OXNARD, Calif. – Notes from Thursday morning's walkthrough will have to suffice, as Cowboys coach Jason Garrett did not hold a press conference ahead of the team's flight to Oakland.
The Cowboys held an hour-long walkthrough ahead of their second preseason game at Oakland. Quarterback Tony Romo spoke to the media following the workout, in lieu of a media session with Garrett. Here are some notes from the proceedings:
- Cornerback Morris Claiborne said Wednesday night he hoped and expected to be a part of the Thursday walkthrough. He did not make it out to the field, however, which seems like a good indicator he won't get any snaps against the Raiders. Orlando Scandrick got the first-team cornerback reps in place of Claiborne.
- Fellow starter Brandon Carr did return to the team after missing two days while his fiancée gave birth. Carr went through walkthrough and looks likely to get a small amount of playing time.
- The Cowboys released guard Jeff Olson shortly after the morning practice ended. Olson spent roughly a week on the squad, after he was concussed by defensive tackle Jason Hatcher on his first day at practice.
- Despite posting two sacks during the Hall of Fame game, defensive end George Selvie remained on the second-string defensive line for the walkthrough. He lined up with Jerome Long, Sean Lissemore and Kyle Wilber to form the second unit.
- The starters remained from the Miami game – Ben Bass, Nick Hayden, Hatcher and DeMarcus Ware.
- Defensive end Anthony Spencer was at walkthrough in street clothes. Spencer has been visible at practice this past week after missing time due to surgery. It remains to be seen how quickly Spencer will ease is way into work.
- The starters look likely to spend at least some time on the field this week, after sitting against Miami. But Romo said the Cowboys aren't likely to get too intricate. "We're not going to show very much in this game. We might show some things we've done before," he said. "We're still in those last couple things, just talking about them. But we've got it narrowed down pretty good, so I think we'll be fine here in another couple hours as to exactly what we're going to do and what we're not."
- Asked about the run-heavy playbook against Miami, Romo said he was encouraged to see the offense rush the ball – something it was unable to do in 2012. "Being able to run the ball helps a lot. If you run the ball well, we're going to keep calling the runs," he said. "We need to run the ball better this year just in general. To me, that's an important aspect of what we're trying to do, and we need to do that." [embedded_ad]
- With his first preseason action rapidly approaching, the veteran quarterback said the Cowboys would do well not to read too much into the successes and failures of a preseason games. "I think sometimes we'll just jump to too many conclusions -- us as well as you guys -- based on it. 'We're going to be good, you're not going to be that good.' More than anything you just want to have good execution," Romo said. "You want to be able to do things. You're not game planning per se and having the stuff that you're really going to attack certain coverages and certain teams a certain way."
