Dallas Cowboys likely returning to Oxnard for training camp

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The Dallas Cowboys are putting the finishing touches on a deal to return to Oxnard for part of their training camp this summer, team executive Stephen Jones said.

‘There’s a good chance we’re there,’ Jones told The Times at the NFL owners meetings Monday in Orlando, Fla. ‘We’re getting everything put to bed.’

Jones, the team’s chief operating officer and son of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, said the team likely would spend 10 days to two weeks in Oxnard and the rest at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Because the Cowboys are playing in the Hall of Fame Game (against Cincinnati), their training camp has been extended a week and therefore it’s more feasible to split camp between two locales.

The Cowboys trained in Oxnard from 2004 to 2006 before signing a five-year deal with the Alamodome. They returned to Oxnard in the summer of 2008, however, because of a scheduling conflict in San Antonio.

‘The reason we left Oxnard in the first place was they were going to develop that property, and there wasn’t going to be a spot anymore,’ Jones said. ‘But the economy went the other way and so now the property is still there, and we’ve always enjoyed our experience out there.’

Jones said the length of the Oxnard stay could be increased to ‘as long as we’ve got availability out there.’

‘It’s great for us,’ he said. ‘We get a lot out of it. We get great coverage. I think it gives the players a nice little getaway ... I think it will spice things up, getting outside in that cool, fresh air.

‘Obviously we’re not at a point to announce [the deal is done], but we’re fired up about it.’

-- Sam Farmer