The first day of two-a-day workouts brought 8,686 fans to the Alamodome today and though the Cowboys were in full pads for the first practice, they only practiced in shoulder pads for the second workout.  No matter the what pads they wore the edict remained the same from Wade Phillips....NO hitting!

"My Dad ( Bum Phillips ) practiced with shorts and shoulder pads every practice. It was still live" Phillips said, maintaining that his men are still required to go full speed and get to the spot of the tackle.
 
"Well, we work tacking drills, we work at getting to the position to be able to hit somebody, and we work on wrapping up and doing those things in other drills." said Phillips. "Some of it is just you've got to run into somebody and wrap them up.   You don't need them tackling people to the ground all of the time, but you need to get them into the position to be able to make the tackle, and that's what they are doing."

Even though the defensive players lick their chops to get able to do some hitting, they have to wait until the pre-season games and that seems just fine to DeMarcus Ware.  "You gotta get that edge thing back; seeing all of the balls, and getting off.  Learning the guy you are going against even though you just go against him in practice, they know you just as well so it's a little bit harder. So I'm just trying to get to where I need to be" Ware said.

Phillips does not believe that the lack of tackling will hurt this team resulting in missed tackles during the season.

"They do bang them, and they do bump them with their shoulders and so forth; they grab and knock the ball and pull the ball out, and you work on those things" Phillips said.  "You don't necessarily have to take them to the ground to be able to get in position to be able to tackle.  If a guys not a good tackler then we'll work extra on some of the specifics.  A lot of is getting into the position to tackle and not the hitting itself."

More touch football continues at the Alamodome tomorrow with one practice at 2:15pm.  The 33 Sports will be at every practice of  Training  Camp and make sure to check back with us often for the very latest on the Dallas Cowboys

Thursday, The Cowboys had their first practice in pads with neither the offense or defense claiming the spotlight... But Friday their was no doubt who gained bragging rights.

Bum Phillips, who attended today's practice, had to be proud of his son Wade, because the head coach/ defensive coordinator had his defense ready. The Dallas "D" came up with 3 big interceptions today... So while the defense is off to an early start, they know it's just a matter of time before their offense catches up.

Cowboys Linebacker, Bradie James said "The Defense had a good day. We know in the morning, the offense will bounce back so when you're on that roller coaster, you got to be ready for that dip because the offense will be ready, tomorrow morning."

Tight End Jason Witten said, "We didn't have as a good of a day as we did yesterday. The Defense probably got a little more today but that's what competition is all about."

The Cowboys will have another two-a-day session Saturday beginning at 8:50 AM.