Garrett says Holmes, Pool were long-distance running, not following Cowboys plan, so they flunked conditioning test

Jason Garrett said receiver Andre Holmes and cornerback Brodney Pool took the wrong approach to getting ready for the conditioning test.

They were long-distance running instead of following what the Cowboys recommended.

“It doesn’t get you ready to play football,” Garrett said. “You can be a marathoner. You can be in the greatest shape to run 26.2 miles with anybody in the world, and you probably wouldn’t do really well on that conditioning test. It’s designed to get you ready to play football.”

Holmes, Pool and running back Felix Jones flunked the test on Sunday, which means they won’t practice.

They have been running on the side to get ready for another try, although Garrett said no re-take is scheduled yet.

For Holmes, the setback is a big one. The Cowboys thought the second-year player could compete for one of the open receiver spots.

“He wasn’t ready to do what he needed to do,” Garrett said. “It’s a good learning experience for him. But he needs to follow the prescribed running. And if he had done that, he would have done what the 87 other guys did on the conditioning test.”

The conditioning test requires linemen to run 40 yards in six seconds 20 times, in two sets of 10, with 30 seconds break between runs and a longer break between sets. Mid-size players, like linebackers, go 50s in seven seconds. Skill players go 60 in eight seconds.

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Comments

[Blue Truth]

Love Ya Jason, but Tom did have "The Landry Mile."