OXNARD, Calif. – Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said Saturday that Drew
Henson will be the No. 2 quarterback behind Drew Bledsoe in Monday's
preseason game against Seattle.
Tony Romo has worked with the second team for the past two weeks,
including last Saturday's preseason game in Arizona.
Parcells has said he wanted to give both of his backups an opportunity
to go second in a preseason game. He wants to have a decision made
regarding his backup quarterbacks by next week, but said he wasn't sure
if that was going to happen.
Once again, Parcells was reluctant to talk about the backup situation.
"Give me a chance to take this snapshot here," Parcells said. "Let me
look at this and see what it looks like first. It could alter my
opinion."
Romo has performed better than Henson throughout most of training camp,
but Henson appeared to improve during this past week's practices.
Camp infirmary: Safety Justin Beriault (right knee),
who has missed several practices, will play against the Seahawks on
Monday. Parcells said Beriault has surgery on the same knee five years
ago. ... Parcells said he's planning to send right tackle Jacob Rogers
(right knee), right guard Marco Rivera (right hamstring), defensive end
Marcus Spears (right knee and ankle), nose tackle Jason Ferguson (right
ankle) and fullbacks Darian Barnes (left ankle) and Erik Bickerstaff
(neck) back to Dallas on Sunday.
Parcells said he was, "getting a little worried" about Ferguson.
"He needs the work," Parcells said. "His baseline of practices is not
that good and we're running out of practice time. I mean, I know exactly
after today how many hard practices we have left before San Diego and
it's not that many. So you don't have an opportunity to get your players
ready."
OL talk: Al Johnson will start at center against
Seattle. Johnson backed up Andre Gurode at center in last week's game.
Parcells said Johnson, Gurode and rookie Matthew Tarullo would each play
a third of the game. Rob Petitti will once again start at right tackle.
Torrin Tucker will relieve him in the second half. Flozell Adams and
Kurt Vollers will split time at left tackle…Tyson Walter will get the
start at right guard in the absence of Rivera.
4-3 or 3-4?: Parcells said it was still too early to
decide how much 3-4 his defense would play.
"The thing that's setting me back here is the Spears, Ferguson thing.
That's putting that a little on hold, but the plus side of that is that
[Chris] Canty and Thomas Johnson and Jay Ratliff and some of these young
kids, Kenyon Coleman, are getting a lot more work."
RB breakdown: Anthony Thomas, who only had one carry
against Arizona, will be Julius Jones' primary backup against Seattle,
according to Parcells.
Rookie running back Marion Barber III is also expected to see
significant time. Rookie Tyson Thompson led all rushers with 64 yards on
10 carries against Arizona.
Asked about Barber's progress since the beginning of camp, Parcells
said, "Started off real well, real well. Then he kind of looked like he
hit the wall. He had a very, let me say 'dubious' would be the correct
word, special teams debut and we called that to his attention. So we'll
see this week. He's going to get a dose pack this week."
Parcells was upset with Barber for not fielding a punt properly against
the Cardinals.
No Gates in season opener: San Diego Chargers tight end
Antonio Gates didn't meet the team's ultimatum to sign a contract
Saturday and will be suspended for three games, including the opener
against the Cowboys on Sept. 11. Gates caught 81 passes for 964 yards
and 13 TDs in 2004.
Parcells high on McBriar: Asked to name a few players who have
improved during training camp, Parcells mentioned punter Mat McBriar,
who averaged 54 yards on seven punts last Saturday against Arizona.
"Based on last week. If he does that, he'll be over there in Hawaii in
January," said Parcells, referring to the Pro Bowl. McBriar would feel
right at home since he played his college football at Hawaii.
E-mail mmosley@dallasnews.com
