AUSTIN, Texas (KRT) - Michael Irvin had the best season of his career in
1995, with career highs in receptions (116), yards (1,603) and touchdowns
(10).
But the Cowboys learned Wednesday that Irvin will miss the first five games
of the 1996 season for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy and for
conduct detrimental to the league.
Of the nine receivers remaining on the Cowboys' roster, only Kevin Williams
and Deion Sanders have caught passes in an NFL game. They have a combined
84 catches for 1,130 yards and six touchdowns.
"I have to improve my level of play," Williams said. "With
a great receiver like Michael gone, you expect there to be a level of drop-off,
but I'm going to try not to let that happen.
"Michael has accomplished a lot and he makes plays all of the time.
I'm working hard in training camp, but you don't become a Michael Irvin
overnight."
With Irvin gone, the Cowboys will rely heavily on Williams, Sanders and
third-round draft pick Stepfret Williams to carry the receiving burden.
Each is flawed.
Kevin Williams has been inconsistent in limited opportunities. Sanders,
the NFL's premier cornerback, is still learning to play receiver. Making
the adjustment from Northeast Louisiana to the NFL will be difficult for
Stepfret Williams.
The Cowboys have shown some interest in veteran free agents such as Art
Monk and Flipper Anderson, but they have little room remaining under the
NFL's $40.75 million salary cap.
Offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese said for now, the Cowboys don't plan
to add a veteran receiver.
"The guys we have want to step up and they will," said receivers'
coach Hubbard Alexander. "They won't to see things fall apart because
we don't have Michael."
Irvin is an impact player, who forces defenses to account for him. He makes
teams pay when they use eight-man fronts to slow down Emmitt Smith, and
he is Troy Aikman's security blanket - the guy Aikman looks for when he
needs a first down in a key spot.
Williams, entering his fourth season and the final year of is contract,
will replace Irvin at split end. Sanders will start at flanker.
The Cowboys' offense is designed for the split end to be the primary receiver
on most plays, while the flanker runs deep routes. Williams backed up Irvin
as a rookie.
After catching only 19 passes for 252 yards in the first 12 games last year,
Williams caught 19 passes for 361 yards and two touchdowns in the final
four games.
His diving 11-yard catch on fourth down enabled the Cowboys to set up a
game-winning field goal, which began the Super Bowl run. In the season finale,
he caught nine passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns.
Zampese said Williams has been a dominant player in training camp.
"He's making plays he didn't make last year," Zampese said. "He's
catching the ball with people around him and with their hands tugging at
the ball. Those are the types of things he didn't do last year."
Sanders is a wild card.
He's a great athlete but he's still inexperienced, as he showed in the Cowboys'
Wednesday night scrimmage against the Oilers. On third-and-10, he ran a
nine-yard pattern. He made a nice catch but was shy of the first down.
"Obviously Deion is inexperienced," said Zampese, "but his
ability is tremendous."
With Irvin out, Sanders is no longer a luxury on offense. He's a necessity.
But if cornerback Kevin Smith is not ready to play when the season begins
on Sept. 2, Coach Barry Switzer said Sanders' primary task will be defense.
(c) 1996, Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information
Services.