Texas NFL Capsules: Crayton insures for Cowboys with WR Bryant out

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — With rookie receiver Dez Bryant out until perhaps the regular season, the Dallas Cowboys will certainly need that $2 million insurance policy named Patrick Crayton.

Bryant, from Oklahoma State, had already supplanted Crayton, from Northwestern Oklahoma State, as the No. 3 receiver even before impressing throughout the first week of training camp. But the first-round draft pick is out four to six weeks with a high right ankle sprain, pushing Crayton back up the depth chart for now.

"I'm glad he's here," receivers coach Ray Sherman said. "I tell you what, he is valuable."

Bryant said he should be ready to play by the season opener Sept. 12 at Washington. He wore a protective boot on his lower right leg while standing on the field for most of team drills during the second session Saturday, a day after getting hurt late in practice.

"I feel real good," Bryant said while walking into the locker room. "There's no disappointment. I'm fine. I'm having a good time. I feel great."

Before leaving the field, Bryant shared a few words and laughs with owner Jerry Jones.

The Cowboys play the first of their five preseason games next weekend in Canton, Ohio, as part of the Hall of Fame induction weekend. Their last preseason game is at home Sept. 2, which is less than five weeks away and 10 days before the regular season begins.

"It's a very typical high ankle, but very stable," Jones said. "So it should, without any surgery, mend completely and be ready to go."

The day after Bryant got hurt, Crayton made a one-handed grab on a pass from Tony Romo and later got wide open to catch a touchdown on a halfback pass from Marion Barber.

After the Cowboys drafted Bryant 24th overall in April, Crayton was given permission to seek a trade and indicated that he wanted to be released from his contract that goes through next season. The seventh-year receiver skipped most voluntary offseason workouts but was at all mandatory workouts this summer and has worked as hard as always during camp.

"He's got a contract, and that's been my stance from the very beginning," Jones responded, when asked if Bryant's injury guarantees Crayton a spot on the 53-man roster.

"People have got to understand the value. He's not a flashy type player. He's a guy who goes about it in a workmanlike fashion and just goes about and does his job," Sherman said. "He just took care of his business and got himself in great shape. He didn't worry about what's being said or this or that. That's what you've got to do."

Crayton had declared himself a $2 million "insurance policy" — his salary for 2010 — after the Cowboys didn't trade or release him.

"At least give me a name brand," Crayton said Friday, even before the severity of Bryant's injury was known. "Injuries come with the game. You never know what is going to happen."

Bryant got hurt on the next-to-last play of practice Friday, when he became entangled with cornerback Orlando Scandrick. Both players fell to the ground going for a pass from Jon Kitna that was thrown behind the receiver. Bryant gingerly got to his feet, took only one step and sat back down, grimacing in obvious pain and grabbing his ankle.

Now, Bryant will miss valuable time on the field learning the offense and working with Romo like he had in 10 practice sessions the first seven days of camp. He might not practice again until the Cowboys get back to Valley Ranch in late August, after two weeks in California.

"Hopefully he could come back sooner, but that's a long time to be out," Sherman said. "Hopefully through film study, meetings and those types of things, he can still have an idea, be on top of what he has to do. The only thing is physically not being able to go out and do it."

Jones said Bryant can keep up mentally even while out rehabilitating his ankle, and has a basis on which to learn because of the time he has already had on the field.

"What he needs to do is just take advantage of the week that he had," Jones said. "Keep up with the mental part of it, he will be ready to go when time comes for him to be out there."

Soon after Bryant was hurt, Jones made some initial comments to ESPN's Chris Mortensen questioning whether the rookie was being pushed too hard and the timing of the injury since it came at the end of practice when everyone was tired.

Jones insisted Saturday that he wasn't being critical.

"What I'm being is analytical, or trying to be analytical," he said. "This is when you all sit down and look at everything you're doing and see if there's some things you can do to help protect your team better, especially during this time five to six weeks from the opening game."

Sherman described Bryant's injury as a "one of those freak things," and coach Wade Phillips said Scandrick was making a play on the ball, just like he would expect.

Slaton eager to win back starting job

HOUSTON — Steve Slaton has some young and eager competition as he tries to regain his spot as the Houston Texans’ featured running back. In Slaton’s mind, he never lost the job, despite a sub-par second season that ended a month early because of a neck injury.

He’s healthy now, determined to cut down his fumbles and help kick-start the Texans’ running attack, which ranked 30th in the league last season (92.2 yards per game).

“I’m always going to feel like I’m the guy,” Slaton said. “That’s just a pride factor in me. I missed the last five games so I’m very anxious, happy to be here and happy just to be cleared to be out here with the team.”

Slaton will have to beat out Arian Foster, who rushed for 218 yards in the final two games as a rookie, and has worked with the first-team offense during the first two days of training camp. The Texans drafted Auburn star Ben Tate in the second round, and Chris Henry and Jeremiah Johnson are also getting reps.

Slaton is hoping to return to his 2008 form, when he led all rookies with 1,282 rushing yards, a franchise record. He ran for only 437 yards and coughed up seven fumbles last season, miscues he blamed on a pinched nerve in his neck that caused numbness in his right arm and forced him to miss the last five games.

He underwent cervical fusion surgery and came to training camp ready to prove himself all over again.

“Every day is a different day, you’ve always got to perform,” Slaton said. “It’s not about what you did before, it’s about what you’re doing now.”

Meanwhile, Houston coach Gary Kubiak thinks Foster, an undrafted rookie in 2009, may turn out to be a major discovery. The 23-year-old Foster spent the first 10 games of 2009 on Houston’s practice squad before emerging as the team’s top backfield threat in December.

Kubiak said the 23-year-old Foster is mature beyond his years and will be tough to unseat for the No. 1 spot on the depth chart.

“He’s just growing up and becoming a totally different young man,” Kubiak said. “We are not going to have a battle about how he tries to give his effort. That’s over. It’s all about football with him. He got his chance and he is going to be a fine player. We are all excited to see what he’s doing right now.”

Foster is approaching this training camp with the same mindset as last year with one difference — instead of fighting for a roster spot, he’s aiming for a starting role.

“My mentality hasn’t really changed,” he said. “Once you get an opportunity, you have to produce. You have to show them what you can do. I wasn’t up at 5:30 (a.m.) this offseason for nothing, so my mentality isn’t, ‘This spot is mine.’ My mentality is, ‘This spot is going to get taken. I am going to take it.”’

But there’s more to establishing a running game than just finding the right running back.

The Texans sustained key early injuries on their offensive line last season, and the unit struggled at times to click in the ground game.

Kubiak hired Rick Dennison to replace offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, who went to join his father, Mike, in Washington. Dennison was Kubiak’s successor in Denver and under him, the Broncos rushed for 124 yards per game between 2006-08.

Dennison doesn’t want to make major scheme changes in Houston, just forge chemistry between the running backs and the line. He said the continuity between the units was missing at times in 2009.

“It wasn’t as coordinated, for whatever reason, as a package as I’ve seen them do in previous years,” Dennison said. “That’s all we’re trying to do, is make sure everyone is on the same page and being consistent with what we’re trying to do.”

The Texans’ anemic running attack also left them unable to sustain key possessions late in close games. Dennison said that may be the most important area to improve.

“If you’re doing it right, in the fourth quarter, you’re getting your bigger gains,” Dennison said. “If you’re wearing ‘em out, that’s what you want to do. Hopefully, that’s what we’re working toward.”

NOTES: The Texans placed tight ends Owen Daniels and Anthony Hill on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform list. Daniels, who made the Pro Bowl after the 2008 season, is coming off knee surgery and Kubiak said he’ll be evaluated again in about two weeks.

-- Chris Duncan