Cowboy offense dominating in scrimmageAUSTIN - The Dallas Cowboys have gone on the assumption that with Deion
Sanders at wide receiver they can live for a while without Michael Irvin.
What they found out Sunday was that they might not be able to live at all
without Sanders as a full-time cornerback.
The Dallas offense toasted the defense Sunday to the tune of 368 passing
yards and three touchdowns as it dominated the Blue-White scrimmage in front
of 7,500 fans at Nelson Field.
Troy Aikman was in midseason form, completing 5 of 6 passes for 172 yards
and two touchdowns. Those two touchdowns came on the first two plays of
the scrimmage as he connected on 65-yard touchdown passes to both Kevin
Williams and Sanders.
"I've got a lot of confidence in Kevin right now," Aikman said.
"He's the only experienced receiver we have right now.
"I thought Deion did great," he said. "When we head into
the preseason games, it'll give him and I a chance to become more comfortable
with each other. He's coming along really well."
Aikman completed his first five passes before his last one in the direction
of Sanders was broken up by cornerback Alundis Brice.
Brice, forced into a starting role with Sanders on offense and Kevin Smith
still recovering from a partially ruptured Achilles tendon, had a rough
day in the secondary. He was burned to the post by Sanders on the 65-yard
TD play, and he never got back into the game mentally.
Brice was also whistled for pass interference while covering Sanders, who
caught just the one pass and left the scrimmage without talking to the media.
"Once I got beat that first time, I never caught back up," he
said. "I kept thinking about it and I let it get to me. But the one
thing about when you get a whipping is that you remember it, and you don't
let it happen again."
The first-team defense, which played without six of its 11 starters, lost
some depth when three players went out with injuries. Third-round pick Mike
Ulufale was taken off the field on a stretcher after suffering an injury
to his left shoulder and neck. He underwent CT and MRI exams Sunday and
was held overnight at an Austin hospital for observation.
Defensive tackle Hurvin McCormack sprained his left ankle, and safety Roger
Harper, whom the Cowboys acquired to back up Brock Marion, suffered a fractured
radius in his right arm.
All in all, a forgettable day for the defense and coordinator Dave Campo.
"We've to develop some guys (cornerbacks) who can play out there because
we don't know how much we're going to have Deion," Campo said. "Deion
ran right by Alundis Brice, and I'd be willing to say he's going to run
by a couple other guys before the season's over. The other guy (Davis) missed
a tackle on Kevin. That's his fault."
Campo, though, might have been most disappointed in Brice.
"I think he took a step backward today, to be perfectly honest with
you," Campo said. "But at the same time, that's a pretty good
group of receivers we've got running out there."
Williams led all receivers with three catches for 100 yards and a touchdown.
On his TD catch, he ran an out rout, slipped an attempted tackle by rookie
cornerback Wendell Davis from Oklahoma, and coasted the rest of the way
into the end zone.
Rookie wideout Stepfret Williams, who has had an impressive training camp,
caught three passes for 30 yards.
In all, four Cowboy quarterbacks completed 15 of 25 passes for 368 yards
and three TDs. Fourth-string QB Scott Semptimphelter threw the other TD
pass, a 49-yarder to Mark Harris late in the scrimmage.
"I feel real good about our first-team offense," Dallas head coach
Barry Switzer said. "They were very sharp. Obviously we had some problems
in our defensive backfield with inexperience.
"Any defensive back is going to have problems with a guy like Deion
because of his speed," he said. "I'd like to think their (receivers)
talent and ability is the reason they made those plays."
Running back Herschel Walker, who will be the Cowboys' backup to both Daryl
Johnston at fullback and Emmitt Smith at tailback, played well in his first
action as a Cowboy since 1989. He carried the ball four times for 28 yards
and caught one pass for seven. His longest run of the day was a 15-yarder
that saw him break three tackles.
"Herschel looked like he was on a mission today," Switzer said.
"He showed some things today that looked like the player of old."