OXNARD -- The pleasant 65-degree weather Sunday in this coastal Ventura County city was a distinct tipoff the Cowboys were no longer in Dallas.
And considering the scorching 93 degrees most of Texas was sweating through back home - with 43 percent humidity - that was a good thing.
As for the hundreds upon hundreds of fans decked out in Cowboys gear screaming their favorite players' names through most of a late afternoon practice, well, that was Dallas through and through.
In other words, you can take the Cowboys out of Texas but that won't stop their legion of fans from following them wherever they end up.
On Sunday - and for the next six weeks or so - that would be Oxnard, California, the Cowboys' on-again, off-again summer training camp home.
And a cooler, more agreeable home it is, the players soaking in the delightful conditions as they took their first step on a journey they hope will deliver them to the postseason for the first time in three seasons.
Rather than withering in the steamy conditions back home in Texas.
"It was a great start," Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo said. "I think our football team took some steps to get better. I think they did that during the offseason, so I'm excited about the way the day went and what we're doing to get better."
The Cowboys returned to Oxnard for the eighth time since 2001 in search of a launching pad more conducive to building a championship team, the hope being the better weather results in
better work habits resulting in a team better prepared to navigate its way back to the playoffs.Somewhere Dallas hasn't been since 2009.
Three years without a postseason appearance doesn't go over very well in Dallas, most notably the big office occupied by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones at the club's Valley Ranch headquarters.
Presumably, a fourth straight season out of the playoffs will put head coach Jason Garrett in imminent danger of losing his job, although Jones downplayed any of that talk as his club prepared to kick off training camp.
"Everything I'm thinking about is not only about how to beat the Giants when we open up (the season), but also about what our future is in a plus manner or in a positive way with Jason," Jones said. "I look to the future with Jason, not just through his contract that we're sitting here with right now. I think he has a couple of years left on his contract, but that's not a thought.
"It is not what is implied when you say, 'This is an Armageddon year for him.' It's not that with me."
Read what you want into that, but it sure sounds like the dreaded vote of confidence to me.
And with Jones working on his seventh coach over his 24 years owning the Cowboys, it's obvious he has a tendency to quickly run out of patience if things are operating at an optimal level - optimal being the Cowboys consistently knocking on the door of the Super Bowl.
Still, Jones went out of his way to reduce the heat to the seat on which Garrett sits, pointing out Garrett's strong relationship with Romo and the role Garrett's played in Romo's development iinitially as an assistant and now the head coach.
"He's been directly involved in the coaching of Romo for six years. When he got here, Romo had never had the same guy two years in a row. We've got to take advantage of that. His safety-net presence for what we're doing not only as a team but on offense is a big part of the plan. It gives us a real advantage. "Romo has the kind of skills, by everyone that has ever been around him, to do what we're asking him to do. I don't mind telling you, it'd be tough to go there if you didn't have Jason who has been involved and right there as quote, if you will, 'the safety net' as to how we're going to not only put the team together, but what we're doing offensively, make no mistake about it.
"To answer your question specifically, one of the neatest things about not only this year but a positive about this year is that, if you're in close here, you see how Jason is responding to obviously unsatisfactory times. And I can tell you firsthand that's impressive, so I like that looking ahead at the future. It is very good."
Perhaps, but that didn't prevent sweeping changes on the coaching staff this year as Garrett and Jones try to strike the perfect balance, the most notable change Garrett relinquishing play calling duties in favor of taking a more broader role in the running of the team. Garrett, who has called plays for the Cowboys since 2007, is handing the job over to former Raiders head coach Bill Callahan.
"It'll just give you a practical opportunity to kind of step away from the offense a little bit," Garrett said. "I made a very conscious effort over the last couple of years to coach the whole football team. I spent time with the defensive guys on their side of the practice field. I spent a lot of time in the defensive meetings and the special teams meetings. I've always done that.
But just the mechanics of someone else calling the actual plays allows me to maybe take a different view of it. So you'll see that on the practice field. That's how we operated all throughout the offseason in our OTAs and our mini-camp, and it worked very smoothly for us, and we'll continue to do that."
As for Romo, he was cleared for full practice Sunday after having a cyst removed from his back last April. Sunday also marked his first practice after signing an eight-year, $108 million contract that includes $55 million in guaranteed money.
That's an enormous amount of money invested in a quarterback that hasn't won a playoff game - and it's more than Super Bowl winner Joe Flacco got from the Baltimore Raven last offseason.
But the Cowboys are clearly comfortable with hitching their wagon to Romo, and step one was getting through the initial practice with a clean bill of health.
"I feel good," Romo said. "I've been running and throwing and doing all of that stuff. But I was excited about getting out here. Honestly, just the smell of the grass of a football field is a great feeling. You never want to take that for granted."
The Cowboys aren't taking anything for granted these days. Three seasons out of the playoffs will do that to a team. Vincent.bonsignore@dailynews.com @DailyNewsVinny
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