Disgruntled defensive end Greg Ellis is here, but he sure does not want to be here as the Cowboys arrived at their River Ridge training camp complex on Thursday. In fact, from the sound of things, Ellis would rather be anywhere else. Ellis, upset he is not projected to be a starter for the first time in his career and does not feel he fits into the Cowboys' 3-4 defense nor the specialty role head coach Bill Parcells is concocting for him, once again voiced his displeasure when peppered with questions upon the team's arrival on the tarmac of Point Mugu Naval Air Station. Ellis tried to deflect the questions the best he could, constantly repeating, "It is what it is," and "You do what you do, and that's pretty much it." He then said he hasn't heard anything about the possibility of being traded, and made sure no one thinks because he reported to training camp he's a happy camper. "That doesn't change anything," Ellis said. "I still don't want to be here." This is an exerpt from a story on Cowboys.com and it seems that the hard feelings Ellis has had recently toward his "new" role in the 3-4 scheme still hasn't subsided. Actually it sounds as if his role is going to be very limited thus hurting his chances to land a big free agent contract next year. Later.....
Ellis IMO is not a 3-4 DE. To me, he is a 4-3 LDE. It does sound to me like he's being yet another selfish athlete. Good thing Tuna drafted Canty out of UVA last year.
I understand Greg's dilemma, but there's not damn thing he can do about it, so he needs to suck it up or Parcells is really gonna put a wrinkle on his career.
Greg is being fair and just voicing his opinion. You have to know that he is a major worry-wart by nature and this is no different. Through the first six practices, the coaching staff all agree that there has been no change in Ellis - he is working as hard as always to do the best he can. He is not a 3-4 DE but they have been playing him quite a bit at 3-4 OLB and various spots in the nickel. Based on TC so far, it is obvious that he will be a liability in coverage, but I dont think that will really be his spot. Parcells is big on moving people around, substitutions, and giving the offense odd looks to confuse them. Ellis is worried that his stats will take a fall and that he will then be cut and unable to land a decent contract with another team. There are many others that have made this type of transition at this point in their careers. Some have made it and some have not. I think he will be OK. Being there on passing-rushing downs will be a big help to Ware on the other side, as well as the whole defense. We'll see.
