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Texas NFL Capsules: After not taking a snap in'09, Dallas' Kitna fresh
OXNARD, Calif. (AP) — Jon Kitna has looked pretty good this preseason, especially for a quarterback pushing 37.
Then again, he's well rested.
Tony Romo took every snap for the Dallas Cowboys last season, the only NFL quarterback to do so. That made Kitna the only second-stringer stuck on the sideline every week.
But Kitna didn't just watch and wait. He put his down time to good use.
Having absorbed 129 sacks the previous three seasons with Detroit, he spent the fall getting over lingering bumps and bruises. He became more familiar with the playbook and with his new teammates. He also encouraged Romo to keep going out, even for the routine handoffs at the end of blowouts.
"It's one of those things that when you get done with your playing career, you can look back and say, 'That was pretty special,'" Kitna said. "Being able to take every snap, that's pretty rare. ... I was happy he got to do it."
Kitna knows the thrill because he's among the handful of players to pull it off in recent years.
"Twice," he said, smiling.
Kitna and Romo are among nine players who went through a season taking every snap among quarterbacks — thus, discounting wildcat plays and other gimmicks — since 2006, according to research by STATS LLC. Their data by snaps dates to 2006.
Using attempts as the standard, STATS found 36 instances since 1990 where a single quarterback threw every pass. That includes Kitna in 2003 with Cincinnati and '06 with Detroit, and Romo last season.
Kitna's inactivity made him a bit of an unknown for the Cowboys this season. It was especially worrisome for team owner Jerry Jones because he remembers how the offense dropped off during the three games in 2008 when aging backup Brad Johnson replaced an injured Romo.
The Cowboys went 1-2, with one of the losses to a St. Louis team that lost its remaining 10 games. Dallas ended up one win shy of making the playoffs.
So after seeing Kitna against San Diego last weekend — 9 of 15 for 84 yards and a tying touchdown in the fourth quarter, with no sacks or turnovers — Jones declared, "I'm going to sleep better about quarterback tonight than I've slept this year."
"I thought Kitna did an outstanding job," Jones said. "He scrambled out, had some pressure on him, and threw the ball out of bounds — that's what you want to see. You can't get that in practice with that kind of pressure. You want to make sure when you're 37, you've got your legs and he's got his legs."
Kitna, who turns 37 next month, he understands the owner being curious about whether age has caught up to him.
"Anybody who is over 35, you don't know — at any position," Kitna said. "But I've been around some guys who've done it a long time. Warren Moon, he taught me how to take care of your body during the week so you can be ready to play on Sunday."
Kitna came to training camp feeling fresh, not stale. Rather than having lost a step, his reaction time actually is faster because of his time with the team.
"It's the terminology," he said. "We have plays that are called one thing here that meant something totally different others places I had been. So I had to reprogram my mind. When you're doing that, you get up to the line of scrimmage and you're not quite sure. If you're thinking about the play, then you're not going through the mental process of what you have to do once the play starts. Now, that's over for me. I can immediately draw the picture in my mind when the play is called and just play the game."
That is, if you get in the game.
Kitna's last regular-season snap was Oct. 5, 2008. He missed the final 12 games of that season with a back injury.
The flip side is that the lack of wear and tear could extend his career. He's under contract through next season.
Longevity is a source of pride for Kitna, as well it should be. He's a former Central Washington star who wasn't drafted, was invited to only one NFL training camp, spent a year on Seattle's practice squad, a season in the World League and was the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year in 2003.
"I came into this league hoping to get one year," he said. "My wife and I, we'd been married two years and we wanted to get out of debt. ... Going into year 15, I never would've dreamt that. So I don't even think much about how long I'm going to play. I just think that when the time is done, God will close the door."
Jones: Injured Cowboys could be back for opener
OXNARD, Calif. (AP) — Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is counting on having his four most recently injured starters back in the lineup for the season opener.
While right tackle Marc Colombo and linebacker Keith Brooking already were expected to return, and safety Gerald Sensabaugh also seemed likely, Jones' comments Wednesday are the most optimistic yet for left guard Kyle Kosier.
Kosier was expected to miss up to three regular-season games because of a sprained knee. Now Jones thinks he could play Sept. 12 at Washington.
"We'll get him back — hopefully, hopefully — for the first game," Jones said. "I'm planning on it. ... We'll see how he progresses."
Sensabaugh hurt a shoulder last Saturday against San Diego. Jones said trainers like what they've seen with his recovery.
"He's doing better than we thought he might be doing in terms of his range of motion and some things," Jones said.
Colombo had an arthoscopic procedure on his right knee a week ago Monday to remove loose particles, some of which may have been bothering him for years.
"He's very pleased that they cleaned out and found what they found," Jones said. "It makes him very optimistic, and me too, about his future — not just this year, but years to come. Really, really I think (having had the surgery) is a good thing."
Robert Brewster started in Colombo's spot against the Chargers, but veteran Alex Barron has replaced him on the first team. Barron missed the team part of a workout Tuesday because he's still recovering from an ankle problem, but he was back Wednesday.
"It looked like he went through all of it with flying colors," coach Wade Phillips said.
Brooking has a minor shoulder injury. Jones is glad the team is being cautious with his return. Brooking is 34 and coming off a knee operation, and is among the team's most intense players.
"I like the idea of Brooking getting a little time off and a break away from what he will be asked to do during the season," Jones said.
Rookie receiver Dez Bryant continues to watch practice with the patience of a kid waiting to open birthday presents. After missing most of last season at Oklahoma State because of an NCAA suspension, he's been missed the entire preseason with a sprained ankle. He started running on it this week and already has been ruled out of the game Saturday at Houston.
"Certainly Dez is improving, just champing at the bit, can't understand why he can't get out here and participate," Jones said. "But he's got to have blind faith in his coaches and trainers that we're doing what's best."
-- Jaime Aron
Injuries create crisis for Texans' LBs
HOUSTON (AP) — It's become a running joke at Houston Texans' training camp: Who will be the next linebacker to go down with an injury?
With the start of the regular season less than three weeks away, coach Gary Kubiak isn't doing much laughing.
The Texans need to find a replacement for Brian Cushing, who's suspended for the first four games for testing positive for a banned substance. The two players pegged as front-runners to take his spot — Xavier Adibi and Danny Clark — have been hurt during training camp, and Kubiak has given no timetable for their returns.
Adibi (groin) and Clark (knee) ran conditioning drills on Wednesday.
Rookie Darryl Sharpton, another possibility to fill in for Cushing, sprained his knee in Saturday's 38-20 loss to New Orleans and was limited in Wednesday's practice.
Kevin Bentley, who's played mostly special teams in two seasons in Houston, played Cushing's position in practice on Wednesday. He turned his ankle in the New Orleans game.
"We all joke about it now, 'cause we're all in the training room together," said All-Pro middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans, who's stayed healthy during camp.
Kubiak said another option — and one he'd rather avoid — is moving 2009 starter Zac Diles from the weak-side position to Cushing's spot, and moving Bentley or Sharpton into Diles' role.
Kubiak doesn't anticipate the Texans signing a free agent to fix the problem, at least for now. Houston plays Dallas on Saturday, and Kubiak plans to play his starters for three quarters.
"We're at a point right now where it's tough to bring somebody off the street and throw them in a game," he said. "We've just got to work through the problem. It may be a thought when we go into next week, but the way we're approaching this game is basically with our starters. We've just got to push through and make it work."
Sharpton seems to be up to the task. The 5-foot-11 Sharpton was Houston's fourth-round draft pick out of Miami, and he's impressed both teammates and coaches.
"He's in the mix right now," Kubiak said. "He's made statements since he's been out here in camp."
Sharpton started 30 games at Miami — 18 at middle linebacker, nine at strong side and three at weak side. With Ryans' mentoring, Sharpton has tried to learn how to play all three spots at the pro level.
"You never know what's going to happen, where they might need to plug you in," Sharpton said. "When they do, when your number is called, there can't be any drop-off."
Despite the alarming number of injuries, Ryans thinks the Texans have more depth in the linebacking corps than they've had in his four seasons. Diles started 14 games last season and Bentley started the last seven games in 2008 after Diles broke his leg.
Ryans is confident that Adibi and Clark will return in time for the regular season opener. And after four games, Houston will welcome back Cushing, the 2009 Defensive Rookie of the Year.
"We've got our hands tied at the linebacking position, because we have so many guys that are down," Ryans said. "But it's good that we have the experience we have. With guys going down, it doesn't bother me as much as it would have in the past.
"It's part of football," he said. "The linebacker position is very tough and very demanding. We have tough guys, and they'll step in and they'll be ready to go when the time comes."
Kubiak also said tight end Owen Daniels has been medically cleared to return to practice. Daniels has been out since tearing a right knee ligament in the eighth game of last season. Kubiak said Daniels should be ready for the Texans' regular-season opener against Indianapolis on Sept. 12.
-- Chris Duncan
State Fair to feature Landry items
DALLAS (AP) — Fans of late Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry can get a closer look at his life by attending the State Fair of Texas.
The Dallas Historical Society is organizing and compiling some football artifacts provided by the coaching great's 80-year-old widow, Alicia Landry.
The exhibit called "Remembering Tom Landry: The Personal Collection" will run during the annual expo in Dallas, Sept. 24 through Oct. 17.
The items will be on display at the Hall of State, which also will feature the football history of north Texas as part of preparations for Cowboys Stadium in Arlington to host the Super Bowl on Feb. 6, 2011.
Landry died in 2000.
