Thursday, August 27, 1998

Cowboys' final pre-season game may shed little light on situation

By Frank Luksa

The Dallas Morning News

(KRT)

JACKSONVILLE - The most anticipated exhibition on the Cowboys' 1998 schedule is to be played tonight against the Jacksonville Jaguars. It's the last one.

The final pre-season game used to offer a glimpse of the future. It was a display of semi-substance. Regulars played the first half or longer. Serious competition took place rather than the usual goat rope.

Were this still true, Dallas-vs.-Jacksonville would be worth careful scrutiny for clues of how goeth Coach Chan Gailey's renewal project. What better way for the rinky-dink Cowboys to measure progress than to test themselves against the next Super Bowl champions?

Such was the respective ranking of the teams in one national magazine. Jacksonville was placed No. 1 in the NFL. The Cowboys were nestled behind Cincinnati and Buffalo at No. 18. The other extreme, a tout sheet service, arrived in my mail and predicted a 12-4 finish for Dallas. The majority of pickers go with an 8-8 record or 9-7 tops.

The Cowboys clearly are a mystery to analysts and the clairvoyant. They are like the first day of Creation - without form and void of no-account victory. The 0-4 Cowboys have not won during the pre-season, which doesn't matter. But neither have they performed well or in first-team unison long enough to impress over a sustained time frame, which does matter to almost everyone.

Except their coach.

And so the mystery of the Cowboys and their strength relative to Kansas City and Kansas State will linger. They are to remain a riddle for awhile longer, a team of puzzle to opponents and perhaps themselves as well.

Tonight would seem an occasion for Gailey to use as a sustained test of front-line units. Matching them against Jacksonville's talent would reveal how well a faded champion compares with royalty-to-be.

"If you want to use two series to evaluate that, you can if you want," Gailey said before the kickoff.

If Gailey holds to his plan, it's two-and-out for many regulars and mix-and-mingle lineups thereafter. Why play it that way when coaches exclaim about the value of offensive repetition and defensive coordination? The Cowboys haven't sizzled enough in either area to warm toast.

There is Gailey's routine reason and the implication behind him saying, "We're still trying to find the best 53 (players)."

As we are beginning to learn, Gailey plays words close to his mouth. He needs a translator to interpret what sounds like a bland statement. Gailey means what he says, but doesn't always say everything he means.

In this instance, he is skirting an issue that unsettles his private moments. The Cowboys are reserve-thin. They have the depth of a wading pool, particularly on defense. Thus the basis of Gailey opting to donate the Jacksonville game to search for someone who can leap off the bench and not trip en route to the huddle.

There's also a subliminal message. By restraining his regulars to short-time duty, Gailey hints that he knows more than he's telling. Any coach with deep concern about first-team play would use a final rehearsal to address those needs. Gailey's objective lies elsewhere.

"I feel confident about how good we can be," he said, without being more specific. "But we have to prove it on a weekly basis."

Gailey then addressed three personnel issues of media focus since training camp opened. None is on his worry list, and the least may be whether Billy Davis or Ernie Mills claims the No. 2 receiver slot.

"If the other guy couldn't walk and chew gum, it would hurt us," Gailey said. "But we have people who know how to play the game, who have ability and will be good receivers for us. You don't compare everyone to Michael Irvin. You'd be comparing forever."

Another topic is the alleged decline of Emmitt Smith, who hallucinated recently. The tailback saw visions of a media campaign to be rid of him. To which the coach scoffed: "I wish I had a dozen more who are washed up like him."

Finally, local impatience with defensive end Greg Ellis because the rookie hasn't evolved into a polished pro after six weeks. And because he's here and receiver Randy Moss isn't. Gailey facetiously offered a line of work for those critics: "I don't know why they don't get in pro personnel. They could make millions," he chuckled.

So it goes for the Cowboys, a team of mystery when pre-season began and no less an enigma as it ends.

(c) 1998, The Dallas Morning News.

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