THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry, looking for starters in several unsettled positions, Friday put his veterans through their first workout of the 1981 training camp.
The 46 veterans joined 57 rookies Thursday at the California Lutheran College camp, undergoing physicals and timed sprints in the morning and practicing in shorts and T-shirts in the afternoon.
Landry said the Cowboys were practicing with some strong incentives.
'When you have goals like beating Philadelphia for the NFC East championship and you have players battling for starting positions, it's a better training camp because you see more effort,' Landry said. 'It helps your training camp. Last year we were trying to replace Roger Staubach and people were writing us off. That helped us have a good camp.'
Landry identified a number of competitive situations in his lineup, singling out veteran John Fitzgerald, who is trying to keep his job against third-year man Robert Shaw.
Robert Newhouse, Ron Springs and Timmy Newsome will be trying for the fullback spot, he said, although Newsome suffered a setback Thursday when he pulled a leg muscle.
Landry said he also wants to get one starting tight end out of the trio of Billy Joe DuPree, Jay Saldi and Doug Cosbie, who were play messengers last year.
On defense, Landry said the most unsettled position is at free safety, where Randy Hughes -- injured last year -- and his replacement Dennis Thurman are top contenders.
