ESPN: Cowboys practice report: Day 12

[CCBoy]

Cowboys practice report: Day 12
August, 4, 2010 Aug 46:39PM
By Calvin Watkins

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/cowboys





SAN ANTONIO --Cowboys worked on their pass rush, lost Anthony Spencer and welcomed the return of two draft picks for Wednesday's practice. The Cowboys will have the last two-a-day practice on Thursday.

Official scout of 103.3 FM ESPN Bryan Broaddus joins Ben and Skin with a report on WR Roy Williams, LB Sean Lee and others.



*Sean Lee returned to practice, missing 13 practices over eight days with a strained quad, and recorded a sack and made several nice plays in the run game. Coach Wade Phillips said Lee made very few assignment mistakes. Akwasi Owusu-Ansah made his Cowboys debut if you will. He missed the OTAs, rookie and veteran minicamps as he recovered from a separated shoulder. His recovery was slowed by a hamstring pull. Phillips said Owusu-Ansah didn't make any assignment mistakes and looked good on kick returns.

*Montrae Holland (hamstring), Dez Bryant (ankle), Pat Watkins (knee), Stephen Hodge (knee) and Sean Lissemore (groin) missed practice.

*David Buehler went five-for-six on field goal attempts on Wednesday. He made kicks of 26, 35, 38, 40, and 48 but missed a 56-yarder that hit the left upright. Buehler is 27-of-32 on field goal tries this summer.

*Kevin Ogletree is struggling in this training camp. He dropped a Tony Romo pass on a third-and-five. Later on while running a slant, Ogletree didn't fight for the ball as Bryan McCann was able to come in and knock it away. Ogletree has good speed and runs nice routes, but he doesn't play with a sense of urgency. That has to concern the Cowboys.

*While Ogletree was being blah, Patrick Crayton was having a nice practice. He runs slants, out routes and skinny posts well. Crayton always somehow finds holes in the defense and allows himself to become an easy target for a quarterback. Crayton is such a smart player as well. After catching an out route near the sidelines, he ran up field and pointed downfield for Jesse Holley to make a block for him. Instead Holley turned around and ran into Crayton.

*Cowboys pass rushers were all over the offense. Victor Butler and DeMarcus Ware rushed from the same side forcing Jon Kitna to hurry his throw. Butler did a nice job on an inside move past Scott Sicko to get a sack on Stephen McGee. Marcus Dixon came flying in on a Kinta pass that was incomplete. On the follow-through, Kinta hurt his left nonthrowing hand. He didn't appear as if he missed any snaps with his group and finished the practice without incident.

*Miles Austin is excellent at slant routes. He's a pretty big target, 6-2, and strong enough that when he gets jammed at the line of scrimmage he can break free. He's also hard to tackle when on the move. Several times on Wednesday, Austin beat his man on slants. Roy E. Williams also ran a few slant routes and had some success.

*Martellus Bennett made a nice catch with Barry Church all over him on a Romo pass. Bennett made a tough catch by shielding his body away from Church who was coming in hard for the ball.

 

[DallasEast]

*While Ogletree was being blah, Patrick Crayton was having a nice practice. He runs slants, out routes and skinny posts well. Crayton always somehow finds holes in the defense and allows himself to become an easy target for a quarterback. Crayton is such a smart player as well. After catching an out route near the sidelines, he ran up field and pointed downfield for Jesse Holley to make a block for him. Instead Holley turned around and ran into Crayton.

I wonder if they were practicing a 4th And Long situation?

 

[dfense]

*Kevin Ogletree is struggling in this training camp. He dropped a Tony Romo pass on a third-and-five. Later on while running a slant, Ogletree didn't fight for the ball as Bryan McCann was able to come in and knock it away. Ogletree has good speed and runs nice routes, but he doesn't play with a sense of urgency. That has to concern the Cowboys.

*While Ogletree was being blah, Patrick Crayton was having a nice practice. He runs slants, out routes and skinny posts well. Crayton always somehow finds holes in the defense and allows himself to become an easy target for a quarterback. Crayton is such a smart player as well.

And everybody wants to ditch Crayton so Ogletree can take his place. Crayton's going to have a huge year.

 

[Coakleys Dad]

PC has something to prove. That is good.

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

Dallas wasn't going to let Crayton go anyways... All that offseason speculation B.S. was pointless honestly.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

PC has something to prove. That is good.

Saw him on local news a couple days ago talking about what a big chip he has on his shoulder. He seems ready to go.

 

[casmith07]

PC has something to prove. That is good.

In my opinion, Crayton has nothing to prove.

When it's all said and done, barring a Pro Bowl season, Roy Williams will be gone next summer. Our top three receivers will be Austin, Bryant, and Crayton, and I'd put them against any trio in the league.

 

[jswalker1981]

*Kevin Ogletree is struggling in this training camp. He dropped a Tony Romo pass on a third-and-five. Later on while running a slant, Ogletree didn't fight for the ball as Bryan McCann was able to come in and knock it away. Ogletree has good speed and runs nice routes, but he doesn't play with a sense of urgency. That has to concern the Cowboys.

*While Ogletree was being blah, Patrick Crayton was having a nice practice. He runs slants, out routes and skinny posts well. Crayton always somehow finds holes in the defense and allows himself to become an easy target for a quarterback. Crayton is such a smart player as well.

And everybody wants to ditch Crayton so Ogletree can take his place. Crayton's going to have a huge year.

According to Crayton's standards, right?

 

[cowboys2233]

In my opinion, Crayton has nothing to prove.

When it's all said and done, barring a Pro Bowl season, Roy Williams will be gone next summer. Our top three receivers will be Austin, Bryant, and Crayton, and I'd put them against any trio in the league.

Yup, totally agree. And we can wash our hands of this "Galloway Redux."

Jerry has been quite astute in the drafting department over the last few years, but his ability to piss away draft choices for overrated veteran receivers is second to none.

 

[big dog cowboy]

When it's all said and done, barring a Pro Bowl season, Roy Williams will be gone next summer. Our top three receivers will be Austin, Bryant, and Crayton

Depending on Roy11's salary for next year I'd be tempted to agree. But who is #4? O-tree?

 

[7footer]

It's a little concerning that Ogletree is having a not so great camp. I hope he puts it together in the preseason games, he isn't a lock for the roster with all of these talented receivers competing for the job.

 

[cowboyvic]

*Kevin Ogletree is struggling in this training camp. He dropped a Tony Romo pass on a third-and-five. Later on while running a slant, Ogletree didn't fight for the ball as Bryan McCann was able to come in and knock it away. Ogletree has good speed and runs nice routes, but he doesn't play with a sense of urgency. That has to concern the Cowboys.

*While Ogletree was being blah, Patrick Crayton was having a nice practice. He runs slants, out routes and skinny posts well. Crayton always somehow finds holes in the defense and allows himself to become an easy target for a quarterback. Crayton is such a smart player as well.

And everybody wants to ditch Crayton so Ogletree can take his place. Crayton's going to have a huge year.

Ogletree is better than crayton, and has no sealing. Crayton is an average slow vet who's best days are behind him. you may as well give it up, because Ogletree is not going anywhere.

 

[thssanders]

crayton has a knack for getting open when a play breaks down... that is something that qb's love. I would take him over roy anyday. But his ceiling is not very high. With crayton you know exactly what you will get. A sure handed reliable average receiver. that's about it

 

[Nexx]

Ogletree is better than crayton, and has no sealing. Crayton is an average slow vet who's best days are behind him. you may as well give it up, because Ogletree is not going anywhere.

so are you saying he isnt a caulk?

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I know a guy who knows Crayton's agent very well. Things between the Cowboys and Crayton's camp were pretty heated this offseason. But, the Cowboys couldn't get a trade they wanted for him and he's too good to release, so they kept him. Little disappointed to hear about Ogletree, may be a sophomore slump. But sometimes these guys just surprise people in camp their rookie year and you wind up realizing that they were better than we originally though, but not that much better. Still, I'm assuming they keep Ogletree around since he has 1 year in the system and can do returns.





YR

 

[dfense]

Yup, totally agree. And we can wash our hands of this "Galloway Redux."

Jerry has been quite astute in the drafting department over the last few years, but his ability to piss away draft choices for overrated veteran receivers is second to none.

Maybe second to Dan Snyder.

 

[Gadfly22]

I think there are only 2 things that will keep Ogletree off the roster this year (and no, it's not his right hand and his left hand, though it sounds like he's not catching the ball like he was last year):

1. The Cowboys can only keep 5 WRs, and they decide on Hurd over Ogletree for his ST play.

2. Some other young WR totally blows away the coaching staff -- and it doesn't seem like that is happening so far. None of Hudgins, Holley, Ryan or Manny Johnson seem to have been consistently good enough to stand out over Ogletree.

There's still time for Ogletree to underperform enough to get cut, but he has the inside track.

 

[burntricersx]

Depending on Roy11's salary for next year I'd be tempted to agree. But who is #4? O-tree?

I believe #4 is RW11. That was his number at Texas.

 

[Crown Royal]

crayton has a knack for getting open when a play breaks down... that is something that qb's love. I would take him over roy anyday. But his ceiling is not very high. With crayton you know exactly what you will get. A sure handed reliable average receiver. that's about it

Sounds like exactly what you want out of a 3rd/slot receiver. His chemistry with Romo is light years ahead of Roy Williams, and his production is better in every department (except for TDs) than Williams with less playing time. Crayton has plenty of value on this team. Roy - I can see none. Good run blocker I guess.

I know a guy who knows Crayton's agent very well. Things between the Cowboys and Crayton's camp were pretty heated this offseason. But, the Cowboys couldn't get a trade they wanted for him and he's too good to release, so they kept him. Little disappointed to hear about Ogletree, may be a sophomore slump. But sometimes these guys just surprise people in camp their rookie year and you wind up realizing that they were better than we originally though, but not that much better. Still, I'm assuming they keep Ogletree around since he has 1 year in the system and can do returns.





YR

WRs have a knack of becoming full of dreams and wishes never to fully become a regular season contender. For every Miles Austin or Patrick Crayton there's a Randall Williams, Sam Hurd (though he still has a sliver of a chance), Terrance Copper, etc.

 

[BlueStar II]

After Ogletree caught everyone's attention last year, it's disappointing to hear that he's not doing well so far. Perhaps...he may turn it around, but it doesn't sound as though he's practicing with the same intensity that he did last year. Hmmm...