Dallas Cowboys Training Camp News: Injuries Start Piling Up

Sunday Practice Recap: Three Defenders Leave With Injuries - Rowan Kavner, DallasCowboys.com
Five defensive players left the field at one point or another, including Matt Johnson (hamstring), Terrell McClain (ankle), DeVonte Holloman (dehydration), Jeff Heath (hand contusion) and Bruce Carter (sore leg and knee). Carter and Heath were able to return to the field during practice.

Dallas Cowboys Injury Report lengthens after Sunday practice | Rainer Sabin, DMN
Here's a summary of of the latest injury report:

Cowboys Training Camp Report, Practice Number Four: Picking Up Where We Left Off - Blogging The Boys
Rabblerousr with an in-depth, 2,300-word summary of yesterday's camp activities. As usual, a must read.

Cowboys 2014 Training Camp Practice Summary: Pedagogy In Action - Blogging The Boys
Observations from the Sunday's fourth training camp practice, during which the Cowboys continued to build on previous lessons as they began to show the effects of putting on the pads for the first time in months.

Tony Romo on 'little brother' Dez Bryant: WR has credibility, clout in locker room that wasn't there earlier | Dallas Morning News
The DMN has a transcript of an interview Tony Romo did with Rich Eisen and Michael Irvin on NFL Network. Here's an excerpt in which Romo talks about his relationship with Dez Bryant:

“Oh man if I was getting married this year, he’d be in my wedding. He’s like a little brother to me. I’ve been able to kind of, as he came in, been able to kind of see him start off and mold himself into the player that he’s become. I try to help him. Every once in a while when he gets going and stuff, he knows when I say something stern to him, it’s important. He knows his position, but he also has clout, he has a lot of credibility in that locker room so he’s able to do some things that he wasn’t able to do three or four years ago and that’s reward for being a guy who bring sit and plays well."

Dallas Cowboys' projected roster - Todd Archer, ESPN
After four training camp practices, Todd archer porposes a new 53-man roster projection.

Rolando McClain impressive in debut - Tim MacMahon, ESPN Dallas
It's looking increasingly like ESPN Dallas has moved Calvin Watkins off the Cowboys beat and replaced him with Tim MacMahon. One thing is for sure, the former is not in Oxnard, while the latter is, from there he writes that McClain "got thrown right into the fire" in his first practice with the Cowboys, and he did well.

Dallas Cowboys Cole Beasley key to creating mismatches for Dez Bryant - Tim MacMahon, ESPN Dallas
MacMahon writes that if Cole Beasley can play outside, it opens up possibilities for the Cowboys coaches to create mismatches with Dez Bryant from the slot.

The Cowboys plan to give Beasley every opportunity to prove he can make plays as an outside receiver. It’s not just about expanding the role of a receiver who emerged as a significant contributor in his second NFL season, catching 39 passes for 368 yards and two touchdowns.

For the first few seasons of his NFL career, the Cowboys featured Dez Bryant solely as the X receiver, keeping his role as simple as possible. They moved him around some last season, and he’s mentally prepared for much more of that entering his fifth year, often working out of the slot in three-receiver sets with Beasley outside.

Dez Bryant says Terrance Williams is ‘going to do some big things’ | Jon Machota, DMN
Dez Bryant likes what he's seeing from Terrance Williams:

"Terrance done blew up," Bryant said. "He’s lightning fast, outstanding hands, probably one of the best route runners I’ve ever seen. He’s going to do some big things."

Dallas Cowboys: Rod Marinelli's love of football - Todd Archer, ESPN Dallas
Retirement is not on Marinelli's mind, Todd Archer writes, even though the Cowboys' defensive coordinator just turned 65.

"I don’t think that far," Marinelli said. "I don’t. I like it. I can’t tell you, but I just like it. I can’t see being home, my gosh."

"I love practice," Marinelli said. "I love the physicalness. I love the fundamentals. I love the competition. And you like to see men grow and develop. That’s as much as anything. And then the schematics of it. It’s fun. I mean it’s all good. It’s a great sport."

Scout’s Eye: Early Standouts From Saturday’s Practice - Bryan Broaddus, DallasCowboys.com
Practiced reports usually focus on the players who stood out positively at the previous day's practice. And Broaddus names Devin Street, Kyle Wilber, and Tyron Crawford as players who showed up on tape. But he also points out who did not impress: the backup offensive tackles Jermey Parnell and Darrion Weems.

Highlights: Quick Hits From Garrett’s Sunday Presser - David Helman, DallasCowboys.com
Helman provides a summary of Garrett's Sunday afternoon press conference. Garrett touched on a lot of different topics, and also shared some insight into how he reviewed Saturday's practice with the team.

In a moment of levity, Garrett allowed that he has ways of provoking his players into performing. Asked for an example, he detailed a play on Saturday in which Dez Bryant beat Orlando Scandrick badly on an overthrown deep ball. Garrett told Bryant that Scandrick "kicked his butt," which triggered outrage among the team. Garrett said he’s aware that’s not how the play unfolded, but he expects Bryant to be "ready to go" on Sunday – which was the intention.

Dallas Cowboys will wait until after season to determine DeMarco Murray’s future with the franchise | Jon Machota, Dallas Morning News
In terms of contract extensions, the Cowboys' top priorities are Dez Bryant and Tyron Smith. Stephen Jones said Sunday that the Cowboys don't have any plans on signing a new contract with DeMarco Murray during the season, but will wait until after the season, even though they like what they have in Murray:

"I think things evolve and you make decisions, each one on an individual basis and continue to monitor DeMarco’s situation," Jones said. "He’s the type of player we want on our football team. He’s a winner. I think he’s a competitor. He’s a hell of a football player."