IRVING, Texas - Richard Bartel finally got his shot Thursday night. Whether his play was good enough to earn him one of those final 53 roster spots is up to the Dallas Cowboys coaching staff and front office, which seemly offered mixed responses after a 16-10 victory over Minnesota here at Texas Stadium to close out the preseason. "He was up and down," Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips said. "I thought he fought hard the whole game. I thought at points in the game he got away from what he does well. At other spots, I thought he threw the ball really well." Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett was more generous with his praise, saying it was good to give the first-year quarterback a chance to be in control for more than a half. "I thought he did a good job managing some of the bad things that happened around him and just kind of getting us out of Dodge so to speak," Garrett said. "It was fun to see him play. It was fun to give him a chance to play the whole game and see how he responded to different situations." Playing the whole game was something new for Bartel, who had never played start-to-finish as an NFL quarterback in two seasons, meaning his last start in a football game was Nov. 11, 2006, while he was quarterbacking Tarleton State. He got his chance in the final preseason game. With all of the starters watching from the sideline, he was joined on the field by a slew of players trying to squeeze onto the final roster. It made for some inconsistent play on the offense, especially in the second half when Bartel spent too much time scrambling from Vikings defenders who tore through the inexperienced Cowboys frontline. "Playing the number of snaps that he did, handling the different situations, it wasn't perfect, but it wasn't perfect for anybody," Garrett said. Bartel finished 28 of 41 in passing for 233 yards with no touchdowns and three sacks for -23 yards, courtesy of those Viking defenders. But he did drive the Cowboys to one touchdown and three Nick Folk field goals to leave the Cowboys with a 2-2 preseason record. "I feel like I played consistent enough, efficient enough," he said. "I didn't play losing football. I feel like I made some winning plays and that's all I wanted to show. I wanted to show that I could manage." Bartel did look sharp in the first part of the game, efficiently moving the team down the field and steering Dallas to a 10-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Bartel's longest pass of the game came in the first quarter, a 24-yard completion to first-year wide receiver Mike Jefferson. "My goal was to show that I can handle an offense, that we can put drives together and eliminate bad plays," he said. But getting to play the entire game was the biggest highlight for Bartel. "That's the most fun I've had in a long, long time, honestly," he said. "I never got to play here in high school or anything so coming out tonight, even getting introduced out of the tunnel, was awesome." Bartel is a graduate of nearby Grapevine High School and had numerous family and friends in the stands to watch him play. After the game, he went to the wall along both sidelines to hug and say hello to those people, including an ex-teammate from his Tarleton State days and his mom. "My mom was elated," Bartel said. "It's a big deal for us, playing for the Dallas Cowboys. I don't care if it is the fourth preseason game, it's a big deal to me and my family." Whether Bartel and his family get to repeat Thursday night's experience is still very much up in the air. Bartel reiterated afterwards that he has not and will not worry about the upcoming roster cuts, but he knows the Cowboys only kept two quarterbacks last year and have not indicated that there will be room for three this year. "Hopefully nobody expects I'm at my peak performance in the NFL in my career," Bartel said. "I'm a young guy, I'm just looking for an opportunity to continue to grow. That's all I want. I want a shot to continue to grow in this league, and I think I can make the jump and learn." He finds out if he gets that shot, at least from the Cowboys, in 48 hours.
