Garrett opens training camp

Garrett opens training camp

Training camp is underway and Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett addressed the media after the first day Monday.

On the status of Andre Holmes, Brodney Pool and Felix Jones:
"Andre Holmes, Brodney Pool and Felix Jones – none of those guys passed the conditioning test yesterday. We're going to have them condition with (head strength and conditioning) coach (Mike) Woicik during the walkthroughs and during practice until they prove to us that they're ready to practice the way we need to practice."

On if he was surprised that they didn't pass the conditioning test:
"We would anticipate all of our players being able to pass the conditioning test."

On what those three players will do now while they're not practicing:
"Right now they're going to do some remedial running. They did that this morning during the walkthrough. They'll do it again this afternoon and we'll just monitor their progress on a day-to-day basis. They will have to pass the conditioning test before they practice."

On why they weren't able to pass the test:
"I don't want to get into the reason why any of those guys were not able to do it. The fact is that they didn't do it and we need to make sure they're physically ready to practice the way we want to practice before we put them out there."

On how disappointed he is that it's these players who failed the conditioning test:
"It's just the reality of it. It's what happened. We're going to address it and move on. It gets some other players an opportunity to get some reps here early on in training camp and we'll just move forward."

On what the conditioning tests consist of:
"Each of the linemen have to run 40 yards in six seconds. The semi group, kind of the middle size guys, they have to run 50 yards in seven seconds and the skill group, the receivers and the defensive backs, need to run 60 yards in eight seconds. We do two sets of 10, there's a certain amount of break they have between each of them, there's a certain amount of break they have between the two sets and you have to make those times."

On if it was wrong for coaches like Jimmy Johnson to have training camp in intense heat and two-a-days:
"I think if you look back at the history of football, the guys who used to play and coach a long time ago probably think that everybody after them was really soft. And I think you go back to the days of Pudge Heffelfinger and all the way through (Vince) Lombardi and the rest of them. I think as time goes on, it's probably a little bit like you Dale (Hansen) when you were growing up and walked to school 10 miles each way both uphill carrying the ice on your back and that sort of thing. Times change. We were two-a-days every day in full pads for a long time down there in Austin. It was hot every day and that was just the nature of the time and the nature of our football team. None of us liked it at the time. I think we all benefited from it and believe it or not, we're trying to create the same kind of environment within the rules that the NFL has for us in this day and age. We're trying to take full advantage of that as a coaching staff because we feel like a rigorous training camp helps your football team get ready for the challenge of the season."

On what Morris Claiborne has done that has convinced him that he has the ability to run with the starters:
"We watched him a lot in college and we felt like he was an outstanding football player at the collegiate level at LSU playing in the SEC. That's the first part of the question. That's why we drafted him as high as we did. We think a lot of him as a person. We certainly think a lot of him as a player. He did have the wrist injury so he wasn't able to practice throughout the offseason but he was very engaged with our football team. He's a smart football guy. He picks things up. He's very natural and very instinctive out there. You can tell he has a good feel for the game. Now his first days of practice were the other day in our pre-training camp back at Valley Ranch and I thought he did a nice job. He's certainly rusty like a lot of the younger guys are trying to get themselves acclimated to our system and really playing at the NFL level. But he certainly has the capability physically to do that and we're going to try to give him as many opportunities to go against the best competition as early as we can to get him ready to play for this season."

On if Gerald Sensabaugh was at the walkthrough if he's cleared to do everything at the practice today as well:
"Right now he's not cleared to do everything. The walkthrough is a good opportunity for some of those guys who aren't quite ready to practice to get some of those practice reps. We're going to monitor Gerald (Sensabaugh) day-by-day and see how he responded to even the work that he did this morning and see how he feels and just make those judgments practice-by-practice."

On if he's excited about Matt Johnson being cleared and ready to go:
"Absolutely and really for the same reasons we just talked about with Gerald to give him a chance to get out here. As you know, he missed the entire offseason because of his class schedule in college, so he's behind from practice standpoint. He tweaked his hamstring a little bit last week so we put him on PUP. We want to give him as many opportunities to learn what we're trying to do as we can. Taking him off PUP and allowing him to move around a little bit until he's ready to go I think is really a positive thing for us and for him." Recommended Stories