1.  Injuries:  The starters will play roughly 10 plays, one long series or two short series.  The speed of  a pre-season game if faster than practice.  Some players who are at the fringe of the roster may make extra effort to hit (or knock out) an opposing player.  The Cowboys wish to avoid injuries which may impact the start of the 2010 regular season.

2.  Redshirt class:  The draft class of 2009 suffered a ton of season ending injuries.  Both Brandon and Jason Williams are fully healthy as well as Robert Brewster.  This will be a first chance at a first impression for the 2009 draft class.

3.  Safety: Owusu-Ansah has reportedly been a model student and in his first live practices has avoided all mental mistakes.  Owusu-Ansah has impressive 4.3 forty speed and size, 210 lbs.  If he has a grasp on the mental aspect along with physical skills, as a rookie he may supplant Alan Ball or Mike Hamlin as a starter.  While Owusu-Ansah will not play in this game, he certainly has made an impression.  Certainly the play of both Ball and Hamlin will be heavily scrutinized.

4.  Choice’s playing time:  If Marion Baber is 1A, Felix Jones 1B, Tashard Choice certainly has to be 1C.  Choice has demonstrated the vision, speed, and agility to be a full-time starter.  If both Barber and Jones only play the initial series or two, the question is how much time will Choice spend in the game.  If it is too long, he will risk both injury and physical fatigue for games that do not matter.

Let’s hope for an uneventful game.

Williams was a fourth-round pick from Texas Tech. He was injured trying to make a tackle on a punt return against Tennessee last night.

The Cowboys will likely rotate Victor Butler and Steve Octavien for the strong side.

The Cowboys third-string quarterback, Stephen McGee, sprained his knee. He may miss a week. At least he suffered the injury as he threw a touchdown pass, his first.

I’ve been following the first few days of the Dallas Cowboys training camp via Twitter. I never thought that the online social networking/micro-blogging service would be of much use to me. I never even thought I’d say “micro-blogging.”

But I’ve been wrong. Following Josh Ellis’ and Zach Buchanan’s tweets from San Antonio has been like getting play-by-play of training camp. Here are a few developments from training camp:

• Sam Hurd has been tearing it up at the very competetive WR spot. He has a good connection with quarterback Tony Romo and has been making catches all over the place. Buchanan said Hurd “can do no wrong.”
• Running back Tashard Choice looks like a complete, strong back in all aspects, including blocking.
• The Romo-Roy Williams connection is still a work in progress, but it’s looking pretty good already with Williams making one-handed grabs. They had some timing issues on the slant, but that pass is already looking pretty money.
• Third-rounder and Cowboys’ top pick in the 2009 NFL Draft Brandon Williams is very athletic, but didn’t have to drop into coverage much in college. That could mean that Bobby Carpenter gets another year in Dallas.
• Not a lot of Wildcat/Razorback formation yet, but there’s a ton of two tight end stuff. That’s more time for Martellus Bennett to shine. Fantasy owners, take heed: If you’re in a deep league, he might be a great late-round value. Romo finds his tight ends often and Bennett looks like he’ll be getting a lot of PT.
• Gerald Sensabaugh is bringing a lot more athleticism to the strong safety spot. He’s good in man and zone coverage, and he’s been making interceptions.
• Marcus Spears has cut a lot of weight and looks much more aggressive. Igor Olshansky looks like a viable replacement for departed defensive end Chris Canty. Buchanan predicts that he’ll be less disruptive, but more consistent.
• Rookie QB’s Stephen McGee and Rudy Carpenter are making rookie quarterback mistakes. McGee has a cannon for an arm, but he won’t be pushing Jon Kitna at the 2nd quarterback spot anytime soon.
• Anthony Spencer is going to fill Greg Ellis’ shoes well enough. Buchanan claims “we won’t be missing Greg Ellis, that’s for sure.”
• Michael Hamlin has been the most impressive of the rookie DB’s sofar. Victor Butler and Brandon Williams are the most impressive of the rookie linebackers and have been dubbed our steals of the draft.

Also, there are no major injuries to report sofar.

The popular saying goes “no news is good news.”

Bull. A lot of good news is good news, and that’s what training camp has been in its first week. I’m telling you, sign up for Twitter. I got all this stuff sent right to my cell phone by text message for no extra charge. It’s well worth it.