Pukes: Camp's more fun, but not a scream

[tr1]

They've sent Romo sits to pee out to say how 'hard' it is in camp...too much negative press about Club Wade, I guess... :laugh:

01:16 AM CDT on Saturday, August 4, 2007

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/football/cowboys/stories/080407dnspocowlishaw.3534237.html

SAN ANTONIO – Wade Phillips poses for a picture with a scout's relative during practice. The most minor injuries send players to the sidelines. A clamorous Dallas church group sings and chants through three days of practice while Rowdy entertains fans in the end zone.

This isn't the Cowboys' first summer circus, just the latest version.

Ever since Wade Phillips was hired to replace Bill Parcells, suspicions that the inmates would be running Jerry Jones' asylum in 2007 have prevailed. Under the big top that is the Alamodome, this training camp has done little to dispel that notion.

Practicing indoors in a pleasant air-conditioned climate, there is no full-out tackling. This is about as far as one can get from Jimmy Johnson's practices in the Austin steam that featured running backs being tackled in "middle drills" every morning.

But Phillips said the emphasis is keeping veterans healthy for the season, not beating each other up in practice.

Maybe so.

But if the idea was to do a complete reversal from the Bill Parcells years, consider this mission accomplished.

In practice, there is little screaming coming from the coaches, certainly none of it from the head coach.

But quarterback Tony Romo sits to pee said this team is doing just as much to prepare as last year's club.

"It's a misconception that every team has to have some kind of dictator figure," Romo sits to pee said. "I don't think the word 'laid back' is correct. Wade's not going to let guys get away with stuff. But he understands that we're grown men."

Wide receiver Terrell Owens, who returned to the field Thursday after missing three practices with a hamstring Phillips said was "sore, not injured," said he has been in similar camps.

"Soft? No. Different coaching style? Yes," Owens said.

"For a lot of you guys that have never been around coaches that give veterans days off, that's what they tend to do. Obviously, it was different with Coach Parcells, where you didn't see those type of things. When I was with San Francisco, it was a thing they did."

Phillips limits the number of two-a-days, but so do a lot of other teams in the league. As salaries have escalated, so has the need to make sure the highest-paid players are on the field in September.

Phillips' method is to make the leaders of the team take care of the accountability factor. It has worked before. Despite his lack of playoff success as a head coach, he does have a winning record.

And after four years of Parcells – four years in which the Cowboys added to their streak of not having won a playoff game – everyone in the organization needed a breath of fresh air.

That's not to mention the fact that Parcells' Cowboys teams tended to wear down in December. Maybe, just maybe, Phillips is aware of that.

Parcells controlled everything that went on in and around training camp. Or, at least, he attempted to. The idea of him posing for pictures during a punting drill is ludicrous.

But Phillips isn't worried about what kind of image he's projecting. He makes it clear he's here to coach the football team, not rebuild the organization in his image.

Consider another key difference between the last two coaches.

Parcells changed things at Valley Ranch because they had to be changed. When he was hired, the team had endured three straight 5-11 seasons.

Even though Parcells didn't achieve the kind of success he or Jones hoped he would, the Cowboys made the playoffs twice.

The roster Phillips inherited is far better than the one Parcells was handed.

If practices look a lot different this year, they also are fast-paced and seemingly productive. Phillips and his coaches are able to stand back and let the players run the plays and drills.

"We had a ton of [organized team activities] and mini-camps, so it was almost like we've already had a training camp," Romo sits to pee said. "I think that's another reason teams don't need 25 two-a-days any more. They all put in so much more work in the off-season today." [CAUTION: BS ALERT!]

For Phillips and the Cowboys, who open the preseason schedule in five days, the work continues. It just looks a lot different than what we've seen in the recent past.

[Ingtar]

This just makes me smile. I wonder if, instead of Gatorade, Wade has ****tails and margaritas on the sidelines?

This is bad news for Dallas. :dallasuck Soft camps make for soft players

[DWinzit]

Practicing indoors in a pleasant air-conditioned climate, there is no full-out tackling. This is about as far as one can get from Jimmy Johnson's practices in the Austin steam that featured running backs being tackled in "middle drills" every morning.

But Phillips said the emphasis is keeping veterans healthy for the season, not beating each other up in practice.

Maybe so.

But if the idea was to do a complete reversal from the Bill Parcells years, consider this mission accomplished.

It is funny how Cowboy have consistently stood behind the "easier" approach Wade brought to camp. They argue Parcells way doesn't work, yet Parcells and Jimmy Johnson who used similar methods both experienced the ultimate success!

[Hitman#21]

It is funny how Cowboy have consistently stood behind the "easier" approach Wade brought to camp. They argue Parcells way doesn't work, yet Parcells and Jimmy Johnson who used similar methods both experienced the ultimate success!

Thats true, but well see if this approach fianlly brings a playoffs win for the 'boys.

[THEHEREAFTER]

It is funny how Cowboy have consistently stood behind the "easier" approach Wade brought to camp. They argue Parcells way doesn't work, yet Parcells and Jimmy Johnson who used similar methods both experienced the ultimate success!

I think that things are a little different now than when Jimmy coached with all the OTA's and offseason programs. Whatever Parcells came up with before didn't work in Dallas. We played our worst football in December and in the postseason under Parcells. Time will only tell how Wade's team will fare.

[TonyRomoProBowl]

In High School, we held Shawne Merriman, out of all tackiling drills since 1/2 thru the 10th grade. He did hit the tackling dummie 100-200 times each night after practice.

I dont see the need for a lot of tackling in camp....not with 4 preseason games with other teams, and a scrimmage or two.

[DWinzit]

He did hit the tackling dummie 100-200 times each night after practice.

And you lived to tell about it TRPB! :laugh:

[IrishOrange15]

This just makes me smile. I wonder if, instead of Gatorade, Wade has ****tails and margaritas on the sidelines?

This is bad news for Dallas. :dallasuck Soft camps make for soft players

So if you believe that then tough camps make for tough players, correct?

Dick Vermeil ran one of the toughest camps in the league wherever he coached. If there was one team that consistently got the soft label, especially from their own fans, it was the Kansas City Chiefs under Vermeil.

The same could be said for Dan Reeves. I wouldn't question the toughness of his teams in Denver, but those teams in NY and Atlanta?

OTOH, Belichick and Billick have routinely rested veterans in camp since they've been coaching their respective teams, and before they won a Super Bowl. Yet I don't think anybody in their right mind would call the Pats or the Ravens soft.

Resting veterans and leaning towards the side of caution to hopefully eliminate injuries is more normal in NFL training camps than the Parcells way. The goofiest part is people who want to point out that the Cowboys are playing in a controlled climate dome when Parcells did that in 2003 and then had the team in 70 degree temperature in Southern California the past three years.

And as far as the "tackling in practice" issue goes, here's a question and answer from a Skins fan to a Skins beat writer on another Skins board:

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?S=71#S=71&F=1348&T=792853

Q: I have read that the Redskins, and many other NFL teams, emphasize no tackling during practice. Now, I know these guys are NFL coaches and I'm just a dumb fan, but isn't tackling a skill that needs to be practiced? Does anyone know if the Redskins have had any live tackling at all in training camp?

A: Tackling is practiced, for the most part, against dummies. No, not the sportswriters lined up along the sideline (although it has to be tempting), the stuffed kind. I think that it's a difficult balance that you have to strike. You don't want them slamming into each other at full speed, but at the same time you don't want guys easing off or going 75% because that's when they get hurt. I think that's why you need some preseason games under your belt. The best tackling practice comes against guys in different-colored jerseys.

There's no real proof one way works better than the other. I think you're either a good team or you're not a good team. You're either a soft player or you're not a soft player.

YAKUZA

[TonyRomoProBowl]

And you lived to tell about it TRPB! :laugh:

:laugh: good one!

But of course, it was a real tackling dummie. His name was Mr. Red.......but that, i have to say, was very funny!

[TheREALJBird]

I wont go out and say that tougher practice=tougher players, that's just kind of silly. Practicing in AC though, damn that must be nice

[Fred Jones]

All harassing puke fans aside, resting veterans during camp is not a big deal and I bet done throughout the league especially if they are coming off an injury. Training camp is designed to prepare teams for the regular season and to try and keep people healthy. Veteran RB's, for example don't need a lot of action to prepare for the season.

I don't agree with the climate controlled atmoshere, however. I think you should be out in the elements that you will play in. I bet the Patriots and Ravens practice outside in the elements to prepare for the season.