Cowboys to Jeremy Mincey: Show up or be fined

The Dallas Cowboys are prepared to play hard ball with Jeremy Mincey, threatening fines of $30,000 for every day he misses training camp. The defensive end has thus far failed to appear in Oxnard while seeking a new deal.

“We certainly won’t be talking to him about it while he’s not here,” vice president Stephen Jones said Wednesday. “He’s a player who is under contract. We expect all players under contract to be here.”

Mincey stands as the only player who hasn’t reported. His contract calls for him to make $1.5 million in base salary this season, the final year of a two-year deal he reached with the Cowboys last off-season as a free agent.

Mincey led the team with six sacks in sacks with six in the regular season and recorded two more in the playoffs, while offering a stabilizing locker room presence.

“Jeremy obviously did a great job for us last year, was a big part of our success on the defensive side of the football,” Jones said. “We have nothing but the utmost respect for him, but he is under contract. I think when he signed that contract last year, his representative was there. He was all for it, and they signed it. It’s not a long-term contract. It’s over at the end of this year.”

Mincey, 31, has been a full participant all off-season, from the organized team activities to minicamp last month, but wasn’t on the team charter that departed Tuesday.

For as good as Mincey played last year, though, the Cowboys also spent a good amount of their off-season bolstering a pass rush that had only 28 sacks last season. They signed troubled free agent Greg Hardy and drafted rookie Randy Gregory in the second round to potentially replace Mincey at some point as a weakside rusher.

But Mincey’s absence also puts them in a conundrum because Hardy will miss the first four games because of an NFL suspension and there are questions as to whether Gregory is big enough to hold up against the run.

Romo’s plan

The Cowboys aren’t going to have a structured plan for quarterback Tony Romo when training camp practices begin Thursday.

A year ago, the Cowboys didn’t have Romo practice more than two consecutive days, and he also took Wednesdays off in the regular season. Of course, Romo was figuring out what worked best for his surgically repaired back, and that plan worked well in what became a career year.

But Romo has been fully healthy this off-season, participating in organized team activities and minicamp.

Dez sighting

The Cowboys are overjoyed that Dez Bryant has reported to camp on time, without the distraction of an unsettled contract for the star receiver. As Garrett left Wednesday’s opening news conference, he ran into Bryant walking on the grounds at the Residence Inn.

“What the hell?” Garrett yelled, smiling. “Good to see you, man!”

The coach and his receiver shared a handshake and a man hug before owner Jerry Jones rolled through on a golf cart to make nice with Bryant.

“We love Dez,” Garrett said during the news conference. “Dez has been a great football player for us, and Dez is one of those guys who you love to have on your football team.”

The Cowboys’ star receiver signed a five-year, $70 million contract with $45 million guaranteed, including $20 million to sign, on July 15. It was the final day he could sign a long-term deal, and Bryant had threatened to sit out into the regular season in protest of having to play 2015 under the one-year, franchise-tender tag of $12.8 million.

But the sides worked out an agreement at the 11th hour, and Bryant showed up ready to practice.

“I think it’s a big deal [he’s here],” Stephen Jones said. “The Dez Watch would have been something that was not welcome I’m sure by Coach Garrett, by his teammates, certainly by Jerry and myself.”

This story was originally published July 29, 2015 at 8:45 PM with the headline "Cowboys to Jeremy Mincey: Show up or be fined."