Dallas Cowboys news & notes

The Adam ‘Pacman' Jones era is over. I'm not going to dwell too long on the subject except to say I think this was the right move regardless of the supposed new allegations of his involvement in another shooting. I still think he did a good job in pass coverage when he actually played but was a disappointment on special teams. More than any of that, the Cowboys need a clean break from their recent past which is littered with the carcasses of expectations unfulfilled and questionable athletes who have talent but not the character to actually help a team. As far as I'm concerned, they still have work to do in this area. Addition by subtraction is the buzzword associated with the Cowboys and in this case I'm a believer. The Cowboys need to worry less about headlines, Hard Knocks, who's getting the ball and who's ratting on whom in the locker room and remember what really wins football games. Dedication, execution and a belief in team unity where disagreements are handled in the locker room in a professional manner. The Cowboys have always been a circus under Jerry Jones but they may want to limit it to a one-ring circus instead of the three-ring circus we currently have with clowns spilling out into the parking lot.

Enough of that, let's get caught up on some other news surrounding the Cowboys.

Joe DeCamillis has been hired to coach the special teams. This should be good news to any Cowboys fan because the guy comes with a history of success and is a more vocal and aggressive coach than Bruce Read.  He seems like the kind of coach that will not only teach but will demand responsibility from the players. Nice move by the front-office.

Lost in all the Pacman and coaching news was the fact that two players had to have ankle surgery. 

[Terence] Newman had surgery on his left ankle, and [Patrick] Crayton had surgery on his right ankle. Both players are expected to be healthy enough to participate in the off-season program that starts in March.

There was some misinformation about Jason Garrett interviewing, or really not interviewing, with the Detroit Lions. The stories that he turned down the interview request weren't true and that he did interview with them on Monday. 

[Jason] Garrett interviewed with the Detroit Lions on Monday night about their head coaching vacancy. It had been widely reported that Garrett had turned down an opportunity to interview with the Lions.

You can read a little more on the interview and the other candidates the Lions are interested in here and here.

In addition, Garrett had his interview with the Denver Broncos on Tuesday and praised QB Jay Cutler.

In an under-the-radar move, the Cowboys re-signed FB Julius Crosslin to the practice squad.

Bob Hayes is on the ballot for the Hall of Fame because the seniors committee put him on it along with DE Claude Humphrey from the Falcons. Charles Haley, who made the list of 25 finalists, didn't make the final list of 15 players for this year. Let's hope they finally get it right and put Bullet Bob in the Hall.