every play - he's that good. They do realize the Pro Bowl nose tackle needs a few breathers throughout a game, though.
Given the constant double teams a nose tackle has to take on, it's difficult for any player at the position to be on the field for every snap. Ratliff needs more time to recharge than a defensive end, and the Cowboys seem to have settled on giving him roughly 15 plays to rest each game.
"We really monitor him to see how many plays he's played in a row, those kind of things" Wade Phillips said Wednesday. "And sometimes it's how he feels when he's coming out or how we perceive him, those kind of things. It's a real feel thing, although we have a number of plays, we monitor how many each player goes and where we are in that situation.
"We want to keep him in as much as we can. He was out 16 plays last game, and that was about right."
Junior Siavii has played pretty solid in relief of Ratliff, which gives the Cowboys enough confidence to rotate.
"If Junior can play like that, especially on run downs, I think that helps us," Phillips said. "Because Jay's such a prolific pass rusher . . . we want him to play nose guard some, certainly, and then passing situations we like to have him in there on third downs for sure."
