Stephen McGee to Start vs. Dolphins; Some Starters to Play

Wade Phillips talked to the media today  and addressed the thought that perhaps the Dallas Cowboys could put the starting offense on the field for a couple of series in the final preseason game against the Miami Dolphins. While everyone is concerned about the lack of production from the offense through four games, we're going to have to wait until Washington to see if everything has been ironed out.

According the Phillips, Stephen McGee will get the start against Miami and is likely to play the entire game. From the DMN:

``In a a few cases (starters) will play some,'' Phillips said. ``We will play a lot of guys in this ballgame that I think are going to make a difference in our team and also guys who are on the border of making or not making the team.''

More after the jump...

Other than the statement on McGee starting it was a fairly non-committal answer from Phillips on who exactly will play. With Romo no playing, and with the Cowboys focusing on the final evaluations of contributing players and players on the bubble, I'm expecting to not see a lot of Miles Austin, Jason Witten, Roy Williams, Leonard Davis, Andre Gurode, Anthony Spencer, DeMarcus Ware, Bradie James, Terence Newman or Mike Jenkins.

In fact, I'd be surprised if any of those players even put pads on Thursday night.

Phillips would not say whether Dez Bryant would play on Thursday. While the rookie is hungry to get on the field I fail to see any advantage to him playing with McGee and not Romo.

For Stephen McGee, it's likely that he's going to be playing for a roster spot against the Dolphins. While he's shown flashes at times he has yet to be consistent and been reluctant to aggressively get the ball downfield; with an entire game ahead of him, he now has the chance to get into a rhythm and show the coaches he deserves to stay on the team.

We're also likely to see plenty of Sean Lee, as the Cowboys are trying to get him caught up to speed after he missed significant time due to injury. He has supposedly dropped out of the nickel LB spot while he learns the basics of the ILB position. He was less-than-impressive against the Texans; let's see what he does with another full game under his belt.

Expect Wade Phillips to break out of his vanilla mindset a bit as well. While most of the starters won't be playing, it's likely he'll unleash the defense at times to see how the younger players react. Against the Texans he was hesitant to even put the proper defense on the field; I'm expecting to see a bit more aggression in Miami.