IRVING, Texas – The Cowboys have addressed to the injury to right tackle Doug Free by signing Tony Hills from Miami's practice squad.
To make room on the 53-man roster, the team has released defensive end Lavar Edwards. Hills will wear No. 67, and the Cowboys are hopeful he can practice Wednesday morning.
Here is a scouting report on Hills from analyst Bryan Broaddus:
- Hills was originally a fourth-round selection by the Steelers in 2008. He has spent time with the Broncos, Colts, Bills, Raiders and Dolphins. Signed off the Dolphins practice squad.
- Games studied were Miami preseason 2014 vs. Atlanta, Tampa Bay and St. Louis
- Saw action mainly on the left side at offensive tackle but did line up against the Buccaneers on the right side.
- Looked more comfortable on the right side technique-wise. Played quicker while coming off the ball and in his pass sets. Showed more lateral range to work to the outside.
- Has some pop in his punch along with some upper body power and strength. Mauler – Brawler type of blocker. Works hard to finish his blocks. Has a nasty side to him. Plays with emotion.
- There are more snaps than not where he shows good balance, but when he does struggle it is when he had to quickly adjust back inside to cut off his man. Gave up a pressure on an inside move against the Falcons. Needs to guard against getting too tall on his set because he got knocked back before he managed to reset his feet.[embeddedad0]
- Plays with solid effort in trying to get to the second level to getting that extra block. Had a block where he was on the backside as the ball was going right where he initially over shot the Buccaneers linebacker but was able to adjust back to him and slam him to the ground on the block.
- Was used on several snaps where he was the lead blocker on the screen in space. Was asked to pull as well on the crack – toss to his side and was productive in grabbing that first support. Thought he really moved well in space.
- Best traits are his temperament and physicality. If there is an area he will need to work on it's that lateral slide as a pass blocker when a rusher takes him really wide up the field. He has to really work hard to keep his position and contact. When he can get his hands on the rusher that is when he does his best work because he will finish that block.
