DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys were coy about what to do with La'el Collins once he returned from his five-game suspension.
Second-year lineman Terence Steele played exemplary at right tackle as Collins served his suspension after Week 1 for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. With Collins coming back, the question was whether Dallas would ride the hot hand or allow the incumbent back into his old job.
The Cowboys left Steele at right tackle in Week 8 against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football, but they found ways to get Collins into the game.
"He’s the enforcer," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told "Shan & RJ" on 105.3 "The Fan" Tuesday. "That’s a big statement. He really has a lot of the aura that you want for an offensive line to be. They need to be that for a team in my mind, and that is we’re just going to run it down their throat."
Coach Mike McCarthy, offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, assistant offensive line coach Jeff Blasko, and offensive line coach Joe Philbin worked throughout the week to formulate a way to get one of the leaders on the offensive line involved, as the five starting spots along the line had already been claimed.
"We felt like if he wasn’t going to be the right tackle, then that’s a guy you still want on the field," Moore said. "So, [it] kind of turned into a brainstorm opportunity there."
Reserve guard Connor McGovern had already been reporting as eligible as a fullback.
Said Moore: "Why not throw another guy back there?"
Thus was the genesis of the Cowboys' "Hulk Package," their inverted wishbone that features McGovern and Collins in the backfield.
"He’s getting there and he will get there, and this may spur it on because he really does have some outstanding position flex — most offensive linemen do," Jones said. "Some just really have struggled with it and that’s moving around from position to position."
Dallas ran the Hulk Package four times in their 20-16 win over the Vikings. If the Cowboys want to get Collins involved in a more conventional sense, they may have a need with left tackle Tyron Smith dealing with a bone spur, according to Jones.
Said Jones: "We’ll have to see how Tyron practices. Say it’s a spur. We’ll take a look at that as it moves through. We should and will practice with alternatives to him being out there."
The Cowboys could kick Collins out to left tackle, replacing Ty Nsekhe, who was filling in for Smith to complete the game in Minnesota. Collins has not played left tackle since his final year at LSU in 2014, however.
Regardless of where Collins is on the line, the Cowboys will try to find a way to get one of their most talented linemen on the field.
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