Friday, October 18, 1996
Injuries Damage Cowboys' Running Game
By the Associated Press
(Associated Press, 1996)
IRVING, Texas (AP) - Running backs coach Joe Brodsky has a videotape
of every Dallas Cowboys running play this season.
He planned for it to be a teaching tool for the young players,
but what it revealed was not surprising.
"We had a running back not completely healthy and an offensive
line hurting," Brodsky said.
"When we had a week to rest, we did a good job. When we're
healthy, we're a good running team."
They haven't been healthy very often.
Mark Tuinei appears headed for off-season knee surgery. Two months
after spraining the medial collateral ligament in his right knee,
he's still having problems.
Right guard Larry Allen began training camp recovering from knee
surgery. Center Ray Donaldson had undergone ankle surgery and
right tackle Erik Williams, toe surgery.
Even Emmitt Smith was nursing a host of ailments.
"I think it goes way back to training camp when we didn't
have guys together," Cowboys offensive coordinator Ernie
Zampese said about the Cowboys' weak running game. "Everybody
has injuries.
You can use any excuse you like. We were just not playing well.
We were not playing with any consistency."
Maintaining their health could be another issue.
The Cowboys play the winless Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, and won't
have another week off the remainder of the season. So they've
got to hope that one of the NFL's oldest offensive lines can
stand up to the pounding.
"We're old," Tuinei said. "That's obvious. We're
going to keep going out there until they find a young guy to
do the job."
In other developments, two-way player Deion Sanders participated
in defensive drills only Wednesday. Coach Barry Switzer held
him out of offensive drills because of a noticeable limp.
And Pro Bowl defensive end Charles Haley, who has missed the
past three games with a sore back, did some conditioning and
rehab work Wednesday. But his availability for Sunday remains
in doubt.
All content copyright 1996, AP, The Abilene
Reporter-News and Reporter OnLine
|
