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The Cowboys weekend mailbag has returned.

Let's get to it.

Q: Judging by what we've seen and expect from Bruce Carter and Sean Lee, who do the Cowboys covet more, long-term wise, of the two skilled linebackers. TBro (Parts unknown)

A: I would say both. Lee is the signal caller and the main tackler, but Carter is just as important. Lee's contract is up at the end of this season and the Cowboys will extend him long-term. Carter's deal is up after 2014 and the Cowboys will also give him a long-term contract. Here's the problem: Health. Lee and Carter have endured injuries during the early stages of their careers. While both are talented players the Cowboys have to make a hard decision regarding the long-term future of both players. Lee and Carter are healthy now, but they must get through the 2013 season injury-free to give the front office confidence they are worthy of a long-term deal.

Q: Hey what's up Calvin, Can you provide a list of the differences from last year's roster to this years? Zach Emmerick (Phoenix)

A: The difference is in the health of the team. Let's look at the offense: It's basically the same group for the exception of a new center, Travis Frederick, back up running back, Joseph Randle, and a new No. 3 or No. 4 receiver in Terrance Williams. On defense, the front seven is the same for the exception of Justin Durant, who could start at one of the outside linebacker spots. The defensive backfield is the same as well. B.W. Webb could challenge for some playing time on some passing situations during his rookie year. Injuries were a major factor into why the Cowboys struggled on defense and with some key players, Jay Ratliff, Lee and Carter, healthy, things should improve. The offense wasn't a issue, think about how Dez Bryant emerged last season and how badly the team missed DeMarco Murray in the running game. It's a good roster but inconsistency and health affected how the Cowboys played in 2012. If the Cowboys remain healthy and we see some consistent play, I expect a good season.

Q: Wouldn't it make sense for Dallas to at least inquire about Charles Woodson? The Cowboys are not very deep at safety and he would be an excellent mentor for the youngsters. It makes sense to me, but maybe I'm missing something. What is your opinion on the matter? Cody Black (Greenfield, Tenn.)

A: I like Woodson, but he's 36 and I don't want a 36-year old safety/cornerback on my football team. It's OK to go with youth and sometimes getting a veteran, no matter what position, doesn't necessarly mean you get success. Woodson is a Hall of Fame player in my view, however, he doesn't fit with the Cowboys. Barry Church, Danny McCray, Matt Johnson, J.J. Wilcox and Will Allen will compete for starting spots. Church played well until he torn his Achilles tendon and Allen is a veteran player who could start. The team has hopes that Johnson's health won't be a negative this season and McCray is a special teams guy. Wilcox is good close to the line of scrimmage, but he's a year-away from significant playing time. Woodson is a talented player, but he's on the back end of his career and the Cowboys should leave him alone.

We're going to play the "What If" game for a moment.

The Cowboys placed the franchise tag on Anthony Spencer, costing them $10.6 million. If the Cowboys had let Spencer test the free agent market, that's at least 10.6 million that could have gone to another free agent.

There's no telling how much Spencer would have gotten on the market, he would have been the best pass rusher out there coming off a career-high 11 sack season.

If the Cowboys had let Spencer walk there are two players who might have signed with the Cowboys. Dwight Freeney and Osi Umenyiora. Freeney left the Indianapolis Colts and signed a a two-year $8.7 million deal with the San Diego Chargers. Umenyiora left the New York Giants and inked a deal with the Atlanta Falcons for two years and $8.5 million.

Now Freeney and Umenyiora will be one-hit wonders for these teams, because veteran players, unless its a elite quarterback, will not receive big money deals in free agency.

It's easy to second-guess the decision to franchise Spencer. The Cowboys weren't confident enough in Sean Lissemore's abilities to take over at defensive end or move Tyrone Crawford there. The new defensive staff, led by defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin wants Crawford to play tackle and end in 2013. Kyle Wilber has also been moved to end.

The Cowboys bypassed three quality defensive linemen in the draft to keep the current defensive line intact.

But allowing Spencer to test the market it might have saved the Cowboys some money, and quite possibly, allowed them to get one of the top defensive ends in the NFL draft last month.

Of course, we're just speculating here on a Saturday afternoon, as Freeney and Umenyiora begin playing for new teams and Spencer continues to participate for the one who drafted him in 2007,

The biggest thing against Spencer is sacks. He finally came through on that last season, and now, barring a new contract getting completed, he enters the final year of his contract with the hope of putting up big numbers again.

If Spencer doesn't then you have to play the "What If" game again.

When the Cowboys open training camp in late July, the competition at the guard spots should be good.

The projected starters are Nate Livings and Mackenzy Bernadeau.

However, David Arkin, Kevin Kowalski and Ronald Leary could win a starting job or a key backup role in 2013. First-round pick Travis Frederick is competing against Phil Costa and Ryan Cook for the starting job at center. Frederick has position flexibility to move to guard, but at least right now, the goal is to make him a starter at center

Livings looked as if he lost a few pounds when he was spotted walking through the Valley Ranch complex during the rookie minicamp last week. Bernadeau also looks pretty good as well. The Cowboys made a statement by drafting Frederick and pushing for Leary, Arkin and Kowalski to make some noise at one of the guard positions.

Bernadeau struggled at times last season, until he came on strong toward the end of the year. Livings battled some leg issues and despite a strong start, slowed down in 2012.

The Cowboys restructured Bernadeau's contract to lower his salary cap number, so it appears he'll be here in 2013. Livings is another story, while he did play well in 2012, you have to wonder if the franchise is concerned about his play.

I think both Bernadeau and Livings will remain the starters in 2013, but one of the younger guards will make the 53-man roster and give the Cowboys hope they will get younger in the interior of the offensive line in the future.

The Dallas Cowboys released cornerback Dustin Harris and signed free-agent cornerback Malik James on Friday.

James played in four games for Langston University before a season-ending injury. He had six tackles and two interceptions.

James played at Cincinnati and Nevada before transferring to Langston.

Monte Kiffin told his players to study two teams’ defenses from last season: the Chicago Bears and Seattle Seahawks.

A couple of Kiffin disciples (new Dallas defensive line coach Rod Marinelli and new Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley) coordinated those two units, which ranked among the NFL’s top five in scoring defense, total defense and turnovers forced.

PODCAST
Cowboys safety Barry Church joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss the new defensive scheme and the impact it will have on him, how much more intense he expects practice to be with Monte Kiffin and his expectations. Listen

Another thing the Chicago and Seattle defenses had in common: They featured tough, playmaking cornerbacks. In fact, those were arguably the best two cornerback combos in the league last season.

Chicago’s Tim Jennings led the NFL with nine interceptions. His counterpart, Charles Tillman, forced a league-high 10 fumbles, recovered two and returned all three of his interceptions for touchdowns.

Seattle’s Richard Sherman tied for second behind Jennings with eight picks and tied for second among corners with three forced fumbles. Brandon Browner, the bully who plays opposite of Sherman, also forced three fumbles and had three picks despite missing four games due to a suspension.

See why the Cowboys were so dismissive about the discussion that Kiffin’s scheme didn’t put a premium on cornerbacks?

The corners in Chicago and Seattle set the standard for Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne.

“They’re aggressive. They’re physical. They’re always attacking the ball,” Carr said. “They’re showing press with Seattle. With Chicago, they’re playing the hard Cover 2 scheme, but they’re up there dictating the flow of the receivers. That’s what we want to do. We want to dictate the flow and not let them attack us. We’re going to attack them.”

The Cowboys didn’t get enough of a return on their investments in the corners last season. After giving Carr a five-year, $50 million deal and packaging their top two picks to move up to sixth overall to select Claiborne, the Cowboys’ starting corners combined for only four interceptions, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries in 2012, when Dallas forced the second-fewest turnovers in the NFC.

That’s one of the primary reasons Rob Ryan no longer reports to work at Valley Ranch. As the defense’s injuries stacked up throughout the course of the season, the corners were assigned to play soft zone coverage more frequently, which caused some behind-the-scenes grumbling.

Despite the Tampa 2 tag, the Cowboys will blend in several other looks with the Cover 2 staples. The corners have been told that they’ll consistently be lined up within breath-smelling distance of receivers.

“This defense kind of caters to Claiborne’s and my abilities out there, our traits, our qualities,” Carr said. “It allows us to go up there and press pretty much the whole game. Whether we play Cover 1, Cover 2, Cover 3, you’ll have to find out after the (snap), but it allows us to be aggressive and go out there and dictate the game.”

Are Carr and Claiborne worth the price the Cowboys paid for them? They’ll have a chance to prove they are in a scheme similar to ones that feature star corners in Chicago and Seattle.

The Dallas Cowboys' signing of defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove on Thursday got buried under the at-long-last resolution of the Doug Free matter. But as Calvin Watkins writes on ESPNDallas.com, it says something about where the Cowboys are in terms of their defensive line. As Dallas transitions to a 4-3 front this year, there has been some concern raised about depth. The starting quartet of DeMarcus Ware, Anthony Spencer, Jason Hatcher and Jay Ratliff appears very good, but should one of those guys get injured or need a rest, things get dicey behind them. That's where Hargrove comes in, as the Cowboys believe he can play end or tackle on a 4-3 line.

But Hargrove is going to turn 30 before the start of the season, and since the team didn't address the defensive line in the draft, it's worth wondering about the future there, as Calvin does in his post. Spencer and Hatcher could both conceivably be gone next year. Ratliff's about to turn 32 and always seems to be banged up. Ware has worn down a bit toward the end of recent seasons, and a move up to the line could exacerbate that. Calvin lists Tyrone Crawford, Sean Lissemore, Rob Callaway and Kyle Wilber as young defensive linemen who could factor into the starting mix as early as next year. Lissemore is the most proven of that group, but one of the interesting subplots on the defensive line in Dallas this year will be whether any of them can show enough to instill confidence that they'll play significant roles in the future. The extent to which any or all of them do will affect what the Cowboys do about the defensive line next offseason.

In the meantime, I agree with Calvin that the Cowboys' defensive line appears to have been built for 2013 success without much of an eye toward what lies beyond. You can't fix every problem every offseason, and much of the Cowboys' draft this year was focused on offense due to their belief that they'll be better on defense with better health. Look for defensive line to be a major focus in the 2014 offseason, regardless of the way 2013 goes.

Dallas Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones said quarterback Tony Romo will have a bigger role in the offensive game-planning and spend more time at Valley Ranch after Romo signed his $108 million contract extension last month.

PODCAST
Cowboys safety Barry Church joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss the new defensive scheme and the impact it will have on him, how much more intense he expects practice to be with Monte Kiffin and his expectations. Listen

It was met with mixed reviews from some fans and media members.

Why should Romo get an increased role? Is Jones trying to justify the contract?

Romo's best friend, tight end Jason Witten, said his buddy has always had a role in the offense.

Jason Garrett backed up those statements.

"The thing that we want from our quarterbacks is we want them to be engaged and involved," Garrett said. "Tony has always been that. Communication between all of our players and coaching staff is critical. It's certainly critical with that position.

"Tony has been around our offense a long time and we think the lines of communication are open in a really positive way. So we'll continue to have it be that way, both in the offseason and during the season. Tony's worthy of that opportunity. It's really been that way since he's been our quarterback."

On Tuesday, Romo missed the Cowboys' annual golf tournament because he was helping with the installation of the offensive plays for next week's organized team activities. It doesn't appear abnormal for Romo to do this.

Garrett gave the impression most quarterbacks he's been around as a player and a coach do similar things.

"It's just the nature of the quarterback position in the National Football League," he said. "Those guys need to be involved. You're always trying, with all of your players, (to) put them in a situation where they can be successful. You certainly try to do that with your quarterback, and communication back and forth and having those guys involved. Just a back and forth really throughout all phases of it offseason, during the week, during the game is really, really important to the success of both the player and to the team."

» NFC Eight in the Box: East | West | North | South » AFC: East | West | North | South

A look at key players for each NFC East team who are coming back from injuries:

Dallas Cowboys: LB Sean Lee

Lee has been a breakout defensive star for the Cowboys the past two seasons, but he hasn't been able to stay healthy. A wrist injury limited him after a raging hot start in 2011, and after another hot start in 2012 he injured a toe in Week 7 and missed the remainder of the season. The Cowboys' defense is different when Lee is on the field and at his instinctive, playmaking best, and it misses him terribly when he's not. Now set to play the middle linebacker position in Dallas' new 4-3 defensive alignment, Lee is more important than ever to the every-down success of the defense. We easily could have picked running back DeMarco Murray or even perpetually nicked-up wide receiver Miles Austin for this exercise, but the Cowboys' biggest question marks lie on defense, where six starters missed time last year because of injury. Improved health on defense is the surest way for the Cowboys as a whole to improve in 2013, and Lee is right in the middle of it all.

New York Giants: WR Hakeem Nicks

Nicks broke a bone in his foot during minicamp last year, and while he made it back in time for the start of the season, he was not himself all year. Foot and knee problems cost him three games and limited him to 692 yards and three touchdowns on 53 catches (10 catches and 199 yards of which came in a Week 2 game for which he was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week). Without his top wide receiver healthy for much of the year, Giants quarterback Eli Manning was unable to duplicate the Super Bowl-winning magic of the previous season. With Nicks hobbled, defenses were often able to focus more on Victor Cruz, whose production dropped from the previous year's dazzling yardage numbers. Nicks is a vital part of the Giants' passing game, which is the vital part of their offense. When he's at his best, he's among the top all-around wide receivers in the league. He needs to stay healthy for the Giants to function at peak levels.

Philadelphia Eagles: LT Jason Peters

Peters tore his right Achilles tendon twice during the 2012 offseason and was obviously unable to play at all as a result. He was the first of three Eagles starting offensive linemen to land on injured reserve last year, but after the year he had in 2011, his was the absence they had the greatest difficulty overcoming. Peters was essential to the Eagles offense in 2011 as a multi-level blocker who could take out his man at the line and then get upfield quickly and block a linebacker or a safety as well. Without him, the run game suffered, the screen game suffered, and quarterback Michael Vick's ability to succeed when he extended plays suffered. The Eagles need Todd Herremans and Jason Kelce back on the offensive line, and they need first-round pick Lane Johnson to play well at right tackle. But the most important offensive line recovery is that of Peters, who brings something to the equation no one else brings. He needs not only to be healthy, but to play like his old, spry self.

Washington Redskins: QB Robert Griffin III

If you've been living in a cave without access to TV or the Internet for the past six months, it will come as news to you that Griffin tore his ACL in the Redskins' playoff game (yes, they made the playoffs) and had reconstructive surgery in January. While the Redskins believe they have a capable backup in Kirk Cousins, much of their 2012 success was because of Griffin's unique talents and abilities. Even if Griffin is back to 100 percent, the Redskins probably will take greater care with how they use him in the read-option this year. But the threat he poses to defenses as a runner and a passer is not something Cousins or very many other quarterbacks in the league can replicate. The Redskins must be careful not to rush Griffin back from his injury, as he's their franchise quarterback and vital to the long-term success and health of the team. But their 2013 fortunes are tightly tied to the timing and extent of his recovery.

One of the biggest challenges the Dallas Cowboys faced this offseason was finding a comfort level with DeMarco Murray's backups.

It appears that wasn't the case last season when Murray went down for six games with a severely sprained foot. Murray wanted to come back sooner, but the foot didn't respond quick enough to treatment. So with Murray out, the Cowboys went with Felix Jones as the starter.

In those six games, Jones scored just two touchdowns and had one game with over 50 rushing yards (71 against Philadelphia). When Murray returned, he rushed for at least 50 yards four times, 70 yards three times and scored three rushing touchdowns.

Murray said he's confident in backups Lance Dunbar and Phillip Tanner's abilities to produce if he gets hurt in 2013. Yet, last season was a struggle for a Cowboys rushing attack that finished 31st overall.

This offseason, the Cowboys let Jones test the free agent market -- he eventually signed a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles -- and drafted Joseph Randle in the fifth round. Tanner and Dunbar remain on the team as backups to Murray.

"I benefit from someone who they can trust," Murray said. "When I went down, I don't think there was a lot of trust. I think doing the right things during the week of practice gains trust, and I don't think they saw that last year. Those guys weren't as consistent as they could be."

The Cowboys need quality backups for Murray given his health status the last two seasons (missed nine games due to injury), so the running game won't struggle the way it did last season.

Randle seems to be the quality backup the team is looking for, because if something happens to Murray, the objective is to move him to No. 1 on the depth chart.

"I'm a competitor," Murray said. "I'm going to compete against everybody. ... I'm going to try and help (Randle) out as much as I can. At the end of the day, we're a team. I'm trying to get better individually and collectively as a unit and a team."

GRAPEVINE, Texas – Linebacker Bruce Carter has heard one name over and over again since the Cowboys hired Monte Kiffin as defensive coordinator.

“Everybody’s just been hitting me with it – Derrick Brooks, Derrick Brooks,” Carter said. "That's a good thing."

PODCAST
Cowboys safety Barry Church joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss the new defensive scheme and the impact it will have on him, how much more intense he expects practice to be with Monte Kiffin and his expectations. Listen

Brooks was the prototype Will linebacker in the Tampa 2 scheme, as evidenced by his 11 Pro Bowl appearances during the 13 seasons he was coached by Kiffin on the Buccaneers. It’s certainly premature to put Carter in that class, but as was the case with Brooks in Tampa, Kiffin has inherited a young player with physical traits and instincts that make him a perfect fit to be a playmaker from the weakside linebacker spot in his scheme.

Carter might be the NFL’s fastest linebacker. He was clocked at 4.39 seconds in the 40-yard dash at a North Carolina pro day and ran down Atlanta receiver Julio Jones from behind last season. Carter blossomed into a sideline-to-sideline force as an inside linebacker in Rob Ryan’s 3-4 scheme last season before missing the final five games due to a dislocated elbow.

Fully healthy again, Carter looks forward to flying around in Kiffin’s 4-3 like Brooks used to do. As soon as he heard Kiffin was coming, Carter started studying film of Brooks’ work from Tampa Bay’s days of playing dominant defense.

“He was always around the ball,” Carter said. “He was always flying around. He was a playmaker. He was always in the right position at the right time. That’s something I want to do.”

Kiffin and the Cowboys are counting on it.

The Thursday signing of Anthony Hargrove to a one-year deal adds depth to the Dallas Cowboys' defensive line, but not youth.

PODCAST
ESPN Insider Ed Werder joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss the latest Cowboys news, including Jason Garrett downplaying Tony Romo's involvement in offensive planning and play calling. Listen

Currently, three of the four projected starting linemen are at least 30, and defensive end Anthony Spencer is 29.

Hargrove turns 30 in July.

Where's the youth?

The Cowboys didn't address the defensive line in the draft but did so in free agency with the signing of Hargrove.

The backups on the Cowboys' roster consist of young players such as Tyrone Crawford, Sean Lissemore, Rob Callaway and Kyle Wilber. Those are young players who could become starters in 2014.

Jason Hatcher is in the final year of his contract, and he turns 31 in July.

Spencer, who doesn't turn 30 until next January, is playing on the franchise tag and talks have slowed down regarding a new deal. Hatcher and Spencer could play elsewhere in 2014.

As for Jay Ratliff, the defensive tackle who will battle centers and guards this season, he will turn 32 in August. Do you remember the man Ratliff replaced? Jason Ferguson was 32 when he suffered an arm injury early in the 2007 season, opening the door for Ratliff to become the full-time starter. Health and age dooms NFL players all the time.

Ratliff is coming off an injury-filled 2012 season and it's assumed this could be his last season with the Cowboys given his age and how his health betrayed him last season.

DeMarcus Ware isn't going anywhere. Ware, however, turns 31 in July and is coming back from shoulder surgery and a dislocated elbow.

Age isn't on the Cowboys' side when it comes to the defensive line. While it's good to have Hargrove provide depth as someone who can play end and tackle in the 4-3, the future is uncertain for this position.

Based on the offseason moves by the Cowboys, the defensive line is geared for the here and now, not for the future. The Cowboys had a chance to address the defensive line in the draft but expressed support for what they currently have.

That's fine, but at some point youth must take over.

GRAPEVINE, Texas – Jason Witten will welcome second-round tight end Gavin Escobar to the Cowboys, just as the eight-time Pro Bowler did with Anthony Fasano and Martellus Bennett.

PODCAST
ESPN Insider Ed Werder joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss the latest Cowboys news, including Jason Garrett downplaying Tony Romo's involvement in offensive planning and play calling. Listen

But Witten isn’t anywhere near the point of being ready to pass the baton as the Cowboys’ primary tight end. To the contrary, the 31-year-old Witten considers himself in the middle of his prime after catching a career-high 110 passes last season.

“I felt like last year, once I got past the first couple of games, was probably my best year that I’ve had – not just because of the catches, because of the blocking and all-around,” Witten said between holes at the Cowboys’ golf tournament. “I feel really good. It sounds like we’re going to change our identity a little bit with the two-tight end sets a little more, but I feel good.

“I don’t know that I’d put a timetable on this amount of years, but I do feel that there’s nobody that’s probably more honest with themselves with where I’m at. Physically, I feel good.”

It isn’t hard to find an example of a pass-catching tight end producing deep into his 30s. Atlanta’s Tony Gonzalez joined Witten at the Pro Bowl at the tender age of 36 last season.

“You’ve got to be careful to compare yourself with him,” Witten said. “You’re talking about probably the best tight end to ever play, but I do think this is a position where you talk about being in the right spot, position, leverage, awareness. All of those things go into it. If you ever lose a step, like Tony has, you still can be very productive. It’s not so much about that as it is creating those mismatches. That’s something I take a lot of pride in.

“Obviously, I have good chemistry with Tony (Romo) with that. I don’t view (drafting Escobar) as a motion of, ‘Hey, you’re slowing down,’ or ‘There’s only a couple more (years). You’re hanging on.’ The peak is still right there.”

Witten’s humility is swell and all, but there aren’t too many tight ends you can compare him to. His 806 catches and 8,948 yards rank behind only Gonzalez and Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe in NFL history, and Witten should surpass Sharpe in receptions (815) and could catch him in yards (10,060) this season.

Witten hopes he doesn’t have to follow the late-career paths of Gonzalez and Sharpe, who left the franchises that drafted and developed them to play for contenders elsewhere. Witten wants to spend his entire career playing for the Cowboys.

“I couldn’t imagine any other way,” Witten said. “You’re so invested in it. I think you evaluate that as you go, but obviously my loyalty is here. You’re invested here. At this point in my career, everything that motivates me every day is all about, ‘How can I help to bring a trophy here?’ Not only just for the organization, but for the people inside of it. We’ve been through the trenches together. You want to be a part of that.

“I feel that way, but you never say never in any situation. But this is where I want to be and would like to finish out my career right here.”

IRVING, Texas – After the Cowboys drafted center Travis Frederick in the first round, owner and general manager Jerry Jones all but said the rookie will be a starter in 2013.

What did the Cowboys’ starting center of the last two years think about the team’s move?

“I look at it that it’s the NFL and every year there’s going to be competition, and competition brings out the best in anyone,” Phil Costa said. “I met Travis and he seems like a great guy who’s a good player and can help our team, help our offense get better. So I’m looking forward to it.”

Costa played in only parts of three games last year because of back and ankle injuries. The Cowboys relied on Ryan Cook and Mackenzy Bernadeau to fill in for Costa. The offense’s best rushing game of the season was the only game Costa played from beginning to end when they ran for 227 yards on 42 carries against Baltimore.

PODCAST
ESPN Insider Ed Werder joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss the latest Cowboys news, including Jason Garrett downplaying Tony Romo's involvement in offensive planning and play calling. Listen

Costa said he is 100 percent after undergoing late-season ankle surgery and will be able to take part in all of the on-field workouts leading up to training camp.

The Cowboys signed Costa to a two-year, $2.7 million extension in March that included a $450,000 signing bonus.

“I wanted to stay with Dallas,” Costa said. “Everything they do is a first-class organization. Being with Bill Callahan as the offensive coordinator/offensive line coach is huge because I think he’s one of the best in the league and I feel like I can get that much better being with him. We have a great group of guys in Dallas, a lot of selfless guys and I feel like we have a great chance to win here, as well.”

IRVING, Texas – Kyle Wilber’s switch from outside linebacker to defensive end has resulted in a weight gain this offseason.

“Right now I’m 255,” Wilber said. “The coaches tell me ‘Keep your speed. You don’t need to get bigger. If you’re 260 and still have your speed, that’s fine with me,’ but I’m perfect where I’m at right now.”

Wilber weighed 243 pounds last year as a rookie. His season was slowed first by a broken finger suffered in the rookie minicamp that cut short his offseason work and then by a broken thumb suffered in a preseason game.

“It definitely set me back a lot not being out there, not being able to learn,” Wilber said. “I came back three weeks into the season and I missed a great opportunity to make strides to get better. This year hopefully will be a lot better.”

Wilber will be moving back to a position he played at Wake Forest and he will still be learning from DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer.

“My hand was on the ground at Wake,” he said. “I don’t feel like there’s much difference in comparing the 3-4 to the 4-3 because our outside linebackers we were basically defensive ends but I was standing up in a two-point. It’s less dropping for us now.”

IRVING, Texas – When the Cowboys begin organized team activities next week, guard Mackenzy Bernadeau is not sure if he will be able to participate fully because of offseason surgery to his right shoulder, but he knows he will be able to do more than he did last year.

PODCAST
ESPN Insider Ed Werder joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss the latest Cowboys news, including Jason Garrett downplaying Tony Romo's involvement in offensive planning and play calling. Listen

Hip surgery forced Bernadeau to miss almost all of the offseason program and knee surgery kept him out of most of training camp.

“We’re just going week to week and seeing how everything goes,” Bernadeau said. “You don’t want a setback now, so you’re not going to rush anything. As long as I’m full go during camp I’ll be excited.”

Bernadeau said his absence from last year’s offseason work affected his first season with the Cowboys.

“It’s a huge difference,” he said. “You’re missing out being with the team. You’re missing out being on the field, getting involved in a new system. It’s a huge difference now just being here and being in it compared to last year sitting out so much.”