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By Calvin Watkins
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IRVING -- The Cowboys were missing just one player at Wednesday's practice, Felix Jones (ankle), and that means numerous lineup changes are forthcoming. We look at three main ones.

The return of Jason Hatcher

Hatcher has missed the last three games with a strained left calf. When he started, Hatcher had two sacks and nine tackles in the first three weeks of the season. With his return, it could force Marcus Spears to the bench. Jason Garrett praised Spears' play in last week's victory over St. Louis. Hatcher said he doesn't care if he gets the starting gig again. That's a good attitude to have because defensive coordinator Rob Ryan uses all of his defensive linemen.

Bruce Carter will be active

A noticeable sight at Cowboys practice on Wednesday was seeing the rookie linebacker with the first-team punt units. Carter has missed the first six weeks due to his recovery from knee surgery. He was fully recovered in September but the team placed him on the non-football injury list. He's eligible to play now and that means Jesse Holley, who earned a spot on this team because of his special teams play, could be in trouble. Holley was wearing an orange beanie on his helmet Wednesday morning. Meaning? Holley is on the scout team. This could change if Carter struggles with the assignments in practice. We're not sure if the Cowboys will release Holley, but with him moving down the depth chart and with Keith Brooking also getting some time on special teams, things could get interesting.

David Buehler kicking

On Monday, Garrett said Buehler was still dealing with an injured groin. He's missed the last four games because of it. Dan Bailey has kicked well during that time, making 14 consecutive field goals with Buehler on the sidelines. He's currently on a 16 consecutive field goals made streak heading into the Philadelphia game. The Cowboys seemed to be gaining confidence in Bailey while Buehler tries to get healthy. The Cowboys could give Buehler an injury settlement or wait for him to get healthy then release him.
 
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I like that Hatcher says he does not matter if he starts or not...and it seems to be down to him and Spears as to who or who doesn't start. When did Coleman become a sacred cow? Not saying anything bad about him, but right now I would rate the play of Spears and Hatcher above Coleman.
 

cmd34

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Defensive Lines should be rotated. Their advantage over bigger offensive linemen is speed and being fresh. Hatcher, Coleman, Ratliff, Spears, Lissemore, and Brent (maybe even Geathers if active on gameday) should all play a lot of downs.

Which I think is the plan already.
 
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I'd like to see Lissemore get more and more time as the season goes on. He looked really impressive in a couple games so far.
 
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Hatcher doesn't care about having a seat at the table.



[video=youtube;lNVxedatlu0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNVxedatlu0[/video]
 
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Defensive Lines should be rotated. Their advantage over bigger offensive linemen is speed and being fresh. Hatcher, Coleman, Ratliff, Spears, Lissemore, and Brent (maybe even Geathers if active on gameday) should all play a lot of downs.

Which I think is the plan already.

All for it, but I want the top 2 DEs to get the most snaps...and I think Spears and Hatcher are the top DEs.
 
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