Clarence Hill: Cowboys camp insights … Has Jerry Jones moved on from RG Zack Martin?

Cowboys beat writer Clarence Hill offers insights from the third week of training camp in Oxnard, California:

1. There appears to be no end in sight to the stalemate between the Cowboys and hold-out All-Pro guard Zack Martin.

Martin has not been in touch with anyone on the Cowboys since the opening week of training camp.

The Cowboys are continuing to take a hard line stance with Martin’s contract demands because the NFL rules regarding holdouts are firmly on their side.

Martin has incurred fines of $600,000 through Monday and they can’t be rescinded.

“Not really. Not really. Surprise is really not the word there. It’s very costly and so that’s, that’s where we are. Huge, significant ramifications ... by anybody’s math,” owner Jerry Jones said Monday when asked if he was surprised Martin was still holding out.

Jones said the Cowboys are treating Martin’s absence like losing a player to injury and are prepared to start the season without him, if necessary.

“So you realize that not having him here, it could happen on the next play,” Jones said. “And you’re not happy. So gotta put that one on and say we’ll just move on here without him. But you say, ‘boy that sounds concerning.’ No, I’m just trying to give you how you really have to look at it.”

2. When the Cowboys face the Jacksonville Jaguars Saturday in the preseason opener at AT&T Stadium, it will be the team’s first game the stadium since the passing of Phil Whitfield, 62, a beloved longtime security guard for the Cowboys who became an art ambassador at the stadium.

It will be a bittersweet moment for Jerry and Gene Jones, as Whitfield spent time as a security guard at their house in Highland Park as well as at Texas Stadium before being promoted to art ambassador.

“Yes, well of course Phil was one of the first people of old Texas Stadium. Phil might have been the first person I met when I came to the Cowboys,” Jones said. “When I went out to the stadium after I had signed by the Cowboys, they turned the lights on and I laid on star, just laid out. Turn the lights on, when I had just shaken hands. And so I remembered Phil that much back.

“How he involved with his recognition, his understanding of what art did for everybody is textbook. I wish our fans could understand how his story, how he involved art in his life. And how it enhanced it for him is one that we all should have and pass on to our kids. It was special.”

3. Jones is certainly listening and try to do the right things when it comes to stepping on the feet of coach Mike McCarthy.

Asked about McMarthy saying Dak Prescott is unlikely to play in preseason, Jones said: “We can get a good feel (in camp) for how its going to go when we get to the games. We’ll play that by ear, Mike’s going to make those calls for sure, how much actually snaps he gets in preseason games.”

4. There have been a lot of reports about the dominance of the defense in practice. But the offense struck back on Monday with Prescott owning the defense in fourth-down games situation drills and the running game finding creases up the middle. Malik Davis and Rico Dowdle had big gains on the grown, which was a good sign for an offensive line without Martin.

5. Running back Tony Pollard missed practice on Monday for personal reasons. He returned to Dallas for the birth of his baby. Kavontae Turpin missed the start of camp due to the birth of his baby girl.

6. Tight end Luke Schoonmaker, the second round pick from Michigan, was taking off the non-football injury list and practiced with his teammates for the first time in training camp. The Cowboys are going to bring him along slowly with a ramp up.

“Well, I mean, we’ll see,” McCarthy said when asked how far behind Schoonmaker is. “I mean it’s just like anything every guy is different. You know every guy’s injury is different but he’s been in the classroom the whole time so seems to have a relatively high understanding of what’s being asked of him but I think the key is let’s see if he can apply it and get up to the speed of the game.”