Jerry Jones and Wade Phillips had a chance to look at this year's rookie class, which includes draftees and free agents, out at Valley Ranch over the last two days. Yes, I wish I was there too.

Here's some news and notes from the DMN & the StarTelegram reports.

Martellus Bennett was asked to shhhh on the Jessica Simpson talk, read here.

"In college, if you get in trouble, they call your mom," the ex-Texas A&M tight end said. "Here, if you get in trouble, they call you."

TE coach John Garrett called Bennett to let him know that Jessica jokes are a no-no around these parts.

"I apologized," Bennett said. "I didn't mean to be rude."

All the kid said was 'any QB who can get Jessica Simpson, I've got to play with him'. Seems like he was just saying what comes natural to him and in my opinion it was a compliment if anything. I guess the Cowboys are sensitive about Romo's private life being discussed.
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Jerry Jones and others seem to already be in love with former Texas Tech WR Danny Amendola, read here and here and here.

He's real refined," Jerry said of the Wes Welker wannabe. "He really runs routes well, and he's got that quickness. He does and will separate. He will be able to separate in the NFL."

Amendola from Texas Tech, has the best shot. Just ask Jenkins, who got beat a bunch by Amendola during the four practices. "He's real quick -- a great receiver," Jenkins said. "He's got great speed breaks and is real decisive. He's tough to cover."

Undrafted WR Danny Amendola of Texas Tech drew rave reviews from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Cornerback and first-round draft pick Mike Jenkins had trouble covering Amendola in one-on-one drills.

If he can get on the field and play like Wes Welker that would be fantastic, but let's hold off on putting him in the Pro Bowl until he makes the team.
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Felix Jones was probably the 'talk of the town' though, read here.

Emmitt Smith made an appearance at the morning's practice. He stopped by with his son on the way to the golf course, sticking around for the whole workout and spending some time with the running backs.

There's been a lot of debate around these parts about whether Jerry erred by drafting Felix Jones instead of Rashard Mendenhall. The NFL's all-time leading rusher believes the Cowboys picked the right back.

"I think Mendenhall is a very good back," Emmitt said. "I just think Felix has a lot more hip movement and he reads and cuts in a fluid manner."
 

And of course Felix got some love from Jerry, read here.

Jones got a first-time look at running back Felix Jones, dressed in No. 28, darting across the field taking handoffs and catching passes. He was surely getting a vision of the first-round pick adding big-play potential to an already impressive offense. He's the one he believes is his new "wow" player.

"He's smooth," Jerry Jones said. "You can see that he can run when he gets that ball. The most important thing that I saw out here today was just how smooth he looks when he's running and cutting."

What about Wade? Yes, Wade loves him some Felix Jones as well, read here.

And then he compared his first-round pick, Felix himself, to a Hall of Famer.

"When I saw him on tape, he runs a lot like Thurman Thomas did," Phillips said. "His feet are close to the ground so he can cut quickly. And he sees people. He has great vision in my opinion, we'll see how it all works out. He sees the safety over here if he's coming. When he running with the ball over here, he sees people over there.

"I think he's special in that area. He can do all the other things, he can make people miss, he can accelerate, all the things that really good backs do. But his vision is special."

Wade saw Thurman Thomas up close and he was a damn good player so I think that's a great compliment for Felix. I still don't think Felix can be as affective running inside as Barber and Choice will be, but it would be great to see him catch and run with the ball like Thomas did back in the day.
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Seems Mike Jenkins is getting some great guidance from Deion Sanders and Anthony Henry, read here.

"He's a Florida guy and he likes helping out Florida kids," Jenkins said of Deion Sanders between Cowboys minicamp practices Friday. "He's been a great mentor to me, and through the whole [draft] process."

Like Sanders, Henry, who attended South Florida, texted Jenkins after he was drafted. But Jenkins could one day take Henry's starting position

"To me, it's a job," Jenkins said. "Everybody is coming out here and trying to help the team. Anthony's been here a long time. We all know that, and if I do beat him out, he will understand that. He's still going to help me out and he's not going to stop doing that."

But that's down the line. For now, Jenkins has a lot to learn, and talking to Henry and Sanders could help send him on his way.

"I have 50 guys that I mentor," Sanders said. "When you have a guy with a lot of talent and he wants to be a student of the game, you want to help him. He's a bright intelligent kid who wants to be the best."

I hate to say it but I don't see Henry making it thru this season as the #3 CB. Jenkins speed and size will allow him to get on the field at some point and it would seem Henry would be the odd man out.
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The surprise of the minicamp has to be the praise being thrown around for Orlando Scandrick by former Hawaii head coach June Jones, read here.

"He's not better than June Jones thought he was, I'll tell you that," Phillips said of Scandrick. "I hope he doesn't mind me quoting him, but he said, 'You know who the best player you got in the draft was?' And I said no, and he said, 'Scandrick.' He said he's going to better than all of them you got. I said, 'Really?'

"He said, 'I'm telling you, I've seen a lot of DBs and I was on the field seeing him,' and talked about his presence on the field during the game, and you don't see that (on film). He thinks he's going to be pretty good."

But that praise was also backed up Albert Breer from the DMN blog as well, read here. 

Scandrick looks solid: To me, the Boise State CB was the best defensive back on the field today, when you put both the sessions together. He sticks with receivers, and has the athleticism and explosiveness to drive on the ball. Outside the Bradford catch -- which came with Scandrick right there with him, even after he got beat -- the former Bronco had a big day.

I just mentioned above that Henry will be trying to fight off Jenkins for the 3rd CB spot, maybe he's going to be fighting off Scandrick too.
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Here's the best of the rest as far as notes go from Mickey over at DC.com, read here.

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Saving the best for last. Here's Mike Jenkins and Felix Jones talking about their first day out at camp..



Only about four more months until opening day folks!