Dallas Cowboys rookies may have been a "little shocked" by the tempo of practice, but got "a little better as the progressed," coach Jason Garrett said at a news conference Saturday.
'We're gonna be damn good'
You can't blame Cowboys DC Rob Ryan for being optimistic, Ian Rapoport reports. Ryan really likes this year's defense. **More ...**
"We're light years away," he added.
Questions were directed to the coach about the third receiver position, behind Miles Austin and Dez Bryant. Last season, Kevin Ogletree made some key plays and a name for himself in the process.
"I think (Ogletree) did a good job over the last couple years," Garrett said. "He has the ability to play both inside and outside, which is pretty unique for a third receiver."
Garrett said despite the production of tight end Jason Witten and the role of running backs in the passing game, the team still values the third receiver.
"You want a third receiver to be productive and who can attack defenses, and we feel like we have some guys on our roster who can do that."
Garrett noted that he hopes to see a few of his rookies emerge, adding, "We try to make every role on the team as competitive as possible."
Garrett also addressed the team's running game.
"You're never completely comfortable," he said regarding the issue of durability among halfbacks. "But you can't carry more than three halfbacks."
He said that despite injuries at times, the three veteran halfbacks the team carries -- Felix Jones, DeMarco Murray and Phillip Tanner -- have shown they can be durable.
He summed things up by saying, "If you're on our roster, you need to be ready to play."