Not to mention the concern over injuries in a non-pads practice, the Cowboys must be careful to limit the physicality in this summer's Organized Team Activities, as well as next week's minicamp.
The NFL Management Council and Players Association on Tuesday determined that the Seattle Seahawks had broken the CBA's rules against live contact at this time of year. The Seahawks were stripped of two of their OTA practices for this week, as well as an additional offseason workout on Friday, their players not even permitted to visit the facility.
During Wednesday's session, which was open to the media, running back DeMarco Murray took at least two hearty pops, colliding helmets once with linebacker Sean Lee and being knocked to the ground by safety Barry Church, who knocked the ball loose.
"We really try to talk to our team almost on a daily basis about how to practice," head coach Jason Garrett said after the workout. "Sometimes you have to practice better, you have to be more physical, you have to finish plays, all that kind of stuff.
"And sometimes you say 'Guys, stay off the ground, and these are the examples - this is what you should do, this is what you shouldn't do . . . you want to create competitive environments for your team, but at the same time you have to understand that you're all on the same team. You have to understand how to practice together."
Murray, for one, had no issue with the competitive play from Lee, his next door neighbor in the locker room.
"It's the NFL," Murray said. "Sean Lee didn't try to hit me. We were both going pretty fast. We both tried to stop; I tried to make a cut underneath him and he was going so fast, he played it really, really well and we just kind of ran into each other."
