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Cowboys Coach Wade Phillips Likes Extra Game
8/12/2010 11:58 AM ET By David Elfin
David Elfin
NFL Writer
Dallas coach Wade Phillips said the luxury of playing in the Hall of Fame game five days ago allows him to treat tonight's home opener with Oakland like the first game of a normal preseason.
"It really is the first preseason game, if you had a four-game preseason," Phillips said. "I was going to play the starters a little bit more except that I want to see more from the young guys. Quite a few of them did well. I want to give them an opportunity to be consistent. We will play our starters more than we did, but it's not going to be a full half or anything like that."
That's the case even though 13 Cowboys will be sidelined because of injuries and only one, defensive end Marcus Spears, is a starter. all except Spears, rookie receiver Dez Bryant and tight end John Phillips, who's out for the year with a torn ACL, are expected to return to practice next week and play Aug. 21 at San Diego.
Tight end Jason Witten would be in line to see extra snaps with backups Martellus Bennett and Scott Sicko ailing and Phillips done, but the Cowboys don't want to risk losing the Pro Bowl perennial, too. That means that Dallas might be calling more than a few runs from three-receiver sets against the Raiders.
"Certainly tight end is a concern," said Phillips, whose only other tight end, DajLeon Farr, signed on Tuesday. "We'll run the ball. We'll just have to do it different ways. We might have to spread them out and run the ball. We've got a few things we've worked on that might let us run the ball effectively. We've got a few things we can do."
Rookie safety Danny McCray, former Cleveland linebacker Leon Williams, who spent last year in the UFL, and quarterback Stephen McGee and tackle Robert Brewster, neither of whom played as rookies in 2009, are among the young guys that Phillips is eager to see again tonight.
8/12/2010 11:58 AM ET By David Elfin
David Elfin
NFL Writer
Dallas coach Wade Phillips said the luxury of playing in the Hall of Fame game five days ago allows him to treat tonight's home opener with Oakland like the first game of a normal preseason.
"It really is the first preseason game, if you had a four-game preseason," Phillips said. "I was going to play the starters a little bit more except that I want to see more from the young guys. Quite a few of them did well. I want to give them an opportunity to be consistent. We will play our starters more than we did, but it's not going to be a full half or anything like that."
That's the case even though 13 Cowboys will be sidelined because of injuries and only one, defensive end Marcus Spears, is a starter. all except Spears, rookie receiver Dez Bryant and tight end John Phillips, who's out for the year with a torn ACL, are expected to return to practice next week and play Aug. 21 at San Diego.
Tight end Jason Witten would be in line to see extra snaps with backups Martellus Bennett and Scott Sicko ailing and Phillips done, but the Cowboys don't want to risk losing the Pro Bowl perennial, too. That means that Dallas might be calling more than a few runs from three-receiver sets against the Raiders.
"Certainly tight end is a concern," said Phillips, whose only other tight end, DajLeon Farr, signed on Tuesday. "We'll run the ball. We'll just have to do it different ways. We might have to spread them out and run the ball. We've got a few things we've worked on that might let us run the ball effectively. We've got a few things we can do."
Rookie safety Danny McCray, former Cleveland linebacker Leon Williams, who spent last year in the UFL, and quarterback Stephen McGee and tackle Robert Brewster, neither of whom played as rookies in 2009, are among the young guys that Phillips is eager to see again tonight.