Thursday, December 24, 1998

Gailey says starters will play, make effort to win finale

By MIKE BALDWIN

The Daily Oklahoman

IRVING, Texas -- Unlike Barry Switzer, who benched his cornerstone players in a similar situation two years ago, Chan Gailey will play his starters in the Dallas Cowboys' regular-season finale against Washington.

It's uncertain how much quarterback Troy Aikman and the starters will play. But after meeting with his staff Monday night, Gailey has decided to play the first-team units even though the Cowboys, 9-6, will be the NFC's No. 3 seed regardless of the outcome.

"We're going out with two objectives," Gailey said. "Obviously, the first one is to win the ball game, and the second one is to improve our football team offensively and defensively. You can't do that without them playing and playing a good bit."

Pressed for what "a good bit" means, Gailey said that's yet to be determined. Most likely, starters will play the first half, possibly more.

"We'll see what the game dictates," Gailey said. "Most situations I've been involved in, if it's a tight ball game, and your team's out there playing, you have a tough time getting them off the field. They won't let you take them out of the ball game. I've done it both ways. I've made them come off, and we've let them play. We'll have to play it by ear."

The offense, having produced only two touchdowns in the last three games, could use another tune-up before the playoffs. But you risk injury.

Since backup running back Chris Warren will be sidelined five to eight weeks, coaches may not be as willing to play running back Emmitt Smith.

It also appears the Cowboys will be without defensive end Kavika Pittman in the playoffs. Pittman will be sidelined three to five weeks with a strained hamstring, forcing rookie Michael Myers to start. Myers, a defensive tackle, was moved to defensive end early in the season.

"His No. 1 attribute is his first-step quickness," Gailey said. "We thought his size, at this point and time, better dictated helping us at rush end. It's not been natural for him. He's had to learn to play that. He's a natural inside player, but he's done a good job of learning it.

"He's just like any rookie trying to play that position at this level. It's hard to do. But he still has that quickness and a very good understanding of the game of football."

Hurvin McCormack will play more defensive end, and defensive tackle Antonio Anderson will return to the rotation. Defensive tackle Leon Lett and linebacker Randall Godfrey have -5/8 played end on passing downs.

Coaches are hopeful tight end David LaFleur will play Sunday after missing the past two games with a sprained knee.

"David is a threat blocking and pass- catching," Gailey said. "He's really done a good job in the red zone as of late, making some big catches. We lost that experience on the field; we lost that size."

As for the playoffs, odds are the Cowboys will play Arizona on Jan. 2 or 3. But the coaching staff will not get an early jump on a game plan for their playoff opener.

"It's no lock who we'll play," Gailey said. "When I've seen teams do that, all that time you spent on the team you thought might make it is wasted because somebody else made it. First of all, we're going to spend all of our time on Washington.

"We want to win the football game. That's our goal. We don't have time to spend on anything else."

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)