Dallas Cowboys News & Notes: "We Drafted Players That Won't Pee Their Pants."

Will McClay: We drafted players that wouldn’t ‘pee their pants’ from the pressure of being a Dallas Cowboy | Jon Machota, DMN
Jon Machota offers up a transcript of a McClay interview with the DC Star Magazine radio guys in which McClay mentioned that the Cowboys drafted "grown men that are able to handle the situation," and not "pee their pants" at the pressure of playing for the Cowboys. An excerpt:

On drafting Iowa linebacker Anthony Hitchens in the fourth round although many projected him to be a late-round pick:

"I think we got the right value for him because when you turn on the tape and you’re looking at a Mike linebacker that can also play Sam and Will, we talked a lot about football character, about competes and about work ethic," McClay said. "If a guy has the physical traits, he has the desire to get better and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to get there, that’s a great value for us because of what he’s going to bring to this team."

Dez Bryant: 'I'm in best shape I've ever been' - Tim MacMahon, ESPN Dallas
There is no reason to doubt Dez.

"Trust me, I’ve been working hard," Bryant said. "I’ve been working six days out of the week. Today is my off day, but I’m going to the facility right now. That’s all I’ve been doing. This year is special."

Bryant, who set career highs with 93 catches and 13 touchdowns last season while gaining 1,233 yards, believes he’s on the verge of a big season. That wouldn’t surprise anyone.

Tony Romo wasn’t worried about Cowboys drafting Johnny Manziel; ‘It ain’t going to matter,’ no one’s beating me out | Jon Machota, DMN
Life lesson No. 1: If your 100-million quarterback is worried about being beaten out by a rookie, he shouldn't have been your 100-million quarterback in the first place. So Romo's response when the team talked about a rookie QB was only natural.

"Of course, his response, as you might expect from Tony," Stephen Jones said, "was, ‘Well, if you decide to, it ain’t going to matter, there’s no one out there who can beat me out."

"He’s as excited as he has ever been," Stephen Jones continued. "He really likes what Scott Linehan has in mind for our offense. He feels like with the moves we made during the draft and solidifying our offensive line and some of the weapons we have, he’s never been more excited about our football team in terms of what we can get accomplished."

Stephen Jones Expects Tony Romo To Be Ready To Go By Training Camp - Blogging The Boys
Stephen Jones thinks Tony Romo will be good to go by the time training camp rolls around.

"Yes he will and he’s actually progressing great," Jones said during a conference call with season ticket holders on Tuesday. "He’s on schedule if not ahead of schedule. He’s throwing the ball around, we not only think he’ll be ready for opening week, he’ll start up at training camp and be ready to go."

Gosselin: Anthony Hitchens doesn't have best measurables, but Cowboys' Tampa 2 scheme allows for that | Rick Gosselin, DMN
In a recent chat with Cowboys fans, Gosselin explained why Anthony Hitchens, despite not having the greatest measurables, could be a good fit for Dallas and may have been worth that fourth-round pick.

"The Cowboys liked him there and took him there. His productivity certainly warranted it. His measurables didn't. He fits a need. You don't have to have all the ideal height-weight measurables to play in this Tampa 2 scheme. What you need is speed." [...]

"The draft is all about measurables. You rise or fall based on your height, weight, speed and strength. Too often college productivity is the last step in the equation. That's what hurt Johnny Manziel. And that's what hurt Hitchens. Good player, though. The Tampa 2 scheme allows you to play with players who don't have the ideal measurables but do have the speed."

Dallas Cowboys' Stephen Jones defends the safety position - Calvin Watkins, ESPN Dallas
Are safeties the new O-line, a unit everybody haggles the Cowboys about? Stephen Jones seems to think so.

"We feel a little bit better than [sic] our safeties than our critics in the media," Jones said.

"I’d start with J.J. Wilcox," Jones said. "He was really having a tremendous training camp and he had a real tragedy in his life when he lost his mother. We were naming him the starter that day, and then he had to leave camp, rightfully so, to be with his family. We think J.J., working with him in the offseason, has it all back together again and we think he’s going to seize the opportunity."

"Matt Johnson has real injuries, but they’re more unfortunate than chronic," Jones said. "This is probably the year for him to really have it all come together."

Agent says Anthony Spencer is "excited" to return - Mark Lane, Cover32
"Excited" is good, but it doesn't mean anybody knows if and when Spencer will be cleared to participate in football practice.

"That will come down to the trainers," Woy said while at Alley Cats raising money for Strikes for Kids last Thursday. "They said they’re going to take it day by day with him."

Woy admitted he was unaware of any specific time frame due to the severity of Anthony Spencer’s injury, but the Cowboys told him that they would, "take it time by time."

"When he’s ready, they’ll get him out there," Woy stated.

Garrett Not Ruling Out Possibility Of Austin Return - Rowan Kavner, DallasCowboys.com
This feels much more like Garrett being polite and much less like a statement of intent, but on the off chance that there's something more to this than a clickable headline, we'll look at this. Kavner writes that the Cowboys "love" Austin and that there "absolutely" is a chance that Austin could end up in a Cowboys uniform before the season starts.

"The economics of his situation really factored into the decision we made with him, coupled with his injuries," Garrett said. "We’ll look at the landscape when we get done. Miles is a guy that we have great respect for as a person and as a player."

Garrett: Cowboys won't develop someone else's QB - NFL.com
Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said the team didn't draft a quarterback for simple reasons: It believes in Tony Romo and sees Brandon Weeden as a solid developmental player.

"The thing you're concerned about is developing them for somebody else," coach Jason Garrett said Monday, via Todd Archer of ESPN.com. "You develop them for two, three, four years and he goes and plays for another football team. We don't think that's a worthwhile thing."

"When you feel good about your starter and you feel good about your backups, we feel it's better to take a position player, a guy we know can contribute on special teams, instead of trying to develop that guy (quarterback)."

"We feel in signing Brandon Weeden, he can be viewed as that developmental guy," Garrett said. " ... We view him as in that role right now, so we wanted to be selective about anybody else we wanted to bring in here."

Dallas Cowboys Preview: Brandon Weeden Has Chance to Learn - Rantsports
Jeff Smith argues that unless you’re Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III, you aren’t going to jump into the NFL and have immediate success. Add Cleveland to the mix, and almost every quarterback is bound to struggle, just as Brandon Weeden did.

The Cowboys now get to let Weeden sit behind Tony Romo, and possibly Kyle Orton, to learn. And what happens after that? Well, that will be the real question.

If Weeden really learns how to play in the NFL, and looks like the quarterback some thought that he would be out of Oklahoma State, the Cowboys may have actually gotten a steal. No one wants to believe it right now, but if Weeden can actually learn, and spend time with Romo and Orton, then he may have a bright future.

Will Smith Makes For An Intriguing Prospect At "Will" - DallasCowboys.com
When this headline popped up on my screen I immediately clicked on the link, thinking "This could be an interesting article." It isn't, and I still don't know why Will Smith is an intriguing prospect.

Dallas Cowboys' rookie pool set - Todd Archer, ESPN Dallas
Archer writes that the Cowboys have a rookie pool of $5.792 million to sign their nine draft picks and undrafted free agents. He expects the Cowboys to start signing their draft picks from rounds 4-7 this weekend during rookie minicamp, an approach the Cowboys also took last year.

Stat of the Day:

Numbers tell an ugly story about '09 draft - NFL Nation Blog - ESPN
Of the 256 players selected in 2009, there are almost as many out of the league -- 122 -- as there are still on one of the 32 teams -- 134. However, just 38 of 256 remain on their original teams.

Of the 256 players picked in 2009, only 38 remain on the team that drafted them. pic.twitter.com/YhkzFYYhFt

— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) May 13, 2014

Vote Now For Your Favorite Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Finalist! - DallasCowboys.com
You be the judge and help the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders decide who makes it into training camp! Follow the link to place your vote.