The Dallas Cowboys practiced under sunny skies but without Terrell Owens and Zach Thomas who looked like they were taking a veteran day off. Miles Austin moved into the #3 WR spot with Owens out.

After the opening drills they moved right into 11-on-11. Romo hit Hurd in the flats against Henry, Bennett caught a short one and Austin caught a crossing pattern. After a swing pass to Felix Romo underthrew Hurd but he stopped and came back for it on the sidelines while AJ couldn’t recover in time. Romo closed with a pass to Stanback on the sidelines. Brad threw a pass to Crayton avoiding a good rush by Marcus Dixon, had a throwaway because of good coverage and then threw an incompletion. Austin got wide open on a slant but dropped a pass right into his hands. Bartel completed a short one to Bennett then threw an incompletion.

Romo was back in and threw a swing pass to MB3 then Austin beat Oglesby deep for a TD. Romo got flushed out of the pocket and had to throw it away then finished with a hitch to Stanback but Oglesby stuck with him for the tackle. Brad closed the session with a high pass to Hurd who managed to get up there and catch it.

After a break for special teams they ran redzone 11-on-11. Romo started with a reverse roll-out pass to Bennett, MB3 caught a swing pass and Romo tried to hit Hurd for a pass but Jenkins had good coverage and it was incomplete. Stanback caught a hitch, Canty broke through for an easy sack but they let the play continue and Romo tried to hit Hurd in the endzone but Hamlin broke it up. Romo closed the session with a handoff but Spencer ate it up. Brad took over and gave it to Choice on a draw, he ran through a huge hole then Bennett caught one in the flats with AJ right on him for the tackle. Crayton found a big hole in the zone for a TD catch and then Brad had his pass tipped at the line, it looked like Hatcher did it. Bartel had an overthrow and then Lowber dropped a hitch.

Romo came back in and hit Curtis on a cross in front of Rogers, Felix caught a swing pass but Jenkins was in position for the tackle and Choice showed nifty moves in traffic and picked his way through for a TD.

After another special teams break, they ran 7-on-7 at one end and OL/DL 1-on-1 on the end I was watching. Free ran Walden wide, Tank absolutely abused Berger, Proctor stayed in front of Junior and Hatcher bull-rushed Marten into the QB. McQ ran Tearrius George wide, Berger stopped Tank on the second go-around, Remi had a nice bull-rush on Proctor and Hatcher did good work against Marten. McQ looked like he held to stop George, Flo stood up Ware and Canty blew right by Kosier. McQ looked good against Remi, Gurode stuffed Junior Siavii and Ratliff had a great initial pop on Bigg, Bigg fought back and they had a good battle. Colombo ran George wide and did the same to Walden. Flo jumped a little early but handled Ware, Kosier had no problem with Bowen, Gurode was good on Remi and Bigg handled Spears. Colombo dragged George down in what might have been a hold, Free was good on Walden and Berger grabbed Dixon in what might have been another hold. Junior got a good push on Proctor and Stenavich ran Marcus Smith wide.

They concluded with an 11-on-11 session. Romo hit Bennett in the flats, MB3 had a good cutback run until Bradie made the stop and Crayton caught one in the flats. Hurd beat Oglesby on a mid-range pass, Felix caught a swing pass and Curtis made a catch but Carpenter closed in for the tackle. Brad pitched to Choice on a sweep but there was no room, AJ made a great breakup of a deep pass to Austin, Jefferson caught a short pass and Coleman made a short run. Bartel hit Atchison short against Carpenter and then Hannah made a short catch with Carpenter making the tackle.

Romo came back on and handed to MB3 but there was too much traffic and Bennett tried to make a diving catch but couldn’t get it. Trickeration alert: Romo took the snap and handed to MB3, MB3 tossed it back for the flea-flicker and Romo hit Crayton deep. Felix had a nice little run picking his way through traffic, Romo overthrew for an incompletion then Felix ran through a huge hole in the middle. Brad was up next and hit Austin on an out, Choice tried a run but Carpenter made the stop, Brad had to scramble out-of-bounds then Hurd made a catch over the middle. Jeff Terrell actually got two reps to close the practice. He handed off to Lattimore then overthrew Atchison for an incompletion.

That was it for today. Tomorrow is a two-a-day and will be my last day at the 2008 Dallas Cowboys training camp.