Dallas Cowboys News & Notes: Getting Ready For The Raiders

Romo Thinks Team Picked A Good One In Frederick - R. Kavner, DallasCowboys.com
Travis Frederick gets Romo's seal of approval.

"Travis has done a great job," Romo said. "They picked a good one there. He’s going to be a guy who’s going to help us a lot for a long time. I don’t know whether people are talking about whether or not we reached for him and stuff like that I guess at the time, but he’s good football player and we got a good first-round draft pick there."

Tony Romo says he, Cowboys can make it easier for depleted offensive line to do its job - C. Mendez, Star-Telegram
Romo was complimentary about how the interior offensive line has been working in practice but also said that he and the coaches play a role in making the linemen's job easier.

"As a quarterback, you’ve got to be mobile, slide in the pocket, move, get the ball out," he said after Thursday’s walk-through. "And then on top of it, we’ve got to give them some things they don’t have to work quite so hard in and do some things schematically that give us a little bit of help."

"I’m excited about the way the guys up front have been doing," Romo said. "They’ve been working hard, they’re getting better. It’s been a good camp for them. Obviously, we’d like to have a few less injuries. But that’s part of the game."

Source: Cowboys targeting OL Brian Waters - A. Schefter, ESPN Dallas
Unless you spent yesterday wandering along a secluded portion of the Appalachian Trail without cell reception, you probably heard that the Cowboys are looking at bringing in Brian Waters to shore up the injury- and otherwise depleted O-line. As of 4:00 am ET today, no progress has been made versus Shefter's original report.

Nate Newton: If Brian Waters can't come in and start, the Cowboys shouldn't waste their time - DMN
The benefit of long headlines is that you often don't have to read the article. This is such a case.

Need To Start Focusing On Backup OT Spot - B. Broaddus, DallasCowboys.com
Jermey Parnell hasn't practiced once in training camp, and the other backup tackles haven't shown much of anything either so far. Broaddus intimates the Cowboys will look for help on the waiver wire or via trade:

If I am Will McClay and this pro scouting staff, I am trying to follow teams that have player [sic] or two that has some experience but is young enough to develop down the road that I might be able to flip a pick for much like they did with Ryan Cook last season. There is no doubt they [sic] McClay will play the waiver wire, and he is a really smart personnel man, so he will be aggressive here but I promise you that as we all focus on these guards, he has a bigger picture in mind."

Cowboys rank 14th in the NFP preseason power rankings - National Football Post
Joe Fortenbaugh apparently isn't very impressed by the fact that up until yesterday, the Cowboys were the only unbeaten team in the league:

14. Dallas Cowboys: The roster is loaded with talent, the coaching staff was upgraded thanks to the addition of defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin and the franchise quarterback is content with his $100 million offseason payday. Still, it’s tough to give an organization with just one playoff win since 1996 and a penchant for choking in the big spot much respect prior to the start of the season. Dallas will have to prove it week in and week out before anybody jumps on the train.

Brandon George: Why the Cowboys play the Raiders every preseason and there are fewer camp fights - DMN
Because Oakland is (relatively) close to Oxnard and because the weather is nice in camp. Oh, I forgot: Spolier alert!

Witten returns to the 'spleen of the crime' in Oakland - FSSouthwest
It was a bad day for headline writers yesterday.

It’s Never Easy to Cut a Guy - The MMQB
Andrew Brandt provides an interesting perspective on the process of cutting players to meet the league-mandated roster targets.

Raiders vs Cowboys Game Preview - Raiders.com
The Raiders mothership previews tonight's game. According to Oakland's Coach Dennis Allen, the Cowboys will provide a tough, physical challenge for the Raiders.

"Well, they’re a good football team. Obviously offensively they’re a big, physical football team. They ran the ball really well the other day against Miami, so obviously I think that’s something they’re trying to establish and work on, so we have to be prepared to stop the run," Coach Allen said. "It looks like they’ll play a lot more of their [first string] in this game, so it’ll be a good evaluation for us, both offensively and defensively to get a little bit of a feel of where we’re at."

Five things to watch for in tonight's Cowboys game - C. Mendez, Star-Telegram
Mendez lists five things to watch for, including interior line play, safety play and how the playcalling works.

Raiders QB Flynn ready to debut against Dallas - Amarillo Globe-News
As we had seen in yesterday's Five Questions post with Silver & Black Pride, Matt Flynn will start against the Cowboys and will likely play the first quarter. Terrelle Pryor will follow and could play the bulk of the next two quarters before rookies Matt McGloin and Tyler Wilson finish up the preseason opener for Oakland.

Five good questions with Dallas Cowboys blogger - Silver And Black Pride
Our own Dave Halprin answers questions about the Cowboys in preparation for tonight's game.

NFL Preseason Preview - Dallas (1-0) at Oakland (0-0) (ET) - The Sacramento Bee
This article previews the game and then proceeds to slam the Raiders for their offseason personnel decisions:

Oakland really needed help on the defensive line after the departures of tackles Richard Seymour, Desmond Bryant and Tommy Kelly, as well as end Matt Shaughnessy. Underwhelming types like nose tackle Pat Sims and under tackle Vance Walker were brought in as McKenzie focused on reaching for Houston corner D.J. Hayden in the draft.

The Raiders loved Hayden so much they almost wasted the No. 3 overall pick to get him before wisely trading down and getting him at 12. They could have dropped another 10 spots at least.

More from Blogging The Boys:

• Football Basics: Gameplanning & Scripting
• Cowboys @ Raiders: 5 Questions With Silver & Black Pride
• Random Thoughts From Cowboys Camp: Emphasizing Special Teams
• Pro Football Focus Grades Cowboys Hall Of Fame Game Performance Vs Dolphins
• In Praise Of Jason Witten: From Lacerated Spleens To Option Routes