ARLINGTON, Texas – The announcement in the AT&T Stadium press box was a familiar one – Miles Austin had left the game against St. Louis with hamstring problems.
Austin had a quiet afternoon before aggravating his repeatedly gimpy legs on a deep route in the third quarter. He was targeted five times and came away with two catches for 22 yards.
The veteran wideout didn't reappear after leaving the action, though Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said that was a precautionary move.
"The discussion we had was that he was going to continue to stay warmed up," Garrett said. "I said 'That's a good thing, he needs to be ready, but we'll keep looking at that scoreboard and making sure we can handle the situation without him.'" [embedded_ad]
The lopsided nature of the win against the Rams certainly made it an easy call to rest Austin. The Cowboys scored to go up 31-7 with roughly 12 minutes remaining in the game and were able to cruise to a comfortable win without their No. 2 receiver.
"Because the game – you know, we were ahead in the ballgame – we decided to keep him out of it," Garrett said. "We'll just evaluate it over the next couple of days."
Austin's absence opened the door for another nicked-up receiver, Dwayne Harris, to rebound for his first touchdown of the season, however.
Harris seemed destined for a bad afternoon when he muffed a punt to open the afternoon. It didn't look likely to get better when he left the game briefly with a hip pointer, though he eventually returned.
"He really showed a lot of mental and physical toughness throughout the game," Garrett said.
Fittingly enough, it was Harris' hands – shaky to start – which sealed the win, as he brought in his lone catch for a 24-yard touchdown.
"It was a bad play," Garrett said of the muffed punt. "It was a bad play by him and our defense went out and responded the right way, and I think Dwayne responded the right way himself as the game wore on."
Here are some more notes from the Cowboys' 31-7 win against St. Louis:
- Anthony Spencer was inactive for the second time in three weeks with the same knee injury he had surgery on in July. The Cowboys managed fine without the Pro Bowler, as they racked up six sacks, but there's no doubt they'd like to get one of their sack artists back to the field. "It's just real frustrating for this to be the same lingering problem, but it is what it is and I'm handling it the best way I can," Spencer said. Defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said the team had an idea earlier in the week that Spencer would be unavailable. Spencer tried to work out on the knee as late as Friday but "it wasn't going." The thought is that the knee is still sore from the stress of playing against Kansas City, and Spencer said he'll "play it by ear" going forward.
- Brian Waters said following the win he thought he could play a full game on the offensive line. Waters and Mackenzy Bernadeau rotated at guard against the Rams, after Waters worked just a few series of each half last week against the Chiefs. "At the end of the day, that's the coaches' call. I'm just going to continue to do what I can," Waters said. "We got some good guys – we got a good group, and the more players the better, because it's a long season. As we find in the NFL, you've got to have more than five offensive linemen to be successful."
- At one point, both Bernadeau and Waters played guard together, as Ronald Leary tweaked his knee in the third quarter. Garrett said it was the same knee Leary injured during training camp, but he was fine and was able to return to the game.
- Like Harris, Gavin Escobar made the most of a small opportunity. The rookie tight end managed just one catch, but it isn't one he'll soon forget. Escobar brought in a beautiful 24-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter to put Dallas up, 24-0. "I was very excited," Escobar said. "That's usually not a play where I'm the go-to guy, but you never know and you have to be ready to catch the ball." The play was actually the exact same as the one Harris would late score on. Escobar had just missed on several opportunities this season, but Tony Romo said the rookie is coming along nicely. "He almost had one earlier in the game. I think he lost his shoe against New York on one where he would have had one. So it was just a matter of time," Romo said.
- Not everything went swimmingly for the Cowboys in an otherwise easy win. Kicker Dan Bailey missed a manageable field goal wide right from just 35 yards out. Harris' muffed punt also factored into a forgettable day.
- Orlando Scandrick's sack of Sam Bradford in the first quarter gave the cornerback 7.5 sacks for his career – fourth-best among defensive backs in Cowboys history. It seems like a stat that could be more common for Scandrick in this defense. "He's got good timing, and he wants to be around that football," Garrett said. "He's got that big ass chip on his shoulder, too."
