Dallas Cowboys running back Felix Jones needed to tear up the landscape at training camp to hold onto his starting job. The early reports out of Oxnard, Calif., aren't promising.
Jones "hasn't really impressed," according to Calvin Watkins of ESPNDallas.com, who questions if a string of leg injuries has taken its toll on the fifth-year veteran. Jones is healthy on the surface, but opened camp by failing his conditioning test, which owner Jerry Jones kindly attributed to dehydration.
Meanwhile, second-year back DeMarco Murray "is running with speed, power and determination, and shows no ill effects of his December leg injury," SI.com's Don Banks reported this month. Murray has impressed teammates with his intensity and "mean streak," according to Banks, which contrasts Watkins labeling Jones as a "blah" presence on the field.
Jones ran the ball twice for four yards with a dropped pass in Monday's preseason opener against the Oakland Raiders. Murray didn't fare much better, with a pair of carries for zero yards. The Cowboys aren't about to demote Murray after last season's 897 yards in just seven starts. We haven't seen that type of dominant production in Dallas in years.
UPDATE: Jones spoke to reporters Thursday and said he thought he did "pretty good" at training camp this summer, despite failing the conditioning test.
"But you know, it happened. I've got to deal with it," Jones said of the failed test, according to Carlos Mendez of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "People talk about it. But I'm past that now. It's in the background."