The Cowboys were in helmets and shorts today so while it was good for the players in terms of formations, running routes, practicing stunts and blitzes, it was less that thrilling for the fans watching. No contact leads to no fun. But, being the freakin’ obsessive-compulsive loser that I am, I will recap the whole thing for you anyway, but keep in mind they weren’t hitting, so it wasn’t exactly live action.
The good news was Marc Colombo’s return to the field, so for the first time we had both starting tackles practicing at the same time. Also returning to action was Kevin Burnett. Still on the sidelines were Greg Ellis, Jason Hatcher, Isaiah Stanback, Alonzo Coleman, Alan Ball and Jamaica Rector. Ellis was doing an intense workout on the bungee rope so he might be getting closer to a return, while Jason Hatcher continued with light workouts with the trainers. Before practice began, Wade Phillips gathered the team in a tight circle and gave them a pretty long speech.
The o-line and d-line worked on stunts and blitzes while the skills positions lined up for a 7-on-7 drill.
Romo opened the drill by hitting Witten over the middle, then T.O. caught one out on his fingertips past Newman. Witten caught another one underneath, then Crayton couldn’t hold on to one he should have caught. Romo concluded with a quick pass to Witten. Brad Johnson hit Tony Curtis underneath with Kevin Burnett just barely missing the deflection. Jamel Richardson caught one in an open zone in the middle, Bergen caught a short pass, and Johnson hit Urban on a roll-out pass. Moore came on and tried to hit Rabb on a pass but he got tangled up with J. Thomas and it was incomplete. Abram Elam then broke up a pass intended for Damarius Bilbo.
Romo was back on and hit Crayton on a crossing pattern, T.O. caught an out on Henry, then T.O. caught another one by splitting Henry and Hamlin. Urban caught a short one underneath. Johnson threw incomplete to Richardson, and then hit Austin on a short pass beating Reeves. Bartel threw two passes into the flats, one to Deon Anderson and one to Jackie Battle.
They went to FG’s and I believe Gramatica made all of his from the 23, 27, twice from the 37 (although one hit the right upright) and two from 47-yards. Folk did the same thing, including hitting the right upright on a 37-yarder, but I believe he missed one from 37-yards also, although I’m not positive.
Next was 11-on-11 and Romo hit Hurd on a slant, had one tipped at the line by Bradie (I think) then connected with Hurd deep over the middle. He hooked up with Austin on a curl and was sacked by Burnett on a blitz. Johnson had no chance as Glymph came through on a rush, then he had to toss it over an onrushing Alex Obomese to Polite in the flats. He finished with a short pass to Bergen. Moore threw one behind Bilbo on a slant, then completed a dump pass to Urban.
Romo was back and hit a slant to Witten, threw a short one to Fasano, and hit Austin on an out avoiding a blitz up the middle. His session ended with a drop by T.O. on the sidelines. Johnson hooked up with Urban deep over the middle and then hit Bergen shorter over the middle. Bartel threw a short one to Curtis and then Bradie blocked a pass about 5-yards deep in coverage.
After that, it was punts, followed by another round of 11-on-11.
Romo threw a bad pass intended for Crayton, then ran a sweep to JJ, followed by a Witten catch on crossing pattern ahead of Bradie. Ware and Bowen converged for a sack but the play continued and the pass went off Austin’s hands. MB3 tried a middle run, then Fasano and Hoyte caught consecutive passes in the flats. L. Davis pulled around the edge to lead an MB3 run, then Bradie showed some nice hands by picking off a pass intended for Fasano near the goal line. MB3 finished the session with a short run.
Johnson ran a sweep to TT, then had his pass tipped at the line by either Bowen or Dagunduro. TT tried the middle, then they ran a screen to TT that didn’t really work. Glymph got around the edge on McQ forcing a bad pass, then Battle tried a run but Burnett was in the hole. TT ran the ball again, then Brad tried to pull down a pass before he threw it but lost control of the ball. He then dropped the center snap, and they closed with a TT run.
Bartel hit Rabb on a hitch, then lobbed one to Battle in the flats. He had to scramble on his next play, then Glymph got a sack but the play continued and Quincy Butler broke up the pass. Battle tried a run, then Bartel ran a bootleg and threw a low pass in the endzone that Bilbo dove for and almost caught, but just couldn’t pull it in.
Romo got one more go around and gave it to JJ on two consecutive runs, MB3 got a run and then Romo rolled out and hit MB3 at the edge of the endzone for a TD.