He's An Old Cowhand By Paul Domowitch Philadelphia Daily News 9/3/04 IRVING, Texas -- Vinny Testa-verde was out on the field doing his stretching before the Cowboys' preseason game against the Tennessee Titans Monday night when Bill Parcells walked over for a chat. He told his 40-year-old quarterback to make sure he got his arm nice and loose because it was going to get a workout against the Titans. Says Testaverde: "He said, ‘I want to be a little aggressive tonight. What do you think?' I said, ‘Call 'em as you see 'em, boss.'" The boss called 24 passes in the first half of the Cowboys' 20-17 win over the Titans. Testaverde completed an impressive 17 of them for 240 yards against a Tennessee secondary that was missing both of its starting corners. Still, not bad for an old man who entered the NFL during the tail end of the Reagan administration. "The guy can [still] pass the ball," Parcells says. "I told you he can pass it. You saw what he can do." The million-dollar question in Big D right now isn't whether Testaverde can still do it, but whether he'll be able to keep doing it for an entire season. The Cowboys' hopes of earning their second straight playoff invitation might be riding on the answer. Since the surprising early-August release of incumbent starter Quincy Carter, Testaverde is the only quarterback on the Cowboys' roster who has thrown a pass in an NFL regular-season game (5,925 of them, to be exact). Ex-Yankees farmhand Drew Henson is the club's quarterback of the future, but despite a .724 preseason completion percentage, the rookie is nowhere near being ready to face live enemy fire. The only other quarterback on the roster right now is Tony Romo, who was the club's never-used No. 3 last season. The odds of Testaverde being able to start 16 games this season aren't particularly good. He's played a full season only three times in his 17-year career. Started the first seven games last year for the Jets when Chad Pennington was injured, and notched an impressive 90.6 passer rating that included a .621 completion percentage and only two interceptions in 198 pass attempts. "Not many guys my age have made it through a whole season, but not many have tried either," says Testaverde, who turns 41 on Nov. 13, just 2 days before the Cowboys' first meeting with the Eagles at Texas Stadium. "It's tough for any quarterback in this league, regardless of his age, to make it through an entire season. We'll see what happens." Don't even try to suggest to Parcells that maybe he should have gone out and gotten himself an experienced backup in case Testaverde gets hurt or is sidelined with prostate problems. "You [media] guys think you can just dial 1-800-find-a-quarterback," Parcells snaps. "There have been teams that have been trying to dial that for 10 years. You think we haven't looked around? You act like we haven't tried." In lieu of an experienced backup, Parcells is turning to Plan B, which is doing everything possible to keep Testaverde in one piece. With the exception of right tackle, where rookie Jacob Rogers and second-year man Torrin Tucker are slugging it out for the starting job, he has a pretty good offensive line in front of Testaverde. Rejuvenated guard Larry Allen, who has decided he wants to play football again, and tackle Flozell Adams are one of the best left-side tandems in the league. Despite his lack of mobility, Testaverde isn't a quarterback who gets sacked a lot. Over the last seven seasons, he's been sacked only once every 26.1 pass attempts. By comparison, the Eagles' Donovan McNabb has been sacked once every 12.3 attempts the last 4 years. "We have to do a good job of protecting him, but that's no different than any other quarterback," Parcells says. "What I've got to do is create the right scenario for him to succeed." That scenario will include running the ball a lot, which always has been Parcells' M.O., regardless of his quarterback's age or mobility. Parcells was Testaverde's coach when he had his best NFL season in 1998 with the Jets, throwing 29 TD passes and seven interceptions and carving out an AFC-best 101.6 passer rating. The Jets had the fifth-most rushing attempts in the league that season (500). Parcells will run the ball even if the yards are few and far between. Last season, the Cowboys were only 24th in the league in yards per carry (3.88), but still ran the ball 515 times, fourth in the league. They won 10 games and made the playoffs. "Sometimes it's not how many yards you're gaining but the fact that you're running," Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt says. "Dallas was that type of team last year." While soon-to-be-31-year-old Eddie George doesn't appear to have much tread left on his tires -- he rushed for only 3 yards on four carries against the Titans -- rookie second-rounder Julius Jones has displayed Brian Westbrooklike speed and quickness in the preseason and could turn out to be something special. But first, the Notre Dame product needs to realize he's not in South Bend anymore. Parcells gave Jones a chewing out during the Titans game when the running back tapped his helmet to indicate he wanted to come out of the game after getting hit in the sternum on a run. It's not a good idea for 10-year veterans to tell Tuna they want a breather, let alone a rookie. "He tried to come out of the game and I wouldn't let him," Parcells was saying afterward. "That's the way it is, man. Don't tap your helmet with me. I told him, ‘Don't tap your helmet.'" Three plays and two carries later, Jones was helped off the field by the club's training staff after he stayed on the ground after making a block. Parcells growled at him as he came off. Right now, the Cowboys' biggest concerns aren't quarterback or running back or even right tackle. In fact, they aren't even on offense. They are on defense, with a unit that was ranked first in the league last season. They have been jelly-soft against the run in the preseason, particularly at left tackle. The top two candidates there, Leonardo Carson and Jermaine Brooks, have been so unimpressive that the Cowboys coaxed 32-year-old Chad Eaton, who was out of football last year, to suit up. But there was a good reason Eaton was out of football. There are even bigger problems in the secondary. While left corner Terence Newman and free safety Roy Williams are two of the top young players in the league, they are hurting at the other two spots. Strong safety Darren Woodson, who is 35, still is recovering from back surgery and probably won't be able to play until October, if then. His replacement, Tony Dixon, has struggled. So have the two candidates for the right corner job, Pete Hunter and Jemeel Powell, who have done wonders for the reputation of departed former starter Mario Edwards, who was not re-signed in the offseason. Unlike Eagles coach Andy Reid, Parcells isn't reluctant to publicly call out players when they're not playing well. Asked whether he was considering bringing in some other defensive backs, Tuna says, "And where am I gonna get those? These aren't Chiclets. I just need somebody to step up. We've got athletic ability there. But we've got to make plays. [When] you put guys in the game and bad things always happen, you've gotta get them out. "Right now, they're drawing straws for that [right corner] spot. They ain't throwing at Newman. So one of them's got to step up and do it.