Q: What happened to Steve Smith?
A: Steve Smith went for a ball today and strained - what they are calling right now - is a strained pec. He had trouble driving his arm after the injury so he couldn't continue. I don't have anything to tell you about him until they do all of the tests.
Q: After he did that he tried to practice and then realized that he couldn't?
A: It was kind of a blur for me because I didn't even realize he had done anything. And then word was that he was out of practice. He tried, I guess, to move his arms and that type of thing. And he did have some, I guess, pain up in his pec area. So we will have to wait and see.
Q: Do you know which play it happened on?
A: It was a ball in the middle where he extended for the ball. I do know that.
Q: Brandon Jacobs ... some type of illness. Is this something that concerns you, or is it the season?
A: I think it probably is the season, to be honest with you. At least it is just 24 hours. We have Dave Tollefson, we have had Brandon. We have had some sickness. But in one day's time they are right back at it. So I didn't like the fact that he missed Wednesday - for the introduction. But he is back out here today; feeling better today. Usually what happens is they run a temperature. It starts the night before and it is pretty intense in terms of being sick for about 24 hours and then they come back. So whether it is the flu, I don't know. Everything is called the flu.
Re: more on players missing practice due to illness
A: We have had a few, but it is starting to be that time of year, too.
Q: How did Kevin Boothe look today?
A: He did okay today.
Q: If Steve Smith is not able to go on Sunday - I know you don't know yet - but what does it mean for the younger guys - Ramses Barden, maybe Duke Calhoun?
A: Opportunities; opportunities.
Q: What did you see from them in the last couple of week?
A: They have worked hard, practiced hard. A lot of their work has been scout team oriented. But nevertheless, out of 10 they may get two or three with the first offense and they have taken advantage of that. But obviously this will be a whole different story.
Q: What type of role do you see for Kevin Boothe and Mitch Petrus this week?
A: Well, one of the two of them is going to start.
Q: How are you determining that? What have you seen in practice that would make you lean one way or the other?
A: With Boothe you have the veteran. He has done - in games as a starter - he has finished games for us. So from that standpoint, he is the veteran. It is whether he is ready to go. And I don't see any reason why physically he is not. But we will wait on that. Both are getting multiple opportunities.
Q: Looks like Will Beatty is out here this week?
A: He has done pretty good. He has done well. He doesn't seem to be real sore, which is a good sign.
Q: Was he able to do more than the individual today?
A: Yeah, he did more yesterday, too. He did a couple of snaps for each period and then we upped it today to a few more.
Q: During the game Hakeem Nicks kind of rolled his ankle - are there any complications?
A: He has one of those basketball ankles that kind of rolls and comes back. He didn't have a lot of swelling so he has been able to play through it.
Q: As you get further into the weather part of the year - have you thought about sending Lawrence Tynes and Matt Dodge over to the Stadium?
A: They do go over every Friday. .................
Q: You had mentioned that you were looking at some film when Paul Pasqualoni was down in Miami. What were you able to see that might you give you an indication of what they might do?
A: We were just looking to see under what circumstances certain things were called and what they did on third-down and whether there were any special coverages in there used, and so on. It was really good to put together, not enough to know exactly what they would call, but to get a feel if there was anything different from what we are seeing now.
Q: How much can you realistically expect things will change in such a short timeframe?
A: It probably would come from something within their playbook that maybe that Paul might feel better about. I think we will see something; I'm not sure what. I don't really know that for a fact. Because I know that Paul is a basic fundamental start-from-the-ground up guy and that may be what they do.
Q: Usually once you play a team you can use that game film to really sort of help you get a feel for what you are going to see. But with coaching changes and with Tony Romo being out, how much attention would you actually pay to that tape?
A: We obviously studied the two games that were played since our game and we have all of the information prior to our game as well. Don't see a whole lot of changes different from their offensive standpoint, other than Jon Kitna being the quarterback. Using (Dez) Bryant a little bit more; getting him involved. And so from that standpoint all we have done is really accumulate knowledge and study those two games and our game. And then reflect on the numbers from prior to our game to see exactly if there is anything that really sticks out.