Cowboys Defense puts on a show at Tuesday OTA Workouts

Great catches were few and far between at the Cowboys organized team activity in Carrollton today. In fact there were so many drops that when a receiver made a catch it was an exception rather than the norm and head coach Wade Phillips wasn't pleased with it.

"Offensively we struggled a little bit as far as some of our timing and getting off plays, so we gotta work hard at those things." Phillips said.  "One side did a lot of things well, one side struggled a little bit and that's kind of how you do it in the off season but it's good work for both sides"

Roy Williams hauled in a pass from Jon Kitna with one hand and made the best catch of the day.  "He makes an outstanding play nearly every day," said Phillips. "The catch he made today was spectacular, we expect him to do that."  Roy expects that as well but he and the rest of the receivers ran into a feisty group in the secondary that turned heads with several pass break ups.  Williams liked what he saw from the men wearing the defensive blue jerseys today. "I see touchdowns when I go against these guys but they put on a show today, they came our ready to play and tomorrow we have to come back and bring it to these guys."  It was obvious that Roy's competitive nature took a hit after today's workout. "They say we're not playing against these guys, we're playing against ourselves,  getting better,  but they've got the opposite jersey than we do and we have to win, that's my approach.

These OTA workouts are conducted without pads so when Patrick Watkins took down rookie receiver Manuel Johnson from Oklahoma it got a little tense."I didn't try to hit him, I was just going for the ball trying to make a play on it" Watkins said. "I I didn't mean to hit him,  of course, but sometimes it happens, my teammates knew I didn't do it on purpose."

MORE:  Picture Gallery of Today's Workout Here

Secondary coach Dave Campo was yelling out Courtney Brown's name all practice long and today that was a good thing.  Brown broke up several passes as he has impressed many folks with his coverage skills in a move from safety to cornerback, especially Phillips. " If he could cover like he did today, he may have a home there" said Phillips.  

While Brown works at his move to corner, Alan Ball is trying his hand at safety, switching from the cornerback spot.  Ball was playing in Ken Hamlin's spot as Hamlin dealt with some personal issues and had an interception to go along with a few pass break ups.  This is his third season on the Cowboys roster.  Bill Parcells always maintained that you really find out what a player is made of in his third season.  Ball is hoping this is the year he breaks out.
"I'm hoping it's a breakout for the Cowboys in general, anywhere I can play my role I hope it helps us get better as a secondary, get better as a defense and as a team" Ball said.

The Cowboys wrap up their voluntary OTA workouts tomorrow, give the team four days off and then reconvene for mandatory mini-camp workouts next Monday.  They'll have two-a-day workouts Monday and Wednesday and a single practice on Tuesday.

Check out today's workout tonight on The 33 News at 9:00pm