Just a couple of old guys

IRVING, Texas – Drew Bledsoe is finding there’s a difference between playing for Bill Parcells fresh out of college as the No. 1 overall draft pick and as a 12-year veteran quarterback.

On their first day back on the field together in eight years, Parcells on Friday was content mostly watching Bledsoe from a distance during the start of the Dallas Cowboys’ only veteran minicamp before training camp.

“A lot of times when I was young, he would stand right behind me when I’d drop back to throw. He was yelling in my ear,” Bledsoe said. “It was to the point that I couldn’t wait until Sunday so I could get out on the field and get away from him.”

Parcells said the 33-year-old Bledsoe is a lot more mature now.

“Obviously, he’s been through a lot as a player,” he said. “So we’ll just see. I just want to see him round into shape and get his timing.”

It’s the second year in a row the Cowboys have a new veteran starting quarterback who’s played for Parcells before.

Bledsoe is eight years younger than Vinny Testaverde, the starter for 15 games last season when the Cowboys were 6-10.

Bledsoe was the top overall pick in 1993 for New England, when Parcells was there. He was the starter as a rookie, and three years later the Patriots reached the Super Bowl.

After Bledsoe was released by Buffalo in February, he reunited with Parcells, signing a three-year contract in Dallas.

He quickly was proclaimed the Cowboys starter, the eighth since three-time Super Bowl winner Troy Aikman’s career ended four years ago.

The expectations for Bledsoe are different than they were during his rookie season for the Patriots 12 years ago. Or when he went to Buffalo in 2002, after losing his starting job to Tom Brady in New England while injured.

“I’m coming into a situation where right now, immediately, there’s an expectation for this team to go out and compete for a championship,” Bledsoe said. “When I went to Buffalo, it was a team that was in a bit of a rebuilding situation.”