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Cowboys camp motto: One day at a time
Jones, Phillips strive to keep focus on numbers that matter right now
03:52 AM CDT on Saturday, July 24, 2010
Column by DAVID MOORE / The Dallas Morning News
SAN ANTONIO – Jerry Jones wants you to talk about the Super Bowl. He hopes you take a break from the mundane to lose yourself in the anticipation and excitement of what might be.
Just understand the Cowboys owner can't afford to join you, at least not publicly. Wade Phillips wants no part of the fantasy.
Head coaches are funny that way.
Jones and Phillips strained to stay in the moment at Friday's news conference. They tried to turn the attention to the start of training camp today, but the questions kept dragging the duo 198 days into the future.
The Cowboys can become the first team in NFL history to play the Super Bowl on its home field. Maybe you've heard that by now. Jones and Phillips sure have.
"It's not the Super Bowl at our place," Phillips said, hoping to shape a perspective. "It's this next practice. That's the most important thing for us.
"We're going to take a right-now approach. We'll set our goals later on."
Talk about a wet blanket.
The ultimate goal is to play on Feb. 6 at Cowboys Stadium. That's more than seven months away.
Right now, the players must be more concerned about making it through eight practices in the first five days of camp. The first preseason game is more than two weeks ago. The roster won't fall into place for another 43 days. After that, there is ... well, you get the idea.
No one dreams bigger than Jones. But even he was talking small Friday. When asked how he could keep his mind off the prospect of the Cowboys advancing to the Super Bowl in his stadium, he swore, "I'm just thinking about things we can do something about."
Who has seized control of Jerry Jones' brain, and when will they give it back?
The way to keep minds from wandering is to focus on the process. That's why you hear quarterback Tony Romo drone on about the journey any time a reporter tries to get him to talk about what could happen in the future.
That's why the players will hear many of the same themes Phillips has hit in the past when he addresses the team today before its first practice.
"I know some of them will say, 'Hey, that's speech 1A,' " Phillips said. "Be in the moment. We don't have a team yet. Last year's team isn't this year's team.
"They've heard all of those things. But they'll hear them again. If they believe them, which I think they do, then we can go a long way.
"We really don't even talk about winning that much," Phillips said. "We talk about getting better. That's the way you coach people. You try to get them better, try to get them to give tremendous effort and play the best they can. Then winning comes with it.
"That facilitates winning in my opinion."
The grind of two-a-days will do the work early for Phillips. By the time that eighth practice is completed Wednesday, he doubts any of his players are going to be thinking about the Super Bowl.
And Jones?
"The things are so significant that this team is going to have to do that frankly, I don't need to go there," Jones said.
"I know how meaningful this week is. I know how meaningful this training camp is. I know what this team has to do. I'm a lot more interested in how smart we are about getting out of training camp and doing what we can do to avoid injuries. I'm a lot more interested in making sure we get the kind of reps these guys need. I'm a lot more interested in those basic things.
"Let's face it, I can't do one thing about that Super Bowl being played out there in that stadium. What we might be able to do a little something about is getting the most out of this training camp then lining up there in Washington against Washington."
That game, by the way, takes place in 51 days.
If you're counting, the Super Bowl is 147 days after that
Jones, Phillips strive to keep focus on numbers that matter right now
03:52 AM CDT on Saturday, July 24, 2010
Column by DAVID MOORE / The Dallas Morning News
SAN ANTONIO – Jerry Jones wants you to talk about the Super Bowl. He hopes you take a break from the mundane to lose yourself in the anticipation and excitement of what might be.
Just understand the Cowboys owner can't afford to join you, at least not publicly. Wade Phillips wants no part of the fantasy.
Head coaches are funny that way.
Jones and Phillips strained to stay in the moment at Friday's news conference. They tried to turn the attention to the start of training camp today, but the questions kept dragging the duo 198 days into the future.
The Cowboys can become the first team in NFL history to play the Super Bowl on its home field. Maybe you've heard that by now. Jones and Phillips sure have.
"It's not the Super Bowl at our place," Phillips said, hoping to shape a perspective. "It's this next practice. That's the most important thing for us.
"We're going to take a right-now approach. We'll set our goals later on."
Talk about a wet blanket.
The ultimate goal is to play on Feb. 6 at Cowboys Stadium. That's more than seven months away.
Right now, the players must be more concerned about making it through eight practices in the first five days of camp. The first preseason game is more than two weeks ago. The roster won't fall into place for another 43 days. After that, there is ... well, you get the idea.
No one dreams bigger than Jones. But even he was talking small Friday. When asked how he could keep his mind off the prospect of the Cowboys advancing to the Super Bowl in his stadium, he swore, "I'm just thinking about things we can do something about."
Who has seized control of Jerry Jones' brain, and when will they give it back?
The way to keep minds from wandering is to focus on the process. That's why you hear quarterback Tony Romo drone on about the journey any time a reporter tries to get him to talk about what could happen in the future.
That's why the players will hear many of the same themes Phillips has hit in the past when he addresses the team today before its first practice.
"I know some of them will say, 'Hey, that's speech 1A,' " Phillips said. "Be in the moment. We don't have a team yet. Last year's team isn't this year's team.
"They've heard all of those things. But they'll hear them again. If they believe them, which I think they do, then we can go a long way.
"We really don't even talk about winning that much," Phillips said. "We talk about getting better. That's the way you coach people. You try to get them better, try to get them to give tremendous effort and play the best they can. Then winning comes with it.
"That facilitates winning in my opinion."
The grind of two-a-days will do the work early for Phillips. By the time that eighth practice is completed Wednesday, he doubts any of his players are going to be thinking about the Super Bowl.
And Jones?
"The things are so significant that this team is going to have to do that frankly, I don't need to go there," Jones said.
"I know how meaningful this week is. I know how meaningful this training camp is. I know what this team has to do. I'm a lot more interested in how smart we are about getting out of training camp and doing what we can do to avoid injuries. I'm a lot more interested in making sure we get the kind of reps these guys need. I'm a lot more interested in those basic things.
"Let's face it, I can't do one thing about that Super Bowl being played out there in that stadium. What we might be able to do a little something about is getting the most out of this training camp then lining up there in Washington against Washington."
That game, by the way, takes place in 51 days.
If you're counting, the Super Bowl is 147 days after that