For all but three plays, the interior of the Dallas Cowboys’ offensive line was comprised of nothing but new faces in the team’s season opening victory over the Giants last week--and though they weren’t bad, they weren’t as good as the boss man (read: Jerry Jones) wants them to be.
Ryan Cook stepped in for Phil Costa at center after Costa tweaked his back on the third offensive snap of the game, which made the inner portion of the Cowboys’ line: Mackenzy Bernadeau, Cook and Nate Livings. All three were picked up as free agents earlier this year--Bernadeau and Cook in the offseason and Cook late just about a week before the opener.
With the new group in place, Romo was sacked twice, and the offensive line was responsible for four of the team’s five false start penalties. (Tight end Jason Witten had the other one.)
“The protection is very important to us, especially the interior of the offensive line, that we protect (Romo),” Jones said, per ESPN Dallas. "As it turned out, we got a lot of pressure outside against the Giants, which doesn't surprise me at all. My point is the protection was not as good as we want but still not a negative thing for me."
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