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Texas NFL Capsules: Ware OK with sacks dropping as long as wins go up
OXNARD, Calif. (AP) — Year after year, DeMarcus Ware kept piling up the sacks, his full-season total rising every time.
Until last season, that is, when Ware had his fewest sacks since he was a rookie.
Bummer, eh? Not really, he insists, because the Dallas Cowboys won a playoff game for the first time in his six seasons.
"As long as my team is going forward, I can go backward," Ware said, smiling. "I don’t even care, as long I’m producing and performing."
Statistical dip aside, Ware had perhaps his most memorable season in 2009 even before the playoff breakthrough.
In October, he signed a six-year, $78 million contract — with $40 million guaranteed. In December, he had the signature game of his career: six days after leaving the field immobilized on a stretcher, his face mask pried off, Ware sacked Drew Brees twice and forced him to fumble both times, sparking the Cowboys to a victory that resuscitated their playoff hopes, propelled them to the division title and gave the Saints their first loss after a 13-0 start.
Now Ware is looking to build on it all.
As always, he’s using training camp to refine his three best pass-rush moves and to try coming up with new ones. There are some differences, though.
He’s no longer testing his moves against Flozell Adams, who’d seen all kinds over 12 seasons. Instead, he’s taking on Adams’ replacement, Doug Free, who is going into his fourth year and first as a starter. Because Ware is the wily veteran in this relationship, he’s the one giving out most of the advice.
"I’m teaching him," Ware said, then quickly added, "he’s teaching me, too."
The bigger change is the development of Anthony Spencer on the other side of the defense.
Spencer started opposite Ware last season, too, but didn’t have a sack until getting a pair on Thanksgiving. He finished with six over the last six games, then had one in each of two playoff games.
By late December, Ware already was seeing the benefit that guys opposite him have long enjoyed.
"I got a lot of one-on-ones," Ware said, smiling again. "They never knew when Spencer was coming. Sometimes a tight end and tackle would stay on Spencer because they had no choice and that would leave me one-on-one with the tackles. I have to take advantage of that."
Coaches and teammates rave about Spencer’s continued development this summer. That could mean more opportunities for Ware’s sack total to rise again, probably somewhere between last season’s 11 and his NFL-leading 20 the previous season.
"I don’t even think about (a number)," he said. "I just see to it that I get to them as many times as I can."
Ware also is hoping to up his totals in less-appreciated areas like swatting passes and forcing and-or recovering fumbles. He talked about those things last summer, too, but didn’t make much progress — well, except for his resounding success in the pivotal game against Brees.
"It does take a few years to learn that," he said. "But it’s something we have to work on in practice and that’s something we’re doing now. ... We hit the quarterback and that’s really a vulnerable guy. He sometimes doesn’t see you coming, so you’ve got to take advantage of the knockdowns and trying to create fumbles to get the offense that short field."
Ware prides himself on always being in learning mode. When Charles Haley visited camp a few weeks ago, the current No. 94 absorbed as much as he could from the old No. 94.
"You can’t ever be a perfect pass-rusher," he said. "People say, ‘DeMarcus, you’re the best.’ No, I’m not. I’m still trying to improve and trying to get better."
Funny thing is, Ware approaches his job as if he knows it all. He takes the field expecting to win every battle, make every play.
"DeMarcus’ confidence is beyond anyone’s I’ve seen," Spencer said. "He knows what he can do, he knows what he can’t do and that’s the biggest thing. When you know what you can do and what you can’t do, it’s hard for you to get stuck in places where you can’t win."
Cowboys coach Wade Phillips arrived two years into Ware’s conversion from 4-3 defensive end to 3-4 outside linebacker. Phillips has helped Ware continue to improve and considers Ware among the honor roll of great defensive players he’s coached in his three decades in the NFL.
"He’s so tenacious, he’s relentless," Phillips said. "A lot of them can play the pass and rush up field and all of that, but he plays the run well also. It’s just his mental makeup. He’s going to go 100 miles an hour."
Cowboys LG Kosier hurts knee, expected to miss 4-6 weeks
OXNARD, Calif. (AP) — Dallas Cowboys left guard Kyle Kosier is expected to miss at least one month because of a sprained knee, making it two offensive linemen the club has lost to injuries this week.
Kosier went down Wednesday morning, two days after right tackle Marc Colombo had knee surgery. Coach Wade Phillips said it appears to be the same injury that's sidelined defensive lineman Marcus Spears for 4 to 6 weeks. That timeframe means Kosier likely will miss the opener and perhaps as many as the first three games. The Cowboys have a bye the following weekend.
"When it's not a season-ending injury it makes you feel better," Phillips said. "These guys are going to come back. We'd like to have them all right now, but we don't. That's part of what goes on. ... If it's similar to Spears, that'd be fine. If it's less than that, it'd be great."
Veteran Montrae Holland took Kosier's place during the morning workout and would start if Kosier doesn't return for the preseason game Saturday night in San Diego.
Robert Brewster, a second-year player who missed all of last season with an injury, has been filling for Colombo since he went down Sunday. He underwent arthroscopic surgery Monday to remove five loose particles. He's expected to miss only two weeks and to start the season opener.
"Our attitude has to be the same no matter what: protect our quarterback, help the running game and play well," Phillips said. "I feel good about the group we have. ... I think it was smart that we have the veteran players like we have and also the young players coming up. We'll see about our depth, but I think we have a lot of depth in the offensive line."
Missing one lineman can be tough enough. But now the Cowboys face the dilemma of taking on the Chargers with two backups mixed in with three incumbents, and having only a few days of practice together.
Is the reward of Tony Romo working on his timing with Miles Austin, Roy Williams and Jason Witten worth the risk of him getting hurt by a missed block?
Phillips thinks so.
"He'll play," Phillips said, adding that starters will play more than they have in either of the two games thus far. "They need to play as a team."
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wholeheartedly agrees.
He also made it clear that he's not at all worried about left guard, saying, "Holland is paid what he's paid ($3.7 million base salary over two years, with the chance to make $5.2 million) in case we don't have Kosier."
But when it comes to Brewster, Jones said, "it's a horse of a different color."
"He's a rookie for all practical purposes," Jones said. "Everybody keep an eye on that right there. There will probably be some additional help in there, with extra (tight ends)."
Brewster may only be a stop-gap solution.
Offseason acquisition Alex Barron is almost recovered from an ankle injury and could play Saturday night. He might work back in as the second-string left tackle against the Chargers, then take over at right tackle next week.
"He just told me he wants to play, he feels good," Jones said. "If Barron is ready and does want to — he said he did — they told me he's in good enough health to do it."
Holland is getting over an injury, too. A hamstring problem kept him out of the first two preseason games. But he knows what he's doing. This is his third season with Dallas and eighth in the NFL. He's played 74 games, starting 48, including all in 2007 with Denver and two for Dallas in '08. He was inactive all 16 games last season.
"We certainly like Marc Colombo and Kyle Kosier and we want them out here practicing, but it gives other guys an opportunity to step up and show that they can do," offensive coordinator Jason Garrett said. "The backup players we have here have to step up and do their jobs, show they're worthy of being starting players or prominent backup players on our football team."
Another related issue is that Kosier was going to be the backup center. In fact, he was playing center when he got hurt.
"It was a freak accident," Phillips said. "It could've happened at guard."
Colombo's injury fueled questions about whether a line featuring four guys in their 30s was too much of a risk. Kosier's injury strengthens the argument that the group is too old, making them too susceptible to injury.
Jones insisted experience is more important, especially for a team that's expected to be a contender. Line coach Hudson Houck agrees, noting that "those things happen whether you're young or old."
"Now, with Kyle out, we've lowered our average age. Is that good?" Houck said. "No, let's get him back in there and get that age up."
-- Jaime Aron
Texans, Saints hold joint practice
METAIRIE, La. (AP) — The third consecutive year of joint preseason practices between the New Orleans Saints and Houston Texans began without the fights that popped up all over the field last season.
No surprise there.
"It's the first day," Houston quarterback Matt Schaub said. "Tomorrow morning is the one that usually gets a little frisky."
Four fights broke out in a one-hour span of the final practice between the teams last year.
Houston, a 350-mile drive West on I-10, is the closest NFL city to New Orleans. Many New Orleans natives who fled the city during Hurricane Katrina still live in Houston.
The Saints and Texans have a burgeoning rivalry even though they are in opposite conferences and have played only twice in the regular season since Houston joined the league in 2002.
"Because we're in pretty close proximity, you might say that we have that intermingling of fans between here and Houston," Saints quarterback Drew Brees said. "Obviously you look at Houston being a place that a lot of people post-Katrina took refuge, that might be what creates a little bit of that (intensity)."
The teams faced each other at the Saints' practice facility before a preseason game in 2008 and did the same thing in Houston last year. After practicing twice Wednesday, they will finish working out against each other on Thursday morning before playing at the Louisiana Superdome on Saturday.
"Today it was pretty clean," Houston offensive tackle Duane Brown said. "Everyone was being professional and not trying to do anything extra."
New Orleans' emphasis on forcing turnovers caused some of the tension in last year's practices. At the instruction of defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, the Saints tried to slap the ball away on every play. If it hit the ground, even on incomplete passes, they picked it up and started running the other way.
"You can see why they are so good at stripping the ball the way they practice," Houston coach Gary Kubiak said. "They are always trying to get it out, and that's good for us."
New Orleans clearly benefited more from the intersquad practices than Houston last year. The Saints blew out the Texans 38-14 in Reliant Stadium, forcing three turnovers while giving up zero. They went on to finish third in the NFL in turnover differential, outscoring their first five regular-season opponents 192-93.
The Texas lost three of their first five games and could not overcome the slow start, finishing 9-7 and just out of the AFC playoffs.
"They have a lot of talent over there," Brown said. "We knew that last year when he practiced against them and they went on to win the Super Bowl. If we can compete against them, then we're doing pretty good."
Schaub carved up the Saints' defense Wednesday, throwing to tight ends Joel Dreessen and James Casey for easy scores in a practice moved indoors because of threatening weather. Brees was less successful against the Texans before finally hooking up with running back Pierre Thomas for a touchdown when safety Bernard Pollard gambled for an interception in the flat and whiffed.
Schaub led the NFL with 4,770 yards passing in 2009, one year after Brees threw for a league-best 5,069.
Brees welcomed Wednesday's less-volatile atmosphere.
"It's physical, it's hot, so obviously there are times when tensions can rise, but we're all there to get better," he said after the morning outdoor practice. "We all want to walk away from this experience with everybody healthy feeling like we got something out of it and it wasn't just a brawl."
The Saints are practicing against another team for the second consecutive week. They faced the New England Patriots for two days before losing to them 27-24 last Thursday in their preseason opener.
"If you went against the same team all August, it would be kind of tedious," New Orleans linebacker Scott Shanle said. "It's just a good change of pace to see different offenses and see different players."
Notes: News that Brett Favre decided to play another year with the Minnesota Vikings hardly came as a shock to the Saints. Said Brees: "I'm not surprised. The guy loves football. You just get the feeling he is going to play as long as his body will allow him." ... Saints offensive lineman Carl Nicks, who started every game last year, worked at second-team left guard behind offseason pickup Terrence Metcalf, who has not started a game since 2007 with the Chicago Bears. ... Kubiak said the Texans would look around but did not plan to add a running back to replace rookie Ben Tate, who will miss the season with a broken right ankle sustained in the preseason opener against Arizona. Arian Foster, Steve Slaton, Chris Henry and Jeremiah Johnson are the four running backs on the roster.
