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The prodigal son has returned, sorry for my brief absence, it’s been busy around here this month, but with camp drawing closer I’m back despite it all. A lot of the talk has been around Terry Glenn and Adam Jones in recent weeks, but I’d like to broach the issue of THE backup. THE, being the most important backup spot on the roster, the #2 QB.

Last season we managed to keep Romo safe, but at one point Romo has dinged his finger, and we all saw the effects even if they were ever so slight. Should Romo be out for any amount of time, this high octane offense would be in Brad Johnson’s hands.

I’ll be the first to admit, I was all for signing Brad Johnson, I liked the idea, but after watching him in camp last year and in the preseason, he looked marginally average at best. Add another year, and the results surely aren’t going to be better. I think the Cowboys would be wise to look at some other options, Mainly that of picking up a free agent or trading a late pick to acquire Chris Simms.

What do you guys think, is Brad Johnson the answer this year?

I know we haven’t played the most explosive football in recent weeks, but we have been winning games. We still need to come out as the aggressor, the homefield needs to be rocking, none of that wimpy non-existent cheering we’ve seen in other “big” games this year. You guys better show up for our boys.

One thing that I keep coming back to in this game is that we own Eli Manning, we have his number. We know it, and he knows it. He will come in the clutch and choke it up. I envision a return of our offense from the middle of the season; that of, pure explosion in the 2nd half. T.O. will play, Crayton is pumped, Witten is ready to take his All-pro game to the next level, and Romo wants this game more than anyone.

Romo has set goals to make up for the big let down last post-season, and he’s come full circle to this first game. The job is incomplete and he’s going to take us to the big game.

Get pumped! Go Cowboys!

Remember that movie “The Number 23“, that starred Jim Carrey, in which he posed the question, “What is 23?” If you saw the movie you know what I’m talking about. Basically the movie is about His obsession with the number 23 starts to consume him.

In my boredom this evening I’ve created my own obsession with the number 9. And like Jim Carrey in his movie, I found my self asking, “what is 9?”

I ran with it and came up with these numbers based on Romo’s #9 and our WR’s, and it all relates to our teams of the ’90s. Eerie, yet strange and extremely fascinating.

9+81=90

9+82=91

9+83=92*

9+84=93*

9+86=95*

Romo’s current age, 27 divided by 9 = 3, the amount of Super Bowls* won in the ’90s

Super Bowl XXVII MVP was Aikman 8 + 9 = 17, Jason Garrett

What does all this craziness mean? It means whatever you think it could mean, it could mean nothing, or it could mean everything. Is this unit destined for the same success that we enjoyed in the ’90s?

Spread the word! You heard it here first.

More reason for the Washington Deadskins to hate America’s beloved team, the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys are now the NFL’s most valuable NFL Franchise in league history. Take that you loser Redskin fans!

AP - The Dallas Cowboys wrested the title of the NFL’s most valuable franchise from the rival Redskins, knocking Washington off the top of the list for the first time in eight years, according to Forbes magazine’s annual survey.

Thanks to a new $1 billion stadium set to open in 2009, the Cowboys’ value increased by 28 percent — by far the largest jump among NFL teams this year — to $1.5 billion. They climbed from third to first in the rankings, leapfrogging the Redskins ($1.467 billion) and the New England Patriots ($1.199 billion).

The new stadium added about $350 million to the Cowboys’ value. Jerry Jones can now boast that he owns the world’s most valuable sports franchise, according to Forbes… The Cleveland Browns were the only franchise whose value decreased. They rank ninth at $969 million, down from $970 million.

Great stuff, we take over number, the Browns lose out, and we have their first rounder in 2008, which is almost assured to be a top 5 pick, go Brady Quinn!

Terry Glenn opted to have the minor arthroscopic surgery, rather than the potentially career ending microfracture surgery:

Dallas Cowboys receiver Terry Glenn underwent arthroscopic knee surgery Thursday morning to repair damaged cartilage in his right knee.

Glenn reinjured his knee last week when he tried to return to practice for the first time since the initial surgery Aug. 1 to remove a cyst. That was a week into training camp.

“At this point, I feel that if there is a chance I could play this year, then I was willing to take the risk out of it to help my team win the ultimate trophy,'’ Glenn told ESPN’s Ed Werder.

The risk to which Glenn refers is the possibility that the surgery might not correct the problem and that the 33-year-old wide receiver would require microfracture surgery that would prevent him from playing in 2007 and could jeopardize his NFL career. (ESPN)

We play the Dolphins on Sunday, and Zach Thomas remembers the disasterous game he had against the Cowboys back in 1996, his rookie season. Cowboys won 29-10:

The Dallas Cowboys will play in Miami on Sunday for the first time since 1996, when Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas was a rookie.

“I just remember I got so hyped up for that game because I’m from Texas,” said Thomas, a former Texas Tech star. “I was having a great year and I was really so up for it. I wanted to play so well.

“I played bad.”

The Cowboys won 29-10, and Thomas learned a lesson. He said he particularly remembers trying to cover Michael Irvin.

“He made me look bad,” Thomas said. “I just had no legs. I was all hyped up all week. That just shows: You can’t get hyped up early.”

Thomas is the only Miami player who was with the team in 1996. (AP)

Sorry to break the news to you again Zach, but we’re going to light up your defense, sorry bud.

Here’s what Coach Madden thinks of the Cowboys@Dolphins game:

The Cowboys are best when they go play action pass so they have to get their running game going, I like their offensive line they are a lot bigger, they can pound the ball at you, they fake that run and they have Jason Witten and Terrell Owens and they can do some damage over the middle. Tony Romo has so much confidence and then having a game like he did Sunday night is only going to build on that.

Now as good as their offense is looking, their defense looks bad. If you take out their best defensive back in Terence Newman and that is where the offense goes to work on. Their corners were kind of playing in no-mans land. They weren’t up bumping or taking anything away and they weren’t running back deep. They just kind of gave the Giants anything they wanted. Newman is such an important guy to this defense. He plays that left corner, their shut down corner, when they would go to nickel he would cover the slot so when they lose him they really lose two guys, their corner and their nickel back. Then the guys playing back there don’t have much confidence. Maybe it’s correctable but they need a lot better rush and a lot better coverage and a lot better tackling than they had against the Giants. (NBCSports)

Another Dallas vs. Miami Preview, good read.

There’s no denying that this has been one of the most brutal preseason injury riddled seasons the Cowboys have had in years, and Terry Glenn is the latest to be injured, possibly the most worst off from the bunch. Key positions lack depth,lack quality and fans remain worried. Still though, Wade Phillips is having none of it and has relayed the message to his players:

“As far as our team is concerned, it’s a blow certainly not to have him this ballgame,” coach Wade Phillips said. “We expected to have him. I’ve told them all along there are no excuses and we’re not cry babies. … There’s no crying in football.”

Terry Glenn has a career threatening decision to make soon:

According to sources, if Glenn has an arthroscopic procedure on his knee, he could miss a few weeks, but if he has a micro-fracture surgery, then he will not play in 2007 and his career could be in jeopardy. There is no guarantee the arthroscopic surgery will fix the cartilage problem. (DMN)

I’ve been saying all along that between Glenn and Owens, Glenn has the most wear and tear and he’ll be the first of the two to call it a career. Unfortunately, Glenn’s run may come soon than we or he had hoped.

The Cowboys have promoted Crayton to the #2 WR, and Hurd will be the #3WR. Both Crayton and Hurd have looked good in the preseason. Crayton has the best hands on the team, so he’ll make those tough catches that Glenn has made all his career; however, Crayton and Hurd lack Glenn’s gamebreaking deep threat speed. Its a luxury, but not a requirement in Garrett’s offensive scheme. Austin and Stanback round out the backups, I doubt they see any significant playing time. Austin made this team because of his special teams specialty, his skills at WR are suspect. We don’t want our receivers running wrong routes and causing Romo to throw an INT. Stanback is a project, and the jury is still out on him.

With all this being said, the Cowboys could still be in the market for some more experience, and former Patriots starting WR Reche Caldwell could be an option:

The agent for Reche Caldwell, who caught 61 passes for 760 yards and four touchdowns last year in New England before being cut by the Patriots this summer, said he spoke with the Cowboys on Thursday. Phillips is also familiar with Caldwell, who played for the Chargers from 2002-05.(DMN)

Giants RB Brandon Jacobs is talking mad smack, and he’s in for a rude awakening. Jacobs said the Giants were going “whip their (butts).”

Giants fans are going to know how bad their season is going to be once we shut him down. Jacobs is a goal line, short down back. Like I said in earlier in the week, Jacobs is what Hambrick was to us a few years ago. These guys are short yardage guys.

Several Cowboys defensive players commented on Jacob’s stupidity;

Chris Canty: “To come out and say that, that’s pretty bold,” defensive end Chris Canty said. “He’s in the NFL. He’s a good football player. But there are certain things you just don’t say. You can feel that way, but you don’t put it out there in the media.”

“Just go ahead and put some gas on the fire,” Canty said. “If that’s what you really want to do.”

Jason Ferguson said the Cowboys would “do their talking on the field” and linebacker Bobby Carpenter responded with a “We’ll see.” (DC.com)

Jacobs is going to get lit up every time he gets the ball, I can’t wait to see that.

Madden NFL 08 Forecast is back, and has predicted a Cowboys victory 34-17.

Well, the Saints are not contenders as projected to be. The Colts ripped the Saints for 41 points, complete destruction and a complete meltdown by Drew Brees. So, now that the NFL season is officially underway, we can get to more pressing matters - Terry Glenn.

DallasCowboys.com had two articles earlier the first reporting that Glenn suffered a knee injury and that he would miss two games maybe more, soon after that, an updated article appeared and stated Glenn was lost for the season and stated:

Jones said Glenn’s knee injury is similar to that of former Cowboys center Al Johnson, who missed his entire rookie season in 2003 following microfracture surgery.

“You hate to see this with one of your top players and we need all of those we can beyond the field,” Jones said. “”It’s a real blow for Terry and for us.”

Then the mystery began, because after that, the story reverted back to the whole “2 week or more” article. Either way you cut it, its bad news for Glenn and the Cowboys.

The latest news being reported states that Glenn does in fact have a knee injury, and could be serious. The DMN states:

According to several sources, the veteran wide receiver reinjured his surgically repaired right knee and will miss one game, if not more. Glenn’s agent, Jimmy Gould, said no decisions have been made, and Glenn will seek advice from several doctors.

The key here is the whole seeking advice from several doctors. This leads me to believe the first diagnosis is bad, and Glenn wants some second opinions. Glenn has a history of injury, and if this ends up being a microfracture in the knee, then that’ll be all she wrote, career ender, especially at 33.
So what is a microfracture injury? You can read more here

Typical recovery time varies by age and sport:

Current studies have shown a success rate of 75 to 80 percent among patients 45 years of age or younger, even among professional athletes.[3][5] With the help of physical therapy, patients can often return to sports (or other intense activities) in about 4 months. However, this is a best-case scenario and depends on the severity of the cartilage damage (and any other conditions existing in the knee). Normal patients and professional athletes who play at the highest level however are quite different, as Chris Webber, who underwent the surgery, has stated that a full recovery in 4 months is nearly impossible. Webber returned to the NBA eight months after his surgery but did not feel “like himself” until a few years later.

Its gonna be Hurd time, and Crayton will have his shot to really prove is worth in his contract year this season. It’s been a very active preseason in Dallas, lets hope for some good news somewhere soon…

You can cross Terry Glenn off the Giants game, he’s developed a new injury, his knee. Great. Just Great. No reason to get too uproared; however, this is very disappointing and basically takes out the speedy deep threat Glenn brings to the table.

IRVING, Texas - Three days before their regular-season opener, the Cowboys learned wide receiver Terry Glenn’s problematic right knee likely will force him to miss two weeks and possibly more, team owner and general manager Jerry Jones said late Thursday afternoon.

Glenn missed all of preseason after having arthroscopic knee surgery Aug. 1 to remove a tiny cyst from the back of his right kneecap. The 33-year-old receiver returned to practice Wednesday but sat out Thursday because of what Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips described as swelling in his knee.

Without Glenn, the Cowboys would have to rely even more on Terrell Owens, fourth-year veteran Patrick Crayton and second-year veterans Sam Hurd and Miles Austin. Crayton started three preseason games in Glenn’s place, with Hurd entering the lineup in three-receiver sets.

The Cowboys also have rookie Isaiah Stanback, but the fourth-round pick is more of a developmental player making the transition from college quarterback. (DC.com)

I expect to see Hurd and Romo connect on some key drives, these two have chemistry, Crayton will also supply some support in the slot.

Now, in regards to our All-Injury Prone Team:

1. Kevin Burnett

2. Marcus Spears

3. Terry Glenn

4. Anthony Henry

Its a miracle if any of these four players go through the year without missing a game or two due to injury. Kevin Burnett leads the way at #1, he’s been injured year round since his rookie year (not much of an exaggeration). Marcus Spears comes in 2nd; however, to his credit, this has been the 1st training camp/preseason in which he was not out due to injury.Terry Glenn is in at #3, he’s always been bugged injuries, and there’s the famed “she” quote from Parcells, when they were in New England, and Anthony Henry rounds out the list, Henry has been known to have the injury bug since he’s been in Dallas.

UPDATE: GLENN OUT FOR 2007 SEASON!!!!!!

IRVING, Texas - Three days before their regular-season opener, the Cowboys learned wide receiver Terry Glenn’s problematic right knee will force him to miss the entire 2007 season, team owner and general manager Jerry Jones said late Thursday afternoon.

Jones said Glenn’s knee injury is similar to that of former Cowboys center Al Johnson, who missed his entire rookie season in 2003 following microfracture surgery.

“You hate to see this with one of your top players and we need all of those we can beyond the field,” Jones said. “”It’s a real blow for Terry and for us.”

WOW, we are really taking a beating with injuries. I think this ends Glenn career, we’ll be moving in a new direction. Microfracture surgery has ended the careers of several young players in the past, and at 33, it’ll be a huge uphill battle. My best wishes, Glenn is a weapon, and could be a huge blow. When GLenn missed games we lost games…
UPDATE 2: The above has been removed from dc.com, and the previous quote at the top is now the headliner, so here we go…Expect Wade to be evasive on the Glenn injury as he has been with the Ellis injury. I’m going to watch the game tonight, will check back and see if this mess gets figured out.

I’m going to break down who has the stronger starting rosters in this upcoming game. The player in bold is the better player, and bold italics means even, at their respective positions.

OFFENSE 

QB: Romo vs. Manning

RB: Jones & Barber vs. Jacobs & Droughns

WR: Owens vs. Burress

WR(2): Glenn vs. Toomer

WR(3): Crayton vs. Smith

TE: Witten vs. Shockey

FB: Hoyte vs. Douglas

LT: Adams vs. Diehl

LG: Kosier vs. Seubert

C: Gurode vs. O’Hara

RG: Davis vs. Snee

RT: Colombo vs. McKenzie

DEFENSE

DE: Spears vs. Strahan

DE: Canty vs. Umenyiora

NT: Ferguson vs. Cofield/Robbins/Joseph

LB: Ware vs. Kiwanuka

LB: James vs. Pierce

LB: Ayodele vs. Blackburn

LB: Spencer vs. Mitchell

CB: Newman vs. McQuarters

CB: Henry vs. Madison

FS: Hamlin vs. Wilson

SS: Williams vs. Butler

K: Folk vs. Tynes

P: McBriar vs. Feagles

KR: Thompson & Austin vs. Moss & McQuarters

PR: Crayton vs. McQuarters

On offense, we clearly have the better offensive line, and our WR/TEs are superior to the Giants as well

On defense, the Giants clearly have the better DEs, Ferguson is the better player at the NT/DT spot, After DeMarcus Ware, the LBs corps of the Cowboys and Giants are close, I think we split at CB; however, we clearly have the better safties. I think our kick returners are better, but we’re even at punt return.

Field position is key in this game, and actually an area of concern for me. Our special teams coverage has looked worse this preseason than in previous seasons. I’m not sold on Bruce Read as our ST coach. He put together some solid units at the collegiate level, so hopefully this will get fixed for us. Game 1 will reveal alot.

Alright Cowboys Fans, let’s get back into the groove. There’s lots of doom and gloom going around out there, and it all revolves around the defense. Everyone’s concentrating around our injuries, and frustrations over recent roster moves. Obviously, the powers that be have decided to roll with what we have on this team, so that’s-that for now.

Let’s remember there’s two units that will be there at Texas Stadium, the defense is banged up with Newman being doubtful, that’s one player. We still have Ware, Williams, Hatcher, Ferguson, James to beat up the Giants. More importantly, we still have Garrett’s explosive offense. The offense will definitely carry the load in week 1, that’s clear to me now, I’ve come to accept it. Newman is not going to play, and it’ll be Jacques Reeves and the inconsistent Henry on the other end. Ok.

Well, do you think the Giants weak secondary is any better than our secondary right now. We have the better safeties, but I would say our corners are both young and inexperienced, just as the Giants are too. With this being said, its going to come down to execution. It’s going to be a brawl, but their defense won’t be quite as prepared as we will be. The Giants are going to see something new, unlike our previous matchups. They can’t rely on film footage from the last couple of seasons, or this preseason either.

Garrett is going to come out blasting. I’m talking about Fasano, Witten, Owens, Crayton, Hurd, and Glenn if he’s playing. Plus our 1-2 KO duo of Jones and Barber. We only saw some glimpse of the Garrett powerhouse on display this preseason, its “gonna be on” against the Giants, and they aren’t going to know how to slow us down.

Which ever offense does the better job at getting past the opposing defense will win. My money in on Garrett’s offense. I mean, c’mon, the Giants have Kevin Gilbride as their current OC, the OC from the famed Oilers vs Bills debacle in 1993, where the Oilers offense choked and shutdown. Garrett comes from a better pedigree and proven background, he’s played the game, played with the best, been coached by the best, he has that intellectual and calculating persona.

In Garrett We Trust baby! Get pumped.

I wasn’t surprised by the first round of cuts today; however, I hope Jackie Battle can return via the practice squad, assuming he can recover from the ankle injury. After watching training camp and the first three preseason games, the 53-man roster is becoming clearer. Here’s my latest roster projections:

QB (2): Tony Romo, Brad Johnson
RB (3): Julius Jones, Marion Barber 3, Tyson Thompson

FB (2): Oliver Hoyte, Deon Anderson

WR (6): Terrell Owens, Terry Glenn, Patrick Crayton, Sam Hurd, Isaiah Stanback, Miles Austin

TE (3): Jason Witten, Anthony Fasano, Tony Curtis

OL (9): Flozell Adams, Kyle Kosier, Andre Gurode, Leonard Davis, Marc Colombo, Pat McQuistan, James Marten, Doug Free, Cory Procter

Offense (25)

DL (4): Jason Hatcher, Jay Ratliff, Chris Canty, Marcus Spears

NT (2): Jason Ferguson, Remi Ayodele

LB (8): DeMarcus Ware, Bradie James, Akin Ayodele, Greg Ellis, Bobby Carpenter, Anthony Spencer, Kevin Burnett, Junior Glymph

CB (6): Terence Newman, Anthony Henry, Aaron Glenn, Jacques Reeves, Joey Thomas, Quincy Butler
FS (3): Ken Hamlin, Patrick Watkins, Courtney Brown

SS (2): Roy Williams, Keith Davis

ST (3): Nick Folk, Mat McBriar, L.P. Ladouceur

Defense (28)

With injuries and quality depth issues, I see the Cowboys carrying just (2) QBs again this season. Matt Moore has show his ability, and should be able to run the scout team on the practice squad, he’ll continue to work with Garrett, and that will only make him a better prospect for 2008. Deon Anderson makes the team with his big hits, blocking and special teams play. Miles Austin makes the team as a return specialist, but would not be surprised if he does not make the Sept. 1st cuts. Tony Curtis has come a long way, he’s had a strong camp and solid preseason, so he’s probably in. No big surprises on the Offensive Line. Junior Glymph continues to play well and has drawn praise from Phillips several times, so he’ll be solid in rotation. Cornerbacks is where we could see some surprises. Right now I have Aaron Glenn at #3, but he hasn’t really separated himself from the other backups at all, so he’s on the bubble with the rest of the guys. If we can mount a trade to add someone solid at cornerback, this will give us some relief. The cornerbacks are not getting any props from the staff at this point, and its a concern as we draw closer to the game opener against the Giants. Courtney Brown makes the team with his good play, and his versatility as a safety and cornerback experience.