Ken Hamlin, Gerald Sensabaugh

Communication Key In Hamlin's Absence

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Communication Key In Hamlin's Absence

With Ken Hamlin's timeline for return officially set at 2-4 weeks, the Cowboys are left to figure out how to replace the former Pro Bowler, who last missed a game in 2005, after a late-night donnybrook on the streets of Seattle led to a stop sign being bashed over the free safety's cranium.

Short answer: Either Pat Watkins or Alan Ball.

Long, thoughtful answer, well, that's obviously not quite as easy. Hamlin has come under heavy criticism from the more "hardcore" fans of late for any number of reasons, the most popular of which seem to be his (a) being out of position too often, (b) missing tackles, and (c) being late in coverage.

Whether or not these claims have any merit, I'll leave to you, the reader; but there's little doubt that Hamlin, along with Gerald Sensabaugh, is a vocal, on-field leader for the secondary--the quarterback, as they say. This is where the team may miss him the most.

"[Hamlin]'s a great player, he was playing well," said Sensabaugh on Monday. "I'm not sure how long he's out, I'm not sure about his injury. He's banged up a little bit, but we'll do a good job of getting a game plan and communicating, I think. We've got a lot of depth, we've got a lot of guys who can play, I man, nobody really gave up any plays, so I think they did well with the guys that came in for substitutions."

Without Hamlin's vocal leadership, Sensabaugh says, it will be key for Dallas to maintain clear lines of communication with whoever his replacement may be, come Sunday.

" I'm real comfortable [with Hamlin], we've been working out since OTAs and watched tape together and stuff and he helped me get the system down pat, along with the coaching staff," Sensabaugh said. "With him down, we've just got to communicate and stay on the same page."

BY Scott Crisp // Tuesday, Nov 17, 2009 at 11:15 CST

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      About the Authors

      FOLLOW US: twitter.com/BlueStarBlog

      JOSH ALPER

      Contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com.

      MATT BARRIE

      NBC 5 sports reporter and anchor with reporting experiences on both sides ofthe Texoma border.

      SCOTT CRISP

      A Dallas native, a writer, a former collegiate athlete and a beleaguered, life-long Dallas sports fan.

      SAM HALE

      Sports producer for NBC 5, offering his take on everything behind the scenes with the Cowboys.

      DREW MAGARY

      Co-founder of Kissing Suzy Kolber, columnist for Deadspin, and author of Men With Balls, now in bookstores.

      NEWY SCRUGGS

      AKA Newdawg. NBC 5 sports anchor, and host of "Out of Bounds"

      EMAIL US: bluestar@nbcuni.com

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