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Receiver Survival
Eatman: Injuries Forcing Cowboys To Keep Both WR's
Nick Eatman - Email
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
August 29, 2008 12:25 AM
IRVING, Texas - With preseason finales, you have to find the game within the game.
You can't just sit back, watch the two teams battle and call it a day. No one cares about final scores of preseason games, especially the last one.
So you have to look deeper.
And heading into this game, the most significant competition that I saw wasn't exactly the Cowboys and Vikings.
And no, the storyline certainly wasn't the Cowboys winning 16-10 in what will be the final preseason game in Texas Stadium history.
Nope, the real battle of this night was between a pair of teammates.
Danny Amendola and Mike Jefferson.
That was the story going into this game: Which of these one-time long shots at receiver would step up the most and grab that dangling roster spot at the end of the wide receiver position.
Despite neither one of them lighting up the stat book, could it be that they both end up making this team?
They just might have to.
That's because that injury bug that has been dancing around the wide receiver corp took another big bite here Thursday night. Just like that, Sam Hurd, who wasn't supposed to play more than a handful of snaps anyway, suffers a high-ankle sprain while running a first-quarter reverse.
Amazing. The Cowboys entered training camp with five surefire locks to make the team at wide receiver. And with the regular season now nearly a week away, three of them are hurt. It's likely all three will be out for the Sept. 7 opener in Cleveland, definitely two of them.
Miles Austin has at least three more weeks to go with his sprained MCL injury. Isaiah Stanback will be iffy to return next week with his re-injured shoulder. And now Hurd's high-ankle sprain, that needs to be re-evaluated on Friday, could keep him out a while, too. Traditionally, those high-ankle sprains are much nastier than they sound. It could keep him out maybe a month, but could also linger even longer.
So now what? Panic button time? Maybe.
Jerry Jones says not so fast.
The Cowboys owner gave an emphatic "no" when asked if he needed to go sign another receiver.
"That's part of the game . . . injuries," Jones said. "You hate to see it happen again right before the season. Sam was playing well for us. The key that you potentially lose is a player that Tony (Romo) has been throwing to and working with. My biggest concern is going into the first game and not having players that are familiar with Tony."
But there's always some silver lining in this. Not trying to go glass half-full here, but forgive me if I refuse to call this position snake-bitten just yet. Not snake, but bug-bitten.
Let's be honest here. We all know it could be worse when it comes to wide receiver injuries. Getting Patrick Crayton hurt or should I dare say . . . Ok, I won't. You know who I mean.
Sure, losing three of your top five wide receivers in the preseason is tough, but it's workable. The question is, how?
Paging Terry Glenn? Jerry Jones was asked that very question and it was a rather ambiguous answer that came from the owner's mouth in the locker room after Thursday's game.
It wasn't a yes. But, it wasn't a no either.
"I don't know that one way or another," Jones said of Glenn, who was released right before the start of training camp. "I don't have a status on Terry's condition. I am not saying anything other than I don't know that Terry is ready to play. But I don't know he's not. I just don't know."
When asked if he will call Glenn or his agent in the near future, Jones held his cards close.
"I don't know. I am going to keep that to myself."
Interesting. He said no to a veteran receiver, but he didn't say no to Terry Glenn.
It seems the deciding factor here is the receiver's comfort with Romo. Jones couldn't stress that enough when he spoke to reporters.
That means, don't be so quick to look at all the roster cuts come Saturday and get all excited about some wide receiver we heard about in college. It happened the other day when Denver cut Taylor Jacobs. Ok, he's a name.
But that doesn't mean he, or any other released receiver, can step right in and be better than what they've got.
And let's get back to just that - what they've got.
Because of injuries, the Cowboys not only have Amendola and Jefferson, but they might have to play them both in Cleveland.
Let that digest a bit. One more time for emphasis.
Two players who were definitely on the outside looking in about four weeks ago, not only have the inside track to make the 53-man roster, but they very well could be donning those blue jerseys in the Dawg Pound on Sept. 7 as part of the 45-man game-day roster.
Wow.
Even Amendola says he's a bit surprised at his current situation.
"Coming into the NFL as an undrafted free agent, I wasn't sure if I could play at this level," the former Texas Tech standout said. "Now, I think I can. When it's all said and done, and camp is over, I think I can play at this level."
Of course, Amendola can only hope that Jerry Jones is in agreement with that.
But he might not have a choice. Just like with Jefferson, who admitted after the game that he was a little winded after playing the whole game.
"Man, I haven't done that in a while, couple years," said Jefferson, who spent last season on the Cowboys' practice squad. "I don't know what's going to happen. The thing is, I can't control it. I can just worry about myself. Going out there, lining up right, running the right routes and catching the ball. That's all I could do."
Jefferson led the team with three catches for 36 yards. Nothing too exciting. Amendola's night of two catches for 17 yards, along with four kick returns for 36 yards wasn't much better.
But in this preseason, and this situation, it doesn't come down to what Jefferson or Amendola did. It's what they didn't do.
And they didn't get hurt.
That alone might just be their ticket to the 53-man roster.
Eatman: Injuries Forcing Cowboys To Keep Both WR's
Nick Eatman - Email
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
August 29, 2008 12:25 AM
IRVING, Texas - With preseason finales, you have to find the game within the game.
You can't just sit back, watch the two teams battle and call it a day. No one cares about final scores of preseason games, especially the last one.
So you have to look deeper.
And heading into this game, the most significant competition that I saw wasn't exactly the Cowboys and Vikings.
And no, the storyline certainly wasn't the Cowboys winning 16-10 in what will be the final preseason game in Texas Stadium history.
Nope, the real battle of this night was between a pair of teammates.
Danny Amendola and Mike Jefferson.
That was the story going into this game: Which of these one-time long shots at receiver would step up the most and grab that dangling roster spot at the end of the wide receiver position.
Despite neither one of them lighting up the stat book, could it be that they both end up making this team?
They just might have to.
That's because that injury bug that has been dancing around the wide receiver corp took another big bite here Thursday night. Just like that, Sam Hurd, who wasn't supposed to play more than a handful of snaps anyway, suffers a high-ankle sprain while running a first-quarter reverse.
Amazing. The Cowboys entered training camp with five surefire locks to make the team at wide receiver. And with the regular season now nearly a week away, three of them are hurt. It's likely all three will be out for the Sept. 7 opener in Cleveland, definitely two of them.
Miles Austin has at least three more weeks to go with his sprained MCL injury. Isaiah Stanback will be iffy to return next week with his re-injured shoulder. And now Hurd's high-ankle sprain, that needs to be re-evaluated on Friday, could keep him out a while, too. Traditionally, those high-ankle sprains are much nastier than they sound. It could keep him out maybe a month, but could also linger even longer.
So now what? Panic button time? Maybe.
Jerry Jones says not so fast.
The Cowboys owner gave an emphatic "no" when asked if he needed to go sign another receiver.
"That's part of the game . . . injuries," Jones said. "You hate to see it happen again right before the season. Sam was playing well for us. The key that you potentially lose is a player that Tony (Romo) has been throwing to and working with. My biggest concern is going into the first game and not having players that are familiar with Tony."
But there's always some silver lining in this. Not trying to go glass half-full here, but forgive me if I refuse to call this position snake-bitten just yet. Not snake, but bug-bitten.
Let's be honest here. We all know it could be worse when it comes to wide receiver injuries. Getting Patrick Crayton hurt or should I dare say . . . Ok, I won't. You know who I mean.
Sure, losing three of your top five wide receivers in the preseason is tough, but it's workable. The question is, how?
Paging Terry Glenn? Jerry Jones was asked that very question and it was a rather ambiguous answer that came from the owner's mouth in the locker room after Thursday's game.
It wasn't a yes. But, it wasn't a no either.
"I don't know that one way or another," Jones said of Glenn, who was released right before the start of training camp. "I don't have a status on Terry's condition. I am not saying anything other than I don't know that Terry is ready to play. But I don't know he's not. I just don't know."
When asked if he will call Glenn or his agent in the near future, Jones held his cards close.
"I don't know. I am going to keep that to myself."
Interesting. He said no to a veteran receiver, but he didn't say no to Terry Glenn.
It seems the deciding factor here is the receiver's comfort with Romo. Jones couldn't stress that enough when he spoke to reporters.
That means, don't be so quick to look at all the roster cuts come Saturday and get all excited about some wide receiver we heard about in college. It happened the other day when Denver cut Taylor Jacobs. Ok, he's a name.
But that doesn't mean he, or any other released receiver, can step right in and be better than what they've got.
And let's get back to just that - what they've got.
Because of injuries, the Cowboys not only have Amendola and Jefferson, but they might have to play them both in Cleveland.
Let that digest a bit. One more time for emphasis.
Two players who were definitely on the outside looking in about four weeks ago, not only have the inside track to make the 53-man roster, but they very well could be donning those blue jerseys in the Dawg Pound on Sept. 7 as part of the 45-man game-day roster.
Wow.
Even Amendola says he's a bit surprised at his current situation.
"Coming into the NFL as an undrafted free agent, I wasn't sure if I could play at this level," the former Texas Tech standout said. "Now, I think I can. When it's all said and done, and camp is over, I think I can play at this level."
Of course, Amendola can only hope that Jerry Jones is in agreement with that.
But he might not have a choice. Just like with Jefferson, who admitted after the game that he was a little winded after playing the whole game.
"Man, I haven't done that in a while, couple years," said Jefferson, who spent last season on the Cowboys' practice squad. "I don't know what's going to happen. The thing is, I can't control it. I can just worry about myself. Going out there, lining up right, running the right routes and catching the ball. That's all I could do."
Jefferson led the team with three catches for 36 yards. Nothing too exciting. Amendola's night of two catches for 17 yards, along with four kick returns for 36 yards wasn't much better.
But in this preseason, and this situation, it doesn't come down to what Jefferson or Amendola did. It's what they didn't do.
And they didn't get hurt.
That alone might just be their ticket to the 53-man roster.
