| No-penalty pledge signed by Cowboys after some miscues |
 |
| Written by Admin |
| Thursday, 15 November 2007 16:24 |
|
IRVING, Texas (AP) -Call it a no-penalty pledge for the Dallas Cowboys. After drawing three penalties that came after plays were done against the New York Giants, coach Wade Phillips this week had his players sign a pledge that they would play smarter and avoid such penalties. Phillips said Thursday it was the first time he's ever gone to the extreme of having players sign something. ``I want their word that they're going to try to do the right thing. That's my feeling,'' Phillips said. ``It may be silly. It may be whatever, but I was serious about it and I think I feel like I needed to do something they're going to respond to. And everybody saw that it cost us points. ... We all saw it but I felt like I needed to do something.'' In the 31-20 victory at New York on Sunday, there were post-play penalties against Kevin Burnett, Keith Davis and Bradie James. Burnett was flagged for taunting running back Brandon Jacobs at the end of a run, a penalty that helped set up the Giants for a tying field goal just before halftime. It also drew Burnett a $5,000 fine from the NFL. James was penalized for unnecessary roughness for a shove on the Giants' opening TD drive. Davis drew the same penalty on the opening kickoff of the second half, which set New York up near midfield, though they didn't pick up a first down. Phillips knows there will be penalties, but he wants his players to think about what they're doing and eliminate the senseless ones. ``Everybody makes mistakes, I understand that,'' the coach said. ``I felt like that if you give me your word that that isn't what I want to do, then I'm going to try not to do it. Some of it's thinking ahead.'' The three post-play penalties were part of another 10-penalty game, the fourth this season for the Cowboys. But it came after only seven flags combined were thrown against Dallas the previous two games. ``We have to do a better job,'' tight end Jason Witten said. ``We were able to get by with it this past game, but the further on you get, the tougher the games become, it's just not going to work. So we have to make those changes. I think it's simply concentration.'' Along with a pledge to do better. |
|
|
|
Live Odds, Scores, Injuries And More - 14 Day Free Trial! |
|