An educated guess

In three seasons as the San Diego Chargers' defensive coordinator, Wade Phillips got an up-close look at the Broncos running game.

In the past few days, he also has gotten an up-close look at Travis Henry in the Broncos running game.

Henry looked powerful in his eight-play debut with the Broncos on Monday night against the San Francisco 49ers, finishing with 27 yards on five carries.

"So, from last week's game, you can see he's a really good back and you can see he already fits in with what they're doing," Phillips said. "Mike (Shanahan) has a great way to feature running backs and find a way to get them yardage. And Travis, to me, looks like a guy who can make yardage even without some help sometimes.

"He bounces out of tackles. I expect him to do well because all the backs do well. But I think he's going to get some yardage when there isn't a lot there, so that may be a little different than they've had in a little bit."

In two meetings with the Chargers last season, the Broncos rushed for 158 yards on 35 carries in a Nov. 19 loss - Mike Bell finished with 90 yards on 20 carries in that game - and they rushed for 162 yards on 28 carries in a Dec. 10 loss. Tatum Bell had 116 yards on 17 carries in that game, but 51 of those yards came on a single run.

Most in the league believe Henry will have a big year with the Broncos because of his one-cut and get-up-the field style. Shanahan also has made it clear he plans to give the ball to Henry as many times as Henry shows he's ready to carry it.

"I want the ball a lot and he knows I want the ball a lot," Henry said. "Now it's up to me to prove I can do what they need done."

The flip side

The 49ers ran the ball far better than the Broncos would have liked Monday night, finishing with 144 yards on 35 carries - a 4.1-yard average - despite the fact Pro Bowl back Frank Gore did not play because of a fractured bone in his right hand.

The 49ers' top three reserves, including converted quarterback Michael Robinson, each had runs of at least 10 yards, and Maurice Hicks had a 20-yarder.

But that was in a Norv Turner-style offense, which features plenty of shifting and movement along the line of scrimmage.

Tonight, the Broncos will get a far different look in the Dallas Cowboys' offense.

"You just look at the teams we've gone against, first there is (San Francisco) with Norv Turner, more shifting, motion-type things; we don't do a whole lot of that when you practice against your own guys so much," safety John Lynch said. "So that's a little different look for us, especially for some of the young guys who, until that game, hadn't really seen that kind of running game because they had only seen what we do.

"But they get little different look in Dallas, too. Because Dallas has shown us this week they're a little more smash-mouth, right at you."

All five starters along the Cowboys' offensive front are listed to be at least 305 pounds, and three - left tackle Flozell Adams (340 pounds), right guard Leonard Davis (366) and right tackle Marc Colombo (320) - are 320 pounds or more.

"So you get a very different perspective," Lynch said. "A line that big, you know they are coming right at you."

Get ready

Because of injuries, Chad Mustard, who was switched back to tackle from tight end in between practices this week, could play as much as half the game tonight at right tackle.

The Broncos are thin at the position, as Matt Lepsis is trying to come back from a groin injury, Ryan Harris had back surgery this week and will be out four to six weeks, Jacob Rogers has a knee injury and Adam Meadows suffered an ankle injury in practice.

Harris and Rogers did not make the trip to Texas. Mustard worked at tackle when he first was signed by the Broncos in 2006. His only other experience in the interior line is when he played three games at guard for the Omaha Beef of the now-defunct National Indoor Football League in 2002.

"We had no choice . . . ," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. "(Mustard) has got to play. He is a guy who has played both positions - he hasn't played (tackle) for a while - he'll play half the game at a right tackle position."

No, you do

Never let it be said these two coaches don't know how to play the hey-the-pressure-is- really-on-them game.

When asked this week about the Cowboys' prospects for the season, Broncos coach Mike Shanahan quickly proclaimed that Dallas was "one of five teams" in the NFC that could win the Super Bowl.

When relayed that message, Cowboys coach Wade Phillips countered: "I think Denver is. They should be there."

Looking for a spot

Broncos fans might not see much of him tonight, but the Cowboys do have one of the more intriguing prospects from the 2007 draft on their roster.

Former University of Washington quarterback Isaiah Stanback, right, is trying to make the team as a wide receiver, at least at the moment, and also has dabbled in returning punts.

Stanback did not run at the scouting combine or at his first campus pro day because he had right foot surgery in October, but he has so much speed, scouts were more than willing to wait to see it. Stanback, in excess of 200 pounds, was fifth in the 100-meter dash at the Pacific-10 Conference's 2006 outdoor meet and has run a 10.48 in the event.

He also was a 45th-round pick by the Baltimore Orioles in the '06 baseball draft despite the fact he didn't play college baseball. As a Huskies quarterback, he never threw for more than 2,200 yards or 10 touchdowns in a season.

Injury report

• Tackle Matt Lepsis (groin), receiver Javon Walker (right knee), defensive tackle Demetrin Veal (right calf) and running back Andre Hall (right hamstring) are questionable for the game. Defensive end Tim Crowder (left ankle) and tackle Adam Meadows (right calf) will be held out. Crowder could miss about a week's worth of practice, and Meadows appears to be out at least two weeks.

• Wide receiver Brandon Stokley (left thigh) did not practice in joint practices with the Cowboys on Wednesday and Thursday, then did not go through the Broncos' short workout Friday.

Numbers game

18-day span in which the Broncos will have played their four preseason games. They played their first Monday night in San Francisco and will play their fourth Aug. 30 in Denver against Arizona.

He said it

"They still got the same players and they're awful good. We were 14-2 last year, and the two games we lost were on the last play of the game. The rest of the games were by seven or more. No three-point games, no two-point games in 14 wins. They were all seven or more. That's an awfully good football team."

Wade Phillips, Cowboys coach, on the prospects of the San Diego Chargers, despite the team having replaced the head coach and the offensive and defensive coordinators from last season.

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