2012 Camp Cowboys: 8.1.12
10. Bumped into head coach Jason Garrett after Tuesday's practice. We talked about another year of the "Jason Garrett Show" Wednesday's on 105.3 The Fan and I asked him if he was generally happy after two days of camp. "I'm coaching football in California. How could I not be happy?" Fair point.
9. Strangest character on the Cowboys has to be 4th-year linebacker Victor Butler. Last year he feigned ignorance when wished a "Happy Birthday" during camp ( July 29). On Monday he used the greeting as a platform to call out teammate Anthony Spencer. Seems last year before the Seattle game the two players were goofing off during practice and Butler claimed he could catch a Dragon Fly with his bare hands. Spencer, according to Butler, bet him $1,000 he couldn't. The result? "Spence owes me $1,000 and I want my money! If I gotta take to the air waves to get it I will." Butler was laughing, but with him, who knows if he was joking.
8. Very edgy, R-rated camp so far. Jerry Jones has made headlines with "Glory hole," "beat the Giants' ass" and by being "pissed" at Dez Bryant. Even mild-mannered, Princeton-educated Jason Garrett tossed in a "bust their ass" when talking about his players during Sunday's Welcome to Camp presser.
7. Cowboys are using iPads these days for their playbooks. Tom Landry, yes, is rolling over in his grave.
6. Most worrisome positions entering camp: Safety, receiver and interior offensive line. So far Barry Church is grabbing the free safety job while Brodney Pool does remedial running in an attempt to get in shape; Tennessee Tech free agent Tim Benford is turning heads at receiver; and at center … yuck. Starter Phil Costa's backups – Kevin Kowalski and Bill Nagy – are both sidelined with ankle injuries, forcing 2nd-year guard David Arkin and free-agent guards Ron Leary (Memphis) and Harland Gunn (Miami) to take reps over the ball. Nagy left practice Monday with a sprained ankle, same one he broke at New England last Oct. 16 that landed him on season-ending injured reserve. Like I said, yuck.
5. In the wake of Jerry's proclamation that Oxnard residents should come to Dallas to watch the Cowboys beat the Giants' ass, Garrett shrugged and deferred. "He's owned this team for 23 years," Garrett said. "He can do or say whatever he wants. It's his team." Last year it was defensive coordinator Rob Ryan who made camp headlines predicting his defense would kick the ass of the highly-touted Eagles. Now he's happy to let his owner do the trash talking. "Better him than me," Ryan joked. "He's the man."
4. New offensive line coach Bill Callahan has some quirk to him. He's had his players catching footballs during drills and also holding towels in their armpits. Reasoning? By keeping the towels in place it'll teach the linemen to keep their arms inside and avoid holding penalties. I've seen Tiger Woods use the technique on the driving range to avoid the flying right elbow, but never offensive linemen.
3. 2 days of practice = 2 Stephen McGee interceptions. The sooner the Cowboys realize he can't play the better. With Tony Romo backed up by Kyle Orton the Cowboys have one of the best quarterbacking situations in the NFL. Not sure why they need to waste a roster spot with a 3rd.
2. Greggo and I have a running debate on 105.3 The Fan. I think Michael Irvin is known for football; Greggo thinks felonies. So we're asking young players what they think of first when it comes to the Hall of Famer and notorious criminal. Fullback Lawrence Vickers' answer? "Those parts." 'Scuse me? "Those little parts in his hair, on the side of his head. As kids we saw those and begged mom to let us get them." In the '90s Irving did indeed have little has marks shaved into the side of hair, but didn't see that one coming.
1. Happy August. Happy Football Day. Today – for the first time since the 2011 season-ending loss to the Giants back on Jan. 1 – we get to watch the Cowboys in full pads. NFL rules prevent full pads in the first 2 days of camp, so today – Day 3 – it's on. Also today Andre Holmes, Brodney Pool and Felix Jones get their second attempts to pass a conditioning test and return to practice. Real football – Cowboys at Giants – is 5 weeks from tonight.
(© Copyright 2012 CBSDFW.COM and CBS Local, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
Also Check Out:
