Secrets and Lies, A Guy Named Herb, Chris McAlister

Cowboys Leaving No Stone Unturned

Cowboys Leaving No Stone Unturned
Getty Images

Anyone who thinks the Cowboys are just going to roll over and play speed bump on the way to an unbeaten season has another thing coming to them. They're doing everything in their power to get an edge for Saturday night, up to and including going all Jack Bauer on former Saints to find out what they know about Sean Payton's nefarious schemes.

The Cowboys had cornerback Chris McAlister and running back Herb Donaldson come in for workouts on Thursday. It's pretty likely that in between drills they had people in their ear pumping them for information about New Orleans. If either player was smart, he dangled something juicy, perhaps a taunt that cuts to the core of Drew Brees, and then said the rest of the information would only come with a contract for the rest of the season.

Bringing in players who played for upcoming opponents happens all the time in the NFL, although there's not much evidence it accomplishes all that much when it comes to winning games. Payton's a pretty sharp guy which means that he didn't cut McAlister days after calling him over during practice one day to lay out his entire plan for beating the Cowboys down to the plays he plans to run. If there is anything that either guy knows that could be touchy, the Saints have already changed it and you're left with an aging cornerback or a practice squad running back who can't offer much on or off the field. 

You never know what happens during a long film session, though. Maybe Pierre Thomas let slip to Donaldson that if you hit him in a particular place on his left hip he soils himself and fumbles the ball. Perhaps McAlister knows that Jabari Greer has a phobia about covering skinny posts this close to Christmas. If nothing else, they could give some tips on a good place to grab a po' boy before leaving town.

Every little bit counts and it's good to see the Cowboys looking for a little something extra to help them snap the December funk. If this works, expect to see Art Monk, Dexter Manley and John Riggins on the Valley Ranch field this time next week.  

BY Josh Alper // Thursday, Dec 17, 2009 at 04:45 CST

  • 60% intrigued 3
  • 20% bored 1
  • 20% laughing 1
  • 0% furious 0
  • 0% sad 0
  • 0% thrilled 0
processing
      No comments have been posted yet.

      You have 2000 characters left

      processing

      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 of the Texoma border.

      ADAM BOEDEKER

      Adam Boedeker is a sports writer with the Denton Record-Chronicle and responsible for prompting the No. 8 Bob Knight soundbite as ranked by ESPN.

      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, host of "Out of Bounds" and talks sports M-F from 9 to 11 a.m. on The Fan.

      EMAIL US: bluestar@nbcuni.com

      Loading...
      Birthdate:
      You must be at least 13 to sign up.
      Gender:
      invalid

      By clicking the button below, I accept the terms of use and privacy policy

      Already Signed Up? Login Below.

      processing

      Here's what we're posting:

      *Only used for verification. We do not store your password.
      processing