Dallas Cowboys Training Camp News - Dez Bryant On Orlando Scandrick: "He's An Animal"

Sunday Practice Recap: Scandrick, Bryant Go Back & Forth - Rowan Kavner, DallasCowboys.com
Kavner provides a thorough review of yesterday's activities and includes this little highlight about what Dez Bryant thinks of Orlando Scandrick:

"He’s fighting, and I love every bit of it," Bryant said. "Scandrick is a dog. A lot of those corners are feeding off of him. They love him. I love him. He’s an animal. Like I said, we’ve just got to keep it going."

Punctuated by fight, Cowboys develop attitude they hope to carry into season | David Moore, DMN
David Moore looks beyond the Bryant/Wilcox and sees a team working on developing an attitude. Up until yesterday, not only hadn't there been a fight in camp, but Moore describes the team as downright "docile." That changed when Dez Bryant and Orlando Scandrick embarked on a series of highly combative - and planned - matchups in team drills that set the tone for the rest of the session. And perhaps for the rest of the season.

"Me and Dez, we talked about this before practice," Scandrick said. "He knew I was going to match up with him everywhere he went on the field. I told him, ‘They’ve got to feed off of us.’"

"Somebody has got to step to the front of the line and be an example."

Sunday wasn’t about the fight between Bryant and Wilcox. It was about much more. It was about developing an attitude that will carry over into the regular season.

"You’re not supposed to like each other in training camp," Scandrick said. "The best teams I’ve been on, we practiced so hard we wanted to kill each other.

"It’s win or nothing."

Cowboys Training Camp Report: Thoughts After Blue And White Scrimmage - Blogging The Boys
Rabblerousr reviews the first phase of training camp, which culminated in yesterday's annual Blue-White Scrimmage, and makes two critical observations about the defense: the community-building effect of the Bryant/Wilcox kerfluffle, and the defense finally showing up in the backfield.

This was the most spirited practice of a camp increasingly marked by its competitiveness: The zenith of this, of course, was the oft-covered kerfluffle between J.J. Wilcox and Dez Bryant, which included an overly physical hit (Wilcox), a headbutt (Bryant) a wild punch (Wilcox) and a flurry of counter-punches (both players), followed by a scrum as players from both sides of the ball tried to separate them. Although fighting between teammates is usually not condoned, almost everybody - from Jason Garrett to Wilcox's defensive mates - seemed pleased by the skirmish, especially (and ironically) by its community-building potential. When Wilcox went to the sideline, several defensive mates came over to where he was to give him some love; for a "D" needing any reason to feel good about itself, his hit was a crucial event.

Defensive penetration (and the resultant disruption) is this defense's hallmark, so it was a welcome sight to see blue jerseys playing on the other side of the line of scrimmage.

Dez Bryant loves feistiness shown by J.J. Wilcox | Star-Telegram
Bryant and Wilcox got into a scuffle Sunday after big hit, and Drew Davison has the lowdown.

"J.J. put a nice hit on me," Bryant said. "He pissed me off, but at the end of the day, I loved it. I told him, ‘Keep it coming.’ Hopefully the rest of the guys on that defense – not only the defense, but the offense and the whole team – feed off of that. That’s what it takes to win. That’s what we need to win. You’ve got to have that passion and that love for the game."

Said Wilcox: "Dez is a great player. He’s a fiery player. With that being said, I’m trying to catch up and get our defense up to their level. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and take the bullet. I took the bullet today. It was a great play and he congratulated me. We’re still brothers. We’re going to fight to get this thing turned around."

Wilcox went on to admit it was a little bit of a "cheap shot," although Bryant didn’t label it that.

Video: Fight Replay - Dez And Wilcox Exchange Blows During Scrimmage - DC.com
Perhaps this video will lay all the various conspiracy thories to rest. But I'm told that's not how conspiracy theories work. Bummer.

Day 11 observations from Dallas Cowboys training camp practice | Brandon George, DMN
George puts together what amounts to a play-by-play of yesterday's highlights, and includes this nugget:

Forget Jerry Jones’ big screen TV at AT&T Stadium. One of Chris Jones’ punts almost took out a seagull flying over the middle of the practice field. The bird seemed unfazed.

Jeremy Mincey a threat when he moves inside - Tom MacMahon, ESPN Dallas
Mincey says he's a "good inside rusher" and credits that as one key reason he's been in the NFL for as long as he has. The Cowboys plan on sliding him inside to defensive tackle in their nickel and dime packages, which, MacMahon writes, still leaves the question of who'll be the speed rusher at right defensive end on passing downs.

Cowboys Camp Report: Day 11 - Todd Archer, ESPN Dallas
Archer with the lowdown of yesterday's scrimmage. An excerpt:

Defensive end Martez Wilson helped his cause by stripping quarterback Brandon Weeden for a sack/fumble and returning the loose ball for a touchdown for the No. 2 defense. He forced a Hail Mary throw on the next drive with a would-be sack of Weeden. On that long throw from Weeden to Tim Benford at the goal line, linebacker DeVonte Holloman showed great speed and anticipation to knock the ball away.

Perhaps Wilson is the speed rusher MacMahon is looking for?

Bryant, Scandrick, Wilson among standouts | Clarence Hill, Star-Telegram
Hill provides an in-depth look at the players who stood out during Sunday's competitive blue-and-white scrimmage, which include Dez Bryant, Orlando Scandrick, Devin Street, DeVonte Holloman, Ron Leary, and this guy:

With DeMarcus Lawrence out 8-12 weeks with a fractured foot, the Cowboys need someone to step up at end and give them a pass-rushing presence on the outside. This is a great opportunity for DE Martez Wilson, and he took a huge step forward Sunday with a couple of outstanding plays, including scoop and score after a sack and forced fumble on quarterback Brandon Weeden.

"Martez made a big play in one of the series where he came around the edge and literally took the ball out of the quarterback’s hands," Garrett said. "Typically we don’t like those guys hitting the quarterback, but it was pretty clean and he picked it up and ran it in. That was a big play. One of the things that he has that’s just so evident is he’s got great quickness and explosiveness off the ball. The biggest thing for him to do is learn how to play that position and all the nuances of playing with his hand on the ground as a defensive end and he’s working very hard at trying to understand what those are and getting better technically every day."

In most extensive work of training camp, Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo has uneven performance Sunday | Rainer Sabin, DMN
Sabin tries hard to show that Romo had an "uneven performance" yesterday, but comes up a little short.

"I thought it was good," Garrett said of Romo's performance. "He got in there and was in some different situations for us. I think you saw his command of this offense throughout a lot of that stuff. I thought his decision making, for the most part, was pretty good. He had one bad decision at the end of one of the series, but for the most part I think he’s looking more and more comfortable and getting better every day."

Tony Romo: Interception was supposed to be a throw away, but I didn’t want to hit a kid on the sidelines | Dallas Morning News
What's a kid doing on the sidelines anyway?

Dez Bryant emulating Jerry Rice - Jean-Jacques Taylor, ESPN Dallas
Short but interesting article from JJT.

Bryant, like most receivers, makes a "W" shape with his hands with his thumbs touching when he catches the ball. [Bill] Callahan said [Jerry] Rice used to hold one hand under the other when he caught the ball. After discussing the nuances of the technique, Bryant caught passes for several minutes using the new technique.

"I like it," Bryant told the coach. "I see why it works. I’m going to keep working on it."

Jerry Jones names four Dallas Cowboys who have caught his eye during training camp | Jon Machota, DMN
Jones thinks tackles Ken Bishop, Davon Coleman, and DE Dartwan Bush are all in the mix for the top 10 defensive linemen, and already sees Devin Street as the third receiver.

Devin Street Focused On Gaining Trust Of Others - Rowan Kavner, DC.com
Kavner writes that everything the Cowboys liked about Street from his college tape has been on display at training camp.

Street caught two touchdown grabs in 7-on-7 drills, including one in the back of the end zone, and took a bubble screen at least 20 yards for a touchdown during the scrimmage.

"He made some good plays today," said head coach Jason Garrett. "Devin’s a mature guy. That’s one of the things that’s easy to see when you watched him work out, when you saw him at the combine, when you saw his college tape. And really throughout the minicamps in the spring and throughout training camp he’s shown that. He’s a really aware guy. He’s mature as a route runner."

Steelers training camp: Youth should spark needed improvements - CBSSports.com
Funny how these things go: The Steelers are coming off two 8-8 seasons, and according to Pat Kirwan, a younger team is expected to put them back in playoff contention. The Cowboys are also coming off two 8-8 seasons, and are also fielding a younger team, but many pundits expect them to land in last place in the NFC East.

Aaron Rodgers: Refs will boost passing offenses this year | ProFootballTalk
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers expects passing offenses around the NFL to be even more productive this season than they were last season, thanks to a stricter emphasis on illegal contact, pass interference and defensive holding. Rodgers said after officials worked a Packers practice that the way the officials are calling those penalties this year, it can only help quarterbacks and wide receivers.

Hall of Fame Game brings new technology to NFL sidelines | FOX Sports on MSN
If you watched the game, you may have noticed tablets being used on the sidelines. Here's the deal with those things this season:

1. Each team is given 25 tablets, 13 for the sideline and 12 for the coaches' box.

2. The tablets will operate on a closed network, which will protect information from being hacked.

3. Images from each play will upload in five seconds, instead of the 30 or 40 seconds that it took for a paper printout.

4. Teams will have the option of using paper instead of the tablets if they wish.

5. However, if for some reason the tablets fail to work for one team, they will be taken away from the other team in the interest of fairness