News: SAEN: Injuries already mounting in Oxnard

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OXNARD, Calif. – The Dallas Cowboys can’t seem to shake the injury bug.

Despite their best efforts to prevent a duplication of the rash of injuries that crippled the club last season, the Cowboys will start camp with several offensive lineman and one defensive lineman sidelined.

On Sunday, Dallas announced that guard Mackenzy Bernadeau and defensive tackle Jay Ratliff will start camp on the active/physically unable to perform list. Both are coming off offseason surgeries, but DallasCowboys.com reported they suffered hamstring injuries during the conditioning test.

The Cowboys also placed the following players on the active/non-football injury list: newly signed offensive tackle Demetress Bell, center/guard Ryan Cook, long snapper Louis-Philippe Ladouceur, guard Ronald Leary, guard Nate Livings and newly signed wide receiver Lavasier Tuinei.

The worst part about all this is the Cowboys will start camp with their starting guards – Bernadeu and Livings (foot) – and the top challenger at that spot – Leary (calf) – in the training room.

For a team that had a weak offensive line last season and hoped to improve it’s awful running game, it’s a setback.

The Cowboys finished last season with the worst rushing attack in club history for a 16-game season. They ranked 31st in rushing with a 79.1 average.

“We just have to run the ball better,” Garrett said Saturday. “We didn’t run the ball well enough last year and everybody understands that and we understand that as a coaching staff and as an organization. We have to run it better, we have to run it more. When you run the ball well, so many things open up for you. It’s amazing how you run the ball well, the opportunities to throw the ball well present themselves. The opportunity to play better defense presents themselves. Your better in the red zone. You tend to take care of the ball better all of those things. We understand that and we made a huge emphasis on it in the offseason and we’ll continue to make that emphasis here in training camp.”

It will be difficult to make that happen in camp with all the injuries to the offensive line.

It’s also a blow for Ratliff. The four-time Pro Bowler played in only six games last season because of an ankle injury and sports hernia surgery. The Cowboys limited his participation in the offseason.

Bernadeau didn’t participate at all in the offseason because of shoulder surgery after last season. It’s the second straight season he’s been sidelined at the start of camp. Last year, it was knee and hip injuries that sidelined him.

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