Dallas Cowboys and their fallen stars
The Dallas Cowboys usually crumble and have a late season meltdown during the month of December. Now the Cowboys have bigger problems and are simply trying to survive the cruel month of August. Dallas has been anything but lucky so far in the pre-season and they can’t wait for their regular season to start on 12 September. The Cowboys have been hit by the injury bug and lost five starters this pre-season with nagging injuries.
Players on both side of the ball got banged-up. Dallas lost two offensive linemen last week, with right tackle Marc Colombo and left guard Kyle Kosier going down with knee injuries while free safety Gerald Sensabaugh and inside linebacker Keith Brooking are sidelined with shoulder injuries sustained against San Diego on Saturday night. Then there is rookie Dez Bryant and his high ankle injury suffered near the beginning of training camp.
“The bright side,” said coach Wade Phillips, “is that almost everyone is expected back for the season opener.”
Colombo had arthroscopic surgery on Monday to remove five loose particles from his right knee and is expected to have time off until the regular season starts. Doug Free will fill the void on the offensive line and will be the temporary starter at left tackle until Colombo returns.
Sensabaugh is also likely to suit up for the opener after posting on his Twitter account, "I should be ready by Washington. Rehab is going great." Brooking's injury isn't serious either, but the Cowboys are being cautious and he should miss the remaining two exhibitions games.
Brooking, 34, is coming off knee surgery last season, so it makes sense that the Cowboys would opt to keep him on the sideline for the upcoming games. He is a vocal leader and a veteran player that has proved himself to the team all of last year and during training camps.
One player that has not got the chance to marvel and woo fans and the coaching is Bryant. The first round draft pick from the University of Oklahoma State has been out of the rotation for about a month after being carted off the field a few weeks ago.
He was told by Phillips on Monday that he won't be playing against Houston on Saturday night. That leaves only the pre-season finale next Thursday against the Miami Dolphins for Bryant to get any experience playing against another team before it’s for real. Timing, chemistry and cohesion are all built on the football field.
"It's very frustrating," Bryant said. "At the same time, I've got to look at the big picture, and that's the Washington Redskins."
Bryant no longer wears that protective right ankle boot or stands in the background with the wide receivers, looking on at the action and taken mental reps feeling sorry for himself. The rookie was out running and testing that ankle on Monday for the first time since the injury.
"We'll just wait and see," Phillips said. "I know he wants to play and he feels better, but we still want to make sure that he's healthy. The prognosis all along has been that he will be able to play the first game, not the last preseason game or the last two preseason games. I know he wanted to, but he's not a doctor or athletic trainer."
Bryant also ran a few routes on the field with receiver coach Ray Sherman before practice, then afterward with offensive coordinator Jason Garrett who corrected a few flaws in Bryant’s technique.
"I feel great," said Bryant, who dropped 10 pounds through the rehabilitation drills. "I know I'll be practicing sooner or later, so I just wanted to get the feel," he said. "I just look at the big picture. That's how I keep myself calm."
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