Hi Folks,

I know some of you have roster submission deadlines within the hour and I
wanted to throw this out.

KTCK 1310 in Dallas has confirmed to Footballguys.com that Dallas QB Anthony
Wright may require surgery on his knee.   It's apparently not responding to
treatment as they'd hoped.   If it happens, this would put the starting job
in the hands of Clint Stoerner or Ryan Leaf...

If that's the case, I'd have to think this can't be good for anybody.
Emmitt Smith has a chance with Wright throwing the ball downfield but with
another QB (likely to struggle) I'd think you have to downgrade all the
Cowboys.   More as we hear it.


Joe

Thanks to Footballguy Gary Slinkard for pointing me to this one.


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If you want to know more about the QB situation than anyone can possibly
want to know, here's a detailed article from Mickey Spagnola:

Entire story:
http://www.dallascowboys.com/cgi-bin/Cowboys/news_mickeys.jsp

On one hand, the Cowboys have "The Ryan Package." On the other hand, they
have fluid on Anthony Wright's knee.

Could the two be fixin' to collide this week?

Well, let's try to answer that, and a whole lot more, as we catch up with
these 1-4 Cowboys who reconvened here at The Ranch on Monday following this
past weekend's inactivity.

Yes, Anthony Wright did practice on Monday after missing last week's only
two practices with fluid on his knee. He seemed to throw well. But he didn't
have to run around much, and after practice this excess fluid on Wright's
right knee that was surgically reconstructed in 1997 seemed to subdue his
mood.

"Some of the swelling is gone," said Wright, seemingly still concerned with
the knee he irritated in the Monday night victory over Washington.

But that reduced swelling did not seem to placate Wright. He seemed worried.
An MRI last Thursday suggested there was no structural damage. Wright said
he was to receive another exam by the doctors on Tuesday, which should
become the tell-tale check for this week.

As for head coach Dave Campo, he reaffirmed his belief in Wright as the
starter, and along with the Cowboys trainers, seemed confident Wright would
be able to start Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals at Texas Stadium. If
the swelling does not subside, in all likelihood the fluid would be drained
from Wright's knee before the game.

"He's the starter, and we'll continue to get Ryan Leaf extra work, and see
where we're at, at then end of the week," Campo said. "(Leaf) is No. 3 right
now, but we'll see."

That would seem to be the crack in the door, suggesting the Cowboys would
rather go with Ryan Leaf as the starter if the knee gets in Wright's way
this week rather than Clint Stoerner. Say what you want, that's the
difference between 18 NFL starts and no NFL starts.

"They want to put a package together that I'm confident in," said Leaf, who
took the first team snaps in last week's two practices. "The Ryan package I
guess. Right now, it's getting bigger and bigger every day. They certainly
seem to want me out there when I'm ready."

And it certainly seems Leaf is doing all he can to get ready as soon as
possible. He comes here early. He leaves late. He works on his off day, and
even though he did take this past weekend off, the fourth-year quarterback
at least took his playbook with him.

"I'm just eating it alive," Leaf said of his extra work. "I took my playbook
home," as he talked about how he and his wife, Nicole, would go through the
playbook together, and that he'll live in a hotel until she gets them moved
into an apartment here in Dallas. There is no time to waste.

So then, knowing there is a Ryan Package, and knowing Wright's knee isn't
right just yet, would Leaf be ready to start on Sunday against the Cards if
Wright wasn't?

"That's probably asking a lot," Leaf said. "Clint knows the offense well,
and would deserve to start. But I'll be as ready as I can."

And if asked by the coaching staff if he was ready to start, Leaf said, "I
probably couldn't do as many things, but I'll never say no."

And for a guy who hasn't experienced much success in the league, at least
not what you'd have expected from the second pick in the 1998 draft, at
least that's a good sign. He hasn't lost any confidence in himself....

Speaking of his first three seasons in the league, and a shoulder injury
robbed Leaf of his 1999 season in San Diego, he's thrown 13 touchdown passes
and been intercepted 33 times while starting 18 of 21 games. The guy taken
in front of him in that 1998 draft, Peyton Manning, threw 52 touchdown
passes and was intercepted 43 times while starting 32 of 32 games his first
two seasons. And bringing it closer to home, Troy Aikman threw 20 touchdown
passes and was intercepted 36 times his first two seasons....

Knowing what you knew about the Cowboys defense going into the season, would
you have given that unit a snowball's chance in hell of having a higher NFL
ranking than say Tampa Bay, Tennessee and the New York Football Giants going
into Monday's night game to complete Week 6 of play? Get out of here. But it
says right here in these NFL rankings the Dallas Cowboys are 13th, giving up
309.6 yards a game. And it says Tampa Bay is 14th, the Giants 15th going
into their Monday night game with Philadelphia, Denver 16th and Jacksonville
17th. Tennessee? Good gosh, the Titans are 26th. Come on, those are teams
littered with Pro Bowl defenders. Bet they aren't starting a fourth-round
pick and a sixth-rounder at cornerbacks. And remember, that's Randall
Godfrey starting at middle linebacker for the league's 26th-ranked defense,
not Dat Nguyen. But then the Cowboys did get to play Washington....



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