I just saw that Martellus Bennett still isn't practicing in Oxnard today. I know it is better to be cautious with injuries in the preseason but this injury to Marty B. is really dragging on. Now that there are really only two legitimate tight ends on the roster it is going to be imperative that Martellus is on top of his game all year. He needs the practice reps so I hope he is back soon. But at the same time I also understand that aggravating the injury could be devastating since there is no depth left at tight end. It seems like the severity of Bennett's ankle injury was downplayed too much heading into camp.
Dez Bryant is out of his walking boot and has started rehabbing off to the side during practice. That is great news. My feelings towards his injury are a little different than Marty B.'s. The Cowboys have plenty of depth at wide receiver and Dez is just the icing on the cake for an already potent offense. I'd like to see the Cowboys bring him along slowly and safely so he doesn't risk re-injuring his ankle.
The starting defense has looked really good so far in the two preseason games. My worries for the defense are free safety and defensive tackle depth. I know Alan Ball has done a decent job so far but he hasn't been forced to do much yet. I want to see him hit someone and be forced to make a play down the field in the passing game before I'll feel comfortable. Junior Siavii is probably going to be the backup defensive tackle again but he sometimes gets manhandled against the run.
Roy Williams should be working against press coverage during camp. He couldn't get off the ball on Thursday and that scares me. He really has a hard time getting separation from his defender.
I feel pretty good about Doug Free at this point. Working against Demarcus Ware in practice has to help. There was some criticism of the offensive line after the Raider game on Thursday, but they did a decent job. The pass protection problems seemed to be more of a result of problems with the receivers and quarterback than the offensive line. But I still don't understand how they don't seem to dominate the line of scrimmage in the running game like you would expect a line so massive to do.
David Buehler still has a long way to go to prove himself but he looked a lot better on Thursday. I think he should be working on longer field goals during practice because that seems to be where he hasn't quite figured it out yet. The 42 yarder against the Raiders was perfect but I think the team needs to be able to depend on him from 45-50 yards as well. With his leg power there is no reason he shouldn't be able to make long field goals consistently. I like that they make him kick in live drills in practice but I think they need to increase the distances.
The offense still should be working on their red zone production. Tony Romo mentioned that they aren't really calling their red zone plays during the preseason games, but I'm not sure they shouldn't. It would be nice if the starting offense could get in the habit of scoring touchdowns heading into the regular season. More than the lack of execution in the red zone what worries me are the stupid penalties down there. That seems to be the biggest red zone battle the offense faces.
it appears as if they should be fine. I think that they should also let him practice a 60 yard kick at least twice during practice, so that we can have a secret weapon and we can break out at least 3 points when we stall. Just a thought. What do you think?
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