Cowboys more sensitive in offseason workouts after 2012 injuries
IRVING, Texas – Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said several times throughout the second half of last season that injuries would not be used as an excuse for losing.
Critics can preach all they want about the next guy stepping up but it's obvious that the 8-8 Cowboys were hit harder by injuries than most teams. And because of that, during organized team activities, several players have been working off to the side with trainers as opposed to running drills against teammates.
"While we don't want to make it an excuse, there's no question that injury, especially on defense, impacted us last year," Jones said Tuesday. "So, we're trying to do as good of a job as we can, looking at some things, changing some things in what we're doing relative to not getting soft tissue injuries, especially. But I think fresh off of last season, when we thought injuries impacted our season a lot, [it was determined that] we would be more sensitive during this offseason as to being conservative on injury."
Jones also pointed out that practices have been shorter during the final week of OTAs so that players can spend more time working on their strength and conditioning.
During Tuesday's OTA session, Austin, Ratliff, Spencer, Hatcher, Danny McCray and Jermey Parnell were among the group working off to the side.
Cowboys coach Jason Garrett echoed some of what Jones said, noting that he wants to keep those players "fresh, healthy and ready to go" for training camp next month.
"[There was] nothing serious with any of those guys," Garrett said. "We're just being very cautious as we go. We don't want to take any backwards steps."
Forgot how bad the Cowboys had it last season? Well, here's a list of some of their significant injuries.
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