IRVING — Ever since Bill Parcells moved him from defensive end to outside linebacker two years ago, Greg Ellis has expected the unexpected.
But Ellis admits that didn't stop him from being shocked last week when Dallas Cowboys coach Wade Phillips and defensive coordinator Brian Stewart told him he would defend Cleveland Browns tight end Kellen Winslow in the opener.
“I was like, ‘Are you sure?'” Ellis said Monday. “I'm like, ‘OK, man. You want me to get up, out and in, all the way around? You want me to be on him, and not just in the flats?' They're like, ‘Yeah, he's yours. Stay on him.'”
As it turned out, Ellis pretty much just jammed Winslow at the line of scrimmage whenever he lined up in the slot or out wide before releasing him to the defensive backs. But there were times in the Cowboys' 28-10 demolition of the Browns when Ellis made like a cornerback and shadowed Winslow downfield.
On those occasions, Ellis said he felt more like a cornerback than a linebacker in Phillips' 3-4 scheme.
“Dropping back, I was like, ‘Please, get him, sack him. Hurry up!'” said Ellis, who added that he consulted with inactive injured cornerback Terence Newman before the start of the game.
“I was like, ‘It looks like we are going through with this thing, so give me some last-minute pointers,'” Ellis said. “He talked about the stance, and some of those things he said helped me out a lot. (Starting corners Adam Jones and Anthony Henry) also helped me out a lot, talking to them during the games.”
After helping limit Winslow to a paltry five-catch, 47-yard performance, Ellis is wondering whether he might be asked to do similar duty this week when the Cowboys face the Eagles and tight end L.J. Smith, who is looking for a breakout season after injuries limited him to a career-low 22 receptions in 2007.
In Philadelphia's 38-3 thrashing of St. Louis on Sunday, Smith caught five passes for 39 yards and a touchdown as the Eagles amassed 522 offensive yards.
The TD reception matched his career total from last season and gave him 17 for his six-year career.
“L.J. is very good down in there (the red zone) and had been very successful there, and it looks like he's just kind of picked up where he left off before,” Eagles coach Andy Reid told reporters in Philadelphia on Monday.
Ellis said he wouldn't have a problem trying to do to Smith what he did to Winslow.
“If that's what they want me to do, that's what we'll do,” Ellis said. “But my heart is at where I hope my body is at next time.”
That, of course, would be outside linebacker, where he registered a career-best 12 sacks last season en route to the first Pro Bowl appearance of his 10-year career.
“If I had to pick my poison, I'd rather be going forward than going backward,” Ellis said.
But the Cowboys know Ellis will do whatever is asked of him.
“He's a team player,” Phillips said, “Whether you want him rushing the passer, hitting someone, playing higher, he'll do whatever you want.”
Phillips said the strategy the Cowboys used against Winslow worked well.
“(Ellis) only missed hitting him a couple of times, and the times we didn't hit him, he caught it,” Phillips said. “That did slow down our rush, but it helped our coverage, and that's why we did it.”
Said Ellis, “They put me in some places to do some things I never had to do in football before. I'm going to do what I can do to try to help us win football games.
“You've got to embrace it, or you've got to go.”
