OXNARD, Calif. -- The Dallas Cowboys’ depth along the offensive line is being tested.
Starting tackles Tyron Smith (biceps) and Doug Free (foot) dressed but did not take part in practice and were joined midway through the session by Darrion Weems, who had some shoulder soreness. Weems missed last year with shoulder surgery. He started the preseason opener against the San Diego Chargers at left tackle but spent most of training camp at right tackle.
Smith and Free went through individual work but did not do any pass-rush or team drills. They did a series of sprints and footwork drills with strength and conditioning coach Mike Woicik during part of the practice.
With their top three tackles sidelined, R.J. Dill and John Wetzel were the tackles for the Tony Romo-led first-team offense.
On to the observations:
The families of Jason Witten, Romo, Brandon Carr, among others, were at camp Saturday. At one point Romo’s son Hawkins was playing with bubbles that floated out on to the practice field near where the running backs were working. “Where are these bubbles coming from?” running backs coach Gary Brown said. Teams are used to working in the elements. Bubbles, evidently, is not one of them.
Maybe the tackles’ absences led to a change in the practice format, but Romo had just 12 passes in team and seven-on-seven work. The focus of the day was on the four-minute offense. In situational work, the first-team defense was able to force a punt.
Romo finished the day seven of 12 and has gone 80 passes without an interception. He had what was his first 0-for in seven-on-seven drills, unable to connect on four snaps with Gavin Escobar dropping the first throw. Terrance Williams lost a Romo throw in the sun but Byron Jones was able to close quickly to bat the ball away.
The second-team offense was able to get a first down when fullback Tyler Clutts, pressed into tailback action, was able to gain the edge on a run to the left and sprint down the sideline. Clutts wisely slid to the ground instead of going out of bounds to keep the clock moving.
Rookie defensive end Randy Gregory gave Wetzel and Dill fits in pass rush drills. He used a quick spin move that had Wetzel lunging for air and later was able to swipe away Dill’s hands to get to the edge. In the compete period, however, Dill did a better job shielding Gregory from the quarterback.
Ken Bishop worked with the first-team defense at nose tackle. That had been Davon Coleman’s job with Nick Hayden slowed by sore ribs.
Safety J.J. Wilcox left practice early after getting poked in the eye. He was replaced by Jeff Heath.
Defensive tackle Jack Crawford worked as a wing on the second-team field-goal unit. After the morning walkthrough, special teams coach Rich Bisaccia worked with Jack and Tyrone Crawford and Greg Hardy on the position.
