Cowboys Corner

Dwayne Harris, better versed in playbook, expects tough competition for receiver spots in training camp

Dwayne Harris said he expects a tough competition for the receiver spots in training camp.

The second-year receiver, a sixth-round pick out of East Carolina a year ago, is in the running with Kevin Ogletree, Andre Holmes, Raymond Radway and Danny Coale, at a minimum, for the third, fourth and fifth receiver spots, if the Cowboys keep that many.

But the Cowboys will also have three undrafted rookies in camp, Donavon Kemp, Tim Benford and Saalim Hakim.

That’s a lot of competition for three spots behind Miles Austin and Dez Bryant.

“It’s going to be tough,” he said Thursday at Cowboys Stadium after the final minicamp practice of the offseason. “Everybody wants a roster spot. Everybody wants to show the coaches what they can do. I wouldn’t expect anybody to come out here and not give their all. It’s going to be tough. It’s going to be fun.”

Harris allowed himself a bit of a smile at that thought. He’s already been through a training camp and won a job. He did it last year, making the team after averaging 23 yards on six catches in the preseason, including a 76-yard touchdown.

This year, he’ll have more of a head start, thanks to the OTAs and minicamp he didn’t have last year.

“Every day I got a little better, progressed every day,” he said. “My knowledge of the playbook got better every day. I think just the whole offseason helped out a lot. Last year, we didn’t have this much time to learn the playbook. It was harder for the rookies coming in. I think this year made it easier for everybody.”

Harris did not catch a pass in the regular season last year. He returned 15 punts and eight kickoffs. His 28.9 average on kickoff returns led the team.

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Cowboys' fourth-round picks, Kyle Wilber, Matt Johnson, have signed, leaving only Morris Claiborne to work on

The Cowboys announced the signing of their fourth-round picks, linebacker Kyle Wilber and safety Matt Johnson.

That means all of the Cowboys' picks are signed except first-round pick Morris Claiborne, who they took with the sixth pick in the draft. Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said there is no reason to worry about the signing. He said he expected the Cowboys would have all of their picks signed between this week and the start of training camp.

Wilber was taken in the fourth round out of Wake Forest. Johnson was taken out of Eastern Washington with the Cowboys' supplemental pick in the fourth round.

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

 

Garrett agrees Stephen McGee had an up-and-down minicamp, but says he still made strides

Stephen McGee got extra work all week during the minicamp because Kyle Orton sat with a hamstring injury.

But McGee did not make the most of his chance. He had an inconsistent week, and Thursday’s final practice of the minicamp was an example.

He had a tough time in red zone and goal line 11-on-11 situations. He was pressured. He threw away three balls. And he couldn’t find the touch on deep balls to the corner. One out pass to the end zone was too high to catch.

But he avoided resorting to simply running when pressure came. He stopped one scramble at the line of scrimmage and found receiver Cole Beasley going to the sideline. He also showed good touch on mid-range throws to the middle of the field for Andre Holmes.

Cowboys coach Jason Garrett agreed McGee was inconsistent, but cautioned that McGee doesn’t get the benefit of playing with the first-team offense.

“One of the challenges that a backup quarterback has when he goes in is that there are a lot of young players playing,” Garrett said. “We’re putting a lot of things on their plate as an offense. The defense has challenged us a lot of ways. And a lot of times, mistakes are made around you . And you have to process what happened and still make great decisions. You can’t let their mistakes become your mistakes.”

This is an important camp for McGee. He was passed over for the No. 2 backup spot with the signing of Kyle Orton, which he said he understood. But the Cowboys have also brought in Rudy Carpenter to compete for the No. 3 spot.

“I think Stephen did a good job handling some of the different things that didn’t go quite so well for him, and he made the right decision with the ball and handled the situation well,” Garrett said. “So those were big strides for him.”

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Cowboys coach Jason Garrett calms things down after tempers flare in final practice before training camp

By Clarence E. Hill Jr.

Arlington _ In what was the team’s final workout until training camp opens in late July, the Cowboys finished minicamp Thursday with a spirited practice that got chippy at one point at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington

Defensive end Jason Hatcher and running back DeMarco Murray had to be separated following a play in a goal line drill.

The continued extensive chatter from both sides of the ball prompted coach Jason Garrett to call timeout to call things down and remind the players how to practice hard but within reason and within the rules.

Live contact is forbidden during offseason workouts by the NFL.

Garrett’s wants players to “fit up” and work on their assignments and technique rather than go full speed.
“As coaches, you’re always explaining to players what you want the tempo to be,” Garrett said. “You guys hear us all the time. We believe in competition in everything we do. That brings the best out in everybody, but at the same time, you have to understand what kind of gear you have on. If you have helmets and jerseys on, it’s more of a fit-up, technique-type practice. 
“Sometimes you have to say, ‘Guys, that’s too fast. That’s too hard. That’s not what this drill is all about.’” 
Hatcher said there were no hard feeling and things just got a little competitive.

“Stuff like that brings you closer as a team,” Hatcher said. “You’re competing out there. Nobody wants to lose. At the end of the day, it’s going to carry over to the field. The way we compete in practice is the way we compete in the game. At the end of the day, we’re for each other.”

 

 

 

DeMarcus Ware says there weren't a lot of mistakes on defense in OTAs, minicamp

The Cowboys’ top defensive player, DeMarcus Ware, summed up the offseason in glowing terms for the defense.

He said the players were aggressive and comfortable with the plan.

“When I think about the defense, from last year to this year, it’s sort of like night and day,” he said Thursday at Cowboys Stadium after the final minicamp practice and the last work of the offseason until training camp. “There weren’t a lot of mistakes we were making. Guys were really aggressive, really comfortable. In the defense, whatever Rob called, we were ready for the situation.

“I feel really good about the defense, how things are progressing. Especially the young guys”

The Cowboys will likely have at least four new starters on the defense in 2012 – safety Brodney Poole, cornerbacks Morris Claiborne and Brandon Carr and inside linebacker Bruce Carter. Defensive end Sean Lissemore might win a job, too.

“I think it was just a great offseason,” Ware said. “There’s a lot of room for improvement, always. But we’ve gotten a lot better.”

Training camp is scheduled to begin with the first practice July 30 in Oxnard, Calif. Ware said it should be competitive defensively.

“Brandon Carr, Claiborne, a lot of the younger linebackers – defensively, it’s a battle out there,” he said. “You can see those guys and the tenacity that they bring. It’s going to be good.”

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Cowboys, Jenkins camp shoot down NFL Network report, say no issue with medical records

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and a source close to Mike Jenkins shot down an NFL Network reporting stating that the disgruntled cornerback was withholding his medical records from the team after getting a second opinion from Alabama sports specialist Dr. James Andrews.

According to the Cowboys hold up was more procedural than Jenkins doing anything on purpose to spite the team.  Jones said the team has everything it needs and there never was any issue with it.

“(Athletic trainer) Jim Mauer has got everything he needs,” Jones said. “He’s got all the medical records we need and we are continuing to get medical information, so that’s not right.”

A source close to Jenkins said they are not withholding records from the Cowboys.

The two sides remain at odds over where Jenkins is choosing to continue his rehab from offseason shoulder surgery.

The Cowboys would like Jenkins to stick around the team’s Valley Ranch training complex but a source close to Jenkins said he will return to Florida and rehab on his own.

Jones said the Cowboys aren’t going to make a big deal out of it because he understands the only way Jenkins can truly get what he wants, which is a big contract extension, is if the Cowboys get what they want. And that’s for him to be healthy and play as well as he can in 2012 so he can potentially cash in on the free agent market after the season.

 “It’s just not in his best interest not to be ready to play, and if it’s later, we’ll use him later,” Jones said

Jenkins, who is in the last year of his contract, asked to be traded after the Cowboys signed free agent cornerback Brandon Carr and drafted LSU standout Morris Claiborne, turning him from a starter to a backup.

The Cowboys say they have no plans on moving him.

Clarence Hill

Rookie safety Matt Johnson arrives for final minicamp practice

Since the Dallas Cowboys rookie minicamp ended early in May, safety Matt Johnson has only been able to study his playbook – no reps, meetings or advice from veteran players.

Until Thursday, Johnson was still a college student on campus at Eastern Washington, which didn’t finish classes until this week.

Johnson flew in to DFW Wednesday night and was on the sideline during the Cowboys final minicamp practice.

“It was good to get out there. It was different from seeing it in the playbook,” Johnson said. “It was good to get one practice with the vets before camp.”

The Cowboys drafted Johnson in the fourth round of April’s draft. He missed all of the OTA practices and the first two days of minicamp this week.

“I’m doing as well as I can without being on the field,” Johnson said. “It’s totally different seeing it on the field. I feel like I have a little grip on things. At least I’m familiar with it.”

Johnson, who had 17 interceptions in his college career, has also agreed with the Cowboys on his rookie contract. He expected to sign it shortly after Thursday’s workout.

“It’s great,” Johnson said. “I wasn’t worried about it. I just want to play football.”

 -- Brent Shirley

Cowboys say Morris Claiborne showing his smarts in the classroom, walk-throughs and tape

First-round pick Morris Claiborne hasn’t been able to practice yet, but his football smarts are showing in the classroom and walk-throughs, secondary coach Jerome Henderson says.

Not to mention the LSU film.

“The tape tells me he’s smart and plays with awareness,” Henderson said after a minicamp practice Wednesday at Valley Ranch. “When I look at tape of the young man, everything about it says, ‘Wow, this guy is really smart. A smart football player. Understands the concepts. Understands his fit within those concepts.’ ”

Which is a contrast to the red flag raised by Claiborne’s reportedly low Wonderlic score at the NFL Combine. The rookie cornerback acknowledged the low score on the aptitude test, but said he didn’t take it seriously because it wasn’t about football.

But the Cowboys say they have seen no evidence of a player who is failing to learn at Valley Ranch.

“He’s clearly a guy who has a good understanding of football,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “We use the expression ‘football IQ.’ Everything we heard from the people at LSU who were around him for three years said he was very natural that way. We’ve given him a lot of stuff. It’s particularly difficult for him because he is hearing the stuff, but he not getting to do it. But he’s handling it well. We’ll see when he gets out there practicing, when the bullets are really flying, how well he handles it. But he hangs in there mentally, and I think that has a lot to do with just his understanding of the game. That’s football IQ.”

Garrett said he has noticed how Claiborne studies and how he shadows his position during walk-throughs. It’s all he can do on the field right now until he is fully recovered from wrist ligament surgery.

That should be in time for the start of training camp. When that happens, Henderson hopes Claiborne will be well-versed in the defense.

“He’s got to work harder in the classroom to put himself in those situations where he has to think fast and put pressure on himself,” Henderson said. “I’ve got to do that with him in the meetings, put pressure on him to think fast, create pressure. Because to me, that’s the difference between great players and average players, how they handle stress and pressure. When it’s easy and slowed down, everybody can go out there and function. But when it speeds up and I’m a little tense, a lot of things are going on, how does he handle the situation?

“And again, from what I’ve seen of the young man, I think he’ll be good in those situations. But I try to create them for him as much as possible.”

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Press coverage from Brandon Carr steals the show at Cowboys minicamp Day 2

Brandon Carr’s tight coverage was a star of the second day of minicamp.

It showed the most in an 11-on-11 red-zone drill with 1s against 1s.

The new cornerback broke up two passes and left no room for two others to become completions, shutting out Kevin Ogletree, Raymond Radway, Dwayne Harris and Miles Austin on throws in the end zone.

It meant the defense protected an imaginary four-point lead, holding the offense out from the 12-yard line.

Later, in a 7-on-7 red-zone drill, he had tight coverage on Harris again, but Harris made the catch – having to fall out of the back of the end zone to do it.

It was an impressive display from the Cowboys’ No. 1 free agent pickup. Coach Jason Garrett said Carr’s brand of press coverage is going to help the Cowboys, both on defense and offense.

“He’s a big, long guy. Very long arms. Great athlete who can run. Not afraid to be physical,” Garrett said. “We’ve seen that in practice over the course of this offseason. It’s great work for him to be up there pressing a lot. It’s also great work for our receivers. Every time they come off the line of scrimmage, they have to deal with that. It’s great practice for him, because that’s how he’ll play, and that’s how he’s played for most of his career.”

Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan said last week that Carr is better than advertised.

“I knew he was great, but the guy is special,” he said.

What makes him special?

“Just because he shuts down everybody,” Ryan said. “He can cover anybody. He’s got long arms, great length, and he’s a great person who works his tail off. He takes coaching, and I’m really impressed with him.”

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Cowboys guard Bill Nagy notices this year's rookies benefitting from OTAs he didn't get

Second-year guard Bill Nagy can’t help but wonder. What if last year was like this year?

What if he had gotten the benefits of OTAs, meetings and minicamps last year like this year’s rookies are getting now?

“I see how much they’re benefiting from all the meetings, all the work on the field, and we never had that,” he said Wednesday after a minicamp practice at Valley Ranch. “I can only imagine how much that would have helped. But that’s the way it went. I’m just thankful I’m here and have the opportunity.”

Nagy wasn’t mad when he was saying. He was just saying.

Now as he starts his second year after making the team as a seventh-round draft pick out of Wisconsin, Nagy is working mainly as the second-team center. But he is getting work at guard, too, where he was a starter last year until suffering a broken foot in the fifth game.

“I just want to get out there and play. Whatever it is,” he said. “Whether it’s a guard or center, that’s cool with me. I’m just taking every rep that they give me, whether it’s guard or center.”

Nagy also has tight end experience. As a senior, he started at tight end in a win against Ohio State and lined up at tight end in some packages against Michigan State.

But he doesn’t have a favorite position.

“I just feel like I can play all three,” he said. “I think I’ve probably played an event amount all three positions throughout my career in college and here.”

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez