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Saturday, July 12, 1997

Cowboys face question and answer time

By Jean-Jacques Taylor

The Dallas Morning News

(KRT)

DALLAS - Owner Jerry Jones spent the off-season trying to eliminate the off-the-field scandals that have scarred the Dallas Cowboys' image the past few seasons.

He seems to have accomplished his goal.

For the first time in three seasons, the Cowboys will not report to training camp Friday after an off-season of controversy. Since the Cowboys' season ended with a 26-17 loss to Carolina in a divisional playoff game, there have been no arrests and no scandals.

Michael Irvin has requested a trade, skipped both off-season mini-camps and publicly said he is pondering retirement; however, Jones said he expects him to report to training camp.

Besides, Irvin will forfeit about $7 million if he retires.

The Cowboys have won three of the past five Super Bowls, but last season they failed to reach the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1992.

Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith are coming off sub-par seasons - by their lofty standards - and the defense is filled with uncertainty.

That said, here are some key questions the Cowboys must answer during their four weeks in Austin:

QUESTION: What is the Cowboys' top priority in training camp?

ANSWER: Staying healthy.

The Cowboys are an aging, veteran team and will enter training camp with 12 starters at least 30 years old. As players get older, they get hurt more frequently, and it takes them longer to recover.

Last season, the Cowboys entered the season a battered team. Emmitt Smith (knee, ankle) and left tackle Mark Tuinei (knee) sustained serious injuries that hampered them all season.

For the Cowboys to make a serious run at another Super Bowl championship, they must enter the season unscathed.

Jones' management philosophy is to pay premium prices for star players and fill in the rest of the roster with role players. That means the Cowboys do not have a lot of proven or quality depth.

Dallas cannot afford any serious injuries that would force it to put inexperienced players in key roles.

Q: Can the Cowboys count on Michael Irvin's usual Pro Bowl performance if he plays this season?

A: Irvin may have a plethora of off-the-field woes, but he remains one of the NFL's top receivers. Despite serving a five-game suspension last season for conduct detrimental to the league, he still had nearly 1,000 yards receiving.

Irvin, a player fueled by emotion, will probably recapture his passion for the game once he spends a few days around his teammates. He has always been one of the team's hardest-working players, and the Cowboys feed off his energy.

Besides, Irvin has not had a quality receiver opposite him since Alvin Harper left three seasons ago.

Anthony Miller, who signed a two-year contract in June, is a five-time Pro Bowl performer who should punish other teams when they double-cover Irvin, something Deion Sanders and Kevin Williams frequently failed to do last season.

Q: What players figure into the Cowboys' defensive-line rotation as Leon Lett serves his suspension for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy?

A: Last year, the Cowboys hoped Tony Casillas could give them 20 quality plays per game as a backup. Now, they want the same 20 plays as a starter.

Casillas is still good against the run, but he provides minimal pass rush. Chad Hennings, who will start next to Casillas, is a better pass-rusher than run defender.

Darren Benson, who missed last season with a knee injury, rookie Antonio Anderson, Leonard Renfro and Hurvin McCormack, who is expected to re-sign with Dallas next week, will compete for two or perhaps three roster spots.

Lett is one of the game's best. The Cowboys can't replace him, they just hope teams don't control the ball and the game by pounding Dallas between the tackles like Carolina did in the playoffs.

Q: Who will start at cornerback until the Cincinnati Reds fall out of the playoff race and Deion Sanders returns - or if Sanders gets hurt playing baseball.

A: Wendell Davis, a sixth-round pick last season, and rookie Kenny Wheaton, a third-round pick, will compete for the third cornerback spot. Third-year veteran Alundis Brice will miss the early part of training camp as he recovers from a knee injury.

Davis played well in limited opportunities last season, and the coaching staff was impressed with Wheaton's work in mini-camp.

But Sanders has Hall of Fame ability, and the Cowboys will be in serious trouble if he misses any games because he's playing baseball.

By the way, the Reds - not Jones nor Sanders - will determine if he plays baseball or football on Sundays in September.

Q: Without Charles Haley, what will the Cowboys do for a pass rush?

A: Haley, who is expected to announce his retirement before training camp, played in only five games last season, so he wasn't much of a factor. The Cowboys re-signed Broderick Thomas, who moved from linebacker to defensive end midway through last season, because the coaching staff believes he can provide consistent pressure.

Without Lett collapsing the pocket and forcing quarterbacks to scramble, the sack totals for Tony Tolbert (12) might decrease.

Defensive coordinator Dave Campo said he's more concerned with the Cowboys' secondary because with so many teams using passing attacks with three- and five-step drops, most sacks are the result of good coverage.

If the secondary plays well, he said, the sacks will come.

(c) 1997, The Dallas Morning News.

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