Cowboys owner Jerry Jones surprisingly cut Terry Glenn loose late last week after months of haggling over Glenn not agreeing to sign an injury waiver for this season.
Jones said a big reason he felt cutting the team’s possible No. 2 receiver was the improving young receivers: Sam Hurd, Miles Austin and Isaiah Stanback.
Apparently Jones isn’t the only believer.
“I have a lot of confidence in them. I really do,” All-Pro tight end Jason Witten said. “I think Miles is a really huge weapon. He’s got a lot of speed and can make the transition; there are few guys on this team that have the ability to shift and go like he can. And Sam has been clutch. He always makes that big play, whether it’s on special teams [or offense]. It never seems like any situation is too big for Sam.”
Hurd caught 19 passes for 314 yards and a TD as the No. 3 receiver last season.
The 6-2, 205-pounder runs good routes and has outstanding hands, while the 6-3, 216-pound Austin (five catches, 76 yards in 2007) has shown the potential to be a big-play threat. Those two are “significantly ahead” of Stanback.
“Actually, those two guys have looked real good,” Wade Phillips said. “They’re probably even now. Practice is one thing, and they’ve both looked good. But we want to get them into games and see if they can be productive against other teams.”
Before the start of camp, coaches moved Hurd from the X side (where Terrell Owens starts) to the Z spot (where Patrick Crayton is currently the starter).
“You need me to block, I am going to kill somebody,” said Hurd, a 2006 undrafted free agent out of Northern Illinois. “You need me to catch, I am going to catch. If you need me to score, I am going to get in that end zone.
“If you need me to run down on kickoffs, I am going to do whatever it takes for the Cowboys, not for me, for the team to win.”
Jones didn’t rule out Glenn’s return if the 34-year-old clears waivers and the younger receivers struggle in camp, but that hasn’t been the case so far.
“As we go down the road, we’ll see where we are,” Jones said. “When we really got to looking at it, we would want to limit what Terry does in the preseason. Then we’re probably, with our situation, wanting to create the incentive for the receivers we’ve got.”
Glenn had consecutive 1,000-yard seasons for the Cowboys before his injury last year, so there are some big shoes to fill by Crayton and whoever wins the No. 3 job. Expect that to be Hurd.
