NFC East News: Preseason Report on the Cowboys, Eagles, and Redskins
DALLAS COWBOYS: It hasn’t been a good preseason for the Cowboys. Just ask Dallas coach Wade Phillips. From the AP:
The Dallas Cowboys are running out of excuses for their sloppy preseason. They’re also running out of time to clean things up.
So coach Wade Phillips is considering doing something he’d rather avoid: play his regulars in the exhibition finale Thursday night.
The Cowboys are expecting to be Super Bowl contenders, yet Tony Romo has led the starters to one touchdown in four games this summer and it came on a drive that began 8 yards from the end zone. In a 23-7 loss to the Houston Texans on Saturday night, the first-teamers turned over the ball both times they were in scoring position. The defense got run over, too.
“We’re not ready for prime time yet,” Phillips said. “If the players aren’t ready to play for the first regular-season game, then I need to get them ready to play. … If we see that things are correctable and we can correct them in practice, we’ll do that. If we need more game time, then we’ll just have to do it.”
Offense and defense weren’t the only disappointments. Phillips said he didn’t see much emotion and intensity, either.
“I would hope we’d have some antidotes for some of these things,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. “We’ve got to be ready to play. We can’t afford any bad nights.”
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES: The Eagles have some concerns as well. For them, the trouble starts on the offensive line. The Philadelphia Inquirer explains:
The problems with this offensive line and the domino effect it could have are frightening.
Forget about the development of quarterback Kevin Kolb and running back LeSean McCoy or the potential explosiveness of receivers DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin. Nothing will work if the offensive line can’t come together.
I’m not sure whether offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg meant for this to be taken this way, but he was extremely insightful yesterday when he said: “I’ve never seen an offense that was any good at all, that wasn’t really good up front, and, by that, I mean playing together as a unit and being very consistent.
“That offensive line is important to every football team, certainly ours.”
WASHINGTON REDSKINS: Will Donovan McNabb be ready for the opener? Washington coach Mike Shanahan says he’s not sure. From the AP:
It could be a smoke screen or just a cautious assessment of his quarterback’s health, but Mike Shanahan says he’s not certain Donovan McNabb will be available for the Washington Redskins’ season opener against the Dallas Cowboys.
“I really don’t know for sure,” Shanahan said. “That’s why it’s day by day. We’ll see how it goes.”
McNabb hasn’t practiced since spraining his left ankle in the second preseason game against Baltimore. He sat out Friday’s game against the New York Jets and watched Sunday’s practice with a black sleeve on his left leg.
Shanahan said the leg is too sore for McNabb to play Thursday against the Arizona Cardinals, but McNabb likely wouldn’t have played in that game anyway because the coach prefers to rest his starters and some of his top backups in the final exhibition to avoid injuries.
