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Cowboys' receivers can't wait for Anthony Miller

By Josie Karp

Knight-Ridder Newspapers

(KRT)

IRVING, Texas - The Cowboys are not saying they are fed up with the spate of injuries that has kept wide receiver Anthony Miller off the practice field and playing field.

But Michael Irvin, who would benefit most from the presence of Miller, is tired of hearing Miller's injuries used as an excuse for the team's inconsistent passing offense.

"I would love to have Anthony. I would like to have everybody healthy every week," Irvin said. "Unfortunately, that's not reality. Saying this guy didn't play and that hurt us, and this guy didn't play and that hurt us, that's not good enough. We've got to be able to play and we've got to be able to play no matter the situation."

Miller took himself out of Sunday's loss to the Arizona Cardinals because of a hamstring injury. The Cowboys do not know if Miller will play in Monday night's home opener against the Philadelphia Eagles.

"I expected him to play last week and I was wrong," Cowboys coach Barry Switzer said. "He's just day-to-day, and we'll just have to wait and see."

Miller participated in limited practice on Wednesday. He is listed as probable on the injury report.

The passing offense clicked for 295 yards and four touchdowns with Miller in the season opener against Pittsburgh. Without Miller, the Cowboys had 147 yards passing and no touchdowns Sunday.

The three wide receivers who played against the Cardinals - Irvin, Billy Davis and Stepfret Williams - caught a combined 10 passes for 80 yards without a touchdown.

That performance suggests the Cowboys could have a difficult time Monday against Eagles cornerbacks Bobby Taylor and Troy Vincent, one of the best tandems in the league. Last week, the Philadelphia defense kept the Green Bay Packers out of the end zone and limited Packers wide receivers to 12 catches for 193 yards.

In his past three games against Philadelphia, Irvin has a total of 11 catches for 138 yards and one touchdown. Part of that ineffectiveness can be credited to Taylor and Vincent.

Five days before the game, there is some question about which receivers will be lining up as quarterback Troy Aikman's targets.

Davis, normally the third wide receiver, is practicing in Miller's starting spot. Williams, a second-year player who would rarely play if Miller were healthy, practiced in Davis' position as the slot wide receiver.

The Cowboys also began integrating Deion Sanders into the offense yesterday, Switzer said.

"He'll carry some plays in this ballgame," Switzer said. "It doesn't mean that we'll be throwing the ball or running him on a reverse or whatever, but he'll be in the game and we'll have our running game with him out there and he'll be in some of the patterns."

With the availability of Sanders, Williams will probably see less playing time than he did against the Cardinals if Miller cannot play. But Switzer said Williams, a 1996 third-round draft pick, earned some confidence from the coaching staff with his performance against Arizona.

Williams caught five passes for 53 yards against the Cardinals, more yardage than Irvin and Davis combined.

"Michael (Irvin) is still the common denominator," Aikman said, "and he's still out there."

The only question is whether Miller will play with Irvin on Monday.

"If his hamstring is bothering him and he's unable to go, then obviously there's concern there," Aikman said. "Am I down on Anthony? No. Not at all. I know that he wants to be out there as much as anybody and he's been frustrated. Clearly, we want him out there on the field; that's why he was brought in. Not having him has been disappointing, but we try to deal with it as best we can."

(c) 1997, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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