The Sports Xchange

IRVING, Texas – The brightest spots coming out of the 30-6 loss to the New England Patriots were the return of defensive end Greg Hardy and linebacker Rolando McClain, both of whom missed the first four games due to NFL suspensions.

Hardy, who played for the first time in 14 months, had a two-sack day in his Cowboys debut, and McClain tied for a team-high eight tackles.

“We felt like both of those guys played very well in the game,” coach Jason Garrett said. “They’re good football players and it was good to have them back out there. Both of those guys are instinctive players.

“I think you saw that and their ability to step in without having much time on task with our football team in a game situation and step in and play as well as they did was impressive.”

Hardy played 41 of 59 defensive snaps, matching Tyrone Crawford for the most among defensive linemen. And McClain played 52 of 59, the fifth most among all defenders.

Garrett certainly didn’t seem surprised by the production from Hardy and McClain in their returns. Neither showed rust.

“What we tried do throughout was just try to watch them and you have a little bit of a plan for them and for guys behind them,” Garrett said. “And you just see how they’re doing. If they can handle the work you keep going. You mix the other guys in to give them a break.

“Each of those guys responded well. They responded well to competition. Again they were productive and did a lot of things for our team.”

–The Cowboys broke out the unique 3-2-6 defense against the Patriots and it worked for a while. Credit defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli for going outside the box. The Cowboys played aggressive man to man on the outside, smothering the Patriots receivers and forcing Tom Brady to hold on to the ball.

That explains the five sacks on Brady in the first half as the receivers had a hard time getting open. The three-man front included a hell-bent Hardy coming from right end and some exotic blitz packages from Marinelli that confused the Patriots early.

Brady and Patriots adjusted and made a few plays in the second half but the Cowboys offense didn’t do enough to help support a solid defensive plan.

“He was definitely frustrated, but it wasn’t enough to get a victory,” defensive end Jeremy Mincey said. “We were all over the place. I just hate that the score doesn’t reflect our defensive effort as a team.”

This was a defense specifically for the Patriots and might provide a blue print for other teams to show them down later in the season and possibly the playoffs.

Ironically, NFL historians might note that it was the Patriots who famously used this amorphous defensive alignment several times in the last ten years to confuse blockers.

–Cornerback Byron Jones played tight end Rob Gronkowski as well as anybody. Jones was drafted as a cornerback but the Cowboys think his future is at safety. He followed Gronkowski all over the field and limited him to four catches for 67 yards.

“He did a really nice job,” coach Jason Garrett said of Jones.

“Gronkowksi is a really good player. Byron right from the start stepped up and challenged him. Gronkowski made some plays, a couple of slants, a couple of back shoulder plays. But Byron ever since he’s gotten here, just kind of steps in there and competes. He hasn’t always won but he is never shy about sticking his nose in there and challenging the guys he is playing against. We saw that yesterday.”

–Running backs Joseph Randle and Darren McFadden have yet to separate themselves, and running back Christine Michael hasn’t had many opportunities to show what he can do.

Randle led the team in rushing Sunday, gaining 60 yards on 15 carries, but didn’t do anything with consistency.

McFadden had 16 yards on five carries, and Michael had one carry for six yards on a third-and-1 to pick up a first down early in the second half.

“We need to run the ball better,” Garrett said Monday. “We’ve done some good things in the running game, but we need to be consistently better running the football throughout the game.

“In some cases, we haven’t had favorable boxes to run at. Teams have been trying to defend the run. Having consistent balance to be able to attack the defense a lot of different ways will help the running game. To answer your question, we need to run the ball better.”

–Wide receiver Dez Bryant could play against the Giants Oct 25. But he must get on the practice field before he returns to game action. Bryant, 26, underwent foot surgery on Sept. 14, and the timetable for his return was slated between six-to-eight weeks. The Oct. 25 game is one day before the six-week mark for Bryant.

Garrett said the fractured fifth metatarsal in Bryant’s right foot is still healing.

“It’s the kind of injury that the bone has to heal,” Garrett said. “Him being a tough guy doesn’t really matter in this situation. It’s a medical decision and he’s certainly going to give himself every chance to go out there and play.”

–Defensive end Randy Gregory continues to make progress after leaving the season opener with a high ankle sprain. He got on the practice field at the end of last week and appears to be on track for the Oct. 25 game.

“Hopefully he responds well to that work and we’ll take him day by day this week,” Garrett said.

–Left guard Ron Leary will also be competing for his starting job during the bye week with rookie Le’al Collins. Leary has not been good all season and had his worst game against the Patriots.

Said Garrett: “There’s competition throughout our team. We’re going to use this week to look at all of those different possibilities as to how we can make our team better.”