Star-Telegram.com: Dallas Cowboys

Cowboys coach Wade Phillips focuses on coaching, not contract

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:39 CST

By CLARENCE E. HILL JR.

IRVING — Dallas Cowboys coach Wade Phillips is in the final year of his contract. Owner Jerry Jones has an option for next year, but has chosen to let the season play out before addressing Phillips’ future.

How the Cowboys finish will determine whether Phillips will be back for a fourth season.

Phillips knows as much, but chooses not worry about it.

"That’s the way I’ve always coached," Phillips said. "Way back [in Denver], when we were 10-6, 10-6, 11-5 and went to two AFC Championship Games and we got fired, I realized that, hey, you can do a great job and for whatever reason, you can be gone.

"So I stopped worrying about all that and worry about coaching, trying to do the best I can do to help the team win. That’s all I really think about."

The Cowboys are 6-3 and sitting alone atop the NFC East. Phillips has an overall record of 28-14 in Dallas.

But he is 16-13 since opening the 2007 season with a 12-1 record, and the Cowboys still haven’t won a playoff game since 1996.

No matter what happens, Phillips said his spirit and confidence won’t be broken, because he knows he is a good coach and that he does a good job.

"I have confidence in myself as a coach," Phillips said. "I think I can do a good job, and I think I can help the team do better. Whatever it is, my record shows that. Everywhere I’ve been we’ve won."

Turkey turnaround

Normally, the Cowboys talk about taking it one game at a time. But with the Washington Redskins on tap Sunday and the Oakland Raiders four days later on Thanksgiving Day, the Cowboys are focused on two games at once.

They are also looking forward to picking up two wins so they can head into the crucial month of December with an 8-3 record.

"That’s definitely the mind-set," linebacker Bradie James said. "We’ve been on the road for a while and now we’re back at home. You want to protect the home field and you want to win. I’d be lying if I say, 'Well, we’re taking it one game at a time. No, these games are almost like double-headers for us in football terms. You’ve got to take care of this one and then move on to the next one."

The Cowboys will have 10 days off before playing at the New York Giants on Dec. 6.

Folk lore

Holder Mat McBriar took the blame for Nick Folk’s miss of a 38-yard field goal in the first quarter in Green Bay.

McBriar, who replaced Brad Johnson as the Cowboys holder this season, said he didn’t have the ball straight up and down, which caused it to go left.

Folk said he should have made the kick anyway.

He is making only 77.8 percent of his field goals, having missed four of 18 attempts.

Folk had surgery on his right hip in May.

Pressure to win doesn't rattle Cowboys coach Phillips

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:48 CST

CLARENCE E. HILL JR.

Dallas Cowboys coach Wade Phillips is in the final year of his contract. Owner Jerry Jones has an option for next year, but has chosen to let the season play out before addressing Phillips’ future.

How the Cowboys finish will determine whether Phillips will be back for a fourth season. Phillips knows as much, but chooses not worry about it.

“That’s the way I’ve always coached,” Phillips said. “Way back [in Denver], when we were 10-6, 10-6, 11-5 and went to two AFC Championship games and we got fired, I realized that ‘Hey, you can do a great job and for whatever reason, you can be gone.’ So I stopped worrying about all that and worry about coaching, trying to do the best I can do to help the team win. That’s all I really think about.”

The Cowboys are 6-3 and sitting alone atop the NFC East. Phillips has an overall record of 28-14 in Dallas. But, he is 16-13 since opening the 2007 season with a 12-1 mark and the Cowboys still haven’t won a playoff game since 1996.

No matter what happens, Phillips said his spirit and confidence won’t be broken because he knows he is a good coach and that he does a good job.

“I have confidence in myself as a coach,” Phillips said. “I think I can do a good job and I think I can help the team do better. Whatever it is, my record shows that. Everywhere I’ve been we’ve won.”

Clarence E. Hill Jr. 817-390-7760

With Cowboys’ Ken Hamlin out Sunday, Alan Ball makes starting debut

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:53 CST

By CHAREAN WILLIAMS

IRVING — Alan Ball will make h is first NFL start at free safety Sunday for the Dallas Cowboys in place of the injured Ken Hamlin.

Hamlin is expected to miss 2-4 weeks with a high ankle sprain.

"This is real big for me," Ball said Thursday. "I’m just looking for the opportunity to help out the team any way I can. Special teams, I look at the same way. Any way I can come in and help."

Ball, a seventh-round pick in 2007, was moved from cornerback to safety this season. He has seen spot duty at both cornerback and safety.

"It’s [safety] a position we’ve worked him on all along," coach Wade Phillips said. "He’s obviously very versatile. ... He’s ready to go in, and he did go in the last game and play at safety."

Ball, as the quarterback on defense, will make the calls, but he will get help from strong safety Gerald Sensabaugh.

"At cornerback, you don’t have to talk a lot," Ball said. "At safety, you have to know a lot. You have to make a lot of adjustments, a lot of checks. So you have to know a lot more going in. That’s about what it is."

Ball has five tackles and a pass breakup on defense this season. He has 12 special teams tackles, but is expected to have his special-teams workload lightened this week.

Phillips said rookie safety Mike Hamlin and cornerback Orlando Scandrick will fill in on special teams. Mike Hamlin has not been active this season.

This little piggy ...

Rookie David Buehler said he doesn’t expect his toe injury to keep him from kicking off Sunday. Buehler broke the little toe on his right foot last week while playing on punt coverage.

"It’s a little sore right now, but I’ve been getting treatment on it, so I’ll be good to go come Sunday," Buehler said. "... I’ve just got to tape it together and grit down and bite my lip and give it hell, pretty much."

Buehler, who is tied for third in the NFL with 17 touchbacks, kicked well in practice Thursday, Wade Phillips said.

"He bombed it like he normally does," Phillips said.

Ball security

Roy Williams said penalties and turnovers are holding back a potent Cowboys’ offense.

"This is a good football team. We’re too good to lose a ball game, and that’s turnovers and penalties," said Williams, who fumbled after a 42-yard gain into Packers territory last week. "Every time we lose, that’s the problem."

Penalties are high win or lose, but the turnover ratio reveals a significant discrepancy in victories and defeats.

In the Cowboys’ six wins, they have just five turnovers and are a plus-5. In three losses, the turnovers skyrocket to nine and minus-8. Dallas turned it over three times in the 17-7 loss at Green Bay.

"This is a fun offense to be in," Williams said. "Just penalties and turnovers, that’s it."

Cowboys’ ground game hasn’t been up to speed

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:53 CST

By JEFF CAPLAN

IRVING — Prior to the loss to Green Bay, Dallas Cowboys coach Wade Phillips expressed his desire to rekindle fading memories of Felix Jones dashing downfield with the ball.

Jones got three carries and gained 6 yards against the Packers.

Facing Sunday’s bounce-back game against Washington, owner-general manager Jerry Jones, fresh from watching Thursday’s practice, weighed in with his own request to get the ball in the hands of his disappearing playmaker.

"I’d sure like to see the ball in the hands of the players with speed and playmaking ability," he said. "All of those are almost clichés when you say them, but I’d like to see him [Felix Jones] with the ball more."

Jones is the most dynamic of the Cowboys’ three running backs and, along with receiver Miles Austin, is the rare player on the roster who can go the distance on any given play.

Yet, he had only seven carries and 16 yards in the past two games.

"You don’t have to really be a sophisticated football man to step out here and watch practice and watch what Felix Jones does and understand that he needs the ball," Jerry Jones said.

That’s not a potshot at the Cowboys’ Princeton-educated offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, the man Jones is paying $3 million this season to effectively utilize his top weapons.

Much has been made recently of the Cowboys’ dwindling running game, an attack that came out of the gates with ferocity and ranked No. 1 in the league.

In the past two games, Dallas ran 37 times and threw 73 times. It failed to reach 100 yards rushing in both games, just the third time that’s happened this season and the first since the Week 4 loss at Denver.

Dallas’ ground game ranks eighth, averaging 130.0 yards a game, but still ranks second in yards per carry at 5.1, suggesting that when the Cowboys do commit to the run, they are usually successful.

Their season-low 14 carries at Green Bay, coaches say, was more a matter of circumstance than strategy. The Cowboys had trouble converting third downs all game, limiting their number of snaps, and then passed on their final 27 snaps, trailing 17-0.

Even so, the Cowboys spent the majority of the Green Bay game in shotgun formation, with only 13 of 58 plays coming with quarterback Tony Romo under center.

"Our goals are always to be balanced. That’s what we’re trying to do," Garrett said. "I think we were 10 [pass] and eight [run] at halftime. We always want to do that. That’s something that I think we’ve done a good job of this year. You always want to attack the defense with as many things as you can. It starts with the run and pass. It starts with running it inside, running it outside, throwing it long, throwing it short, and using different personnel groups and different players."

The Cowboys’ running game starts with Marion Barber, who hands the baton to Jones, recently with far less frequency. So why is that?

Phillips acknowledged earlier in the week that Jones is not adept at pass protection and some other assignments, which removes him at times that he otherwise might be in the game.

Then there’s Jones’ injury history. He strained a ligament in his left knee in Week 3, missed two games and hasn’t been the same since.

Before the injury, Jones had 21 carries for 212 yards (10.1 yards a carry). Since coming back after the bye week and wearing a knee brace, he has 23 carries for 92 yards.

His eye-popping explosiveness has been curiously missing.

"I’m feeling good. The knee’s been doing good," Jones said. "We’ve just been put into situations where we’ve had to do different things. That’s just about it."

Jones said boxing mega fight might land in Cowboys Stadium

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:48 CST

CLARENCE E. HILL JR.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wants Cowboys Stadium in Arlington to be an international destination for big-time sporting events. He already as the NBA All-Star game and the Super Bowl on tap. Ditto for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four, the Cotton Bowl and the Big 12 Championship Football game.

Now he has the proposed fight of the decade in his crosshairs. Jones wouldn’t go into specifics but he indicated that Cowboys Stadium was going to be a player for the much-anticipated boxing showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

"We’re in a sensitive time there and don’t want to comment on that right now," Jones said Thursday. "But that’s going to be - if it happens - that’s going to be a great fight and really with the visibility of our stadium and location, we really have our eye on the ball here is the best way to put it."

A deal has not been struck between the two fighters, but the promoters are hoping to schedule the fight for March 13, 2010.

Clarence E. Hill Jr. 817-390-7760

Garrett needs to boost Witten’s role in Cowboys’ offense

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:31 CST

JENNIFER FLOYD ENGEL

IRVING — Thank goodness for Redskins week at Valley Ranch.

Little Danny Snyder’s operation provides a stark reminder of what happens when arrogance and incompetence collide. NFL hell. And Washington has football problems that make your Dallas Cowboys look like a Super Bowl contender operated by football geniuses, so much so that Little Danny had banned negative signs until recently and Redskins fans had to travel to poke his touchy, little self.

Be thankful you live in an NFL area where criticizing your football team is not only a right but a duty, and many have answered this duty call in wake of that ugly in Green Bay.

Most anger and angst has been lobbed at The Redheaded Genius for "abandoning the run."

The idiocy of this whole argument is confounding to me, like lack of Marion Barber touches is why the Cowboys lost to Green Bay, or failing to mix in running plays while down three scores in the fourth quarter provides proof that Jason Garrett is no longer The RHG but an idiot, or that play-calling even ranks in the Top 10 of Cowboys problems.

Is it technically abandonment to go away from what is clearly not working?

Abandoning the run has become an easy rallying cry for the uninformed, though, in spite of facts. Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers further incited this dog pile with his intimation that Green Bay was able to pressure Cowboys QB Tony Romo because, all together now, The RHG abandoned the run.

"The game became one- dimensional," Capers told Green Bay reporters afterward. "You can just go out and blitz, but if people are going to run the ball for big yardage on you, you’re foolish."

And we’re going to trust a guy who less than 10 days ago was getting his you-know-what handed to him by Tampa Bay? You coach your team, Dom. We’ll coach ours.

The Cowboys lost to Green Bay because they had double-digit penalties for a second consecutive week, gave up five sacks (including two against a run blitz) and have a coach seemingly incapable of rallying them during a game. And a frowny-face, befuddled shrug does not in fact send a message to your underachievers about just how miserable you will make their lives if they indeed go non-competitive in Green Bay.

All you have to do is listen to all of this "we’re 6-3" and "we’re leading the NFC East" and "if somebody had said we’d split with Philly and Green Bay way back when …" to see "Wade think" has begun to infect everybody at Valley Ranch. Nobody is too angry about losing. They still have a chance for a really good November.

But I digress. This is not about jumping Coach Wade again. History says there will be plenty of time for that in December. It is time to take aim at The RHG. Assuming he still wants to be a head coach in this league, he needs to get his mojo working again and repair his rep as the little genius Owner Jones brought in from Miami and lavishly paid after the 2007 season.

And the guy to put the "G" back in RHG is Jason Witten.

Lost in all of this Miles Austin love and Roy Williams frustration and abandoning-the-running-game nonsense is No. 82. He has become a nonfactor.

Witten has 49 receptions this season, and I can remember only one of them, the one to seal the Philly victory. His first and only touchdown reception this season came in that Week 2 embarrassment to open JerryWorld.

This is not simply about stats. Witten is on pace for a very respectable 82 catches. This is about impact, and he’s also on pace for a career-worst 8.9 yards per catch. You want to question play calling? Question why they are not going to him more at the goal line?

Witten has become a household name being Romo’s security blanket, so much so that T.O. became insanely jealous. Maybe the Cowboys do miss T.O. after all. When he was here, Romo and Witten and The RHG were having their "secret meetings" where they drew up secret plays for the Pro Bowl tight end and he impacted almost every single game.

What The RHG needs to do is go back to what worked so well for them, featuring Witten until the tight end’s lungs burst.

"No, I would not say I’m having my normal year," Witten said Wednesday. "I’m not saying this as a negative. I have a lot of respect for [Garrett] and, obviously, I have a great relationship with Tony. We have a lot of weapons and you try to get the ball to everybody."

As he started to walk away, he asked: "Do you agree?"

Cowboys center Gurode refuses to play victim

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:31 CST

BY CLARENCE E. HILL JR.

IRVING — It was a play Dallas Cowboys center Andre Gurode wishes had never happened and one he had hoped to forget.

Plastic surgery removed the scars. The years had put the memory in the recesses of his mind.

But as soon as defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth left the Tennessee Titans to sign a record seven-year, $100 million contract with the Washington Redskins last spring, Gurode knew he wouldn’t be able to avoid the topic.

Talk would return to what might be the dirtiest play of the past 20 years in the NFL if not longer.

"I expected that when he signed with the Redskins and we played them that it was going to be brought up," Gurode said.

The play was early in the third quarter, a 5-yard touchdown run by Dallas’ Julius Jones in the Cowboys’ 45-15 victory on Oct. 1, 2006. Gurode’s helmet came off and he was on his back. Haynesworth, standing over him, first kicked Gurode in the head and then scraped his cleats across Gurode’s face and forehead.

Haynesworth was suspended five games and fined $190,000 by the NFL. It was the longest suspension ever for on-field actions.

Former Cowboys fullback Daryl Johnston, who was calling the game for Fox that day, still shudders when recalling the play..

"I have never seen anything like it," Johnston said. "I have seen violent collisions. I’ve never seen anything in that element — anger, frustration and intent to hurt. I was taken aback."

Gurode was never bitter, never complained. He didn’t miss a game and hasn’t missed a beat, using it as a stepping stone to a Pro Bowl career.

Gurode has made three Pro Bowls since the incident. Twice he has lined up against Haynesworth in those games.

But Sunday’s game against the Redskins will be the first time since the incident he has played Haynesworth in a game that means something.

"I think that situation is behind us," Gurode said. "It’s something that happened years ago. He doesn’t focus on it. I don’t focus on it. We just moved forward and continue to play football. You can’t let what happened in the past define who you are."

Gurode’s teammates have been impressed by his response to the incident.

"Anytime something like that happens, I think just how he handled himself in the whole situation. I think you have respect for him," said tight end Jason Witten, who saw the blood coming out of Gurode’s forehead that day. "He’s a mauler inside, and he’s been that way for a long time. He just played better and better and that could have set him back, but he didn’t allow that to be an excuse for him."

Linebacker Bradie James also respects Gurode for the way he has handled himself.

"He might not say anything about it, but he’s probably looking forward to playing Haynesworth after that," James said.

Haynesworth, who is questionable for Sunday’s game with a sprained left ankle, said he regrets his actions and "if I could go back in time, I wouldn’t do it again."

He says he made peace with Gurode since then and the two have even hung out together at the Pro Bowl the past two years.

"We have been talking and everything," Haynesworth said. "We even went out together. So, yeah, we are cool."

Free is the easy choice to solve O-line questions

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:31 CST

By CHAREAN WILLIAMS

IRVING — The Dallas Cowboys have enough confidence in Doug Free to start him at right tackle in place of the injured Marc Colombo on Sunday against the Washington Redskins.

"I think you always look at two or three options and then pick the best one, and the best one is exactly what we’re doing," Cowboys offensive line coach Hudson Houck said.

The Cowboys could have moved right guard Leonard Davis to right tackle. Davis played both tackle spots during his six seasons in Arizona. The Cowboys decided their best option was one move, Free at right tackle.

"He might be a little nervous," Davis said of Free. "Deep down, he might be a little nervous because he hasn’t been out there. I think the jitters, butterflies, whatever you want to call it, that won’t be long. After a couple of plays, settle down, relax and just play."

Colombo has started 57 consecutive games, but he injured his left leg against the Green Bay Packers. Colombo is expected to miss at least six weeks after having surgery on his left ankle Monday. He also broke his left fibula.

NFL speaks

Mike Pereira, the NFL’s vice president of officiating, said Wednesday the Cowboys would have lost a challenge on Tony Romo’s fumble if the play could have been challenged.

In the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game, Romo had the ball knocked out of his hands by Packers cornerback Charles Woodson. Felix Jones covered, and, while he was lying on the ground, Packers defensive end Johnny Jolly pulled the ball free from Jones’ hands. Packers linebacker Clay Matthews eventually recovered at the Dallas 3.

Cowboys coach Wade Phillips challenged the play, but, by rule, fumble recoveries in the field of play are not reviewable.

On his weekly review on the NFL Network, Pereira said Jones had to maintain control of the ball for it to be deemed a recovery.

"If you’re going to the ground, it’s a process, and you’ve got to hold onto it throughout the whole process," Pereira said. "… If it comes out at all during that process, it’s ruled still a fumble if you’re trying to recovery a fumble.

"If this was actually reviewable, still in my mind, [it] would not have changed."

Pereira verified that the Packers should have been penalized 15 yards for attempting a third challenge they didn’t have. Pereira said officials now will inform a coach face-to-face when a team is out of challenges.

"These types of administrative things should never happen," Pereira said.

Briefly

Converted safety Alan Ball will start at free safety in place of the injured Ken Hamlin on Sunday. It will be Ball’s first career start. The 2007 seventh-round pick moved from cornerback to safety this season.

Rookie David Buehler is tied for third in the NFL with 17 touchbacks, but he injured the little toe on his right foot Sunday while playing on punt coverage and did not practice Wednesday. Coach Wade Phillips said he believes Buehler will be ready to kick against the Redskins. If not, Nick Folk will handle kickoffs.

Cowboys cornerback Mike Jenkins, who bruised his left arm Sunday and missed most of the fourth quarter, practiced Wednesday and expects to play Sunday.

Redskins defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth (ankle sprain) did not practice on Wednesday but hopes to play.

Staff writer Jeff Caplan contributed to this report.

NFL: Cowboys would've lost fumble challenge

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:44 CST

CHAREAN WILLIAMS

Mike Pereira, the NFL’s vice president of officiating, said Wednesday the Cowboys would have lost a challenge on Tony Romo’s fumble if the play could have been challenged.

Cowboys coach Wade Phillips challenged the play, but, by rule, fumble recoveries in the field of play are not reviewable.

On his weekly review on the NFL Network, Pereira said Jones had to maintain control of the ball for it to be deemed a recovery.

“If you’re going to the ground, it’s a process, and you’ve got to hold onto it throughout the whole process,” Pereira said. “…If it comes out at all during that process, it’s ruled still a fumble if you’re trying to recovery a fumble.

“If this was actually reviewable, still in my mind, [it] would not have changed.”

“These types of administrative things should never happen,” Pereira said.

Gurode hasn't forgotten kicking incident with Haynesworth

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:54 CST

CLARENCE E. HILL JR.

It was a play Dallas Cowboys center Andre Gurode wished would have never happened and one he hoped he could forget.

Plastic surgery removed the scars. The years had put the memory in the recesses of his mind.

But as soon as defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth left the Tennessee Titans to sign a historic seven-year, $100 million contract with the Washington Redskins last spring, Gurode knew the inevitable was coming. Talk would soon return to what might be the dirtiest play of the past 20 years in the NFL if not longer.

"I expected that when he signed with the Redskins and we played them that it was going to be brought up," Gurode said.

The play came early in the third quarter, after a 5-yard touchdown run by Dallas’ Julius Jones in the Cowboys’ 45-15 victory on Oct. 1, 2006. Gurode’s helmet came off and he was on his back. Haynesworth, standing over him, first kicked Gurode’s head and then scraped his cleats across Gurode’s face and forehead.

Haynesworth, out of control, was suspended five games and fined $190,000 by NFL. It was the longest suspension ever for on-field actions.

Former Cowboys fullback Daryl Johnston, who was calling the game for FOX that day, still shudders at the thought of the heinous and deliberate nature of the play.

"I have never seen anything like it," Johnston said. "I have seen violent collisions. I’ve never seen anything in that element, anger frustration and intent to hurt. I was taken aback."

To his credit, Gurode has exhibited nothing but class and sportsmanship in the immediate days after the incident and thereafter. He didn’t miss a game and hasn’t missed a beat, using it as a stepping stone to greatness.

Gurode has made three Pro Bowls since the incident. Twice he has lined up against Haynesworth.

But Sunday’s game against the Redskins will be the first time he has played Haynesworth in a game that means something since that fateful day.

Gurode appreciates the support he got from teammates at the time and since. They remain impressed with the amount of restraint he showed and how he handled himself.

"Anytime something like that happens, I think just how he handled himself in the whole situation. I think you have respect for him," said tight end Jason Witten, who witnessed the blood coming out of Gurode’s forehead first hand. "He’s a mauler inside and he’s always been that way for a long time. He just played better and better and that could have set him back, but he didn’t allow that to be an excuse for him."

Linebacker Bradie James and receiver Patrick Crayton also respect the way Gurode has handled himself.

"He might not say anything about it, but he probably looking forward to playing Haynesworth after that," James said.

Haynesworth, who is questionable for Sunday’s game with a sprained left ankle, is ready for whatever comes. He regrets his actions and said "if I could go back in time, I wouldn’t do it again."

But to him, the play is in the past.

He says he buried the hatchet to Gurode years ago and the two have even hung out together at the Pro Bowl the past two years.

"We have been talking and every thing," Haynesworth said. "We even went out together. So yeah, we are cool."