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Tight ends not a problem for Cowboys

By Jean-Jacques Taylor

The Dallas Morning News

(KRT)

DALLAS - Four weeks into the season, the Cowboys' master plan at tight end seems to be working.

"We would like to have every position on our football team as solidified as the tight end position," Coach Barry Switzer said Thursday. "The combination of those three guys gives us a lot versatility. We have a lot of depth and talent at that position."

That's just what the Cowboys envisioned when they drafted 6-7, 280-pound David LaFleur in the first round and signed free agent Scott Galbraith just before training camp.

The idea was to limit Eric Bjornson, who weighs 235 pounds, to about 30 plays per game because the coaching staff deemed him too fragile to take the week-to-week pounding of playing tight end, where he routinely helps block 280-pound defensive ends and fights 250-pound linebackers to get off the line of scrimmage.

Last year, two sprained ankles in the latter part of season kept Bjornson from practicing and severely limited his effectiveness. He caught 45 passes in the first 10 games and three in the last three regular-season games.

Bjornson, however, has participated in more than 50 plays each of the last two games.

And he and LaFleur enter Sunday's game against Chicago coming off their best performances of the season.

Bjornson caught four passes for 48 yards, including a diving 24-yard catch that set up the winning touchdown against Philadelphia. Tight ends coach Robert Ford said Bjornson also did a good job of blocking.

Bjornson has caught nine passes for 116 yards this season.

"I always feel like I can play better," Bjornson said. "There's still a lot of room for improvement.

"Some games I'm going to catch a lot of balls, and some games I'm not, but I don't worry about it. I just try to do my job."

Although LaFleur did not catch a pass against Philadelphia, Ford said the rookie had his best blocking game of the season. LaFleur has yet to catch his first NFL pass, but he is still making a contribution.

He put Pittsburgh linebacker Greg Lloyd on his back five times in the season-opener. And Ford said he has had at least one block worthy of a highlight film in every game.

"I take a lot of pride in my blocking, but it's really just trying to use good technique," LaFleur said. "But I'm happy with what I've done because I'm doing what they ask me to do. I know the balls will come."

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