Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips wrapped-up the final practice at training camp with a short gathering with the media.

Wade’s Final Training Camp Comments to Media .

David Smoak

Well, it’s time for the Cowboys to return to Dallas and Valley Ranch, and this Friday’s Cowboys Stadium opener in Arlington against the Titans.

Smoaky

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Here’s Tim McMahon’s final live practice blog from The Alamodome in San Antonio:

McMahon’s Blog .

Wade Phillips can silence critics, comics by winning
Gil LeBreton, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

SAN ANTONIO — The greatest coach that ever walked this franchise’s sideline used to end each day of training camp with a hike into the nearby hills.

But nobody ever accused Tom Landry of wasting time that could have been better spent coaching.

Likewise, another coach who won Super Bowls for the Dallas Cowboys enjoyed his beer and enjoyed his boat.

And nobody ever accused Jimmy Johnson of running his practices like a cupcake.

Yet, Wade Phillips has a 22-10 record as Cowboys head coach and he can’t give the team a day off without inducing tsk-tsks and snickers.

In the quest to find a single scapegoat for the Cowboys’ disappointing 2008 season, in the hunt to squeeze all of their ills into one Pandora’s box, Phillips became an easy, slow-moving target.

Perception is everything in the entertainment business. And because Phillips, born and raised in Texas, didn’t endeavor to polish his public persona, the media molded that image for him.

Unfairly, for the most part, if you ask me. We made the criticism too personal. We crossed the line.

Phillips smiled and shrugged at mention of the issue Tuesday between practices at the Alamodome.

“That happens,” he said of the personal criticism. “That’s part of it. We’re in the entertainment business.

“When a movie doesn’t go the way someone likes, they give it a thumbs down. It’s the same way with us. It’s unfortunate, but that’s part of it.”

As a son himself of a legendary head coach, Phillips well knows that NFL coaches have always had to deal with criticism. That’s not the issue. Landry was critiqued for his choice of quarterbacks, for his defensive scheme, and for not being as fiery as Vince Lombardi.

But with Phillips, we crossed the line. His perceived low-intensity practices prompted the nickname, Coach Cupcake. As we blamed Terrell Owens for being an organizational nuisance, we also blamed Phillips for not controlling him.

By the end of last season, Phillips was being held responsible for everything from punter Mat McBriar’s broken foot to the two long runs that sealed the defeat against Baltimore.

The man who formerly held that chair, Bill Parcells, would have bristled and snuffed the criticism with a wise-guy anecdote.

Phillips’ frequent response, on the other hand, was not to refute the criticism, but instead offer a brighter, alternate view.

Hey, we dominated the second quarter — or somesuch.

At an annual off-season gathering of NFC coaches, Phillips finally bared his soul about the criticism to our newspaper’s Charean Williams.

“The thing that bothers me,” Phillips said, “is people are making it more personal.

“If they say, ‘Hey, we don’t think you’re coaching well enough,’ that’s fine. But when people start trying to demean you or call you names?…

“I’m a turn-the-other-cheek person. But it’s disappointing. In the world of comedy, they make fun of people and do all those things. It seems people have turned to that rather than just reporting. Maybe they think they’re comics. I don’t know.”

When his father, Bum, was coaching the Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints, there weren’t three sports-talk radio stations in town. There were no legions of bloggers to question why didn’t he bench Ken Stabler.

Wade’s players have refuted the notion that Phillips runs a cupcake practice or a sweat-free training camp. Nobody scrimmages every day at training camp anymore, the players point out.

“It’s been the trend for a while,” Phillips said. “You don’t want to get your players hurt.”

If his teams were handicapped by an alleged breezy training camp, their record didn’t show it. The Cowboys have won nine of their first 10 games over the past two seasons.

But when Phillips mentioned that, we called him Coach Sunshine.

Sometimes, yes, we try to be comics. Slapping a nickname on someone — “Coach Boomer,” aka Barry Switzer, was a personal favorite of mine — becomes easier than trying to describe a complex personality.

It’s to owner Jerry Jones’ credit that he didn’t let the personal affronts to Phillips cloud his evaluation of him.

Ultimately, Jones knows, Phillips will and should be judged the way that all Cowboys coaches who have preceded him have been — by playoff success and taking the team to the Super Bowl.

If Phillips can get to a Super Bowl, we comics will be silenced.

In the meantime, there’s no fair reason to cross any line.

Bradie James sees big difference in Wade Phillips
Tim MacMahon/Blogger, Dallas Morning News

Bradie James expressed skepticism when he heard Wade Phillips’ post-Philly Flop vow to be more demanding. But, as training camp nears the end, James is a believer in the new, tougher version of his head coach.

Phillips still doesn’t do much screaming and hollering. He has yet to yank a player by his facemask. But, according to James, Phillips is much more demanding than he’s been the past two years.

It starts with the schedule. This is the 11th day of two-a-days during training camp, significantly more than the Cowboys had previously under Phillips or Bill Parcells.

“This camp has been like two of the other camps put together, you know what I mean?” said James, who acknowledged mental and physical fatigue. “I haven’t heard anyone call this one Cupcake.”

James said he’s also seen a significant change in Phillips’ personality. Phillips made it clear before camp that his days of coddling players were done. “No complaining, no excuses,” Phillips said, per James.

Phillips acknowledged after last season that if the Cowboys weren’t going to change the coach, the coach had better change. Phillips is no fool, so he knows that his job is on the line this season despite a public vote of confidence from Jerry Jones, which hasn’t been matched by a contract extension.

Phillips has followed through with the first steps of his Get Tough Plan.

“He’s almost like a new coach,” James said. “He knows what’s at stake, and he knows we need to have a winning season. He’s been different. He said he was going to be different, and I didn’t know how he would pull it off, but I think he has.”

In the ever-continuing saga of Brett Favre and his future, that future will be with the Minnesota Vikings.

Favre to Minnesota .

David Smoak

Dallas Cowboys RB Jones stays one step ahead
Column by DAVID MOORE / The Dallas Morning News

SAN ANTONIO – His speed makes jaws drop and defenders flail. The eyes of Cowboys coaches and players light up at the mention of his name.

Felix Jones is the sort of threat teams ache to find. He can change the complexion of a game with one carry or kick return. But if you believe the Cowboys running back is all about speed, you don’t give him enough credit.

Jones is the sizzle in the Cowboys’ three-back attack. He’s the one who keeps fans on the edge of their seat as they fantasize about what could happen next.

What you may not appreciate is how Jones sets up these electrifying jaunts. Before his move to get past the initial defender is made, Jones has assessed where that puts him on the field and how the next defender will respond.

If Jones played chess, he would be one of those guys in Central Park who juggles five boards at once and makes each of his moves in a matter of seconds.

“One of his biggest attributes is not the first guy he’s trying to make miss, but the second guy,” running backs coach Skip Peete said. “He’s already starting to work to see where that guy is coming from and getting his next move, his next decision-making process started.

“Some guys will run and make a move on the guy directly in front of him, then start running again. There is no slowdown with Felix. He will see the next guy and is ready to create and make a move. It looks like it’s all one motion.”

This is what owner Jerry Jones means when he says Jones makes defenders look out of position when they’re not. He’s intuitive.

“You have to look forward to the next move,” Felix Jones said. “If you have somebody already set up to get past them, you are looking forward to making another move to get to the end zone.

“It’s hard to put into words, but once you see your blocker in front of you, you have confidence in him and know that he’s going to do his job, you automatically look for the next guy.”

Look for the next guy, and your chances to break off a long run increase. Jones averaged a touchdown every 12 times he touched the ball as a rookie.

Precious few players are that explosive.

“I’m sure I’m not the only one who has that ability, to look forward to the next move,” Jones said. “But it is a blessing.”

Once Jones sees the crease, he has unbelievable speed to accelerate through the hole. He’s brilliant in space but can run inside and is more physical that his size indicates. He will get the majority of carries Marion Barber doesn’t.

Receiver Patrick Crayton jokes that Nike should design a shoe with cleats on the side to accentuate the running back’s ability to cut and leave defenders in his wake.

“That might be a good idea,” Jones said.

Another good idea is to get Jones involved in the passing game. The Cowboys intend to do that this season. Peete said he’s noticed an improvement in how Jones runs his routes and comes out of breaks as a receiver.

Something else is at work in the mystique that surrounds Jones. The anticipation over what he can do is elevated because he’s played so little.
Dallas Cowboys / NFL

Head coach Wade Phillips was surprised the other day when he browsed the Cowboys media guide and noticed that Jones had only 30 carries before an injured toe ended his season.

Imagine what Jones can do if he stays healthy for 16 games, not six? Imagine the impact he can have if he catches more than the two passes and returns more than the 16 kicks he did last season?

The Cowboys are intrigued by the possibilities.

“We have high hopes, and I’m sure he does, too, that he will have a tremendous year for us,” Phillips said. “He’s a real talent.

“You see him do some outstanding things that you don’t see many other people do.”

BIG BANG THEORY

Felix Jones averaged nearly nine yards a carry as a rookie. No other running back in the top 70 was even close.

Player Team Avg.
Felix Jones Dallas 8.9
Kevin Faulk NE 6.1
Derrick Ward NYG 5.6
DeAngelo Williams Car. 5.5
Darren Sproles SD 5.4

Nice article on former Tyler Lee quarterback Matt Flynn.

Smoaky

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Gulf widens between backups Flynn, Brohm
By Bob McGinn of the Journal Sentinel

Green Bay — Coaches, players, even Brian Brohm constantly link the Green Bay Packers’ backup quarterbacks, apparently because they were drafted together in 2008.

Performance and production suggest a growing separation between them.

On Saturday night, Matt Flynn appeared to widen his grip on the No. 2 job with a sharp showing in the second quarter against Cleveland compared to a mediocre one by Brohm in the second half.

“I think we have two young quarterbacks that are ascending and are going to continue to get better,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “I thought Matt had some better opportunities presented to him than Brian.”

Flynn completed five of six passes for 50 yards and had another 15-yard completion erased by one of the five penalties that beset the offense during his stint.

He functioned well despite the fact that the Browns blitzed seven men on three of his 11 dropbacks. He was hit hard twice and sacked once, when defensive end C.J. Mosley beat guard Josh Sitton.

“Matt did a nice job,” offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said. “He hung in there pretty well. Showed some poise. Made a couple plays.”

Flynn’s passer rating of 101.4 was almost identical to the 100.2 that he posted last summer to win the backup post despite being drafted five rounds later than Brohm.

Brohm’s passer rating of 0.0 largely was the result of two interceptions that weren’t his fault. His rating last summer was 45.2.

“I don’t think he played poorly at all,” said Philbin. “With Brian, you know sometimes how things go. Sometimes the timing wasn’t quite right for him. I don’t think we can read too much into it. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

Brohm’s first play, which was supposed to be a deep pass, was ruined when outside linebacker Marcus Benard beat tackle Tony Moll around the corner. His arm was hit, and the pass was intercepted.

Later, Brohm made probably his best throw on a 13-yard out to rookie JaRon Harris. When Harris mistimed his jump, the pass bounced off his hands and was intercepted.

“I obviously got some bad breaks but that happens in football,” said Brohm. “I still have the same confidence I did when I stepped out there for the first play.

“Matt went out there and did a great job. I feel very comfortable with the offense. I think we’re both much, much better than we were last year.”

Handing off 26 times and dropping back 11, Brohm played with a glove on his passing hand for the first time in a game. Also, he paid tribute to the depth at wide receiver and said there didn’t appear to be any poorly run routes, which wasn’t the case with him at the helm last August.

Cowboys wide receiver Roy Williams was at Monday’s afternoon practice despite his sprained wrist.

According to Mickey Spagnola, Williams was told he could practice or work on the side with a trainer on the side.

Williams chose to practice.

Tatum’s Stephen Hodge was back at practice on Sunday and again today.

And cornerback Terence Newman was back at work too.

The only player not working out with the team is former Texas Tech linebacker Brandon Williams, who continues to nurse a shoulder injury.

If Williams can practice on Tuesday, he could be available to play against the Titans on Friday.

David Smoak

Cowboys reduced their roster by two on Monday by releasing cornerback Michael Hawkins and running back Alonzo Coleman.

The Cowboys roster is now at 77

Hawkins, who played high school football at Carrollton R.L. Turner had not practiced since bruising his kneecap during the opening week of training camp. He did not receive an injury settlement.

Meanwhile, Coleman, who has been on and off the Cowboys roster, received an injury settlement for his knee injury that forced him to miss most of training camp.

Coleman has been on the Cowboys practice squad for two years, and was promoted to the active roster at the end of the 2008 season.

NFL teams need to get their roster to 75 by September 1st.

David Smoak

(Dallas Morning News)

X-rays on Cowboys wide receiver Roy Williams’ left wrist were negative.

Williams hurt his wrist after a fall during Sunday morning’s practice.

Williams is listed as day-to-day.

“That’s part of training camp,” Tony Romo said. “Little nicks here and there. It’s nice when it’s only a few days and you can come back. He’s worked his butt off. If anything, it’ll just help him have fresh legs.”