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IRVING — Nose tackle Jay Ratliff has played like the Pro Bowl player he is. This week, the Dallas Cowboys just hope he plays.
Ratliff injured his right knee in practice Thursday, coach Wade Phillips revealed Friday. Ratliff did not practice Friday and is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against Seattle with a sprain."It’s something we think will get well, but how quickly it will get well we don’t know for sure," Phillips said.Junior Siavii, a fourth-year veteran, would replace Ratliff in the starting lineup. Siavii played 16 plays last week against Atlanta and made seven tackles. He has 15 for the season, with two quarterback pressures.Starting defensive end Marcus Spears, who spent some time working at nose tackle during the team’s 2008 training camp, practiced at nose tackle Friday. He would back up Siavii if Ratliff can’t play. Defensive end Jason Hatcher would replace Ratliff in the team’s nickel and dime packages."Junior played well last game, and I think he’s improved as we’ve played each game," Phillips said. "So he’s ready to play."But he’s not Ratliff, who has made 31 tackles and two sacks with 10 quarterback pressures. "He’s a Pro Bowl-caliber player, and he’s playing at that level this year again, so if he weren’t able to play, it would set you back some," Phillips said of Ratliff. "He’s such a good pass rusher. You just don’t find that at the nose guard position. A lot of defensive tackles don’t rush as well as he does either." Returner Allen Rossum, who is out two to four weeks with a strained hamstring, is the only other player who missed practice Friday.On the moveBecause their grass fields at Valley Ranch still were soggy Friday, the Cowboys practiced indoors at Southlake Carroll. It is the seventh time since the season started that inclement weather has forced the Cowboys to hit the road for practice. They have practiced at five locations.The team’s indoor facility at Valley Ranch collapsed during a storm May 2."You feel like a nomad, man," Cowboys receiver Patrick Crayton said. "You don’t have a home right now. It’s almost like that friend that sleeps on your couch every night. That’s what we’re doing: We’re just borrowing everybody’s stadium. You’ve got to do it, man. That’s the way the weather is, so we’ve got to do it like that right now."Open airCowboys owner Jerry Jones said Friday he expects the roof to be open for Sunday’s game against Seattle.The team has to make a decision 90 minutes before kickoff. The roof has been open only once for a Cowboys game — the regular-season home opener against the New York Giants."I understand it’s supposed to be nice [weather]," Jones said. "If it’s nice, we’ll open it all."The Cowboys drew 105,121 for the Giants game, an NFL regular-season record crowd on U.S. soil. They had 90,588 for the Carolina Panthers on Sept. 28 and 81,521 for the Atlanta Falcons game last week. Jones said he did not have an estimate for Sunday’s game. "I think that I would expect 90,000 to 100,000 for a division game and any premiere game," he said. "I think it is a fluid thing, and the fluidness won’t be dictated by the people in the seats or the season tickets. It will be the extra people in the suites or with party passes. I think that will be determined by how the team is playing, by the quality of the opponent and the sexiness of the game."My view is I’d like to see us have consistently 90,000. It’s pretty obvious to us that 90,000 is a real good number. We want to, whenever we can, have over 100,000, but 90,000 would be my number."Lots open at 8 a.m.Parking lots will open at 8 a.m. for the Cowboys’ game against Seattle on Sunday. Stadium Plazas will open at 9 a.m. Stadium gates will open at 10 a.m. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.Staff writer Jeff Caplan contributed to this report.Charean Williams, 817-390-7760
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