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Mickey Spagnola

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Offensive tackle Sam Young, a sixth-round pick, agreed to a four-year deal on the same day the Cowboys completed negotiations with seventh-round defensive lineman Sean Lissemore. Young received a $110,000 signing bonus, which was slightly higher than Lissemore’s bonus.

The 6-8, 315-pound Young was a four-year starter at Notre Dame, setting a school record with 50 starts while never missing a game. He played primarily right tackle in college, making 40 starts there and 10 on the left side. He’s likely to end up at right tackle in the NFL, but he also worked some on the left side during organized team activities and minicamp.

Young might be competing with Robert Brewster, a third-round pick who missed his rookie season due to a chest injury, for a roster spot. Doug Free, Marc Colombo and Alex Barron will be the team’s top three tackles.

Seventh-round defensive lineman Sean Lissemore became the first member of the Cowboys’ 2010 draft class to come to terms.

The William & Mary product agreed to a four-year contract Wednesday, agent Wes Bridges said.

The Cowboys like the 6-4, 298-pound Lissemore’s athleticism and intensity. Lissemore was a sprinter and wrestler in high school, and his motor reminds Wade Phillips and Jerry Jones of former seventh-round pick Jay Ratliff.

Lissemore could end up backing up Ratliff at nose tackle, but he worked primarily at defensive end during organized team activities and minicamp.

IRVING, Texas – Maybe Jay Ratliff just doesn’t have a short memory, certainly not as short as others these days seem to have when it comes to idle contract chatter.

There has been a case made by several that the Cowboys’ two-time Pro Bowl nose tackle is being grossly underpaid, and that he certainly should have his hand out for a restructured contract since he is now considered one of the best nose tackles in the NFL and one of the top 100 players in the league. And the case is supported by pointing out Ratliff’s base salary for 2010 is “just” $2.015 million.

Here is what’s failing to be mentioned: When Ratliff signed his five-year, $20.5 million extension on Dec. 14, 2007, the deal included an $8 million signing bonus, meaning nearly half of the extension was guaranteed. That’s got to be worth something. Here is the other part, and to me, the key part:

The former 2005 seventh-round pick would have become only a restricted free agent in 2008, meaning the Cowboys could have played the CBA game and tendered him a one-year deal for like $1 million at the time. Had they done so, and Ratliff drew no offer sheets, that’s all he would have made in 2008, and he would not have become an unrestricted free agent until 2009.

Now you say the Cowboys got a great deal since Ratliff was voted to his first Pro Bowl in 2008, and you would be correct, especially since he went to his second this past season. But here is the other side of that pancake: While Ratliff could have held out for a better deal, he would not have gotten that signing bonus until March of 2009.

So you must ask, how much is it worth to your for $8 million to sit in the bank – or have it at your disposal – 15 months sooner than the salary rules dictated? And with the high-rate of injury in the NFL, do you want to gamble as much as $8 million when you were only a seventh-round pick by playing out your contract or on a one-year deal?

Ratliff thinks not.

“I did what I thought was best for me at the time, and I don’t regret it,” Ratliff recently said in an interview with Pro Football Weekly. “That’s what it is. I am happy now where I am at. Everything will work out just fine. I am not worried (about my contract) going forward.

“My goal is to stay focused, not get distracted by all that (contract talk) and try to be a better player.”

One of the true good guys – smart, too – in the league.

Just The Facts

So there are some still suggesting the Cowboys should simply cut wide receiver Roy Williams if Dez Bryant demonstrates in training camp he is worthy of starting. In fact, one site wrote Cowboys owner Jerry Jones “needs to eat a Texas-sized slice of humble pie” and cut Williams if Bryant earns a starting job.

Here is the part that was left out – again: It’s not the humble pie Jones minds eating, it’s the $9 million guarantee Williams has in his 2010 contract Jones finds hard to swallow. Wouldn’t you? For you and me, be like paying cash for a $25,000 vehicle, then finding one you like better in a year, paying $20,000 for it and just abandoning the other car on the side of the road.

Do what?

Short Shots

Supposedly Rams safety O.J. Atogwe was the steal of free agency once he was released by the Rams in June, and most everyone suggested the Cowboys should sign him. But do you find it curious he remained on the open market for several weeks and no team even nibbled? And on top of that, it’s being reported his five-year, $34 million deal isn’t what it appears to be. The Rams are to pay Atogwe $4.1 million in 2010 but included an $8 million poison pill (roster bonus) to be paid in March of 2011. Ha, you think he’s getting that in a salary cap year with the team in the midst of a sale? Not . . . . The Jets sure did the Cowboys a favor by signing second-round pick Vladimir Ducasse to a four-year, $3.25 million deal. Ducasse was the 61st player taken. Cowboys second-round pick Sean Lee was the 55th, which at least gives each side a ballpark figure to work off once they start discussing contracts in two weeks . . . Also helping the Cowboys, who don’t figure to start working on contracts until the week leading up to their July 23 training camp reporting date, is St. Louis signing eight of their 11 picks, excluding, though, top pick Sam Bradford and the first pick in the second round, OL Rodger Safford . . . . And you ask why do the Cowboys wait so long to sign draft choices? Not to be heartless here, but if this was a salary-cap year, the Giants would have been hit for the entire signing bonus in 2010 had rookie Chad Jones, who signed only days earlier than his car accident, suffered career-ending injuries . . . or worse . . . . Training camp can’t be far away if the Cowboys are placing single-game tickets on sale this Saturday at 10 a.m. Must be a few seats available, though, if they are only putting an eight-ticket, per-person limit on each game. Better beat the secondary-market dudes if you’re interested . . . . BTW, 16 days and counting until San Antonio.

(Mickey Spagnola will be writing his thoughts on the Cowboys at least once a week (Wednesday) during the off-season for KTBB.com.)

IRVING, Texas – There was a time the Dallas Cowboys were hard-pressed to get a player ranked among the top 50 in the NFL, and really it didn’t matter who was doing the rankings. In fact, it wasn’t all that long ago in the first decade of this century the Cowboys had no more than two players ranked in the top 100, if that.

Well, not sure if you saw this or not, but Foxsports.com came out with their top 100 players in the NFL heading into the 2010 season, and that list included six Cowboys: DeMarcus Ware No. 9, Tony Romo No. 24, Jay Ratliff No. 39, Miles Austin No. 75, Anthony Spencer No. 88 and Jason Witten No. 93.

Not bad, although I think the rankings totally missed how good and valuable to the team Witten is. He’s not just a pass-catching tight end. He can block, too. He doesn’t mind getting his nose dirty or jaw broken . . . or continuing to play without his helmet on. Should be ranked ahead of Austin and Spencer for my money, and a top 50 player making his way into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Flo-ing East

This was predictable, that Cowboys former starting left tackle Flozell Adams would have to wait for the injury bug to strike before a job opened up for the 35-year-old who has played 12 years in the NFL.

So there Adams was on Tuesday, in Pittsburgh for a visit and physical with the Steelers after their starting right tackle Willie Colon went down for the season, scheduled for surgery on Wednesday to repair a torn Achilles. On top of that, the Steelers’ fifth-round draft choice Chris Scott of Tennessee has suffered a broken bone in his foot and is expected to be out at least three months.

So the Steelers have a need, and they came calling on Adams, released by the Cowboys to make way for the younger Doug Free (26) to move into the starting lineup at left tackle. But the Steelers aren’t the only team interested in Flo’s services. Put Denver and Washington on that list, too.

Let’s Go Camping

Training camp is growing closer and closer as the calendar turns to July on Thursday, meaning the Cowboys players will be reporting in 23 days, with the first practice in San Antonio at the Alamodome scheduled for 2:15 p.m., Saturday, July 24. And since the Cowboys will spend the first two weeks of training camp working indoors and the final two weeks in gentle climate of Oxnard, Calif. (Aug. 14-17), they have 12 two-a-day sessions scheduled.

There will be seven of those doubles in San Antonio, the first scheduled for Sunday, July 25. So that opening weekend in San Antonio is scheduled for three practices and the training camp kickoff party on Friday, July 23, with doors opening at 6 and the party starting at 7, which includes the Cowboys players, coaches and Cowboys Cheerleaders making appearances, along with a musical act. And if you happen to be looking for a weekend with a whole lot of practices, that second weekend in San Antonio is your best bet, with two-a-days scheduled for Saturday, July 31, and Sunday, Aug. 1.

And after the Cowboys depart San Antonio Aug. 6 for Dallas, then fly to Canton, Ohio, for the Aug. 8 Pro Football Hall of Fame preseason game against Cincinnati and return to Dallas for a couple of light workouts before playing Oakland at Cowboys Stadium on Thursday, Aug. 12, they won’t waste any time getting busy in Oxnard that first weekend there. Why they have two-a-days scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 14 and Sunday, Aug. 15. In fact, that will be the only weekend of practices in Oxnard since the Cowboys, after a brief walk-through practice, leave for San Diego on Friday, Aug. 20, and then leave for good on Friday, Aug. 27, this time heading to Houston for the preseason game on Aug. 28.

In all, the Cowboys have scheduled 26 practices for San Antonio and Oxnard’s River Ridge Sports Complex.

Almost time to hit the road.

(Mickey Spagnola will be writing his thoughts on the Cowboys at least once a week (Wednesday) during the off-season for KTBB.com.)

IRVING, Texas – To me, that the Cowboys released kicker Connor Hughes, along with four others on Tuesday to trim their roster to 81, does not mean David Buehler automatically becomes the team’s place kicker in 2010.

The move just means he’s still the favorite. Nothing has really changed. Even with Hughes here, Buehler was the prohibitive favorite during the OTA practice sessions and minicamps. In fact, Hughes spent much of the off-season nursing a leg injury and never really was healthy enough to mount a challenge. By time he did get healthy, the Cowboys likely just sent him out there to attempt a few kicks just to show he was healthy enough to be waived.

So Buehler, really, is in the same boat he’s been in: Basically the front-runner, and while there is no serious challenger on the roster, he’s competing against any and every free-agent kicker still out there. Meaning he must kick well enough during training camp and the five preseason games to convince the Cowboys not to bring in another place kicker looking for work. This is one of the most overlooked competitions on the team since Buehler has yet to attempt a field goal in an NFL game.

Now then, so far so good, though, Buehler, under the guidance of former Cowboys kicker Chris Boniol, refining his techniques and showing he does have the physical ability to handle the job. The mental test comes during preseason games when it would behoove the Cowboys to fall short of scoring touchdowns just to give Buehler some game work.

As for alternatives just in case, there really aren’t many, unless, if necessary, the Cowboys could convince John Carney to walk away from his coaching gig in New Orleans or for Jason Elam to un-retire. After that, really the best veteran kicker out of work is 42-year-old Matt Stover, a Dallas native, who was not re-signed by Indianapolis. Stover was an emergency acquisition by the Colts last year after front-line kicker Adam Vinatieri had knee surgery five games into the season.

So, we’ll see.

Roster Reduction

Also released along with Buehler were second-year cornerback Marquis Floyd, rookie free-agent wide receiver Rashaun Greer, rookie free-agent guard Chet Teofilo and rookie free-agent tight end Nick Tow-Arnett, who spent the majority of the off-season recovering from injury.

That brings the Cowboys to 81 players on their roster, and must trim one more player once they sign all six of their draft choices. They likely will stay at 81 until the last of those six guys are signed, and that likely figures to be Dez Bryant, their first-round draft choice. Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said the club will start working on signing their draft choices the week before the July 23-24 start to training camp.

Minding The Store

Even though there is no salary cap this season, the Cowboys continue to keep an eye on the future and once again have resisted overspending to sign veteran players to big-time contracts while not knowing what the future CBA guidelines will hold.

And that has a lot to do with why the Cowboys didn’t seriously pursue either Saints offensive tackle Jammal Brown or Rams free safety O.J. Atogwe. Both were looking for huge long-term deals, and the Cowboys just weren’t prepared to do that at safety, a position they failed to stabilize with the previous two expensive long-term deals there (see Ken Hamlin and Roy Williams), and offensive tackle, knowing Brown was balking at signing the Saints’ $3.619 restricted tender.

Word out of New Orleans is the Cowboys showed interest, but after seeing all the convoluted conditions of the eventual trade of Brown to the Redskins the interest couldn’t have been that serious. And as for Atogwe, they showed little to no interest, and he has now re-signed with the Rams, inking a five-year deal.

Both non-moves are votes of confidence for Alan Ball at free safety and Doug Free at left tackle.

(Mickey Spagnola will be writing his thoughts on the Cowboys at least once a week (Wednesday) during the off-season for KTBB.com.)

With still about five weeks to go before the start of training camp, the Cowboys have trimmed up the roster a bit, cutting five players on Tuesday, including three undrafted rookie free agents.

The Cowboys also released cornerback Marquis Floyd, who spent all last year on the practice squad and took some second-team reps this offseason in place of injured corner Orlando Scandrick.

The other cuts include kicker Connor Hughes, along with the rookies – wide receiver Rashaun Greer, tight end Nick Tow-Arnett and guard Chet Teofilo.

By cutting Hughes, it opens the door even more for David Buehler to handle most of the kicks, if not all of them, in training camp. The Cowboys still have rookie kicker/punter Delbert Alvarado, although he will also help lighten the load for punter Mat McBriar as well.

Tow-Arnett was an intriguing prospect because he could possibly handle some duties at fullback. But an injury in the first rookie minicamp sidelined him for most of the summer.

The Cowboys now have 81 players on the roster, one over the amount they can take to training camp. By cutting the five now, it obviously means the team is not expecting many holdouts from the rookie draft picks. The Cowboys will still have to cut one player once they sign all six draft picks.

IRVING, Texas – The off part of the off-season has finally arrived, with all the team organized activities and minicamps completed and the “gone fishing” sign posted until the gang reconvenes July 23 in San Antonio for the start of training camp. So let’s tie up a whole lot of loose ends while every one of you takes a deep breath before 2010 anxiety sets in.

The Cowboys began this off-season with a couple of concerns: Could Doug Free take over for Flozell Adams; could Alan Ball become the starting free safety; could David Buehler handle the place-kicking chores. But when Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was asked on Saturday with the Cowboys practicing before 5,200 people paying for a stadium “tour” ticket, he said, “In general, I’m concerned about who we’re playing,” and well he should be when considering the Cowboys must go on to the road to play, besides their three NFC East brethren, Minnesota, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Arizona and Houston – all finishing with winning records last year and all but Houston advancing into the playoffs – and then New Orleans at home . . . While there is no salary cap this season since only one year is left on the CBA, there still is a rookie salary cap teams must adhere to. Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said he plans to start signing the 2010 draft choices a week before training camp begins, and that “the only difficult one will be Dez (Bryant), the other should fall right in place.” That’s because the Cowboys will begin training camp a week before 30 NFL teams, and since first-round picks are generally signed right before camp begins, the slotting process won’t be very far along when the Cowboys arrive at the Alamodome . . . .

Speaking of training camp, there seems to be some concern the Cowboys will be all over the place this summer, spending two weeks in San Antonio, part of a week back here at The Ranch, two weeks in Oxnard, Calif., and also playing five preseason games. Says veteran linebacker Bradie James of this AAA summer, “We the Cowboys, we go everywhere. Nobody cares where we practice, only if we win.” Amen to that . . . Everyone out there who was shouting the Cowboys should have signed Albert Haynesworth in free agency, please raise your hand . . . And since we’re in other people’s business, not a good christening for the Giants at their new $1.6 billion stadium with kick returner Domenik Hixon tearing the ACL in his right knee during the team’s first workout on the new digs’ FieldTurf. Hixon, you remember, returned a punt 79 yards for a touchdown against the Cowboys last year . . . And in the NFL, during CBA negotiations Wednesday, NFL reps informed the NFLPA their thoughts on a potential 18-game season, which would reduce the number of preseason tickets included in a season ticket to just one if negotiated into the deal . . . Wade Phillips should be much faster up and down the sidelines this season, having dropped 30 pounds . . . .

Funny how working the cords with Cowboys associate trainer Britt Brown gets players back on the practice field. This is no day at the beach, believe me, and Dez Bryant certainly found that out in his couple of sessions last week, a sore hamstring causing him to miss OTAs and then the first minicamp workout. Well, he was back on the field for Friday’s second minicamp practice that day, Phillips saying afterward, “You’re not getting out of anything when you’re with Britt Brown,” and he’s right, players actually doing more running rehabbing with him than in practice. No sloughing off involved . . . Keep an eye on Marcus Dixon this summer. After two seasons on the practice squad, he’s pushing for a spot on the 53, and one injury among the defensive ends will get him there if he continues showing up . . . Tony Romo continues to play pressure golf, Wednesday advancing to the third round of the Wisconsin State Golf Association Match Play Championship after going 22 holes to finally win his second-round match. Just to get into overtime, Romo had to recover from a three-hole deficit and birdie the 18th to pull even . . . Hey, if you are a fan of the Cowboys Stadium Party Pass, the Cowboys are putting together a Party Pass season ticket for $199, which will include all 10 home games . . . For those of you in East Texas who just might be in Dallas on Thursday, Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware’s new book is out, “NFL Dads Dedicated to Daughters, and he will be signing copies at the Sam’s on Park Lane (8282) starting at 6 p.m. . . .

And finally, while at Cowboys Stadium for Saturday’s second practice, Jones was asked if he’s caught himself dreaming of being right there in February and becoming the first franchise to actually participate in a Super Bowl it plays to, he cautiously said, “I don’t have any problem with an imagination, I don’t,” and relayed the story of former defensive end Charles Haley recently speaking to the team during an OTA practice, his message being “when you come out on the field, you got to imagine what you want to be.” Well, as Jones said, “I can dream that something could happen.”

Ah finally, the off part of the off-season.

(Mickey Spagnola will be writing his thoughts on the Cowboys at least once a week (Wednesday) during the off-season for KTBB.com.)

IRVING, Texas – Here is what I told Jamie and Bill a little more than a week ago when they still were wringing their hands over Patrick Crayton’s absence from these “voluntary” OTA sessions here at The Ranch, the veteran wideout obviously disgruntled over his unknown future with the team since the Cowboys drafted Dez Bryant with a first-round pick, are high on second-year receiver Kevin Ogletree, already have invested another $9 million in Roy Williams and found out last year Mile Austin is capable of being a lead receiver:

Told them that in 26 years of covering the Dallas Cowboys I never had seen a “cat die up in a tree. They always come down.”

OK, that is the parable I learned from a wise colleague at the since-deceased Dallas Times Herald, Frank Luksa, who lent me such wise wisdom during one of the first contract holdouts I had to cover. His point: Just like a cat that crawls up in a tree and causes so much consternation but always seems to get down safely, players 99 out of 100 times might bluster about their contract or their situation, but in the end they all return to the team.

Voila, Crayton, after his three-week OTA protest, arrives at The Ranch on Tuesday for this final week of voluntary workouts and then the three-day “mandatory” minicamp this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And he was all smiles, too.

And he was saying such things as, “Right now I’m not worried about being released,” and also “right now I’m not going to complain about things I can’t control” and that the Cowboys “are going to get my all every day” and finally when someone suggested he was the old man of the receiving corps “I’m the youngest 31-year-old you’ll ever meet.”

One of the smartest, too. First of all, Crayton understands he has a base salary worth $2 million, and that’s nothing to sneeze at even after spending six years in the NFL. But he also understands, if you look at the youth at wide receiver, the money being spent on the position and just where everyone figures in, there is a good chance he just might be the odd-man out. It’s just that he doesn’t want to be that odd-man out come Sept. 4 when rosters must be trimmed to 53, and here he’d be without a job and most teams having their rosters set for the first game of the season. Then he’d be at the mercy of someone else’s misfortune, or injury.

So his protest.

But knowing Crayton, after watching him as a rookie seventh-round pick working through plantar facsciitis during his initial minicamp under head coach Bill Parcells, refusing to sit out and limping through the final day of the three-day sessions, he’s a tough guy. And all he wants is fair competition for the five or six receiver roster spots and for someone (coaches/owner) to erase that expensive insurance policy label from the front of his helmet, which he rightfully senses is up there without even looking.

But for now, as Crayton said, “We’re in minicamp. No more questions about training camp or the future, I can’t predict it.”

And once again after all the fuss, the wayward cat has his feet planted firmly on the ground.

Dez Days

So Cowboys first-round pick Dez Bryant continues to discover the ups and downs of being a first-round draft choice, especially that’s a wide receiver for the Cowboys. Every time he coughs, it’s reported, with opinion.

So it’s been these past two days when the Cowboys trainers decided to hold Bryant out of these padless, OTA teaching sessions with a tight hamstring. Happens, you know, when you are practicing in 90-degree heat with what seems to feel like 70-percent humidity. But because it was reported the second three-day OTA week Bryant had a little hip flexor problem and one day had a bad reaction to breakfast, now a lot of media types are suggesting he’s injury-prone and that he’s still not in shape.

My gosh, come on. First of all, he finished that practice two weeks ago, coming off the field for a play or two before returning to finish the workout and then that night playing in a charity basketball game and practicing again the next day, the same after the stomach virus. Yet . . . .

As I once suggest when Terrell Owens first got here, you had better get out your Dez Bryant filters, and do the best you can discerning what’s fact and what’s just histrionics trying to grab your attention.

Short Shots

Once again, the Cowboys have five planned minicamp practices this weekend, with two on Friday, two on Saturday and one on Sunday, although that day sometimes ends up being a family day around here. But don’t forget, Saturday’s second session (3:30 p.m.) will be held at Cowboys Stadium, where for the price of a stadium tour you can take in the practice . . . Remember former Cowboys wide receiver Mike Jefferson? He has enlisted with the Air Force . . . We had a great chalktalk with Wade Phillips and Jason Garrett, the Cowboys head coach bringing the media into the team meeting room to go over Tuesday’s practice video, breaking down a few drills and a few plays. Good stuff, and letting a few know-it-alls realize how little they really know about what really goes on during a play . . . First impression of seeing Jay Ratliff for the first time this off-season – he’s been rehabbing in Atlanta after elbow surgeries to remove bone chips – is he’s lost weight. Nope Ratliff said, somewhat proudly, same weight (295) but less body fat . . . And this will be the bottom line on third quarterback Stephen McGee: Can he process the game fast enough in the pocket, meaning making necessary reads quickly enough and react with accurate throws. If not . . . .

(Mickey Spagnola will be writing his thoughts on the Cowboys at least once a week (Wednesday) during the off-season for KTBB.com.)

IRVING, Texas – Has ever there been more attention paid to one player (Patrick Crayton) and one position (safety) than there has this off-season?

And to think there are still 51 days until the first training camp practice. Have mercy.

While Crayton’s absence still is being debated and rated with the Cowboys still in the midst of their third three-day week of organized team activities, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones seemingly came clean on all the conjecture over the Cowboys picking up a veteran safety.

When asked about O.J. Atogwe, the former starting free safety of the St. Louis Rams, who rescinded their restricted free agency tender to him on Tuesday, making him a free agent, Jones basically addressed the Cowboys potential interest in him when saying, “I’m not even for sure what his status is right now.”

Maybe enough said of whatever interest the Cowboys might have in Atogwe, because if that’s the case, then it couldn’t have been that much, while all along the Cowboys – and Jones – have said they want to see what Alan Ball can do at the position where he started four games last year in Ken Hamlin’s injury-induced absence.

But when pushed on the subject, Jones seemingly ended the conversation – for now – by saying, “I’m ready to go into the season with the safeties we have.”

That means Ball and Gerald Sensabaugh as the projected starters, with Mike Hamlin and Pat Watkins competing for playing time, and the likes of Akawsi Owusu-Ansah, Danny McCray and Barry Church competing for roster spots. And Jones doesn’t seem to be pulling anyone’s leg, since sources have told me, first, the Cowboys aren’t interested in taking a chance with another high-priced free agent safety after past failures and that the scouting report on Atogwe is that he wears down as the season goes on.

As for Crayton, Jones is leaving that to the fans and the media. He didn’t even want to touch the subject, and when his answer left one reporter saying he was “confused,” Jones jumped in by saying, “You shouldn’t be confused.”

On The Ball

Playing Alan Ball as the backup nickel corner in the slot has been the plan for quite some time, but no one really knew that until Orlando Scandrick fractured a finger on his left hand last week and will be out until the start of training camp.

But there was Ball on Tuesday during the OTA practice when the Cowboys went into their nickel defense in the slot, with Terence Newman and Mike Jenkins on the corners. And with Ball in the slot, that left either Pat Watkins or Mike Hamlin manning the free safety spot with the first-team defense alongside Sensabaugh.

Cowboys secondary coach Dave Campo said that was the plan all along, and if you remember, it was Ball who headed into the slot last year some when Scandrick handled a play or so outside for one of the starting corners.

Plus as head coach Wade Phillips points out, “(Ball) has played the slot receiver opposite Scandrick (on the dime defense). He’s versatile.”

Short Shots

The Cowboys practiced at Cowboys Stadium Wednesday, and if you happened to have stopped by around 10:30 or so to buy a ticket for a self-guided or guided stadium tour, you were eligible to watch practice. Fans will have one more shot to take advantage of this opportunity on Saturday, June 12, at 3 p.m. for the second of three scheduled minicamp practices that week . . . If you are just wondering, when the Cowboys worked on their three-receiver set over the past two days, the three receivers were Miles Austin, Roy Williams and Dez Bryant, with Austin mostly lining up in the slot . . . The Cowboys continue working on their two-tight end sets, with Jason Witten and Martellus Bennett, who after a disappointing last year seems to be doing a better job of taking care of off-season business. And he’s back catching the ball again, making a couple of really fine grabs on Wednesday . . . Also, with Scandrick out and Ball working in the slot on the nickel defense, it was Cletis Gordon doing so on the second defense . . . Trying to do as many things as possible to finally make the team after two years on the practice squad, defensive end Marcus Dixon was working after practice on deep snapping, along with rookie free-agent tight end Scott Sicko.

(Mickey Spagnola will be writing his thoughts on the Cowboys at least once a week (Wednesday) during the off-season for KTBB.com.)