GotGibson?
Bench Warmer
Maybe the Cowboys won't need Adam "Pacman" Jones back in the secondary after all.
The biggest playmakers at organized team activities Tuesday were a pair of low-profile, third-year defensive backs: cornerback Alan Ball and safety Courtney Brown. Ball had an interception and each player had a couple of deflections, earning praise from teammates and coach Wade Phillips.
The performances came one day after the team backtracked on owner Jerry Jones' comment that he was considering a reunion with Jones, the cornerback released following a troubled 2008 that included a fight with his team bodyguard and a six-game suspension.
Most of the offseason chatter about the Cowboys' secondary has been about the free-agent signing of Gerald Sensabaugh, the return of a healthy Terence Newman and the development of second-year pros Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick. But Ball and Brown stole the show Tuesday.
Although Ball is a corner and Brown a safety, Phillips said he hopes to engineer a switch. He wants each to learn the other position, and said he thinks their skills are better suited to their new spots. Both are listed at 6-foot-1, but Brown is about 20 pounds heavier at 204.
"Smaller guys have played safety before," Phillips said of Ball. "Not many of them can do it. I think he is one that can."
Brown played corner in college at Cal-Poly. Phillips said he is more of a natural cornerback who was forced to play at safety last season.
"If he can cover like he covered today, he might have a home right there," Phillips said.
Ball appeared in 10 games last season, and had nine tackles and one pass deflection. Brown appeared in nine games and recorded seven tackles.
Phillips said he threw both into the Tampa game and that it was "one of our best games of the season."
Newman, who battled a groin injury last season, said his young teammates have shown they can handle the strain of learning two positions.
"For those guys to play corner and safety, and have to learn both positions as well as the nickel -- they are playing three different positions and they are not making any MEs," Newman said. "Those are mental errors. It's a good thing when they can do that and play good football."
The team has been practicing at a high school stadium in suburban Carrollton since the collapse of its practice facility last month.
The biggest playmakers at organized team activities Tuesday were a pair of low-profile, third-year defensive backs: cornerback Alan Ball and safety Courtney Brown. Ball had an interception and each player had a couple of deflections, earning praise from teammates and coach Wade Phillips.
The performances came one day after the team backtracked on owner Jerry Jones' comment that he was considering a reunion with Jones, the cornerback released following a troubled 2008 that included a fight with his team bodyguard and a six-game suspension.
Most of the offseason chatter about the Cowboys' secondary has been about the free-agent signing of Gerald Sensabaugh, the return of a healthy Terence Newman and the development of second-year pros Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick. But Ball and Brown stole the show Tuesday.
Although Ball is a corner and Brown a safety, Phillips said he hopes to engineer a switch. He wants each to learn the other position, and said he thinks their skills are better suited to their new spots. Both are listed at 6-foot-1, but Brown is about 20 pounds heavier at 204.
"Smaller guys have played safety before," Phillips said of Ball. "Not many of them can do it. I think he is one that can."
Brown played corner in college at Cal-Poly. Phillips said he is more of a natural cornerback who was forced to play at safety last season.
"If he can cover like he covered today, he might have a home right there," Phillips said.
Ball appeared in 10 games last season, and had nine tackles and one pass deflection. Brown appeared in nine games and recorded seven tackles.
Phillips said he threw both into the Tampa game and that it was "one of our best games of the season."
Newman, who battled a groin injury last season, said his young teammates have shown they can handle the strain of learning two positions.
"For those guys to play corner and safety, and have to learn both positions as well as the nickel -- they are playing three different positions and they are not making any MEs," Newman said. "Those are mental errors. It's a good thing when they can do that and play good football."
The team has been practicing at a high school stadium in suburban Carrollton since the collapse of its practice facility last month.
