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Coulda Been Worse
ARLINGTON, Texas - After the play that essentially sealed a disheartening loss, things appeared ready to get much worse when Pro Bowl cornerback Mike Jenkins was carted off with a knee injury in the fourth quarter Sunday.
Devin Hester's 38-yard catch and run was made possible in part by Bears receiver Johnny Knox blocking Jenkins out of the play. The two bumped knees and Jenkins was in such pain he couldn't get up. Jenkins' x-rays were negative. An MRI is scheduled for Monday, but the third-year player's early thought was that he suffered a deep bruise, not something more serious.
"It's a little swelling," Jenkins said. "We bumped knees and the first thing you expect, you just lay there, because you don't want it to be the worst, but I mean, I'm good. … At the time when you first do it, it's just a bunch of pain, you can't really do too much."
Jenkins' injury came a series after tight end Jason Witten was removed from the game after sustaining a blow to the head in taking two hits on a 23-yard catch for a first down. Witten, whose helmet was taken away from him by team doctors, was furious that he was removed from the game.
One typically willing to stay after the game and answer questions, win or lose, Witten exited the locker room quickly on Sunday. He apparently did not undergo more strenuous testing than what was administered on the field.
"We don't have the report on that," owner/GM Jerry Jones said of Witten's health. "I'm not so sure about that. I've got to get the detail on that."
Returning Linemen
After the chaos that surrounded the offensive line last week in Washington, many were happy to see starting left guard Kyle Kosier and starting right tackle Marc Colombo return to action against Chicago. One of the happiest was center Andre Gurode, who said he knows those guys would do anything they had to in order to play.
"I know the character of both of those guys," he said after the 27-20 loss. "If they are able to play, if they have to tape something to them so that they can play, they'll play."
Gurode was not surprised both Kosier and Colombo played the entire game. He said he thinks their return went well, as the offensive line did not allow a sack all game.
"I think those guys played well today," Gurode said. "I was very excited to see Marc and Kyle back out there playing. They came back earlier than expected and played with a lot of energy and a lot of emotion and did well."
Head coach Wade Phillips said he thought the pass protection was good, and that while the offensive line got hit a couple of times on blitzes, Romo needed to get rid of the ball earlier on those plays.
However, the team's running game was sub par, as the Chicago defense caught Dallas running backs behind the line of scrimmage multiple times, and the offense finished with just 36 total rushing yards. Gurode said the Bears are a good team that played hard and with great effort, but that the offense just has to do a little bit more.
"All we can do is work together as a unit and correct the things we did wrong," Gurode said. "We're going to keep working to get better, and we've got to get ready for Houston."
- Scott Birne
News & Notes:
The Dallas defense held the Bears offense to 1-of-11 (9.1%) on third downs. The 9.1 conversion percentage is the lowest figure since the defense held the N.Y. Giants (10/16/05 - OT) to 1-of-11.
Miles Austin finished the game with 142 receiving yards to give him his eighth career 100-yard outing, his second of the season and the fifth-most yards in his career.
Austin's 10 receptions tied his single-game high. It was the fourth time he had 10 catches in a game - at Kansas City (10/11/09), at the N.Y. Giants (12/6/09) and at Washington (9/12/10).
The Cowboys went 12 quarters without allowing a defensive touchdown until the Bears scored in the first quarter on a touchdown pass to Greg Olsen.
The last time the Cowboys opened a season 0-2 was in 2001 when the club began 0-4 to finish the year 5-11.
Tony Romo threw for 374 yards to give him the second-highest, single-game passing yardage in his career behind the 392 he had at the N.Y. Giants (12/6/09).
Romo's 51 attempts were the second-most of his career behind the 55 at the N.Y. Giants (12/6/09) and his 34 completions were the third most in his career behind his 41 at the above game and 35 at Detroit (12/9/07).
Jason Witten upped his career receiving yards total to 6,043 yards, making him the ninth tight end in league history to reach 6,000 career receiving yards.
Dez Bryant's 62-yard first quarter punt return for a touchdown made him the first Cowboys rookie to return a punt for a touchdown since Reggie Swinton took one back 65 yards for a touchdown against Denver (11/22/01). Bryant became the fifth Dallas rookie to return a punt for a touchdown - Mel Renfro (1964), Dennis Morgan (1974), Kevin Williams (1993) and Swinton (2001).
ARLINGTON, Texas - After the play that essentially sealed a disheartening loss, things appeared ready to get much worse when Pro Bowl cornerback Mike Jenkins was carted off with a knee injury in the fourth quarter Sunday.
Devin Hester's 38-yard catch and run was made possible in part by Bears receiver Johnny Knox blocking Jenkins out of the play. The two bumped knees and Jenkins was in such pain he couldn't get up. Jenkins' x-rays were negative. An MRI is scheduled for Monday, but the third-year player's early thought was that he suffered a deep bruise, not something more serious.
"It's a little swelling," Jenkins said. "We bumped knees and the first thing you expect, you just lay there, because you don't want it to be the worst, but I mean, I'm good. … At the time when you first do it, it's just a bunch of pain, you can't really do too much."
Jenkins' injury came a series after tight end Jason Witten was removed from the game after sustaining a blow to the head in taking two hits on a 23-yard catch for a first down. Witten, whose helmet was taken away from him by team doctors, was furious that he was removed from the game.
One typically willing to stay after the game and answer questions, win or lose, Witten exited the locker room quickly on Sunday. He apparently did not undergo more strenuous testing than what was administered on the field.
"We don't have the report on that," owner/GM Jerry Jones said of Witten's health. "I'm not so sure about that. I've got to get the detail on that."
Returning Linemen
After the chaos that surrounded the offensive line last week in Washington, many were happy to see starting left guard Kyle Kosier and starting right tackle Marc Colombo return to action against Chicago. One of the happiest was center Andre Gurode, who said he knows those guys would do anything they had to in order to play.
"I know the character of both of those guys," he said after the 27-20 loss. "If they are able to play, if they have to tape something to them so that they can play, they'll play."
Gurode was not surprised both Kosier and Colombo played the entire game. He said he thinks their return went well, as the offensive line did not allow a sack all game.
"I think those guys played well today," Gurode said. "I was very excited to see Marc and Kyle back out there playing. They came back earlier than expected and played with a lot of energy and a lot of emotion and did well."
Head coach Wade Phillips said he thought the pass protection was good, and that while the offensive line got hit a couple of times on blitzes, Romo needed to get rid of the ball earlier on those plays.
However, the team's running game was sub par, as the Chicago defense caught Dallas running backs behind the line of scrimmage multiple times, and the offense finished with just 36 total rushing yards. Gurode said the Bears are a good team that played hard and with great effort, but that the offense just has to do a little bit more.
"All we can do is work together as a unit and correct the things we did wrong," Gurode said. "We're going to keep working to get better, and we've got to get ready for Houston."
- Scott Birne
News & Notes:
The Dallas defense held the Bears offense to 1-of-11 (9.1%) on third downs. The 9.1 conversion percentage is the lowest figure since the defense held the N.Y. Giants (10/16/05 - OT) to 1-of-11.
Miles Austin finished the game with 142 receiving yards to give him his eighth career 100-yard outing, his second of the season and the fifth-most yards in his career.
Austin's 10 receptions tied his single-game high. It was the fourth time he had 10 catches in a game - at Kansas City (10/11/09), at the N.Y. Giants (12/6/09) and at Washington (9/12/10).
The Cowboys went 12 quarters without allowing a defensive touchdown until the Bears scored in the first quarter on a touchdown pass to Greg Olsen.
The last time the Cowboys opened a season 0-2 was in 2001 when the club began 0-4 to finish the year 5-11.
Tony Romo threw for 374 yards to give him the second-highest, single-game passing yardage in his career behind the 392 he had at the N.Y. Giants (12/6/09).
Romo's 51 attempts were the second-most of his career behind the 55 at the N.Y. Giants (12/6/09) and his 34 completions were the third most in his career behind his 41 at the above game and 35 at Detroit (12/9/07).
Jason Witten upped his career receiving yards total to 6,043 yards, making him the ninth tight end in league history to reach 6,000 career receiving yards.
Dez Bryant's 62-yard first quarter punt return for a touchdown made him the first Cowboys rookie to return a punt for a touchdown since Reggie Swinton took one back 65 yards for a touchdown against Denver (11/22/01). Bryant became the fifth Dallas rookie to return a punt for a touchdown - Mel Renfro (1964), Dennis Morgan (1974), Kevin Williams (1993) and Swinton (2001).