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Secondary is still Cowboys' primary concern
August, 4, 2011 11:11 AM CT
By Tim MacMahon
SAN ANTONIO – The Cowboys finally signed a couple of starting safeties.
They should at least be adequate at the position after signing Gerald Sensabaugh and Rob Ryan favorite Abram Elam to a pair of one-year, $2.5 million contracts. Yet there’s significantly more reason to worry about the Cowboys’ secondary now than there was 24 hours ago.
The Cowboys coaches and front office has consistently expressed confidence in their cornerbacks corps, but that had to be shaky at best after Mike Jenkins and Terence Newman’s poor performance last season.
And it took a huge hit when Newman limped off the field with a pulled groin in the Wednesday afternoon practice.
The best-case scenario is that Newman is healthy in time for the Sept. 11 season opener against the New York Jets. It’s hard not to be skeptical about that happening.
Newman turns 33 the week before the opener and has a history of nagging injuries. A groin injury suffered in the 2008 training camp sidelined him for the entire preseason and the season opener and eventually led to sports hernia surgery that caused him to miss five weeks.
It’s not that Newman isn’t willing to play in pain. He did for much of last season after suffering a rib strain. He just didn’t play well – and it’s hard to see him being even an average cornerback if his groin isn’t completely healthy this season.
Orlando Scandrick, who struggled early last season but played well down the stretch, could be a quality fill-in starter. The depth at the position, however, could be a disaster.
Undrafted rookie Mario Butler was working with the first-team nickel in Thursday’s morning walkthrough. Fifth-round pick Josh Thomas and corner-turned-safety-turned –corner again Alan Ball are other options.
Feel confident about any of those guys? Bad news: There might not be anything better on a free agency market that has pretty much been picked clean at cornerback.
The Cowboys can get by with average safeties. It’s close to impossible to hide inferior cornerbacks.
August, 4, 2011 11:11 AM CT
By Tim MacMahon
SAN ANTONIO – The Cowboys finally signed a couple of starting safeties.
They should at least be adequate at the position after signing Gerald Sensabaugh and Rob Ryan favorite Abram Elam to a pair of one-year, $2.5 million contracts. Yet there’s significantly more reason to worry about the Cowboys’ secondary now than there was 24 hours ago.
The Cowboys coaches and front office has consistently expressed confidence in their cornerbacks corps, but that had to be shaky at best after Mike Jenkins and Terence Newman’s poor performance last season.
And it took a huge hit when Newman limped off the field with a pulled groin in the Wednesday afternoon practice.
The best-case scenario is that Newman is healthy in time for the Sept. 11 season opener against the New York Jets. It’s hard not to be skeptical about that happening.
Newman turns 33 the week before the opener and has a history of nagging injuries. A groin injury suffered in the 2008 training camp sidelined him for the entire preseason and the season opener and eventually led to sports hernia surgery that caused him to miss five weeks.
It’s not that Newman isn’t willing to play in pain. He did for much of last season after suffering a rib strain. He just didn’t play well – and it’s hard to see him being even an average cornerback if his groin isn’t completely healthy this season.
Orlando Scandrick, who struggled early last season but played well down the stretch, could be a quality fill-in starter. The depth at the position, however, could be a disaster.
Undrafted rookie Mario Butler was working with the first-team nickel in Thursday’s morning walkthrough. Fifth-round pick Josh Thomas and corner-turned-safety-turned –corner again Alan Ball are other options.
Feel confident about any of those guys? Bad news: There might not be anything better on a free agency market that has pretty much been picked clean at cornerback.
The Cowboys can get by with average safeties. It’s close to impossible to hide inferior cornerbacks.
