IRVING, Texas (AP)
Dallas defensive end Jason Hatcher has a pretty good idea what
Rob Ryan is telling his players in New Orleans while getting ready
to face the Cowboys less than a year after they fired him.
Hatcher heard some of those choice words last season, when Ryan
was preparing Dallas to face Cleveland, the previous team that
dumped the defensive coordinator after just two seasons.
''I don't remember all the details,'' Hatcher said Wednesday,
smiling and squirming just a bit, trying to keep the content
suitable for a general audience. ''But yeah, he's going to be
jacked up for this one.''
Ryan offered some version of ''heck yes'' when asked a year ago
if playing the Browns was personal.
It's hard to imagine the feeling will be any different Sunday
night after he declared that he would be ''out of work for like 5
minutes'' when Dallas let him go last January.
It's personal for the Cowboys, too - in a positive way.
Hatcher credits Ryan for a sudden upward swing in his career
that has him tied for second in the NFC with seven sacks.
Dallas coach Jason Garrett says the relationship ''didn't end''
after he had to inform Ryan of his firing by phone because Ryan was
out of the country.
Cornerback Orlando Scandrick, coming off one of his best games
in a 27-23 win over Minnesota, says ''that guy was one of the best
coaches I ever had.''
Ryan, who enjoyed a 23-20 overtime win against Cleveland a year
ago, became something of a scapegoat for a defense that broke under
the weight of serious injuries in the final two games, keeping the
Cowboys out of the playoffs for the third straight year.
First, Dallas was helpless to stop Drew Brees - the quarterback
on Ryan's side now. Then the Cowboys let rookie Alfred Morris run
wild in a winner-take-all finale against NFC East rival
Washington.
Ryan was gone a little more than a week later, and just three
days after that, Garrett declared the Cowboys were switching back
to a more traditional four-man front under new defensive
coordinator Monte Kiffin.
Ever since, Garrett has tried to make one thing clear: It wasn't
personal.
''I love Rob Ryan,'' said Garrett, who hired him in 2011 as the
fiery counterpart to Garrett's button-downed public persona and has
kept in touch with Ryan. ''He is a fantastic person. He is a
fantastic coach. And has been for a long time.''
The statistics say so in New Orleans, when they didn't for two
years in Dallas.
The Saints have risen from 31st to fifth in scoring defense, and
they're just one takeaway shy of the 16 the Cowboys had last
season. Dallas tied a franchise low with seven interceptions, and
New Orleans already has nine.
''I would imagine he probably wouldn't trade it (being in New
Orleans), and how much we appreciate him being here,'' Brees said.
''Certainly he's done a great job for our team - a big part of our
team, big part of our success.''
Brees knows the feeling of facing a team that didn't want him
anymore, and Ryan can only hope it goes as well against the
Cowboys.
Brees threw for 339 yards and three touchdowns without an
interception in a 37-32 win over San Diego at home three years
after the Chargers chose Philip Rivers over him.
''Any time a guy gets fired from a spot he's at and he has an
opportunity to play them, he wants to prove a point,'' Saints
cornerback Keenan Lewis said. ''They know that. We know that.''
And Hatcher knows that. But he'll still be reaching out to the
boss who helped make him a full-time time starter for the first
time after five years in the league - possibly before the game and
definitely afterward.
''I'm going to say, `What's up, dog?''' said Hatcher, who is
battling a neck injury that might keep him out of the game. ''He
knows it. That's my dog. I owe a lot to that man, so it's going to
be good to see his crazy butt.''
NOTES: Cowboys WR Dez Bryant missed practice Wednesday with a
tight back, but said he was playing against the Saints. ... DE
DeMarcus Ware practiced in shoulder pads for the first time since
injuring his right thigh against Washington on Oct. 13 and missing
three games. He had never been sidelined in his nine-year career.
... The Cowboys signed DT Everett Dawkins, a seventh-round pick by
Minnesota this year, and added G Phillipkeith Manley and DE Hall
Davis to the practice squad.
---
Online:
AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org
---
Follow Schuyler Dixon on Twitter at
https://twitter.com/apschuyler
Reproduced in msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/Hatcher-figures-Ryan-will-be-stoked-to-see-Cowboys-74383225