Even though the Cowboys were in full pads this afternoon, the practice lacked the energy and the physical play that we’ve seen in the previous sessions. It could be that the initial burst of enthusiasm associated with getting to training camp has started to wane for the players. Whatever was the cause, the practice was a lackluster affair compared to the previous efforts.

The NFL Network was taping the practice so anybody who has the channel can watch it later. Deion Sanders was in attendance and had Jerry Jones over for an interview.

The injuries were still the same guys, but Terry Glenn came up limping at one point and left the field with a trainer. Kind of scary but I have no idea how bad it was, here’s hoping for good news.

For the first time the Cowboys did the blocking drill where the TE/T combo blocked the OLB/DE and the G/C/G trio took on the ILB/NT/ILB trio. This was a staple of Parcells’ camp but it’s the first time for Phillips. They were going at it at full speed but it didn’t appear they were really finishing out the drill.

Nothing really exciting was going on until they got to the 9-on-9 run scrimmage. Romo started it by handing to JJ but Ware busted through for the tackle. JJ ran a sweep to the right and got good blocking, including a Hoyte block on Roy. JJ tried a run up the middle but Bradie stuffed it. MB3 hit an OK hole and was tackled by Dedrick Harrington. MB3 tried the right side but Jay Ratliff was good for the stop.

Brad Johnson handed it to TT who cut it back to the middle, then made a nifty move in the hole for a nice gain. TT then got small and squeezed into a hole and was eventually stopped by Blair Phillips. Matt Moore gave the ball to Jackie Battle who found success behind a nice block from Deon Anderson. Battle then went left and ran into Bradie.

Romo came on and gave it to JJ but Fergie and Canty stuffed it at the line. JJ tried the middle again but Bradie was in the hole. MB3 made a cut to the outside on a run, then on the next play cut back to a wide-open backside because the line had driven the whole defense in the other direction. TT tried a run but Obomese snuck in from the edge. Moore took over and handed to TT who had a big hole on the right side, then Battle tried a sweep to the left followed by another where he was tackled by Blair Phillips.

Next was an extended session of punt returns which was extremely boring, the only new thing was Patrick Crayton joining Newman, Rector and Butler on the returns. As seems to be the custom now during these periods, DeMarcus Ware and Paul Pasqualoni were one-on-one working on pass rushing techniques. Wade Phillips spent this time watching some of the o-line doing drills.

Next they went to 7-on-7 passing drills and 1-on-1 blocking drills. In the blocking drills, Ware got around McQ but might have been too wide to get the QB. Canty blew by Kosier on the inside; Fergie and Gurode wrestled to a stand-still and Spears blew by L. Davis on a quick inside move. (Davis has had a few problems recently). Hatcher got past Molinaro and Davis let Ratliff get inside but managed to push him past the QB. Gurode blew up Bowen, and Remi Ayodele had some success penetrating against Kosier. Ware got the best of McQ with an out-then-under move and Canty looked to get the best of Doug Free but it was a good battle. Trey Darilek pushed Bowen inside past the QB and Procter stoned Stanley. Berger did pretty well with Hatcher but Marten let Spears get inside of him. Steve Franklin handled Marcus Smith and Darilek was good against R. Ayodele. Free finished by running Ratliff wide.

They moved on to 2-on-2 blocking drills with stunting defensive linemen, but I had a hard time seeing it due to fan interference, so I had to adjust my seating. They went to punt returns again and Ware and Pasqualoni were joined by Greg Ellis for some more Ware tutorial sessions.

Finally it was time for 11-on-11. Romo started out but took a coverage sack from Ware, then JJ tried to cutback a run but Ware stuck him. Sam Hurd made a catch in front of Anthony Henry, Witten made a catch in traffic and MB3 ran the ball with Ratliff eventually making the stop.

Johnson came in and was immediately sacked by Hatcher from the shotgun, then he threw a swing pass to Polite. TT ran a sweep but Blair Phillips did a good job running it down. Matt Moore threw a pass to Andy Thorn followed by Battle running the ball into the arms of Canty.

Romo came back on and threw a dangerous, ill-advised pass to Witten who was bracketed by Bradie and Roy. On the next play Ware made a sack but they let it run and Romo threw a beautiful pass to Witten. MB3 ran a sweep and Carpenter came through the line but didn’t appear to have a good angle. MB3 then went to the right side but there was traffic led by Ratliff. They went to 3 WR’s and Romo completed a pass to Hurd.

Johnson’s session started with a run to the middle, then an excellent deep pass to Crayton. TT tried a run to the right but Bradie turned it back into traffic. Bartel finished the practice with a bootleg pass to Thorn, Battle tried the middle then he hit Tony Curtis in the flat.

Not much excitement today, but let’s hope Terry Glenn is OK.