It wasn't exactly football, but it was close. Sunday's Blue-White scrimmage featured a couple of decent hits and some tackling to the ground. For the most part it was 75-percent speed, a juicy appetizer for Thursday's Cowboys-Broncos pre-season opener

9. By my very unscientific and sorta distracted stat-keeping, Tony Romo was 12 of 17 with touchdown passes to Lonyae Miller, Dez Bryant and Jason Witten. He looked sharp, although the first play of the scrimmage was a false start because of a late snap from center Phil Costa.

8. As if he ever had a chance, free-agent punter Chris Jones sealed his training-camp loss to Mat McBriar with punts of 17 and 26 yards.

7. One player not afraid to hit during the scrimmage was rookie cornerback Josh Thomas. Got beat on a couple of passes, but also stuck his head into a couple of physical tackles.

6. Though his defense looked a step slow and out of sorts at times, defensive coordinator Rob Ryan had this post-scrimmage assessment: "We're going to be pretty fucking good."

5. Suddenly Dan Bailey's pushing of kicker David Buehler has slowed. The free agent missed a 38-yard field goal yesterday. Buehler missed from 40, inciting some boos, but ended the scrimmage by nailing a kick from 46.

4. Veteran offensive guard Montrae Holland sat out with a sore back, a week after leaving practice with a tweaked knee. The thing is, Holland is about 20 pounds overweight. He's slow. He's hobbled. I just don't see how the Cowboys consider him the best option at right guard. If so, it's sad.

3. I'll say it again, rookie first-round choice Tyron Smith is the real deal. Linebacker Anthony Spencer was absolutely stoned in three rushes against the Southern Cal stud.

2. In every matchup of first-team offense vs. first-team defense, Jason Garrett has started the skirmish with a screen pass to Felix Jones. Wonder if that will carry over to the preseason, or even regular season?

1. Don't look now, but I think Miller may be this team's second-best running back behind Jones. With a 12-yard scoring catch, a 2-yard touchdown plunge and a nasty juke that left linebacker Orie Lemon grasping at air, the second-year runner is bigger and better than Tashard Choice. Until we see DeMarco Murray, Miller is the short-yardage back.