Dallas Cowboys coach Wade Phillips wasn't about to pass up the chance to have one more productive practice in Oxnard before his team broke camp and headed to Denver for several days of practice with the Broncos.

Instead of the walk-through practice most people expected to happen on Tuesday, Phillips had the Cowboys practice for close to 90 minutes before the team said its goodbyes to the River Ridge complex that had served as its home for the last 19 days.

"I thought we had a good camp here," Phillips said. "I think the facilities and the weather were great for us. We got a lot of work done.

"We're looking forward to going to Denver. We had great work with them last year. I thought we really improved last year when we worked with Denver, so that opportunity again to go against another team during training camp I think it is going to be a really good experience for us."

After arriving in Oxnard on July 24, Phillips sought answers to several pressing questions. Nearly three weeks later, most of the questions remain, but the outlook does not appear to be as cloudy for many of them.

Offensively, the biggest question the Cowboys had when it arrived was who would be the No. 2 wide receiver. After releasing Terry Glenn on the first day of training camp, the team wanted to see if any of its young receivers could fill the void.

Patrick Crayton, last year's No. 2 receiver, had a strong camp, including making two catches in last Saturday's preseason opener at San Diego. Coaches are confident that Crayton can be a top-flight second wideout.

Among the young receivers, Miles Austin has opened the most eyes. He had five catches against San Diego and has the speed needed to stretch defenses.

"I was pleased with Miles," Phillips said. "He ran good routes and caught the ball in traffic. It should give him a lot of confidence and us confidence in him."

Besides wanting to find a second receiver, the Cowboys came to Oxnard wanting to see if they had a replacement for running back Julius Jones, who left as a free agent, and whether they needed a backup quarterback to starter Tony Romo.

The Cowboys definitely feel they have a replacement for Julius Jones in rookie Felix Jones, who was one of the most impressive players in camp.

Against San Diego, Jones broke two nice runs and showed the kind of game-breaking speed he did at Arkansas.

"He showed the ability to get away from people and accelerate in the open field," Phillips said.

As for Brad Johnson being an adequate backup to Romo, the jury is still out.

Johnson did not look good against San Diego and his passes throughout training camp have floated.

Coaches like his savvy, so they plan to give him more time with the first-team offense to get a better gauge.

"As I am standing here (in Oxnard), I think he can be the answer," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said.

At this point, Cowboys fans have a different opinion.

The two biggest questions for the defense involved newcomers Adam Jones and Zach Thomas.

Jones received a lot of hype for his battles with Terrell Owens in practice, but in last week's game, Jones was a dud, missing tackles and being unable to adjust to the speed of the game.

"The first preseason game I always play like (garbage)," Jones said. "If I do it again this week, you can throw me under the bus, but I doubt it will happen again."

Jones has shown in camp that once he gets up to speed, he will make plays. He's also stayed out of trouble, so they expect him to be reinstated before the regular season.

Thomas has not shown any lingering signs of the concussions that plagued him last season. The veteran made plays all over the field in practice and against the Chargers on Saturday. His veteran leadership will help steady the defense this season.

Heading into his second year as the starter, Romo continues to grow as the team leader.

The talented quarterback is pleased with the progress the team made in Oxnard.

"The people were very supportive and we got a lot of work done," Romo said. "That's what you come here to do, try to get better. Try and improve, and I think we did that.

"I think coach worked us pretty hard, especially the first week and a half. You need to go through that to get your legs adjusted to what it's going to feel like in a game. More than anything, I thought we improved and that's what you come here to do."

Romo said he and his teammates are excited about the next phase of camp, starting with the work in Denver.

"We get to go and compete with another team and that's exciting," Romo said. "It gets you out of the every-day-camp feel. I think it will be exciting to go out there and prove we are capable of competing with another good football team."