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Garrett plans to send message of change today
Posted Tuesday, Nov. 09, 2010
chill@star-telegram.com
Jason Garrett will address the Dallas Cowboys as head coach for the first time this morning. He didn't do it Monday because fired coach Wade Phillips had one final goodbye, and then Garrett went about the business of getting his coaches on the same page.
He said he will let the team know in no uncertain terms that a new regime is taking over. He also said there will be lineup changes, a culture change in the locker room and a change in how the team goes about its business on the practice field. Garrett said he doesn't care how the players react because he is focused on looking forward, not backward.
"It's going to happen early [this morning], and they are going to understand the New York Giants are going to present a great challenge for us on Sunday," Garrett said. "We're going to talk about what happened. Wade is no longer the coach. I am the coach and what we're going to do going forward. I think players understand that at the end of the day it's a bottom-line business. You have to win in this league.
"... I believe you give yourself the best chance of winning by focusing on doing things the right way each and every day. We're going to emphasize that in meetings, in walk-throughs on the practice field and hopefully take that to the game field on Sunday."
'Help Wanted' signs
Jason Garrett's job wasn't made easier by the news that defensive end Marcus Spears (calf tear) and rookie backup end Sean Lissemore (high-ankle sprain) will be sidelined four to six weeks. Spears was injured late in the 45-7 loss to Green Bay. Lissemore was hurt on the opening kickoff.
It's a blow to an already depleted defensive end corps. Jason Hatcher is out at least another three games with a strained groin. Stephen Bowen is the lone healthy backup at end. He will likely start in Spears' place Sunday.
The Cowboys could place Spears and safety Akwasi
Owusu-Ansah on season-ending injured reserve, according to a source, and replace them with two free agents, including former Giants defensive end Jeremy Clark.
Defensive disaster
One of the reasons Wade Phillips lost his job is because the Cowboys can no longer stop anybody on defense.
Consider the Cowboys gave up an average of 15.6 points per game last year, ranking second in the league. They ranked fourth against the run, giving up only 90 yards per game.
Now they are 31st and 24th in those categories.
And while they are 14th in pass defense, opposing quarterbacks are completing 67 percent of their passes against them (ranking 27th). In the past three games the Cowboys have given up 121 points and 1,299 yards.
According to a former scout, the Cowboys were undone by antiquated defensive schemes. They didn't make any changes in the off-season, and opposing teams figured them out.
Website mixup
The Cowboys apparently failed to renew registration of the dallascowboys.com domain name and the site was replaced Sunday night with a generic page for Network Solutions LLC. For a time Monday, the day coach Wade Phillips was fired,
the website had an image of two children playing soccer. Dallascowboys.com was back up Tuesday. --
Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/11/09/2618989/garrett-plans-to-send-message.html#ixzz14sXQtkB2
Posted Tuesday, Nov. 09, 2010
chill@star-telegram.com
Jason Garrett will address the Dallas Cowboys as head coach for the first time this morning. He didn't do it Monday because fired coach Wade Phillips had one final goodbye, and then Garrett went about the business of getting his coaches on the same page.
He said he will let the team know in no uncertain terms that a new regime is taking over. He also said there will be lineup changes, a culture change in the locker room and a change in how the team goes about its business on the practice field. Garrett said he doesn't care how the players react because he is focused on looking forward, not backward.
"It's going to happen early [this morning], and they are going to understand the New York Giants are going to present a great challenge for us on Sunday," Garrett said. "We're going to talk about what happened. Wade is no longer the coach. I am the coach and what we're going to do going forward. I think players understand that at the end of the day it's a bottom-line business. You have to win in this league.
"... I believe you give yourself the best chance of winning by focusing on doing things the right way each and every day. We're going to emphasize that in meetings, in walk-throughs on the practice field and hopefully take that to the game field on Sunday."
'Help Wanted' signs
Jason Garrett's job wasn't made easier by the news that defensive end Marcus Spears (calf tear) and rookie backup end Sean Lissemore (high-ankle sprain) will be sidelined four to six weeks. Spears was injured late in the 45-7 loss to Green Bay. Lissemore was hurt on the opening kickoff.
It's a blow to an already depleted defensive end corps. Jason Hatcher is out at least another three games with a strained groin. Stephen Bowen is the lone healthy backup at end. He will likely start in Spears' place Sunday.
The Cowboys could place Spears and safety Akwasi
Owusu-Ansah on season-ending injured reserve, according to a source, and replace them with two free agents, including former Giants defensive end Jeremy Clark.
Defensive disaster
One of the reasons Wade Phillips lost his job is because the Cowboys can no longer stop anybody on defense.
Consider the Cowboys gave up an average of 15.6 points per game last year, ranking second in the league. They ranked fourth against the run, giving up only 90 yards per game.
Now they are 31st and 24th in those categories.
And while they are 14th in pass defense, opposing quarterbacks are completing 67 percent of their passes against them (ranking 27th). In the past three games the Cowboys have given up 121 points and 1,299 yards.
According to a former scout, the Cowboys were undone by antiquated defensive schemes. They didn't make any changes in the off-season, and opposing teams figured them out.
Website mixup
The Cowboys apparently failed to renew registration of the dallascowboys.com domain name and the site was replaced Sunday night with a generic page for Network Solutions LLC. For a time Monday, the day coach Wade Phillips was fired,
the website had an image of two children playing soccer. Dallascowboys.com was back up Tuesday. --
Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/11/09/2618989/garrett-plans-to-send-message.html#ixzz14sXQtkB2
