Tuesday, October 22, 1996

Cowboys ignore rivalry
By Richard Justice
The Dallas Morning News
(Oct. 22, 1996)

DALLAS (KRT) - The Cowboys sounded as if they were speaking from the same script. They said this game is not about us. They said it was about them, about Jerry and Jimmy. They said their feud doesn't concern the players and emphasized again and again Monday that it's just another game to the guys on the field.

Troy Aikman said it. Emmitt Smith and Nate Newton said it. Only Michael Irvin, who'll be returning to his hometown, admitted it'll be special when the Cowboys play at Miami on Sunday.
"Everyone knows how I feel about Jimmy," Irvin said.

The Cowboys may truly believe that whatever owner Jerry Jones and Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson feel for one another doesn't matter. But by late Monday, it was starting to have the look and feel of something special, even with both teams 4-3.

The Dolphins announced that quarterback Dan Marino, the NFL's all-time passing leader, would return to the lineup for the first time since breaking a bone in his leg three games ago. And Cowboys coach Barry Switzer said he believed defensive end Charles Haley might practice a bit this week and possibly could play for the first time in four games.

Marino's return adds to the challenge for the Cowboys, who allowed Atlanta's Bobby Hebert to throw for 272 yards in Sunday's 32-28 victory. Hebert had enough success that the Cowboys lost the distinction of being the NFL's top-ranked defense, having fallen all of eight yards behind the Green Bay Packers.

Enter Marino.

"He's one of the great ones," Cowboys coach Barry Switzer said. "You look around the league, and there are about three or four great quarterbacks. You've got (John) Elway, Aikman, him. You're talking about three of the best."

A bigger concern Monday was the health of Cowboys left tackle Mark Tuinei, who at 36 remains one of the NFL's best offensive linemen. He has played the past two months despite an injured right knee. He re-injured the knee on the third play of the game and didn't return.

Tuinei was walking with only a mild limp on Monday, and with no swelling, trainer Jim Maurer decided not to have him undergo an MRI exam. Maurer said he probably would list Tuinei as questionable for Sunday's game, but Switzer wasn't optimistic.

"I'd think he'd be doubtful," Switzer said. "Hopefully, it's not a setback. We've got a week. He's got great recovery powers. He could be ready Wednesday."

If Tuinei can't play, Switzer will use George Hegamin, who finished the game at left tackle. The Cowboys rushed for only 56 yards against an undersized Atlanta defense. Now they face the Dolphins, who have one of the league's biggest.

The Cowboys fended off criticism about the running game, saying that Atlanta controlled the ball for 41 minutes and that offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese called only 16 running plays. But it's not the first time that a once-dominating line failed to open running holes.

"We didn't call that many runs," Newton said. "In the first half, we were 9-for-41. What type of average is that? The main thing is winning. That's what we've always preached around here. If we throw 100 passes and win, that's what counts. But if you can't run, you can't win. That's the bottom line."

Smith said almost the same thing. "We didn't have that many chances," he said. "But we didn't do that well with the chances we did have."

Still, the Cowboys know that very little of this week will have to do with the running game or the injuries, not on a week when Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson will be on opposite sidelines, maybe even literally if Jones returns to the field, as he did against the Falcons.

"As players, we're really not caught up in that," Aikman said. "We want to go out and play well, just like we do every week. The media's going to have a ball with this thing. That's fine. The two characters in this thing are Jerry and Jimmy - and not anyone in this locker room."
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(c) 1996, Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

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