Cowboys Corner

Ronald Leary, with a year's experience under him, catches Garrett's eye at minicamp

Ronald Leary is the most experienced offensive lineman, in the Cowboys’ system at least, at rookie minicamp.

Jason Garrett said it showed.

“He actually flashed a little bit at us this morning,” Garrett said Friday after the first practice of the weekend. “He has an unfair advantage, like some of the veteran guys who have been around. He knows the system. He’s been with us for a year. The play calls are very natural to him. He understands fronts and all of that stuff. So he’s going to play faster.”

At this time last year, Leary was in the same position as many of the other players in the three-day camp. He was an undrafted rookie, signing with the Cowboys out of Memphis. He went undrafted largely because of a knee condition that may shorten his career.

He spent last season on the practice squad before being activated for the season finale in Washington.

He said Friday he has come a long way since this time a year ago.

“I learned a lot from Coach Callahan, learned a lot from a lot of players on the team about just being a professional, that this is your job,” he said. “I think I’ve grown as a person.”

Garrett agreed and said Leary will have a chance this summer.

“Ron made a lot of progress over the course of the year last year, did a good job working in scout team,” Garrett said. “We saw the improvement as the year wore on. So it’ll be a nice opportunity for him once we get into the OTAs and regular training camp to see what he can do.”

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Cowboys like stocking rookie minicamp with local talent, which is 'off the charts,' Garrett says

The Cowboys have 11 players from Texas, not counting draft pick Terrance Williams of Dallas, working at rookie minicamp.

That is a compliment to the level of talent in the state, coach Jason Garrett said.

 “Think about where we live,” he said, asked Friday as the camp began about how the Cowboys consider bringing in local players either as free-agent signees or tryout players. “I’d argue that football is played in the state of Texas at all levels better than any state in the country. So there’s a lot of really, really good football players that come out of Texas. There are some amazingly good football players who come from the Dallas area.”

Last year, one of those players went from tryout player to practice squad player to active squad player. Texas A&M defensive end Ben Bass was invited to the camp, like many tryout players, to fill out the roster so there would be enough practice bodies. It helped that he was from Plano and could drive in.

But he was impressive enough in the rookie camp to be signed for OTAs.

“The local talent in this specific area is off the charts,” Garrett said. “You think about the junior high programs that feed into the high school programs and the local college programs, there are some great players from around here. So we feel like, hey, we know these guys, we get a chance to see them, let’s tap into them. We’ve had some success with them in the past.”

The Cowboys signed five undrafted rookies from Texas for the camp: Wisconsin cornerback Dustin Harris of Livingston, Missouri running back Kendial Lawrence of Rockwall, SMU linebacker Taylor Reed of Beaumont, Wisconsin cornerback Devin Smith of Coppell and Akron quarterback Dalton Williams of Coppell.

They brought in five players from Texas on a tryout basis: Houston linebacker Everett Daniels of Sachse, Texas State guard D.J. Hall of Palestine, Baylor defensive tackle Nick Johnson of Waco, Texas Tech receiver Darrin Moore of Irving and Texas Tech deep snapper Jesse Smitherman of Burleson.

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Kendial Lawrence says Cowboys' offense gives him best chance to show his versatility

Kendial Lawrence said he’s happy to be in Cowboys camp, not only because he’s a north Texan who pulled for the Cowboys growing up, but because it’s the best offense for him.

“I liked this situation with the running backs they’re in, and I like the Cowboys’ offense,” he said. “And just being in my hometown, it felt really good to be here.”

Lawrence, a high school standout at Rockwall-Heath who played in college at Missouri, went undrafted but signed with the Cowboys. He said he got a few calls from other teams, but believed the Cowboys’ offense gave him the best chance to make plays.

“It’s downhill plays, being able to get out of the backfield, get in the swing, get in the flats, catch the ball,” he said. “Just being able to show y our versatility with the ball. I think that’s really good with this offense.”

He said it does not relate to the offense at Missouri, which used running plays out of a spread formation.

“We pretty much had a lot of zone plays, but here, it’s more of the downhill plays – just getting the ball and straight going, not having to make all the different reads. I really like that a lot more.”

Lawrence said he’s confident in his pass-blocking, too. If he could block SEC pass rushers, after all, why shouldn’t he feel confident?

“That’s what I feel like,” he said. “Can’t wait till the opportunity comes.”

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Jones: Tony Romo's new Peyton Manning-like involvement part of his natural evolution as QB

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said his comments about quarterback Tony Romo being more involved in the offense and personnel decisions and spending Peyton Manning-type time at the team’s Valley Ranch headquarters was more about his natural evolution as an important figure with organization than a suggestion that he wasn’t already doing enough.

Jones said Romo wasn’t ready or qualified to do that even three years ago but is more than capable of handling that responsibility now.

“I want to use everything that he’s got in his computer,” Jones said. “The way to do that is have him involved in a lot of the design and the preparation as we not only prepare the team in general but as we paper for the opponents. He’s qualified to do that.”

And while the foundation of Romo’s new role was born out of the talks between the two sides leading up to the six-year, $108 million contract extension last month, it was a mutually agreed upon decision involving Jones, Romo and coach Jason Garret.

“How can we take who you are, the great experience at your age, how can we take this experience and maximize it to win football games?” Jones said.  “What can we do to make that an asset? He has an excellent understanding, an excellent grasp of offensive concepts, an excellent grasp of what he and Jason have been involved in the last seven years. I’ve been told by many people who’ve worked closer with him than I do that they’ve never heard him have a bad idea, but as we all know you don’t just walk in and have a few good ideas and that be part of the game plan. You’ve got to have prepared, looked at a lot of film, watch your opponents and do that a lot. That takes more time to do and he’s going to be doing that. Certainly he wanted that to be a part of everybody’s understanding and I wanted it to be a part of his and everybody’s understanding. And Jason (Garrett) did, too.” 

-- Clarence Hill

 

Rookie running back Joseph Randle limited until training camp but Cowboys not worried

Rookie running back Joseph Randle will be limited in workouts until training camp as he continues to rehab from thumb surgery. Randle, the rookie fifth-round pick who is supposed to come and share the load with starter DeMarco Murray, will be in a cast for six to eight weeks.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said the team knew Randle’s situation when they drafted him. However, he said Randle won’t be completely idle. Randle will do some individual drills and get plenty of mental reps in minicamp and on field team activities leading up to training camp.

“It’s certainly a restriction on his thumb, but I think candidly there are a lot of things we can do out here in OTAs and get that thumb clubbed up and he’ll get a lot of work in, a lot of valuable repetition,” Jones said. And we made that decision when we drafted him. Was he going to be able to be ready and that is mentally as well, prepared, to get out here to camp and not have to make up all the lost time in OTAs? I think he will be.”

Whenever Randle gets back, he will be motivated to prove all the teams wrong that passed on him in the draft. He had expected to go as earlier as the third round but dropped to the fifth.

"I use my own motivation," Randle said. "I put things on my own mirror at home to let it drive me like that. Grind, keep grinding, a lot of teams passed up on me, but it's all good I'm just going to try and make the best of the situation that I'm in. I can't really be in a better situation maybe the wait was worth it."

-- Clarence Hill

 

Rookie safety J.J. Wilcox doesn't think his inexperience will keep him from competing for a starting job

J.J. Wilcox played offense his first three seasons at Georgia Southern. He admits he was "hesitant" when the idea of moving to safety was proposed to him by head coach Jeff Monken before Wilcox's senior season.

But Wilcox, who hadn't played safety since he was a two-way player in high school, wouldn't have been a third-round draft pick as a slot receiver or as a running back. The Cowboys drafted WIlcox in the third round, gambling on his upside.

"I’m a team player," said Wilcox, who caught 45 career passes for 898 yards and four touchdowns and had 138 carries for 968 yards and 13 touchdowns. "I love to win, so whatever it takes to win, I’m all in."

Having been a safety for only one season, Wilcox has a long way to go before he makes an impact at the position in the NFL.

"Light years. Light years," Cowboys defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson said when asked how far away Wilcox is. "You have that coupled with the fact that the league he played in. He jumped into this league with only one year at the job. Then, just the adjustment that all rookies have. He’s got a lot to adjust to and learn."

But Wilcox doesn't think his inexperience at the position will prevent him from winning a starting job. That is his goal.

"I think my ability, the characteristics I have, I can contribute and hopefully turn into an NFL starting safety on Day 1," he said.

The Cowboys are unsettled at the position after releasing Gerald Sensabaugh. They have faith that Barry Church can return from a torn Achilles' tendon he suffered in Week 3 and that Matt Johnson can develop into the player they drafted with a fourth-rounder last year. Johnson missed his entire rookie season with hamstring and back injuries. The Cowboys did sign Will Allen in free agency, though he has started only 33 games in six seasons and now is with his third team.

Still, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is not concerned about the position.

"I think we are unproven would be the overall assessment," Jones said. "Church has played and has shown us that if he can play at the level that he’s shown us, then we’re going to have a really outstanding safety. The other guys, Johnson and these guys we’ve brought in from the draft, they’ve got to show it. That’s one of the other good things that I think Monte [Kiffin] and Jerome bring is that we’re going to have a system here that those guys can not have to think about and can go out there and use that natural, physical ability they have and their natural speed. These guys have that, and they’re all very aggressive. I think that we have really something to work with here. I think that we will benefit a lot from a scheme that emphasizes what these guys bring – big, physical guys who like to hit. ...If you look at their backgrounds, the thing that comes up is tough. That’s a common thread that was in all of their evaluations was how tough they are. I’m talking about the new guys we brought in. We know about Church.

"I’m looking forward to seeing how it evolves."

-- Charean Williams

Twitter: @NFLCharean

 

 

 

Jerry Jones has eye surgery

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones apologized for the dark sun glasses he wore Friday. He had eye surgery Wednesday to repair a retina.

"I actually don’t know when it was injured, but it probably could have been as much as 10 or 15 years ago," Jones said. "It had me where I wasn’t hitting the curve ball like I know that I can."

-- Charean Williams 

 

 

Cowboys sign sixth-round pick, LB Holloman

The Cowboys announced the signing of their sixth-round pick, linebacker DeVonte Holloman.

It continues a trend of the Cowboys getting signings made earlier than they normally have, which owner Jerry Jones credited to the latest collective bargaining agreement, which leaves less flexibility in pay range for draft picks.

“The new system is doing a good thing for the teams and the fans, and that is getting these guys signed, getting them in, and you’ve got them participating earlier,” Jones said. “I think that’ll be the result. I think the new system is helping that.”

The team also announced the signing of 15 undrafted rookies: kicker Spencer Benton, cornerback Xavier Brewer, tight end Paul Freedman, safety Jakar Hamilton, cornerback Dustin Harris, safety Jeff Heath, receiver Greg Herd, linebacker Deon Lacey, linebacker Cameron Lawrence, running back Kendial Lawrence, linebacker Brandon Magee, linebacker Taylor Reed, receiver Eric Rogers, cornerback Devin Smith and quarterback Dalton Williams.

Quarterback Aaron Corp, signed and released in a span of two days this week, cleared waivers and worked in the second practice Friday.

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Jerry Jones clear about Travis Frederick: 'We want him to come in here and contribute immediately'

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is not hiding his wishes for first-round pick Travis Frederick.

He wants him to start. He expects him to start.

“We want him to come in here and contribute immediately,” Jones said Friday as the Cowboys started a three-day rookie minicamp. “Jason says it right when he says there is competition, but certainly, there ought to be a spot for him on that offensive line. We think he has the combination of skill and mental to play immediately.”

It makes sense Jones wants Frederick to play immediately. The Cowboys were criticized for not getting enough in return in a swap of first-round picks with that eventually resulted in the selection of Frederick with the 31st pick.

And, Jones does not often burn first-round picks on linemen. But this is the second time in three years the Cowboys have done it – they selected tackle Tyron Smith in 2011, and he started from the first game.

“One of his No.1  traits and assets was his ability to mentally cover a lot of ground,” Jones said of Frederick. “We should get him ready to give us some position flex between guard and center.”

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Jerry Jones says he would like to keep Doug Free, but "it's no secret that we're trying to renegotiate"

The Cowboys want right tackle Doug Free back, but it will have to be at the right price.

"I’d like to keep him," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Friday. "We think that Doug Free can be an important part of the team. He’s been here. We know him. We think that with what we’re doing in other parts of our offense, certainly in the offensive line, that this will bode well for him. So we think he can really be an asset to us."

Free would not talk about the Cowboys' request for a renegotiation at a team charity event Wednesday. But Jones confirmed the Cowboys have asked Free to take a pay cut from the $7 million salary he is scheduled to make. (Free currently is slated to count $10 million against the salary cap.)

"It’s no secret that we’re trying to renegotiate the contract," Jones said. "But I think it’s a wrong assessment to say that anybody’s saying 'take it or leave it' or we’re at our wit’s end or those kinds of things. That’s just not the way I see it going."

Though Jones said the sides still are talking, the ball is in Free's court to decide his future.

Free had a team-leading 13 penalties, including five holds, and allowed seven sacks. He played better late in the season when he played in a rotation with Jermey Parnell.

Although the Cowboys likely would go after a veteran tackle -- Eric Winston is the biggest name still on the free-agency market -- if they move on from Free, Jones said Parnell is ready to take the next step.

"When you say the next step, if that implies is he getting better, yes," Jones said. "I think he is getting better. I think his arrow so to speak is going up. I feel good about where he is and the ideal place for the Cowboys is on the right basis is have them both."

-- Charean Williams 

Twitter: @NFLCharean