Some OTA news from the DMN blog.
The most exciting thing of today's practice was a squabble between DL Jay Ratliff and an offensive lineman I couldn't identify. Ratliff connected on a few haymakers before teammates broke it up. I question the logic of punching a guy in the helmet, but Ratliff was without a doubt the winner.
WR Patrick Crayton looked pretty darn good with the exception of a drop in the end zone. He did a great job of using his body to shield Jacques Reeves on a slant route for a touchdown. He also got behind Nate Jones on a seam route for what would have been another score. Calvin "Lucky" Watkins disagrees with my opinion that Crayton can't be a No. 2 receiver, and he might be right (for once).
Flozell Adams was here, but he didn't work out. Pat McQuistan played left tackle in Adams' absence.
Mac Engel takes a look at the remaining Parcells Guys left on the team. In my mind, there are only a few left. While Engel lumps in some of the current Parcells’ draft picks as Parcells Guys, I’m not down with that. To be a Parcells Guy, you have to have played for him before somewhere else, and he has to make a concerted effort to go out and get you. Or after he’s left your team, he has to praise you constantly as a symbol that other players should live up to. On the Cowboys current roster, it looks like this.
The likes of receiver Terry Glenn, defensive back Aaron Glenn, nose tackle Jason Ferguson and quarterback Drew Bledsoe were the 2006 BP Guys -- veterans who played for Parcells on a different team before they were signed by the Cowboys.
Those individuals were granted a certain degree of latitude and freedom.
"I don't know about special treatment. We just wore it differently because we've been through it before," Ferguson said. "We took it differently. We knew what he was trying to do."
Of course, Bledsoe isn’t here anymore, but the other three are still here. Jason Ferguson, while getting up in the years, had a very good season last year and is the only real candidate to start at NT again. Terry Glenn has had a re-birth since coming to Dallas, and hasn’t shown any decline in his play. He remains a solid WR who comes in just under the elite-level WR’s in the league. But Aaron Glenn had a rough end to the season last year, and is in a race with Father Time. I’m not writing him off yet, but he’s the one guy whose Parcells’ connection gave him assurances he might not have this year. Wade Phillips is going to have to evaluate his play in training camp. But he’s probably pretty safe, since no corner on the roster has yet to show he’s better than Glenn. Here’s Aaron’s take on it.
"I think reputation speaks for itself. I don't think there is a coach in this league, whether I played for him or not, that knows what I've done and that I take care of myself," Aaron Glenn said. "Hopefully, it spills over from coach to coach. But every coach has his certain players or wants certain players. I just don't think about it."