What little playing time vs. 49ers means for Tony Pollard; Cowboys continue this preseason trend

 The first preseason game is in the books for the Cowboys.

Another loss should come as no surprise.

Dallas has now dropped five consecutive preseason games with its 17-9 loss to San Francisco. The team's last victory came nearly two years ago.

Oh yeah, one other thing. This group hasn't scored a preseason touchdown in three consecutive games.

Does it matter? Not necessarily. What takes place in August rarely provides any sort of barometer into the team's regular-season success, or lack thereof.

What it does is continue a trend. Starters and key backups generally played well for Dallas. The drop off came after those two units.

"I thought we did a good job at the outset of the game,'' head coach Jason Garrett said after Saturday night's loss. "The offense got it first, drove it well. Bogged down a little bit in the red zone and had to settle for the field goal, but there was good rhythm, a good mix there.I thought the tempo was good, the urgency was good."Defensively, I think we had two five-and-outs to start the game and then an interception. I thought those were good things.''

A few more observations:

Rookie's rise

Rookie Tony Pollard took the field with the starters, played one series then spent the rest of the game on the sidelines.

It was a bit surprising that the fourth-round pick didn't get more work. The fact he didn't shows how well he's played in camp. It means the Cowboys already have a pretty good handle on what he can do for this offense and doesn't want to give opponents an idea of how he'll be used in the regular season.

That's why Pollard wasn't targeted in the passing game. That's why he ran the ball up the middle four times for 16 yards.

"I mean, that's what a lot of people don't expect me to do,'' Pollard said. "People think I can't do that so I just like proving people wrong and showing my ability.''