Tracey Myers - July 30, 2009 - Dallas Star-Telegram

SAN ANTONIO --

Marion Barber was apparently waiting for this day. At least that’s what he told coach Wade Phillips.

The pads were on and the hits were coming with them. And Barber was just fine with that.

“He said, ‘Don’t tell those guys not to hit me. because I’m going to hit them,’” Phillips said of his marquee back. “His attitude is like it’s always been.”

The Cowboys completed Day 2 of training camp today, and it was a day of hits, good rushes and a media throng around Tony Romo that seemed to rival the fan attendance numbers.

For Phillips, who said everyone was in good physical shape save one overweight rookie, Day 2 was fine.

“I thought we were rusty,” Phillips said. “You always expect them to come out and play, but that’s why they do need to practice. We were rusty in some areas.”

Meanwhile, Romo was answering questions, from getting back after a hectic offseason to leadership to deflecting criticism.

“I learned a long time ago it’s not an enjoyable game if you don’t enjoy it yourself with your attitude every day,” Romo said. “For me, it was just, ‘You’re lucky to play this game.’ All of us out here understand that. Each day we put the jersey on we're just excited about the opportunity to go out and get better. The fact we play football for a living, it’s pretty nice.”

Phillips was pleased with tight ends Jason Witten and Martellus Bennett, and said the tandem, at its best, could frazzle defenses.

“That’s what we hope; that’s something we’re working toward,” Phillips said. “Obviously the more Bennett comes along the more we’ll try to utilize him. He’s come along well. The OTAs showed that. You try to get your best players on the field and if he’s one of those, and it looks like he will be, we’ll try to utilize that.”

The Cowboys went with shoulder pads but still went “at full speed,” Phillips said, in the afternoon session. Roy Williams pulled a young fan out of the stands and gave him a first-class view of the final drills: on the field, right next to the players.

“It’s a thing I started in Detroit – water boy for Roy. It can be a girl, though. It doesn’t matter,” Williams said. “It’s just a chance to give a kid an opportunity to get close to the players. He’ll probably remember that for the rest of his life. I want other guys (players) to see that we have open practices, so they can do the same thing. It’s cool, man.”

Source: http://www.star-telegram.com/332/story/1512431.html