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Dallas relies on rookie DT

By MIKE BALDWIN

The Daily Oklahoman

IRVING, Texas - Now that he's a starter, rookie defensive tackle Antonio Anderson is going to discover that if he struggles, he won't have his apartment maintenance man to rescue him.

Anderson, you see, was 20 minutes late for last week's team flight when his garage door wouldn't open.

"He was about 30 seconds away from finding his own way to New York City," defensive coordinator Dave Campo said. "He was fortunate that garage door came up."

Anderson is starting because an MRI exam revealed veteran tackle Chad Hennings suffered an injury that pulled a tendon away from the pelvic bone in Sunday's 20-17 loss to the Giants. Hennings, 31, most likely will not need surgery, but could be sidelined six to eight weeks.

"It's certainly a blow to our defensive front, one that was very thin to begin with the loss of Leon Lett," coach Barry Switzer said. "We're counting on an old veteran and a bunch of young guys."

The old veteran is Tony Casillas, in his 12th season. The young guys are Anderson, Darren Benson - drafted out of junior college - and Hurvin McCormack, an undrafted free agent who made the team in '94.

"This is going to be an opportunity to prove myself and show everybody they missed an opportunity to get a good player," said Anderson, who expects to be fined for being late for last week's team flight. "Hopefully, I can play to that level. It's a challenge."

Anderson was projected to be a first- or second-round draft pick out of Syracuse, but several teams questioned his work ethic. He started against Chicago when Hennings was inactive due to a groin injury, which is related to the pulled tendon.

"Every team is going to run up the gut on us," Anderson said. "It's like when you have a rookie cornerback out there. I'm a rookie defensive tackle, so that's who you're going to pick on. I just have to prepare for that challenge."

Coaches have been pleased with Anderson's progress. Five games into his first NFL season, he's made 12 tackles and recorded one sack.

"Antonio has a great upside, potential," Switzer said. "He's going to be a very good player in the future. We want him to arrive sooner than it was probably scheduled for him."

Run defense became Campo's primary concern once Lett was suspended. Without Lett and Hennings, that's even more of a concern, especially since the Cowboys will be facing solid ground attacks the next four games.

"It's a tremendous challenge," Campo said. "At the same time we have players who can rise to the occasion. It's just a case of us having to buckle down and play football. ... Fortunately we have some depth there, not proven depth, but depth."

Benson, 23, was drafted out of Trinity Valley (Texas) Community College. He recorded only four tackles his rookie year, missed the 1996 season after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery, and has been inactive for four of five games this season.

"The tempo is so up-speed for him; that's something he's never seen before," Switzer said. "We hope he clicks and adjusts and be comes the player we think he can be because of his athletic ability. But he looks like a cow on ice sometimes out there. It's because he hasn't had enough snaps."

Even though all four players will rotate at defensive tackle, Anderson and Casillas will start. McCormack, who has 47 career tackles and 4 1/2 sacks, probably will receive more snaps.

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)