Jason Garrett press conference 8/07/2013 (Duration – 14:03)

Jason Garrett speaks to the media after completing his teams morning walkthrough.

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OXNARD, Calif. – Former Jets guard Brandon Moore was the primary topic of debate during head coach Jason Garrett’s daily press conference between the morning walkthrough and afternoon practice today (Wednesday).

Garrett said he had a conversation Tuesday night with Moore, who was expected to sign with the Cowboys. It seemed then that it would work out, but Moore had a change of heart. He woke up the next morning and decided he didn’t want to play football anymore.

“You just try to address the needs where you have them, and Brandon’s a guy who’s been a good football player in this league for a long time,” Garrett said. “He’s been a starter for the Jets for a number of years. Bill Callahan coached him and has a relationship with him, and we had a conversation with him and thought he might be able to come in and help our team out.”

The Cowboys training camp roster is depleted on the offensive line, particularly on the interior. Guard Nate Livings is out after minor surgery on his knee, while guard Mackenzy Bernadeau is just now returning to practice after missing the beginning of camp and most of the offseason. Interior offensive linemen Ryan Cook and Kevin Kowalski have also been out with injuries during most of camp.

Garrett said the Cowboys will continue to look around the league at players that can help the team, but football’s not a good game to play if a player isn’t 100 percent committed.

“We respect that decision and we’ll try to evaluate that position and see if we can address it as we go forward,” Garrett said.

Here are some other notes from Garrett’s conference:

• Travis Frederick played mostly at center, but he also got some work at guard during the Hall of Fame Game. The Cowboys have said they’d like Frederick to be their center, but Garrett said the team has a while to figure out their best five offensive linemen to start against the Giants in the opener.

• Bernadeau is back at practice, but Garrett said there’s obvious rust right now as he works back in from injury. Bernadeau also missed a lot of time before last season, and Garrett said that’s where players grow and develop. He said Bernadeau needs to get more snaps, which could happen this weekend.

• Free agent guard Brian Waters is also available and could be a target to sign. Garrett didn’t want to speculate whether or not the team would try to reach a deal with the veteran, but he also didn’t deny that he was a possibility. “The biggest issue with Brian right now is he hasn’t played in 18 months, so you have to figure those things in,” Garrett said.

• The Cowboys had their first fight of camp Tuesday, as Ernie Sims and Lance Dunbar got in a tussle that then involved other teammates. Garrett didn’t mind it and said the healthy competition is good for the team, but he also has to remind guys they’re teammates.

• Speaking of Sims, Garrett was complimentary of how the linebacker’s performed since he joined the team midway through last year. He said he came in with a “this is my last chance” mindset.
  “Ernie has done that, and he really has played well,” Garrett said. “He’s played well on defense, he’s played well on special teams, he’s playing with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder.”

• The defense dominated the majority of team drills Tuesday. Garrett said the offense has to respond during the afternoon practice Wednesday.

• Kicker Dan Bailey drilled a 59-yarder at practice Tuesday. Garrett said there could be a compelling argument that he does his job as well as anybody on the team. He said Bailey’s a great football player, outstanding athlete and as cool as they come on the field. He also complimented Bailey’s preparation.

• The Cowboys will head to Oakland tomorrow, where Jason Witten got hurt in the preseason last year. Garrett was more concerned with Witten personally than on the football field. “There were a lot of emotions we all had,” Garrett said. “Whenever you talk about an injury to an internal organ, you’re certainly very concerned.” He described Witten, who vowed to play in the opener right after he heard he injured his spleen, as a great example “for football and really all of humanity.”

RELATED: Scout’s Notebook – Brandon Moore didn’t seem like right option

OXNARD, Calif. – Here are some observations from the film room in Oxnard:

• It appears that the front office reached out to former New York Jets guard Brandon Moore in an effort to try and bring him on board to start at the right guard spot on this club, but Moore elected to stay away from the field and retire from the game. My view of Moore wasn’t as positive as what this front office had at the time, but I don’t want to focus on that. I have said that all along and I believe it even more now, it’s about keeping Travis Frederick at center and not moving him to guard, but they also want to put the best five players on the field and if Frederick gives them that option, they would do it. I have observed Mackenzy Bernadeau these last two practices and I believe that he can handle this job. I like what I have seen from Ronald Leary and that gives me hope as well, but I honestly believe that keeping Frederick at center is in the best long term interest of this team. I have had my issues with Phil Costa but in this scheme he has a much better chance of succeeding, but I also feel like Frederick is a better player. As much as everyone thought that Moore was the right option, I didn’t feel that way. It’s been my experience that sometimes the moves you don’t make are the best ones.

• There were some nice battles in practice Tuesday at some different positions. Jason Hatcher and Ronald Leary hooked up several times, with each player at times getting the better of the other. Hatcher continues to show quickness at the point which put Leary in some tough situations but, Leary was able to counter with power that put Hatcher on his heels. Doug Free and George Selvie went at it as well. Selvie was running with the first defense and was having his hands full with Free who continues to do a solid job with his technique both run and pass. Selvie’s best trait in camp has been his relentless way in which he has attacked the tackle as an up field rusher, but Free was up to the challenge. Selvie didn’t do much until he moved down inside over the guard in a special scheme.Sterling Moore had some nice battles with Dez Bryant and Dwayne Harris in the team period and later when the squad went into the two minute drills. It was a nice bounce-back day for Moore who I felt like didn’t play his best against the Dolphins.

• A player in camp that has played with a chip on his shoulder throughout has been linebacker Ernie Sims. Sims has been one of those players that has had very few reps where he hasn’t been around the football. There has been a physical side to his game that tends to upset the offensive players. He is always reaching, grabbing or poking at the ball 20 yards down the field. On Tuesday, he instigated the first fight of training camp with running back Lance Dunbar. Dunbar’s disgust with Sims happened on the previous play before the altercation when Sims gave Dunbar a shot after the play was done and you could tell then that Dunbar was none too happy about it. On the next play, Dunbar starts on a zone play to his right and he is stopped on the play but with Gary Brown yelling to him to finish the play, he tries to once again get going but this time, Sims has a hold of him and slings him to the ground in which Dunbar comes firing off the ground and hits Sims with a two hand shove to the chest. To Dunbar’s credit, he had enough of Sims and wanted to let him know about it. But there was also two other things that were interesting about the rumble, is that rookie Joseph Randle came sprinting in the pile to help Dunbar and DeMarcus Ware being the heads-up player that he always is, picked the ball up off the ground and took off running like it was a fumble. No blows were thrown but I guarantee that Ernie Sims will continue to get under everyone’s skin and he has no problem with that.

• I observed a different wrinkle for the offense on Tuesday working out of the pistol formations with DeMarco Murray in the backfield. Callahan showed a couple of creative plays out of the look that put the ball in Murray’s hands in space that were productive. On defense, Monte Kiffin used what I would call a “Double Eagle” or “Bear Front” when he covered the center and two guards, then had his defensive end standing up on the outside with the Sam linebacker standing up on the strong side. With the three inside defensive linemen, it gives him the option to run games out of the front to attack blocking schemes and with the two standing defenders, he can create one-on-one matchups that potentially can win on the outside.

Courtesy: Bryan Broaddus | Football Analyst/Scout