COPPELL, Texas - Once again, the Cowboys were on the move. If it's raining outside, or has rained or is about to rain, this football team is usually somewhere other than Valley Ranch.
Despite not having a game this week, the Cowboys will conduct two full practices on Wednesday and Thursday and then another on Monday.
The soaked fields at Valley Ranch forced the Cowboys to practice Wednesday at nearby Coppell High School, on an outdoor turf field.
Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips said Wednesday's practice, a longer than normal workout because of the bye week, focused more on the specific details of the game.
"Pretty physical practice in pads, worked on a lot of detailed things we need to work on," Phillips said. "You're talking about the finer parts of the game, whether it's putting your weight on the front foot, when you're going to rush from the outside and not taking a false step. Those kinds of details that make you get to the quarterback half a step quicker, it makes a difference.
"With certain individuals, it's individual things, with others, it's the whole group things. We identify things, we work on individual things, we work on group things and we work on team things."
One thing Wade Phillips has done rather well here in Dallas is get his team prepared in the bye week.
The Cowboys were 6-0 following the bye in 2007 and 3-0 after the bye last year.
Another thing this team is getting used to is traveling all over the place just to practice. With the team's indoor practice facility collapsing on May 2, the Cowboys have held workouts at many different fields over the last few months, including stops in Carrollton, Southlake and another junior high in Irving, along with a practice at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, and of course, training camp in San Antonio.
But making adjustments is something Phillips said comes with the territory of playing for the Cowboys.
"That's part of it. We play on Sunday, Monday, Thursdays, you have to be adjustable to be on the Dallas Cowboys," Phillips said. "Some other teams play every week at the same time, that's a nice thing and a good routine and it helps your team that way. But it's not the Dallas Cowboys. You come in with the Dallas Cowboys and that's not going to happen. You better be able to adjust to different situations and that's part of it."
Rookie Returns
Cowboys safety Mike Hamlin made it back to the practice field for the first time Wednesday after breaking his wrist in the Aug. 29 preseason game against the 49ers.
Hamlin returned to practice with the team, but is still wearing a protective cast, although it doesn't cover his entire right hand.
"He can actually catch the ball - he can move his fingers around and can catch it," said Phillips, who said the nature of Hamlin's injury hasn't set him back too far. "He's been in all the meetings. He hasn't missed anything as far as that is concerned. He's been running, because he's had his hand hurt; he's stayed in shape.
"It's not like has to get back in shape, and he has been going through all the meetings. But you still need timing as far as playing time, but special teams-wise, he could fit in a lot sooner, depending on what we asked him to do."
Special teams coach Joe DeCamillis said he's hoping Hamlin can get back into the mix, although veteran specialist Allen Rossum's signing might affect whether Hamlin can fit on next week's 45-man game-day roster.
"No question, he was a core guy early on," DeCamillis said of Hamlin. "We've just got to see if we can get all those guys active."
Felix Getting Close
While Felix Jones was one of the four players not practicing on Wednesday (Roy Williams, Curtis Johnson, Gerald Sensabaugh), the second-year tailback is starting to show some encouraging signs that he could return for the Oct. 25 game against the Falcons.
Jones has missed two straight games because of a sprained knee.
"Felix did a little bit of running today. He looked fast when he ran," Phillips said after Wednesday's practice. "He said he thought he'd be ready. He thought, (but) that's him talking. He ran a few in the pat-and-go early. I think he ran a couple of times. He's not ready yet, but it's more encouraging."
Sensabaugh Improving
Starting safety Gerald Sensabaugh says the swelling has subsided in his surgically-repaired left thumb, and he hopes to practice next Wednesday and play Oct. 25 against the Falcons.
"I'm trying to play in Atlanta," Sensabaugh said, wearing a soft cast. "It's up to the staff but I should be ready to go. They're going to have to sit me down."
Sensabaugh broke his thumb in the first quarter against Denver and missed last Sunday's win over Kansas City. He said doctors removed the plate from his previous thumb fracture, suffered in college, and stabilized the new fracture with pins and screws.
Pat Watkins started in Sensabaugh's place against the Chiefs.
-Rob Phillips
Ball Fined
The NFL fined safety Alan Ball $5,000 for his fourth-quarter hit on Chiefs receiver Bobby Wade that drew an unnecessary roughness penalty. Replays showed Ball's helmet driving into Wade's shoulder.
"I definitely thought it was clean, but the ref saw it different," Ball said after the game. "I think where he was standing at, everybody's viewpoint is different.
"Every since I was playing football as a little guy I was taught to make plays and make big hits. That's what it was. That's what I tried to get, just make sure he wasn't catching the ball."
-Rob Phillips
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