Cowboys Corner

Ryan says it'll be a bigger deal if Cowboys are No. 1 on defense after 16 weeks, but 'we're not ashamed of it'

Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan promised he’d bring a No. 1-rated defense to the Cowboys, and he’s done it.

Three weeks into the season, the Cowboys lead the NFL in fewest yards allowed, the league’s traditional measure for defensive ranking.

Big deal, coach?

“It’s going to be big if we can get it after 16 weeks,” Ryan said Saturday at Valley Ranch in his usual ‘Friday’ meeting with reporters. “It’ll be good. We’re happy with where we are. Guys have been working hard. We’re not ashamed of being No. 1, that’s where we want to be. We’re excited about that. We want to keep getting better.”

The Cowboys have gotten to No. 1 on defense despite injuries that have knocked out three starters – nose tackle Jay Ratliff (who hasn’t played yet), defensive end Kenyon Coleman (one game), safety Gerald Sensabaugh (one game) and safety Barry Church (season-ending Achilles last week).

Now, linebacker Anthony Spencer is slowed. He’s missed practice all week with a shoulder injury.

“We’ve had a lot of guys play for us, which a lot of people do – you go through injuries, that’s part of the game,” Ryan said. “It’s exciting. Our guys have really worked hard for that, and we’re not making apologizes for being No. 1.”

Ryan was asked if he simply has better players to work with this year as opposed to his first year with the Cowboys.

“Well, I definitely think we have excellent players,” he said. “We’ve got excellent coaches. With our team the way we play all three phases, yeah, we can definitely be successful. I think we could have been successful last year. We weren’t as successful obviously. But those guys worked hard, and we had some good veteran players on that group as well. But the guys are really functioning together as a group. And I think no one wants to let the others down, that’s for sure.”

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Cowboys talk about coverage advantages they get with Carter, Lee, and what Carter learned from TD by Bucs

Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan said the Cowboys may be one of the few teams that can afford to play nickel defense on third down. That’s because their inside linebackers, Sean Lee and Bruce Carter, can cover.

“We can keep both those guys in because most people have liability in coverage,” Ryan said. “These guys excel in coverage. We like to keep both of them out there as much as possible. They’ve been doing a great job.”

Lee and Carter are the leading and fourth-leading tacklers on the team, with 67 tackles between them. Each has a pass defensed and two tackles for loss. Lee has an interception.

Head coach Jason Garrett said Carter learned from the touchdown catch behind him in short yardage last week against Tampa.

“The biggest thing on the touchdown was, it’s a really difficult play for a linebacker,” Garrett said, “because you’re down in that short-yardage situation, that goal-line situation, and he has to be the guy who fits the run and hits the run and makes the play in the run game – and, oh, by the way, you gotta cover that 7-route by that tight end. So it’s a hard play. He was playing the run more than he was playing the pass and reacted back late to it. But that’s what you have to do. You see teams around the league complete that play all the time.”

Garrett said with time, Carter will see tell-tale signs when that play is coming.

“Seeing the separation between the back and the quarterback, maybe not seeing the linemen come off quite as low and firm as if it’s a run, maybe processing all that, and that’s just going to take time,” Garrett said. “But he certainly has the physical skills for it. He made a ton of plays for us.”

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Josh Brent impressing Garrett with endurance in extended playing time in place of Jay Ratliff

The Cowboys like the job Josh Brent is doing in place of starting nose tackle Jay Ratliff.

Coach Jason Garrett said he is also impressed by Brent’s ability to manage his endurance.

“He’s done a lot to get his body right over the course of the offseason and through training camp,” Garrett said Saturday before the final practice of the week ahead of Monday night’s game against the Chicago Bears. “He’s gotten an opportunity to play, and he’s shown up. He’s shown that he can play more snaps than he has in the past. In the past, he’s been a guy who just kind of spelled Rat at different times in the ballgame.”

Brent, 6-2, 320, played 22 snaps against the Giants, 41 against Seattle and 26 against Tampa Bay. The third-year player out of Illinois has nine tackles and two quarterback pressures.

“The big thing for all those guys is you want the big guys to be big, but at the same time you want them to find that balance of not being too big and being able to play where they still have their size and their strength and their explosiveness, but they then have some endurance,” Garrett said. “He’s had to play more throughout training camp and throughout the early part of this season. I think he’s understanding that balance.”

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Cowboys injury report: Five players out (but not punter Chris Jones), Spencer questionable, Sensabaugh probable

The Cowboys listed five players as out for Monday night’s game against the Chicago Bears, but they stopped short of that with punter Chris Jones, listing him as doubtful.

That still means the punter, who has a strained knee after being hit last week against Tampa, has a 25 percent or less chance of playing. But the Cowboys apparently are keeping open the possibility for him for now.

Linebacker Anthony Spencer, who led the team in tackles last week, is questionable with a shoulder injury.

Listed as out were defensive end Kenyon Coleman (knee), center Phil Costa (back), safety Matt Johnson (hamstring) and linebacker Alex Albright (neck).

Fullback Lawrence Vickers, who missed practice Friday, was back with full participation Saturday and is listed as probable.

Others listed probably are Miles Austin (hamstring), Sean Lissemore (chest), Gerald Sensabaugh (calf), Marcus Spears (knee), DeMarcus Ware (hamstring) and Kyle Wilber (thumb).

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Garrett says Holmes could wind up in team's Hail Mary mix as health improves

Andre Holmes, at 6-foot-5, is the Cowboys’ tallest receiver. One of his highlight moments in training camp came when he grabbed a Hail Mary pass from backup quarterback Kyle Orton on the final play of a live team session in Oxnard, Calif.

But Holmes has yet to be in the Cowboys’ end-of-the-half, multiple-receiver mix during the regular season because he has been battling a knee ailment. Jason Garrett left open the opportunity today that Holmes may work his way into the team’s Hail Mary mix as his health improves.

“He will get an opportunity to do that going forward the more chances he gets in practice to get ready for it,” Garrett said. “He hasn’t done it that much, coming off of an injury. So you put the guys out there who are most comfortable doing that.

_ Jimmy Burch

Garrett says McCray's work on special teams showed 'very instinctive things' that led to chance on defense

Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said the team didn’t have “high, high expectations” for Danny McCray three years ago when he was an undrafted rookie out of LSU.

But he held him up as an example of a player whose work on special teams earned him a bigger chance on defense, where the Cowboys need him now following the season-ending Achilles injury to Barry Church.

“It goes back to that expression that he’s a football player,” Garrett said at his press conference Friday at Valley Ranch. “You see him do a lot of very instinctive things on special teams. Whether or not they have the traits to play the particular position on offense or defense, you don’t know that. But the more chances we’ve given him to do things, he always seems to surprise us and say, ‘Yeah, I can do that. Yeah, I can do that. I can play there. I can cover that guy.’ ”

Garrett said McCray has also grown as a defensive player.

“Had been a guy we played around the line of scrimmage mostly in his first couple of years when he played on defense, but he’s shown that he can be a back end player as well,” Garrett said. “He’s a good player. He’s instinctive. He has a nose for the football. He tackles well. He sees the field well.”

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Why are the Cowboys holding on to Matt Johnson? Jason Garrett explains

So why have the Cowboys invested a 53-man roster spot on a rookie safety who has practiced three times in pads and has had two hamstring injuries and a back problem in his very, very, very short career with the team?

Jason Garrett was asked that question – not those words, exactly, but close – in Friday’s press conference.

His answer:

“We liked him coming out of school. He’s a smart guy. We think he’s a good athlete. We think he has good instincts playing the safety position. That’s why we drafted him. Then, from the limited number of practices we’ve had with him, he’s demonstrated those things. It doesn’t seem too big for him. He seems to be able to pick things up and play well in the limited action that he’s had. So we felt like, it’s a long season. Over the course of 16 weeks, a lot of different things happen, a lot of different injuries happen. You’ve got to be able to absorb those things. So we felt confident with what we’ve seen so far. So hopefully we can get him back and get him going.”

And will he be able to actually contribute this year? And how?

“Well, in some way. In some way. Certainly on special teams, we feel like he can adjust into a role there, and hopefully he picks things up on defense as well and he’ll have a role for us there in some capacity, whether as a backup player or a spot player in a given situation.”

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Garrett says Bailey's kickoffs have improved, as direction and depth have been 'pretty darn good'

Dan Bailey isn’t a “big-leg” guy on kickoffs in coach Jason Garrett’s mind, but he sees improvement from the second-year player.

Bailey’s kickoff placement and depth will be important Monday night against the Chicago Bears and their top-flight returner, Devin Hester.

“You wouldn’t regard him as a big-leg kickoff guy, but if you watch his kickoffs, the direction and also the depth of his kickoffs, they’ve been pretty darn good, and I think they’ve gotten better since he’s gotten here,” Garrett said. “It’s a real tribute to him and how hard he’s worked and obviously Chris Boniol and Joe D how much they’ve worked with him. He’s certainly improved and been almost an asset for us.”

Bailey has produced four touchbacks on 11 kickoffs this year.

Garrett said Bailey’s mental toughness impresses him.

“We saw that right from the start,” Garrett said. “Nothing seemed to bother him. To your point, he’s had a few different holders, but in different circumstances in terms of his mechanics and the operation, he just says put it down and I’ll kick it through. I think that goes a long way in telling you what kind of kicker he is. He is very good technically. He is very consistent in his stroke, but he’s also very strong mentally.”

Bailey made the team in 2011 as an undrafted rookie out of Oklahoma State, where he won the Lou Groza Award as the nation’s best kicker.

“There are guys who can just say, ‘OK, I’m going to do my job regardless of the circumstance,’ ” Garrett said. “Whatever their position is, they’re usually the guys who function best. He’s shown and demonstrated that over the last couple of years to be able to do that.”

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Cowboys start practice without Spencer, Vickers

The Cowboys started practice Friday without linebacker Anthony Spencer and fullback Lawrence Vickers.

Spencer was listed on the injury report the previous day with a shoulder. Vickers was not listed.

Safety Gerald Sensabaugh, trying to come back from a calf injury, was working as the Cowboys try to get him ready for Monday night’s game against Chicago.

Defensive end Kenyon Coleman (knee) and nose tackle Jay Ratliff (ankle) were at practice but not dressed, apparently ready to work on the side.

Safety Matt Johnson (hamstring/back) and center Phil Costa (back) were dressed but did not have helmets.

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Kyle Orton just happy to be here after four years in Chicago and another three elsewhere

Cowboys backup quarterback Kyle Orton was drafted by the Bears and spent the first four years of his career in Chicago. He was 21-12 as a starter there, but the Bears traded him to Denver for Jay Cutler in 2009.

“Kyle Orton was super for us when he was here," Bears coach Lovie Smith said Thursday in a conference call with Cowboys reporters. "One of the best guys you’ll ever be around. Confident, smart, a natural born leader. He was good at everything we asked him to do while he was here. The Cowboys really did well getting him to come backup Tony.”

The Bears offense has changed since Orton was there, but the defensive scheme and many of the faces on that side of the ball are the same. So Orton has been able to help the Cowboys with some insights into the Bears' D.

"I know the defense pretty well," Orton said. "This is a team that hasn’t changed too much [on defense]. A lot of guys around here have seen them for a while as well. You’ve just got to beat a good football team. They’re not too complicated. They’re just really good at what they do and have a lot of good players."

Even though he won't play unless Tony Romo is injured, Orton is looking forward to seeing some old friends Monday night.

"I had four good years there," Orton said. "They’ve got a great locker room over there, a lot of great guys. Brian Urlacher is a great leader of the organization, and I really respect him and all the time I spent there."

Orton, though, was not eager to talk about the trade that sent him from Chicago to Denver. The Broncos cut him during the 2011 season, and the Chiefs claimed him off waivers. Chicago, which had lost Cutler to injury, had was interested in re-acquiring his services. The Cowboys and Bears both put in waiver claims on him, but the Chiefs had the worst record among the three teams.

Orton signed with the Cowboys as a free agent in the off-season.

"Long time ago. Different point in my career," Orton said. "I’m just happy to be where I am."

-- Charean Williams

Twitter: @NFLCharean