SEATTLE –There was a moment in the second half of Sunday's disappointing loss to the Seahawks where it started to look like the first week of training camp in Oxnard.
That's the point of camp where injuries were mounting to an extreme and it seemed like the Cowboys couldn't take two steps without suffering another injury.
Obviously, this was much worse, considering the Cowboys weren't just playing a real game, but getting manhandled by a more aggressive Seattle squad that was dishing out a few big hits.
But the injuries were occurring in a variety of ways, especially to the defensive side of the ball. Safety Barry Church went out of the game in the first quarter with a quad injury. Gerald Sensabaugh joined him on the sidelines in the second half with a calf strain.
Both players said after the game they would be fine and should play next week against Tampa.
Alex Albright suffered a stinger injury and was in street clothes before the end of the game. Sean Lee missed a few plays after taking a nasty hit but returned on the same drive.
And in the middle of the third quarter, Miles Austin had to go to the locker room to treat dehydration.
The Cowboys typically don't provide a lot of injury information after the game, but it appears none of the setbacks are deemed serious. Head coach Jason Garrett will likely address the injury situation in his Monday afternoon press conference.
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Jenkins Returns
Sunday's game was the first live action of the season for cornerback Mike Jenkins following a nine month recovery from reconstructive shoulder surgery. Jenkins had missed all of training camp and only on Wednesday did he don shoulder pads for the first time since New Year's Day.
Jenkins' role on the defense had been a hot topic in the week leading up to the game and over the offseason, when he had reportedly asked for a trade following the additions of Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne, which knocked him out of a starting job. As it turned out, he was the Cowboys' fourth cornerback against the Seahawks, playing on sparingly in passing down sub-packages.
Orlando Scandrick remained the slot corner in the nickel defense. Jenkins played some special teams, but was on the field less than 10 snaps on defense, mostly working deep in prevent coverage or matched up against tight ends.
- *Josh Ellis *
Penalties Cleaned Up
The Cowboys fared much better on the scoreboard when they had 13 penalties like they did in Week 1 against the Giants. This week, they did a much better job of handling the crown noise and pre-snap penalties. Overall, the Cowboys were flagged just five times for 47 yards.
Seattle had five flags for 35 yards.
Penalties weren't a problem this time around, although the Cowboys certainly replaced those issues with others.
Short Shots
Miles Austin's touchdown catch Sunday gave him 30 for his career to become the 11th Dallas Cowboy with 30 touchdown receptions and tied him with Doug Cosbie for 10th in franchise history.
With his touchdown pass Sunday, Tony Romotied Roger Staubach for the third-most touchdowns in franchise history with 153.
Anthony Spencer finished Sunday's game with a pair of sacks for his fifth career multiple-sack game.
DeMarcus Ware's streak of consecutive road games with a sack came to an end Sunday, finishing with a league-record of 11 straight road games with a sack.
Jason Witten'sfour-catch performance Sunday gave him 702 career receptions to become just the second Dallas pass catcher to reach 700 career catches – Michael Irvin (750) – and the third tight end in league history to hit the mark – Tony Gonzalez (1,149) and Shannon Sharpe (815).
Wittenreached 700 catches in 145 games – the fastest of the previous tight ends - Gonzalez (154) and Sharpe (178).
Witten's 58 yards Sunday gave him 7,977 for his career and allowed him to overtake Jackie Smith (7,918) for fourth on the NFL's all-time tight ends receiving yards list. Witten is just four yards shy of third place, behind Ozzie Newsome (7,980).
Just three days after signing a three-year contract extension that will keep him under contract through 2016, Sean Lissemore had a career-high with 10 tackles.
Linebacker Bruce Carteralso had a career-best with 10 tackles Sunday.
