Monday, August 12, 1996
Cowboys staying busy, raking in big bucks
this pre-season
By DENNE H. FREEMAN
AP Sports Writer
(August 12, 1996)
IRVING, Texas (AP) - Super Bowl success is turning into big preseason
dollars for the Dallas Cowboys and, more precisely, for owner
Jerry Jones.
The Cowboys, who have had the busiest exhibition schedule in
the NFL, play again Monday night at Texas Stadium against the
New England Patriots.
After that, Jones has scheduled yet another game for Saturday
night in Texas Stadium against the Denver Broncos.
Just over the past week, the Cowboys lost 32-6 to Kansas City
last Monday in Monterrey, Mexico, and scrimmaged the Houston
Oilers three nights later before 51,000 fans in El Paso. The
team also squeezed in Austin workouts between those appearances.
Some players have been openly griping about the rigorous summer
camp schedule.
Dallas opened the exhibition season way back on July 24 by beating
the Oakland Raiders 35-34 at Texas Stadium. The Cowboys scrimmaged
the Raiders for three consecutive days after that.
"It has been a tough, hard training camp," said defensive
coordinator Dave Campo. "But that's how you find out who
your players are."
The Cowboys have certainly been testing their younger players.
Ten starters from last year's Super Bowl team haven't played
in a game yet, and won't appear against the Patriots.
One is running back Emmitt Smith, who sprained a knee in a blocking
drill last week. Smith will be fine, but the Cowboys are taking
no chances.
Quarterback Troy Aikman was expected to play the first quarter,
as he has done in all previous exhibition games and scrimmages.
The Cowboys, who won't have Michael Irvin for the first five
games of the regular season because of his drug case, are trying
to get Aikman in sync with the other receivers.
Deion Sanders and Aikman are trying to get their timing down,
and the Cowboys hope such young receivers as rookie Stepfret
Williams can make an impression.
The Cowboys are hurting at tight end, where they lost Kendall
Watkins with a season-ending knee injury during the El Paso scrimmage
with the Houston Oilers. Jay Novacek is nursing a bad back and
second-year tight end Eric Bjornson has hamstring problems.
Dallas has been experimenting with fullbacks Daryl Johnston and
Herschel Walker at tight end.
"We have to look at some different combinations at tight
end and see what kind of production we can get," said head
coach Barry Switzer.
The last time the Cowboys and Patriots met in the preseason was
in 1982, when the Cowboys prevailed 36-21. ESPN will televise
Monday's game, which will feature the experimental use of instant
replay if coaches want to use it.
Each coach has three challenges per half. The referee will make
a decision on the field using a monitor.
New England (0-1) is hoping quarterback Drew Bledsoe can start
showing the promise expected of him by Bill Parcells. Bledsoe
separated a shoulder in the third game of the season last year,
and the Patriots managed only a 6-10 record.
Bledsoe ended up with the lowest quarterback rating in the AFC.
All content copyright 1996, AP, The Abilene
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