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FRISCO, Texas -- Jason Garrett started Thursday's practice watching the Dallas Cowboys' offensive line. He saw new line coach Marc Colombo work with the interior linemen on hand placement and footwork as they went through their first practice in preparation to play the Tennessee Titans on Monday. From there Garrett took a few steps to his right to watch Hudson Houck -- a two-time Cowboys' line coach who was added to the staff Monday as a senior assistant to aid Colombo -- work with the tackles and tight ends. Next, Garrett walked over to the turf field to check on the wide receivers, including Amari Cooper, who was in his first full-padded practice since being acquired from the Oakland Raiders last week. Garrett watched carefully as Cooper ran a number of routes, catching passes from Dak Prescott. Normally, the types of moves the Cowboys have made in the past two weeks require time, like a full offseason, to see them pay off, but they don't have the luxury of time. At 3-4, the Cowboys need Colombo to help raise the level of play of the team's supposed strength, a line that features two Pro Bowlers, Tyron Smith and Zack Martin, a first-round talent in La'el Collins and a second-round pick in Connor Williams. The Cowboys need Cooper to inject big-play ability into a passing game that has badly missed it for most of the season.  They need it all to come together, starting Monday against Tennessee.
"We've got nine more games to play," Collins said. "That's a lot more football. If we start to think about just being behind, defeated or whatever, then this season is going to go in the tank. We can't think about that." Some might see the moves as desperation. Others might see them as a sign of the Cowboys admitting their mistakes in constructing this roster and staff. "We are always trying to get better. We believe very strongly in our team," Garrett said. "We have a young football team. We have played some close games here in the early part of the season. We won one. We lost a couple. We are going to learn from those experiences. And keep going. This team is going about it the right way. They are working hard. They are competing. They are getting better week by week and growing from the experiences they have." Garrett would not get into detail on why he fired Paul Alexander, but it was clear the linemen were not comfortable with the new techniques, especially in pass protection, Alexander was trying to teach. "I think if you look at the tape, our problems on offense has definitely been up front," Martin said. "It's something we have to address and I know Coach Colombo is extremely excited to work with us full go." In Colombo, the line has a coach with experience in the system the Cowboys have used since 2014, but Martin said they can't just revert to what they did under Bill Callahan and Frank Pollack. Colombo's recent playing experience -- he retired in 2011 and was the Cowboys' right tackle from 2006 to 2010 -- is a plus. "I think he just connects with us well," Martin said. "He just brings a ton of energy to our group." The Cowboys want Cooper to bring a ton of energy to the passing game immediately. He is already listed as a starter on the depth chart despite just one full practice. In an attempt to speed up the learning process, Cooper and wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal spent time at Fallon Sports Park in the Bay Area during the bye week going over plays. "We got there kind of early so there wasn't any people there," Cooper said. Cooper and Prescott used FaceTime to go over what each other likes on certain routes, the signals Prescott uses at the line of scrimmage or certain code words for plays. Cooper got back to The Star on Tuesday and he and Prescott spent time together on Wednesday going over the offense even more. "There's definitely a sense of urgency being that I just got here and we have to play this week," Cooper said. "I have to play on Monday and it's a completely new system. I've played in a couple of different systems now so after awhile you really do some of the same things, they just call it different." Cooper said he does not feel pressure to produce right away. "I mean, why feel pressure when you can apply it?" Cooper said. "That's my take on that."
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