Cowboys Corner

Not looking good for Roy Williams

Coach Wade Phillips said Roy Williams' bruised ribs haven't progressed much and it looks like the Cowboys' No. 1 receiver won't play Sunday at Kansas City. That takes 11 of the Cowboys' 32 catches on the season out of the lineup. Third reciever Miles Austin, who has just five catches on the season, will take Roy's spot.

Also, Felix Jones (knee) will miss his second straight game with hopes of returning after the bye week. And starting strong safety Gerald Sensabaugh (thumb) will be out. Pat Watkins will take his spot.

Some good news is center Andre Gurode (knee) will be ready to go.

Jeff Caplan

Cletis is coming (as long as he passes a physical)

One of the great names in the NFL will join the Cowboys today as long as he passes a physical.

Fourth-year cornerback Cletis Gordon is expected to fill the team's open roster spot. The Cowboys wanted to re-sign safety Marvin White, but the Lions snatched the former TCU player off waivers on Monday. The Cowboys cut White on Saturday to make room for running back Chauncey Washington to come up from the practice squad.

Washington has since been cut and Gordon, who played for Wade Phillips with the Chargers, is needed to bolster the secondary now that strong safety Gerald Sensabaugh will miss at least one game with a thumb injury. Pat Watkins will start in the defensive backfield with Ken Hamlin. Cornerback Alan Ball will likely slide over to back up at free safety. Ball split time at safety and cornerback during training camp and the preseason.

Jeff Caplan

Lions a pain in Cowboys' secondary

The Cowboys had planned to re-sign safety Marvin White,expecting him to clear waivers on Monday after the Cowboys released him Saturday to make room for running back Chauncey Washington. But, those plans were foiled by the Detroit Lions, who claimed White Monday afternoon.

That leaves the Cowboys exceedingly shallow at strong safety after the injury to Gerald Sensabaugh, who damaged the plate in his right thumb in Sunday's game and will need surgery to repair it. He thinks he'll only miss Sunday's Kansas City game, but coach Wade Phillips said he could miss up to six weeks.

With rookie Mike Hamlin still out with a healing broken wrist, Pat Watkins will start in Sensabaugh's spot, but that's really it as far as depth goes. Alan Ball, a former cornerback who know plays free safety is not big enough to play strong safety.

Jeff Caplan

Another trip and Flozell could face suspension

If Flozell Adams continues to commit infractions that the league deems dangerous, Adams could be dealing with more than fines. He's already racked up $25,000 in fines over the first three weeks for three different infractions, two being leg whips the past two weeks.

Bob Glauber of Newsday reports that the NFL has threatened to suspend Adams if he has repeated violations.

Adams tripped Giants defensive end Justin Tuck two weeks ago and Tuck injured his shoulder on the play when he fell on it. On Monday, Adams directed his outstretched leg toward Carolina's Julius Peppers, making contact with Peppers' shin.

Jeff Caplan

Jones: Flozell not an intentional tripper, blames Julius Peppers

On The Fan 105.3 FM, Jerry defends Flozell Adams' recent tripping infractions, saying that stiffness plays a part in how Adams moves. Well, just read what Jerry says about it:

"He basially has some stiffness, always has had and when he sets and makes the turn there to the outside, I don't see anything different, as a matter of fact I've been looking at it when I've been looking at tape and I don't see it material. I'm not taking issue with calls at all and I don't think he's relying on that because he can't get the job done the right way on the rules, I don't think that's the case at all. And he's sensitive about that. We do know that obviously left tackles do have a lot of penalties out there, usually for all sides and you can get some hands to the face, but I don't think this tripping thing is in any way something that; I know it's not intentional, let's put it like that. The play we had the other day, I think it was Peppers that was wrapped up in his; actually his leg kicked Flozell's leg out that he got the call for the tripping penalty."

Review the tape and make your own conclusions. And actually, Flozell wasn't flagged for that particular trip, although he was later fined for a third straight week.

Jeff Caplan

Jones: Felix's durability a major factor

Jerry Jones on The Fan 105.3 said he doesn't want to go down the road of thinking Felix Jones is an injury waiting to happen every time he steps on the field. He hopes the second-year back gets back on the field soon because he's, well, really good.

So good that Jerry said the Cowboys planned to give Felix 25 to 30 touches in the Carolina game. Felix left in the third quarter with eight rushes. He's never had more than 10 touches from scrimmage in his nine career games with the Cowboys.

Again, here's Jerry:

"Well, he had such an outstanding record regarding injury in such a positive way during his collegiate career. One of the things we observed and noted when we drafted him was his durability so it has been surprising, but I want to reserve that kind of thinking until we have some more time here. I guess that's what I want to do because I don't want to think the other. So we'll just leave it at that, but there's no question that his durability can be a big factor for us because you give him the ball; and we were going to have him touch the ball 25-30 times the other night. So he will be a factor in the future and let's hope that's not an issue with him."

Jeff Caplan

Jones: Strength only question with Barber

From The Fan 105.3 interview: Jerry again said that RB Marion Barber will play.

"His strength of course is the issue in that quad, it's upper quad, but he certainly is going to play. In practice yesterday he did look healthy enough to play. We'll just have to see how that affects him during the game. But as far as being ready from practicing or being ready from how he looks, you have to go with it."

Jeff Caplan

 

Jones: We are becoming a power run team

Jerry Jones spoke during his regular Friday morning appearance on The Fan 105.3 FM.

Of interest was Jerry's theory on how the Cowboys are transitioning from a downfield passing team to more of a rushing, ball control offense, which will in turn help out QB Tony Romo.

Here's Jerry on the subject: "I think that the answer to that is yes, but I know Jason, as offensive coordinator and Wade as the head coach, really spoke to that during the offseason if you look back and I know first-hand that that was the kinds of things we were discussing during the offseason and that is really establish a running game. And we thought that could cut down on turnovers and I'm not just pointing the finger at interceptions. But we thought if we could establish that and really as we saw Martellus Bennett developing, and Martellus hasn't had the chance to be the factor I thought he would be coming out of training camp, but that's ahead of us because they're going to start really zeroing in on Witten, and with the combination of having those tight ends in there that really helps us in the running game, both of those guys can really block, then I think that is a sign of what we're emphasizing now. When they just are determined to stop that then it really ought to open it up for Romo."

Jeff Caplan

A rookie set to return

The beaten-up Cowboys rookie class has a player back on the field. Inside linebacker Jason Williams returned to practice Wednesday and made it through the whole thing. He could get some playing time Sunday at Denver on special teams.

Williams suffered a high ankle sprain in the third preseason game against the 49ers. He was expected to miss 4-6 weeks.

"He's come back a lot sooner from the high ankle sprain than we thought he would and did pretty well today," Phillips said.

Jeff Caplan

Ware has neck strain

But don't worry, DeMarcus Ware won't miss Sunday's game at Denver. He actually sustained the injury in the second quarter against Carolina and stayed in the game. He participated in the full practice Wednesday.

That's twice in three games that Ware has taken a blow to the neck/head area. He was knocked woozy early on in the season opener at Tampa Bay. He missed just one series.

Jeff Caplan