IRVING, Texas - Handling the bye week is always a tough dilemma for NFL teams, particularly the coaching staff.
Do you give the team a much-needed break, both physically and mentally? Or do you make the most out of your extra week and use the time to make adjustments and try to improve the team?
As usual, Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips and his staff are trying to find somewhere in between.
The team has practiced twice - Wednesday and Thursday - before the players will get three full days off, beginning Friday. Actually, for most players it starts a little earlier than that. Several are leaving town right after practice on Thursday, flying to various destinations such as California, Florida and Las Vegas.
Despite the distractions, head coach Wade Phillips said Thursday's practice at Valley Ranch was one of the team's best of the season.
"We had a brisk practice - the players were really into it," Phillips said. "Although they're off now, I thought they concentrated really well. We worked a lot on the passing game, both offensively and defensively. Tony (Romo) was real sharp today. Our sub-package on defense looked real good. We're working ahead on Atlanta certainly, but working on some stuff that we need to hone down and get better at. I thought we did a really good job of that today."
Since Phillips took over as head coach in 2007, the Cowboys have won at least three straight games following the bye in both seasons. The Cowboys were 6-0 after the bye two years ago, and won three consecutive games after the off week last year.
Romo said the credit for that goes to Phillips and the coaching staff for making the most out of the extra week. He also referred to the usual criticism Phillips receives regarding the perception that he's not as tough on the team as previous coaches.
"Wade does a good job of working you throughout the bye week, more than people know," Romo said. "We work harder under Wade during the bye week than we did under Bill (Parcells). I think that may be a benefit for our team in the sense that there's no slippage when we come back, and I think that's a positive."
The Cowboys held a longer, more intense practice on Wednesday, which was moved to Coppell High School because of the weather, that worked on the finer details of the game.
"One thing we touch upon over and over again is improvement, from game to game, from week to week and from day to day - and this week is no different," Romo said. "Coach (Phillips) did a great job of getting on the guys (Wednesday) and letting them know the importance of these few days. Practice was hard, it was long but it was rewarding afterwards to know that the guys fought like they did. It was nice. We got better I think (this week) so hopefully we can continue that the rest of the week."
Phillips said he used Wednesday to focus on minor details that relate to specific players, but Thursday was more focused on the Falcons, who come to Cowboys Stadium for the Oct. 25 matchup. Atlanta is 3-1, coming off a 45-10 rout of the 49ers last weekend, and will face Chicago in a nationally-televised game this Sunday night.
"We know they're going to be a good, tough team to play," said linebacker Keith Brooking, who admits this next game will be somewhat personal for him, considering he played all 11 previous seasons in Atlanta. "We got a big win last week for us and we have to keep the momentum going. That's all you can really do, just focus on getting better each week and finding a way to win."
While there is a theory that bye weeks can sometimes come at a bad time and break up a rhythm, most players disagree.
If anyone wanted to play a game next week, you would think it'd be Miles Austin, who had a career day in Kansas City with 250 receiving yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner.
"Honestly, it doesn't matter to me when it is," Austin said. "The bye is the bye. Whenever it comes, is fine. I'm not worried about getting off track or anything. I tend not to concern myself with things I can't control."
Along those lines, that's the approach Phillips takes with his players and their off-the-field antics. When asked if he's concerned about his players getting into any trouble during the bye week, he said he spoke to the team about making the right decisions, but it's nothing unusual.
"I talk to them about that, but I talk to them about that kind of stuff all the time," Phillips said. "We have a good group and I think we have a lot of good guys, but you don't want them to get into bad decisions. But I'm not worried about it. I think they'll do the right thing."
Home | Email | Print | Register for New Alerts | RSS
Nick Eatman - 
