ESPN

At the Senior Bowl, head coach Jason Garrett said the Dallas Cowboys had interviewed several candidates to become an assistant secondary coach.

The team is on the verge of finalizing a deal to make Joe Baker the assistant secondary coach, according to a source. Baker, who was let go by Tampa Bay after the 2011 season along with the rest of the coaching staff, played college ball with Garrett at Princeton from 1987 to 1988.

Baker was a wide receiver and while he didn't play professionally, he has coached with six NFL teams. In Tampa Bay, he was the linebackers coach.

If hired, Baker will assist Jerome Henderson, who is the Cowboys secondary coach. A void in the coaching staff developed after Brett Maxie left the Cowboys to become the secondary coach with the Tennessee Titans.

There are no plans to make any more hires to the Cowboys coaching staff after the team hires an assistant secondary coach.

Whatever happens on Saturday afternoon in Indianapolis, wide receiver Tim Brown has a plane to catch at 8 p.m. CT. Whether he'll head home as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame has yet to be determined.

Brown, a Dallas native, is a finalist again after 17 NFL seasons with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"You try to keep your life as normal as possible," Brown said.

Brown has the numbers you want to see for a potential Hall of Famer. He's fourth all-time in receiving yards (14,934), fifth in receptions (1,094), fifth in all-purpose yards (19,679) and fifth in punt return yards (3,320). Brown is also tied for sixth in touchdown receptions with 100.

Brown was a nine-time Pro Bowler and played for the Raiders, one of the NFL's premier franchises.

It might not be enough.

Cris Carter and Andre Reed, two excellent receivers who also have fantastic numbers, are also finalists. The trio almost cancel each other out.

"Do we deserve to be in the Hall of Fame? If it's yes, then these men and women [the voters] have to get together and put them in," Brown said. "It has to get done. Just to say, 'You guys cancel each other out' is an easy way out of the deal."

Brown isn't being emotional when he talks about his quest for the Hall. The process frustrates him, and he doesn't like what it's done to family members, who get excited about him being a finalist and then get upset when he doesn't get elected.

In 2010, Brown was driving to a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., convention center thinking he was going to get elected and had to turn around when his name wasn't called.

"That was the worst drive of my life," Brown said.

Last year, Brown was home in Dallas watching the televised selection show alone.

"I thought I was going to get in," he said. "I didn't even make Top 10. It was deflating."

Brown said his 70-year-old mother drooped her shoulders when he didn't get in.

"It's not supposed to be this way," he said. "When you tell the loved ones [you don't get in] and they put their heads down."

He will be in Indy on Saturday, but with a different mindset.

He's headed to Maui for a charity event with the Children's Miracle Network, regardless if his name is called or not.

"You almost have to minimize the efforts of the Hall of Fame," Brown said. "Your emotions are going to get carried away."

Jerry Jones declared weeks ago that if the Cowboys wanted to make the playoffs, they’d have to win the NFC East.

He’s probably right. However, there is still a slim chance that the Cowboys could end up as a wild card team.

Right now, the wild card spots belong to the Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons, who both have 9-5 records. The Lions own the tiebreaker over the Cowboys because of their historic road rally for a 34-30 win over Dallas, but there is a scenario in which the Falcons could end up as the odd team out.

The Falcons would have to lose their last two games. The Cowboys would have to beat the Eagles on Christmas Eve and lose to the Giants on New Year’s Day in what would essentially be the NFC East title game.

That would put the Cowboys and Falcons at 9-7, and the Cowboys would have the tiebreaker based on a better conference record.

But that’s extremely unlikely to happen. The Falcons have to travel to New Orleans in Week 16, but they get the bad, bad Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home to end the regular season.

The official injury report is out, and center Phil Costa (concussion), CB Mike Jenkins (shoulder), LB DeMarcus Ware (neck) and WR Laurent Robinson (shoulder) have all been listed as questionable for Saturday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In addition, Danny McCray did not participate in Friday's walkthrough at Valley Ranch and also is listed as questionable for Saturday's game.

Costa, who suffered the concussion during last week's game against the N.Y. Giants, has been cleared by doctors but coach Jason Garrett didn't rule out starting rookie Kevin Kowalski at center.

Five-Star question: Will Felix Jones, who has one run of 10 yards or more in 44 carries on the road, match or surpass that total this week in Tampa?

With the season-ending injury to DeMarco Murray, it is once again up to Felix Jones to attempt to carry the weight of this Cowboys running game on his shoulders.

From what I was able to observe last week against the Giants, Jones will be up to the task against the Buccaneers, who on tape play as if they are the 28th-ranked team in the league against the run. This is a Tampa Bay team that defensively misses a ton of tackles in the secondary. The key in the game for the Cowboys running the ball will be to secure defensive ends Da'Quan Bowers and Adrian Clayborn because they are the ones on this defense who can hurt you in the running game mainly at running plays down from behind rather than at the point of attack.

By securing this front, Jones will have the opportunity to burst into the secondary level and make the linebackers and defensive backs have to make plays in the open field. Of the four starting defensive backs, safety Sean Jones is the best tackler. From there, corners Ronde Barber, Aqib Talib and safety Tanard Jackson really struggle.

Though Cowboys fullback Tony Fiammetta wasn't perfect last week, he still is better than tight end John Phillips at the point of attack at cleaning up the messes that the offensive line tends to have. Against the Buccaneers, I can see Felix Jones having multiple runs of over 10 yards or better mainly because if the Cowboys can get him to the secondary level, it will be hard for the Buccaneers to bring him down in the open field. Poor tackling teams tend to give up big plays, and this will help Jones have a big day.

Five-star question: Will Felix Jones, who has one run of 10 yards or more in 44 carries on the road, match or surpass that total this week in Tampa?

The best thing Felix Jones does, when he's healthy and feeling good is provide big plays on a regular basis.

Well, he's healthy and feeling good.

We could tell from the Giants' game last week, when he had runs of 26, 11, 11 and 11 en route to 106 yards on 16 carries. And now he's going to get at least 15 carries against a defense with a propensity for giving up huge plays in the running game.

Tampa has allowed 20 runs of 20 yards or more, which is second only to Oakland's 21. So don't be surprised if Jones has another big day against a team that has lost seven consecutive games is playing for a coach who will probably be fired at the end of the season and is expected to lay down for its last three games.

If Jones can't pop a couple of big runs against this defense, then there's something wrong. Remember, the Cowboys' problem has been finishing close games.

This one shouldn't close. Dallas should handle Tampa the same way it handled Buffalo and St. Louis earlier this season -- and with a couple of long-distance runs by Jones it should happen.

Five-star question: Will Felix Jones, who has one run of 10 yards or more in 44 carries on the road, match or surpass that total this week in Tampa?

At the beginning of the season, I thought this was the season Felix Jones would breakout and become a true No. 1 running back. It didn’t quite happen, obviously, but now he gets another chance with DeMarco Murray out for the year with a fractured ankle.

Count me in again on Jones, which means he will have at least one 10-yard carry Saturday at Tampa Bay.

The Jones from the New York Giants’ loss looked a little different to me. He had 106 yards on 16 carries and found a blend of patience and urgency that he might have picked up by watching Murray succeed. He won’t bowl tacklers over like Murray, but he can slither around tacklers and make sure he doesn’t get tackled for losses.

Tampa Bay offers the perfect recipe for Jones to succeed. This is not the Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, John Lynch defense of years ago. This defense is allowing almost 140 yards a game on the ground. This defense allows 4.6 yards per carry. This defense has allowed 19 rushing touchdowns.

This defense will give Jones a chance to break some long runs … or at least runs of 10 yards.

Jones had four of them against the Giants (three for 11 and one of 26).

There is no doubt he has one Saturday. In fact, I think he’ll match his New York total.

Five-Star Question: Will Felix Jones, who has one run of 10 yards or more in 44 carries on the road, match or surpass that total this week in Tampa?

It’s not about Felix Jones. It’s about Tony Fiammetta.

It’s really pretty simple. The Cowboys are an elite rushing offense with Fiammetta as the fullback. They’re one of the league’s worst without him.

Cowboys’ tailbacks have 24 runs of 10 yards or longer in Fiammetta’s seven games. They have only four runs of that length in the six games the fullback didn’t play.

Jones has two 100-yard games this season, one more than he had in the previous three seasons combined. It’s not a coincidence that both 100-yard performances came with Fiammetta paving the way for him.

Fiammetta and Jones have only three games together. The lone opponent in those games to hold Jones under 100 yards was the San Francisco 49ers, who have by far the best run defense in the league.

Tampa Bay is a long way from San Francisco. The Buccaneers rank 28th in the NFL against the run, allowing 139.7 yards per game and 4.6 per carry.

Jones had four 10-plus-yard runs against a bad run defense in Sunday night’s shootout loss to the New York Giants. Consider that the over-under against an even worse run defense on the road this weekend.

Five-Star question: Will Felix Jones, who has one run of 10 yards or more in 44 carries on the road, match or surpass that total this week in Tampa?

This is the first time since September where Felix Jones has another opportunity to produce a heavy load for the Cowboys' run game.

He's facing a Buccaneers run defense that ranks 28th out of 32 NFL teams against the run at 139.6.

Jason Garrett said he believes Jones is a featured running back, but the coach also mentions that Jones is a complementary player. Jones won't get a 10-yard run on Saturday night at Raymond James Stadium.

It's not because he can't do it, or the Bucs defense will stop him. It's just that the Cowboys won't give him enough chances. Expect the Cowboys to pass more against the Bucs secondary, which ranks 27th against the pass. Opposing QB passer ratings are 90.4.

Without DeMarco Murray, Garrett might ask Tony Romo to utilize the passing attack more against the Bucs secondary.

When that happens, it means fewer chances for Jones running the ball. However, he might get some work in the passing game, too. He's a dynamic playmaker. When he catches passes on screens or swing passes, he's hard to cover in the open field.

And when the Cowboys spread defenses out of late, it's helped them. According to ESPN's Stats and Information, Romo has thrown eight touchdowns and zero interceptions from three-receiver sets for an 88.3 QBR mark.

Yes, Jones will have a nice game against the Bucs. But it will come as a result of a combination of the passing and running game.

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- It's easy to say Wade Phillips has problems or is the problem.

His team is 1-6, winless at home, winless in the conference and division and mired in a four-game losing streak.

Phillips' team has tuned him out despite the fact he's changed the practice schedule and is relying on veteran players to help him out.

Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones is asked on a weekly basis about Phillips' job status, and things won't get easier if the Cowboys lose tonight at Green Bay.

But things could be worse.

Check out this story from Minnesota on Brad Childress.

If and when the Cowboys' search for a new coach begins, it's probably time for Jones and the rest of the front office to think outside the box and hire a young coach. A young coach that commands the respect of his locker room.

Jones tried to do this when he hired Jason Garrett to be his offensive coordinator and later moved him to an assistant head coach role. Garrett has failed in the assistant head coach area because if he had more respect in the locker room, he might be running things right now. Garrett is a chain-of-command type of guy, which is fine. But sometimes you need to speak up more, be a rebel, especially at a time when things are going haywire.

Here's how a young coach in Tampa Bay, Raheem Morris, is inspiring the team. He makes a reference to the 1990s Cowboys when he says: "I grew up watching those young Cowboys teams, Aikman, Irvin and those guys, and they came into games and they weren't fearful of anyone."

Think Phillips inspires anyone?

St. Louis Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo has turned things around in his city. A good young coach the front office believes in.

Bryan Burwell of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks about it here.

Phillips is a good coach and an excellent teacher, but his soft ways of doing things have caught up to him and he needs to get on his players a lot more. Phillips will tell you he's not going to cuss people out. People that know him will say that's being phony if that's not in your DNA.

Whatever is in Phillips' DNA is not working for this team, and he needs to change it.

IRVING -- It would seem Green Bay is ready for the taking.

The Packers have lost two straight -- at home to the Vikings (and former QB Brett Favre) and on the road against then-winless Tampa Bay.

So here come the Cowboys, winners of four consecutive games to move into first place in the NFC East.

Coach Wade Phillips is cautious about this game. Dallas won its first-ever game at Lambeau Field last season (1-5).

"We expect their best -- as we did Kansas City on the road. We expected their best," Phillips said. "Atlanta, Philadelphia -- they're going to play their best. That's how you have to approach it. That's what we do. That's what you do. That's what we harp on and how we execute."

The Packers' offensive line is in shambles, and Green Bay is behind Atlanta (5-3) and Philadelphia (5-3) in the NFC wild-card chase. The Packers' next two games -- Dallas and San Francisco -- could help their cause.

A sense of urgency in Green Bay?

"I hope it is for us," Phillips said. "That's what we try to do every week. I said it before: It's easier than other [games], but I think this team is grounded."

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed rookie cornerback Mike Mickens off the Dallas Cowboys' practice squad Tuesday.

Mickens, a seventh-round draft pick out of Cincinnati, has been on the Cowboys' practice squad this season, and it was doubtful he was going to get promoted to the active roster.

The Cowboys are pretty heavy at cornerback with Mike Jenkins, Orlando Scandrick, Terence Newman, Alan Ball and injured return specialist Allen Rossum on the active roster.

Mickens, the only cornerback on the Cowboys' practice roster, had eight tackles and one pass breakup in four preseason games. To make room on the roster, the Buccaneers cut third-year corner Marcus McCauley.