Cowboys Corner

Romo hides hand, says swelling has gone down 'a little bit'

As soon as Tony Romo saw reporters stalking outside the locker room at Valley Ranch, he turned and headed back into the training room. Romo shielded his injured right hand, but he yelled around the corner that swelling has gone down "a litlte bit."

Romo hit the back of his hand on Jason Babin's helmet on the Cowboys' fourth play from scrimmage Saturday night.

All the tests, including X-rays, were negative, according to coach Jason Garrett. Garrett called the injury a bruise.

"It looks like it's getting better," Garrett said. "...It looks like the swelling is going down, and we're hopeful that he can practice on Wednesday."

Garrett added that Romo has a "relatively firm handshake."

The Cowboys did not pursue a veteran quarterback, a sign they believe Romo will play Sunday in a winner-take-all game against the Giants. Owner Jerry Jones declared as much during an interview Monday on 1310 The Ticket.

Stephen McGee is the team's only backup quarterback on the 53-player roster. Playing in a regular-season game for the first time in almost a year, McGee went 24-of-38 for 182 yards with a touchdown, no interceptions and an 83.4 passer rating.

Chris Greisen is on the practice squad. He was signed after Jon Kitna (back) went on injured reserve earlier this month.

-- Charean Williams

 

 

G Montrae Holland could miss Giants game and beyond with torn bicep

The Cowboys suffered another huge injury injury setback against the Eagles as guard Montrae Holland suffered a partially torn left bicep. He will miss Giants game and the playoffs if the Cowboys win.

Holland had started ten straight games at left guard and was part to the reason for the team's resurgent running game in the second half of the season.

He was replaced by rookie Kevin Kowalski against the Eagles. But the Cowboys will likely turn to veteran Derrick Dockery against the Giants.

Clarence Hill

Walker wishes 300 Cowboys' employees a Merry Christmas

Cornerback Frank Walker gave 300 team employees a handwritten note with a $1 bill in it. Even Jerry Jones and Jason Garrett got cards.

“Just trying to put a smile on some faces,” Walker said. “Cheer somebody up for the holidays.”

Jones talked about how much Walker's note meant to him on the owner's radio show Friday.

"We had one of our players, neatest thing I've ever seen, basically write a handwritten note to over 300 people in our organization, including all of his teammates, and said, 'Santa's a little tight this year. You know the times that we're in,'" Jones said. "He personally wrote a little something himself and put a dollar bill in there and says, 'Hope this will do you. Merry Christmas.'"

-- Charean Williams

Jason Witten passes Drew Pearson for No. 3 on Cowboys' receiving chart

Tight end Jason Witten became the Cowboys’ third-leading receiver all-time with his four catches for 24 yards Saturday against the Philadelphia Eagles. He has 7,840 yards in his nine seasons with the Cowboys, passing Drew Pearson’s 7,822.

He said he’ll think about it later.

“It’s special,” he said after the 20-7 loss. “It seems like these are coming at kind of odd times, when you can’t really enjoy it. There are a lot of great players here who have worn the star on their helmet. To be mentioned with some of those guys is definitely humbling. I feel good, you know. You just do everything to help your team win. Try to stay in the moment. I’m sure some time I look back at it, I’ll enjoy it a lot more than I do right now. I’m staying focused on this opportunity we do have.”

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Cowboys notes

Here are notes compiled by the Cowboys' public relations staff:

The Dallas Cowboys did not throw an interception today, and it marked Dallas’ fourth straight game without throwing an interception. It is the longest streak for the Cowboys since 2009 (four straight, 11/26-12/19).

The Dallas Cowboys avoided a shutout today with a touchdown in the fourth quarter. The last time Dallas was held scoreless was at New England (11/16/03). It also extended their streak of home games without a shutout to 166. The last time Dallas was shutout at home was against Philadelphia (9/15/91).

Through 15 games of his rookie season, Dan Bailey has been true on 32 field goals. His 32 field goals made in 15 games is second in team history over that span:

      Player (Year)                          FGM    FGA      Pct

      Richie Cunningham (1997).... 34        36        94.4

      Dan Bailey (2011).................. 32        36        88.9

      Chris Boniol (1996)................. 31        35        88.6

      Richie Cunningham (1998).... 26        31        83.9

      Rafael Septien (1981)............ 26        33        78.8

      Ken Willis (1991).................... 26        37        70.3

Bailey’s 32 made field goals thus are fourth through an entire rookie season in NFL history:

      Player (Year)                          FGM    FGA      Pct

      Ali Haji-Sheikh (1983)............. 35       42         83.3

      Richie Cunningham (1997).... 34       37         91.9

      Chester Marcol (1972)............ 33       48         68.8

Dan Bailey (2011).................. 32       36         88.9

      Kevin Butler (1985)................. 31       37         83.8

      Mason Crosby (2007).............. 31       39         79.5

Bruce Carter got his hands on a Chas Henry punt today. It was the first tipped punt of any kind for Dallas since Carlos Polk blocked a punt against San Francisco (11/23/08).

Dwayne Harris had a career-long51-yard kickoff return today.

Mat McBriar punted nine times today to tie his single-game career-high: vs. Chicago (11/25/04), at Seattle (10/23/05) and at Philadelphia (11/14/05).

Stephen McGee saw his first action of the season after Tony Romo (hand) was sidelined after the first drive. McGee finished the game completing 24-of-28 passes for 182 yards and one touchdown. Today marked McGee’s third appearance, and he has thrown one touchdown and no interceptions in each appearance.

DeMarcus Ware’s two sacks today gave him his 22^nd career multi-sack game and his fifth of the season.Ware’s five multi-sack games this season are the most in his career and the most in a season in franchise history:

                       Multi-sack games (Cowboys season)

                        Player (Year)                       Games

                        DeMarcus Ware (2011).......... 5

                        Randy White (1984)................ 4

                        Jim Jeffcoat (1989)................. 4

                        Charles Haley (1995).............. 4

                        Greg Ellis (2007)..................... 4

                        DeMarcus Ware (2007, 09-10) 4

Ware’s sacks today upped his official club sack record to 98.0. Among all-time (pre-1982 included) club sack leaders, Ware’s 98 put him past George Andrie (97.0) for fourth:

                        Career sacks, including pre-1982

                    Player (Years)                                  Sacks

                    Harvey Martin (1973-83).................. 114.0

                    Randy White (1975-88).................... 111.0

                    Too Tall Jones (1974-78, 80-89)..... 106.0

                    DeMarcus Ware (2005-11)................ 98.0

                    George Andrie (1962-72)................... 97.0

Ware’s 18.0 sacks thus far are the second-most in his career (20.0 in 2008) and second in a season in club history:

                        Player (Year)                     Sacks

                        DeMarcus Ware (2008)....... 20.0

                        DeMarcus Ware (2011)...... 18.0

                        DeMarcus Ware (2010)....... 15.5

                        Jim Jeffcoat (1986)............ 14.0

                        DeMarcus Ware (2007)....... 14.0

Chauncey Washington had his firstcareer stats as a Cowboy, playing in his third game as a Cowboy. He finished today with one rush for -1 yard and two catches for 13 yards. His two previous games came in 2009.

Jason Witten’s 24 yards today gave him 7,840 for his career to pass Drew Pearson (7,822) for third in team history.

Witten’s four catches today gave him 72 for the season. It is his sixth season with 70-or-more catches for the second-most all-time in the NFL among tight ends. Tony Gonzalez has the tight end best with 12. It is also his fifth consecutive 70-catch season, which is the second-longest streak behind Gonzalez (nine).

 In franchise history, Witten’s six 70-catch seasons only trail Michael Irvin’s seven for the most in Cowboys record books while his five straight tie Irvin for the most.

 

 

 

Cowboys-Giants flexed to Sunday night on NBC

The only game with a win-and-you’re-in scenario for both teams in the final week is the Giants-Cowboys. Because of that, the game has been flexed to NBC’s Sunday Night Football with kickoff scheduled for 7:20 p.m.

The NFL made the decision, which means FOX got neither one of the Giants-Cowboys games. The Broncos-Chiefs game could have implications on the AFC West winner, but Denver could win it before the game is even played if the Raiders lose.

Another game of interest could have been the Ravens at Bengals, with the Bengals chasing a wild-card berth and the Ravens hoping to clinch the AFC North. But the Giants-Cowboys game was the no-brainer pick.

The Cowboys are the top ratings draw. NBC's top six games are Cowboys games, and four of those are against the Giants.

-- Drew Davison

Cowboys have surprising contributors in Eagles game

Stephen McGee and Martellus Bennett have been playing together ever since their days at Texas A&M.

So, when McGee replaced Tony Romo in the first quarter, it wasn’t too surprising to see him find Bennett.

Bennett matched his season-high with three catches for 28 yards.

“I’ve know the guy for eight years,” Bennett said. “We do a lot of stuff during the week. Me and McGee, we have a good feel for each other and the things we do.”

Running back Chauncey Washington had his first rushing attempt since 2008, seeing time with Felix Jones resting.

“It felt good to be back out there,” Washington said. “Hopefully I get some more opportunities next week.”

Finally, Dwayne Harris returned kicks for the first time since being released on Oct. 18 – and then re-signed on Dec. 14. Harris had three punt returns for three yards, and two kickoff returns for 85 yards, including a career-long 51-yarder.

“They know that I can play football,” Harris said. “It just gave me a chance to go out and show what I can do this week.”

-- Drew Davison

Lee, Holland expect to play vs. Giants

Sean Lee didn’t play in the fourth quarter because of an injured hamstring. After the game, Lee said he tweaked it, but it wouldn’t be an issue going forward.

“I’ll be ready,” Lee said. “Nothing serious.”

Keith Brooking replaced Lee in the game.

Guard Montrae Holland injured his left arm, and was replaced by Kevin Kowalski in the fourth quarter. Holland said his arm would be further examined today, although he expected to play vs. the Giants.

-- Drew Davison

Jones explains first quarter meeting with Garrett

Most NFL owners stay in their suite during the game. Or, at the very least, they wouldn’t come on the field and talk with their head coach during a game.

But Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones felt the need to hold an impromptu meeting with Jason Garrett during the first quarter of the Cowboys-Eagles game.

Following the Cowboys’ 20-7 home loss, Jones addressed the first quarter exchange. Jones wanted to inform Garrett of the injury status of quarterback Tony Romo and also update him on the Giants victory over the Jets.

“Basically told him about Tony, and what we were doing with him,” Jones said. “The fact that Tony really wanted to get back in, and he could grip the ball. Plus, we all knew that the Jets had lost, so we knew what was at stake in this game. That had a bearing to some degree how we played some of the guys.”

Asked why he felt the need to meet with Garrett during the game, Jones said: “I don’t want to be sarcastic, but I would need a psychologist to [know why] I feel these needs. But I did want to go communicate with Jason.”

The Giants victory, of course, meant the NFC East winner would be decided in the regular-season finale next week. Nothing, from a playoff standpoint, would be determined during Saturday afternoon’s game.

But Jones made it clear that the conversation wasn’t about telling Garrett what players to rest, including running back Felix Jones.

“Certainly I agree with how we played the game tonight and who played what, when and how they played it,” Jones said. “I was in complete agreement with it and was in agreement with it when we were doing it, so I was very aware of what we were doing and what we were deciding and how we were deciding what was going on. And it was certainly something we had agreed we all wanted to bounce off each other as the game moved along.”

-- Drew Davison

McGee had his chance to show he deserves to be Romo's backup

The Cowboys' backup quarterback situation will have to be addressed in the off-season. Jon Kitna, 39, is expected to retire. Even after Saturday night, the question remains: Do the Cowboys trust Stephen McGee enough for him to be Tony Romo's primary backup in 2012?

"I saw some things out of Stephen tonight that were impressive," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "He has made great strides in his instinct, made great strides with feel. I think that’s going to show real soon. He’s got a good arm. I am not sure where we are. We want to keep Kitna for as long as he’s healthy. It was not realistic to think that was there. Where we are with our backup quarterback is Stephen, and that’s how we’ll finish the season."

McGee had an opportunity, as he did to close out the 2010 season, to show he's ready. McGee, a third-year pro who was a fourth-round draft pick, went 24-of-38 for 182 yards with a touchdown, no interceptions and an 83.4 passer rating. The Cowboys didn't score until 7 seconds remained, getting a 4-yard pass from McGee to Miles Austin to avoid their first home shutout since 1991.

"It was up and down at times,” McGee said. “We moved the ball all right, and we had our chances. It just felt like we kind of shot ourselves in the foot with penalties and miscues on offense, miscommunication-type deals. We definitely could have executed a lot better. We’ll go back to the video and throw this one in the trash and be ready to go for New York.”

McGee played in two games last season, including a start against the Eagles in the 2010 regular-season finale. He started this season as the No. 3 quarterback, but a back injury forced Kitna onto injured reserve Dec. 14. McGee now is the team’s only backup on the 53-player roster.

“It took me a little bit to get back in the rhythm of things,” McGee said. “It’s been since I guess the Miami game [in the preseason] that I’ve been out there in live action at all. I haven’t had any reps this year with the offense at all. It took me a little bit of time to get comfortable. …But I felt a lot more comfortable that I did this time last year, for sure.”

-- Charean Williams