Monday, April 27, 1998

Brooks bidding to become No. 2 receiver

By Bart Hubbuch

The Dallas Morning News

(KRT)

IRVING. Calif. - Excluding Michael Irvin, Dallas Cowboys coach Chan Gailey says the Cowboys will "win by committee" at wide receiver this season.

Don't be surprised if Macey Brooks is chairman of that committee when all is said and done.

Although a fractured right forearm kept Brooks from even catching a pass as a rookie last year, the Cowboys still consider him the most athletically gifted and promising of the five receivers vying for the starting job opposite Irvin.

Veteran special-teamer Billy Davis is listed as Dallas' No. 2 receiver, but the Cowboys aren't ruling out a change by the Sept. 6 season opener. Brooks thinks he can be the player to force that change.

"No. 2 receiver is a legitimate goal in my mind for this season," he said Sunday. "Whether it's within my grasp isn't up to me, but that's my only mind set."

Heady talk for someone whose NFL career consists of three exhibition games and a season on injured reserve. The confidence comes from a weightlifting program that has added considerable bulk to the 6-5, 220-pound Brooks' already impressive receiving skills.

Brooks, who completed a three-day mini-camp Sunday along with the rest of the Cowboys' rookies and veterans, already is catching the eye of quarterback Troy Aikman.

"Macey's developed a lot over the past year, and I'm looking forward to him contributing on the field," Aikman said.

Brooks wondered last year if he would ever hear such encouragement. Already dejected by the arm injury, his mood dimmed further when the Cowboys put him on injured reserve, citing the expectation that he wouldn't return until at least the 10th week of the season.

But Brooks turned that free time into an extended learning and body-building session - the first of his entire athletic career, considering previous off-seasons had been spent playing baseball.

Now the former fourth-round pick out of James Madison can't wait to use his leaping skills, big body and soft hands to convince Gailey to make him Irvin's regular counterpart.

"I was upset at first by the injured-reserve thing," Brooks said. "But now that I see how far I've come, I'm actually glad it happened. It was a blessing in disguise."

Chan Gailey concluded his first mini-camp without installing at least two important pieces of his offense: the four- and five-receiver sets and the Shotgun.

The Shotgun will be used for the first time when the Tuesday-Thursday voluntary workouts resume this week. Gailey said the multiple-receiver sets will have been installed when the Cowboys hold the second of their three mini-camps in early May.

Johnston on pace

Fullback Daryl Johnston completed three full days of non-contact workouts Sunday, showing no ill effects from surgery last fall to repair a herniated disk in his neck.

The only lingering concern is the strength of his chest and triceps muscles. "The strength in my neck is 100 percent," Johnston said.

Praising Ellis

Although Chan Gailey's policy is not to single out rookies, he couldn't resist when asked about the play so far of top pick Greg Ellis, the North Carolina defensive end already penciled in as the starter on the left side.

"He's done a great job," Gailey said. "He's everything we thought he would be to this point."

Briefly ...Personnel director Stephen Jones said the Cowboys aren't interested in veteran cornerback Larry Brown, the Super Bowl XXX Most Valuable Player who has been told to look elsewhere by the Oakland Raiders. "We like what we've got," Jones said. ... Nate Newton's amazing meltdown continues. Cowboys trainers said the veteran guard weighed in last week at fewer than 300 pounds for what is believed to be the first time in his 13-year NFL career.

(c) 1998, The Dallas Morning News.

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