August, 24, 2011
By Todd Archer
ARLINGTON, Texas -- As training camp rolls on, here are five things that have me wondering:
With the Cowboys at the midway point of the preseason schedule, here are five things that have me wondering:
** David Buehler is a great kid with a big leg but the deck just appears to be stacked against him. And I’m not just talking about the hip strain he suffered last week. Much has been made about the change in kickoff rules hurting his biggest strength. But there’s also a thought that once the weather turns kickoffs will once again be important. Have you looked at the Cowboys’ end-of-season schedule? The only cold-weather game they have is Jan. 1 at the Giants. Dec. 4 they are at Arizona and Dec. 17 they are at Tampa Bay. Not exactly difficult spots to kick.
** What do the Cowboys want from their fullback? They got rid of Deon Anderson last year because he could not bring enough in the passing game or special teams. Now they are not enamored with what they have received from Chris Gronkowski or Shaun Chapas as lead blockers and there is a thought they will go with four tight ends instead of a true fullback. To paraphrase Rick Pitino: Daryl Johnston’s not walking through that door again.
** Montrae Holland will not play this week against Minnesota, which has to all but end his chances of starting Week 1 against the New York Jets. The Cowboys will not play their regulars in the preseason finale at Miami, so I just can’t see Holland getting enough quality work in that game to be ready to play when it counts.
** Last week was Andre Gurode’s first week back to practice after knee surgery in June. The coaches wanted to work him in slowly to help his conditioning and timing, so Phil Costa took some first-team snaps at center. Now into week two and Gurode is still splitting time with Costa. Just a little curious. And I’m a little surprised Costa has not taken any first-team snaps at left guard yet.
** Sometimes I think everybody gets too caught up into who is starting when it doesn’t really matter much. It’s about how many snaps a player has in a game. Let’s look at inside linebacker. Keith Brooking is back to practice for the first time since the opening week of camp, but does he return to the starting lineup over Sean Lee? It doesn’t matter because I think you will see Brooking, Bradie James and Lee split the reps on an almost even basis during the year.
By Todd Archer
ARLINGTON, Texas -- As training camp rolls on, here are five things that have me wondering:
With the Cowboys at the midway point of the preseason schedule, here are five things that have me wondering:
** David Buehler is a great kid with a big leg but the deck just appears to be stacked against him. And I’m not just talking about the hip strain he suffered last week. Much has been made about the change in kickoff rules hurting his biggest strength. But there’s also a thought that once the weather turns kickoffs will once again be important. Have you looked at the Cowboys’ end-of-season schedule? The only cold-weather game they have is Jan. 1 at the Giants. Dec. 4 they are at Arizona and Dec. 17 they are at Tampa Bay. Not exactly difficult spots to kick.
** What do the Cowboys want from their fullback? They got rid of Deon Anderson last year because he could not bring enough in the passing game or special teams. Now they are not enamored with what they have received from Chris Gronkowski or Shaun Chapas as lead blockers and there is a thought they will go with four tight ends instead of a true fullback. To paraphrase Rick Pitino: Daryl Johnston’s not walking through that door again.
** Montrae Holland will not play this week against Minnesota, which has to all but end his chances of starting Week 1 against the New York Jets. The Cowboys will not play their regulars in the preseason finale at Miami, so I just can’t see Holland getting enough quality work in that game to be ready to play when it counts.
** Last week was Andre Gurode’s first week back to practice after knee surgery in June. The coaches wanted to work him in slowly to help his conditioning and timing, so Phil Costa took some first-team snaps at center. Now into week two and Gurode is still splitting time with Costa. Just a little curious. And I’m a little surprised Costa has not taken any first-team snaps at left guard yet.
** Sometimes I think everybody gets too caught up into who is starting when it doesn’t really matter much. It’s about how many snaps a player has in a game. Let’s look at inside linebacker. Keith Brooking is back to practice for the first time since the opening week of camp, but does he return to the starting lineup over Sean Lee? It doesn’t matter because I think you will see Brooking, Bradie James and Lee split the reps on an almost even basis during the year.
