Cowboys Training Camp Report: Oxnard Practice #8

The Dallas Cowboys came out in shorts and helmets for their second practice of the day, which is probably a good thing considering the recent injuries. The early part of practice was spent on punt coverage and punt returns. Catching punts during the drills were Kevin Ogletree, Jamar Wall, AOA, Patrick Crayton and Terence Newman. AOA was having issues with the sun and missed a couple. Meanwhile, Mat McBriar was having a solid day with a couple of extremely good punts. Just what you'd expect from the Cowboys stud punter.

The next part of practice was spent in position drills and these went on for an extended period. Nothing special to report from this period of practice, just your standard drills.

After a break, the team came together for 11-on-11. These sessions were very pass-heavy, and with no real pass rush because of no pads, the offense definitely had the advantage. In some ways these kind of sessions feel more like a 7-on-7 drill.

Tony Romo was sharp again this afternoon, although most of the plays were short to intermediate passes. In the first period before a break, Romo was 7 for 9 with two runs mixed in. Some highlights included a beautiful deep out to Ogletree, a nice out to Miles Austin and a checkdown to Marion Barber that left the running back in wide open space for a huge gain. Jon Kitna had a couple of good passes himself when he hit Ogletree and connected with Sam Hurd, both along the sidelines on out patterns.

The next go-around Romo was 6 for 9, again making use of Ogletree and and a couple to Crayton. Also, he connected with Roy Williams on a planned roll-out. Bryan McCann had a nice break-up of a pass intended for Ogletree on a deep out and AOA made a good read on a screen to Austin. Kitna made a nice throw and Crayton completed the play with a good catch over the outstretched hands of Orlando Scandrick.

After another break they placed the ball on the two-yard line and made the offense go the length of the field. They were doing down-and-distance, sort of, but they kept cheating to move the ball down the field. Romo started with a Marion Barber run, which included a nice cutback by the Barbarian. Next, he threw a pass in the flats to MB3 but Sean Lee was all over him for the tackle. Romo threw another short one to MB3, hit Bennett on a hitch pattern (Bennett was lined up wide as a receiver), then Felix Jones had an OK run. The next play was a pass in the flats to Felix who had tons of room in front of him. The next play was the play-of-the-day when Romo threw a pass, approximately 30 yards, to Hurd who made a leaping catching and hauled it in for a TD. Romo ran a few more plays including a run, a short pass to Witten with Lee right on him, then a swing pass to Felix who caught the ball, fell down, but still managed to roll into the endzone.

Kitna got his turn and had a few runs mixed in with passes to Hurd twice, who managed to lose Scandrick on both plays. On another pass Mike Jenkins got his hand on the ball to break-up the pass, and the rebound went right to Bradie James for an interception. Stephen McGee's session was highlighted by catches from Terrell Hudgins, who always seems to make plays when he's in there with McGee. AOA had a nice break-up of a pass during this session. BTW, they are playing AOA a lot as a slot corner in the week I've been here.

Not a terribly exciting practice, but Romo looked sharp again and the offense seems to be hitting it's stride.