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Mike Jenkins: Sleep on Tony Romo and you’ll have a long day - Jon Machota, DMN
Mike Jenkins is very complimentary of Tony Romo:
"Everything I see from Romo is beautiful," Jenkins said during a conference call with reporters at Valley Ranch. "I think Romo is one of the best quarterbacks in the league. There’s a lot of guys outside the franchise who have their own opinions on him or bring up interceptions or bring up bad decisions, whatever it may be that’s written. I disagree with a lot of that stuff because I know what type of guy he is on the field. I know he’s smart. … I know everything about him."
"He’s definitely one of those quarterbacks you can’t sleep on or you’ll have a long day."
Five Wonders: A Pro Bowl for Tony Romo? - Todd Archer, ESPN Dallas
Archer wonders about five things in his regular column, one of which is whether Romo could make the Pro Bowl this year.
He's fourth in touchdown passes with 23. He is seventh in passer rating. He has cut back on his interceptions. He has directed two final-minute drives to lead the Cowboys to their last two wins. Who else could be in the mix?
Remember, the two quarterbacks from the Super Bowl teams won't play in the game, so that adds to the pool. If Romo does not make it, you'd have to wonder if there is a Cowboys' bias. I kid. I kid.
Quarterbacks coach says 'no issues' with new playcalling mechanics - Carlos Mendez, Star-Telegram
Quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson injects a dose of much-needed realism into the whole playcalling debate:
"Everything is on the wrist band, so it’s not that big of a deal," Wilson said, asked if it required extra practice during the bye week. "It wasn’t that much different."
Decoding Callahan: Play Action Passing - Bob Sturm
Bob Sturm explains that he's been puzzled and frustrated by the Cowboys' "distaste" for play action, but is very happy to see that the Cowboys seem to have found their way back to play action passing:
But, since the start of 2012, the Cowboys have run fewer play-action pass plays than any team in football. That is right - according to ProFootballFocus and their signature stats as well as Football Outsiders, the Cowboys are ranked 32nd in play-action passing league wide.
So, when the Cowboys unleashed 15 different play-action pass plays against the Giants on Sunday (the most by any team this weekend in the entire league), after running only 37 play-action pass plays in the first 10 weeks of the season, we are left to wonder what happened.
Garrett praises Smith’s performance against boastful Giants defensive end - Tom Orsborn, Express-News
Even though Tyron Smith did not play a perfect game on Sunday, Garrett liked what he saw from his left tackle.
"We’ve played against them a lot, and Pierre-Paul is really, really a good football player," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. "There’s no question about that. He can be a guy who can be explosive and wreck games and we know the challenge he presents. We challenged our guys with that. And Tyron Smith is a fantastic left tackle. He’s still a young player, but he’s getting better and better every day and somebody we think can be the cornerstone of our line for a long, long time. A guy like that who plays with his demeanor and his physicality loves that challenge."
Cowboys owner not high on chances for Lee, Claiborne to play against Raiders - Carlos Mendez, Star-Telegram
If the eternal optimist Jerry Jones calls Sean Lee "optimistic" to think he could maybe return in time to play against the Raiders, then there's no way whatsoever that Lee plays tomorrow.
Kiffin: Scandrick has been outstanding, compares him to Ronde Barber, mentions Pro Bowl - Clarence Hill, Star-Telegram
Monte Kiffin is impressed with Orlando Scandrick and compares him to Ronde Barber:
"Orlando is really having an outstanding year," Kiffin said. Yeah, he really is. I had heard he was supposed to be a good player. We play a lot of nickel, but he plays outside and all that. I know somebody happened to mention last week on the plane after the game, somebody made a statement that slot corners, nickel corners, don’t make the pro bowl. Well, he’s not just a nickel corner. He plays outside, too. He’s a starter outside. He has been all year. He moves in to play the nickel. Now that’s even harder than just being a corner outside all day long and starting every game and never coming off the field. He never comes off the field. Oh, he’s great. He really is. I like him. I really do. He loves to play, and he goes in the nickel, he does a good job. We do it with Orlando the same we did it with Ronde Barber. Ronde started outside and Ronde slid inside, you know."
Cowboys Injury Report & Roster Moves: New Defensive Lineman Signed - Blogging The Boys
The Cowboys injury report remained unchanged from Monday, and signed linebacker/defensive end Martez Wilson. The Cleveland Browns also made moves on Cowboys personnel, picking up QB Alex Tanney from the practice squad and claiming TE Andre Smith off the waiver wire.
High picks part of Cowboys DL search - ESPN Dallas
As we pointed out almost a month ago here on BTB, the Cowboys seem to have adopted a strategy of signing former high draft picks this year to shore up the defensive line. Martez Wilson (former 3rd-round pick) is just the latest such signing.
"They are obviously guys we liked coming out," executive vice president Stephen Jones said. "Sometimes it was scheme. We were running the 3-4 and they weren't fits. They were 29s or 39s, second or third rounders that don't fit in our system and now that we do run the 4-3 we are getting to re-look at them. There is a reason why those guys get drafted high or we had them high."
Brian Waters: Will He Be Back Or Not? - Blogging The Boys
Brian Waters had a tremendous impact on the Cowboys offensive line prior to a season-ending injury. Now the question is, Will Brian return for 2014?
Dallas Cowboys to wear blue jerseys on Thursday - Todd Archer, ESPN Dallas
The Dallas Cowboys will wear their blue jerseys in tomorrow's Thanksgiving Day game against the Oakland Raiders, the first time, according to Archer, that they’ve worn blue at home since 1964.
Dallas' multifaceted Bryant gives defenses fits - SFGate
Now that the Cowboys are moving Bryant around a little more and also have Miles Austin back, the Raiders will have to be extra vigilant on defense.
