While the NFL lockout creeps closer to scheduled training camp start dates, the Dallas Cowboys are sticking with their plans to stage camp at the Alamodome, the *San Antonio Express-News* reported Saturday, citing a city official.
Mike Sawaya, who oversees San Antonio's sports facilities, said the Cowboys -- who have staged camp at the dome since 2007 -- have reserved the building from July 25 through Aug. 13 but might have to shift camp to Irving, Texas, if the lockout cuts too deep into July.
The Cowboys currently plan to load equipment into the dome on July 25, hold their annual camp pep rally on July 28 and begin practicing on July 29.
The Cowboysare in the fifth and final year of their rent-free deal to train at the Alamodome, according to the Express-News.
Last year, 16 teams went away to camp, and 16 stayed home, but this summer could be a different picture. The league's work stoppage already compelled the Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets to move camp closer to home.
The Jetswill shift camp to their Florham Park, N.J., facility from SUNY-Cortland, some 200 miles away. The Ravens will work at their facility in Owings Mills, Md., from McDaniel College in Westminster, Md. McDaniel had been the site of the Ravens' training camp since the franchise launched in 1996.
The Minnesota Vikings also face a July 18 deadline in deciding whether to hold camp at Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minn., or somewhere else.
Wherever Cowboys camp is held, veteran linebacker Keith Brooking believes the team holds an advantage over the rest of the league after the success of their player-only workouts in May.
"The organization that we had in our workout, it was a great tempo and we got a lot of great work out of that. And that's not BS. I was very pleased with that," Brooking told KESN-FM on Thursday, according to *The Dallas Morning News*. "I don't think there was a team in the league that did that. I mean, they hold press conferences and say they were out there practicing, but I was kind of hearing through the grapevine that wasn't taking place.
"I think if anything, we have an advantage because we got a great month of work in (during) May and we're doing everything in our power to be ready. And we have contingent plans if this lockout continues through the end of July and (into) August. We're going to get back together and do that again."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
