OXNARD, Calif. -- The Dallas Cowboys held their final full practice of their three-week stay in Oxnard, California, and not surprisingly Jason Garrett has called the time spent a success.
"I just thought training camp was a continuation of the approach that our players took in the offseason," Garrett said. "We had players in our building early working out on their own. We had players committed to our offseason program and worked hard during our OTAs and minicamp. They went away for five weeks. They came back. They were in shape. They were ready to go. I thought we did an excellent job laying the foundation for our football team here over the last couple of weeks.
"Now, we're a long way away. We know that. Coaches know that, players know that, everyone knows that. But the approach has been outstanding. We've had a chance to see a lot of young players practice and play in-game. I think they've grown over the course of the last couple of weeks. We've had veteran player come back and get the rust off and get themselves ready to play football again. So over the next three weeks we will give all of those guys a chance to play in games and continue to refine our team. I think our team had an outstanding approach coming in, worked hard every day and we got better in our time here in Oxnard."
Tony Romo, Jason Witten, Sean Lee, Orlando Scandrick, Doug Free and DeMarcus Lawrence were given the day off from Wednesday's practice, which included minimal game planning for Friday's preseason game against the Miami Dolphins.
On to the observations:
RB Ezekiel Elliott took his first snaps in 11-on-11 work since suffering a hamstring strain on Aug. 2. He did not get a carry. With the situational work, Elliott was asked to pass protect and run some routes. He did not catch a pass but it appeared he did well in pass protection. "He did a good job this week, did individuals (Tuesday) then he did some team stuff," Garrett said. "We'll evaluate his situation as we go here the next couple of days." Elliott won't play Friday vs. Miami with such little practice time.
With Romo out, Dak Prescott took the first-team snaps at quarterback. He hit Dez Bryant on a slant that could have set up an end-of-half field goal try, but Bryant never felt he was tackled and sprinted to the end zone. The clock ran out and the offense was unable to attempt the kick.
With Free sitting out, Bryan Witzmann took the first-team right tackle snaps but was replaced for a spell by Ryan Mack. Chaz Green worked at left tackle with Tyron Smith not taking part in team drills because of a stinger.
Receiver Brice Butler had his best catch of camp, coming down with a Jameill Showers heave after the quarterback was flushed from the pocket due to some pressure. Butler made the grab with only his left arm as he was falling to the ground covered by Arjen Colquhoun while getting out of bounds to stop the clock.
Butler's catch set up a 56-yard field goal attempt by Dan Bailey into the wind, but the kick bounced off the crossbar and was no good. In the special teams' drills, Bailey made kicks from 44, 48 and 51 yards but a 51-yarder was wide right.
Running back Rod Smith missed his second straight day of practice with what Garrett has called an infection. While he has improved, he might not be able to play Friday. With Smith out, fullback Keith Smith took some tailback handoffs in practice for the first time.
Safety Jeff Heath (concussion), defensive end Lawrence Okoye (hamstring), defensive end Charles Tapper (back), defensive end David Irving (groin), and cornerback Anthony Brown (hamstring) did not practice.
The Cowboys will have a brief walkthrough Thursday before returning to Texas.
