By Mark Maske
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 5, 1998; Page C10

The Washington Redskins lost one of their most quietly effective players yesterday when fullback Larry Bowie broke his left leg during the team's 31-10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

Bowie suffered a broken fibula, the smaller of the two bones in the lower leg, when his leg was caught under Dallas defensive tackle Leon Lett while he was blocking for Terry Allen on a second-quarter running play. Bowie is scheduled to have a screw surgically inserted into his leg today, and he likely will be sidelined for the remainder of the season.

He is an effective pass catcher and blocker, and he is one of the big reasons Allen is having such a good year running the ball. The Redskins don't have another fullback on their active roster but have one, Kevin Pesak, on their five-member practice squad. Turner mentioned the possibility of using Allen's backup, Stephen Davis, at fullback, and using more formations with two tight ends and only one running back.

"Obviously, it will be by committee now," Turner said. " ... He's a tough guy to lose because he's playing well and he adds a lot of the physical part of our offense."

Hicks Inactive – Again
Turner said last week that he and his assistant coaches were discussing a possible role for rookie running back Skip Hicks in the Dallas game. For the fifth time in five games, however, Hicks was on the Redskins' inactive list. Allen was the only running back to carry the ball.

The Redskins also failed to get rookie tight end Stephen Alexander involved in the offense this week. He had one catch for three yards. ...

The Redskins started Darryl Pounds, normally their number three cornerback, at free safety and moved Stanley Richard from free safety to strong safety. ...

The Cowboys had two running backs, Emmitt Smith and Chris Warren, run for more than 100 yards yesterday. Redskins opponents have watched five 100-yard performances by running backs in the past four weeks. Even so, Redskins defensive tackle Dana Stubblefield said following yesterday's game: "I haven't seen any of those guys running the ball in the middle."

But he conceded that he and fellow defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson could stand, like their teammates, to raise their level of play.

"Dan and I were brought here to do a job, and we need to do a better job," Stubblefield said.

Taken to the Mills
Cornerback Cris Dishman had another tough day. He was victimized by Ernie Mills for a 29-yard gain in the first quarter and a 43-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Dishman actually had Mills blanketed on the first long play, but Mills made the catch of Jason Garrett's on-target throw. According to Turner, Dishman was supposed to have deep help from a safety on Mills's touchdown catch, which came on a post pattern.

"I thought we did some things to help Cris," Turner said. "The first completion is a fade route. He's all over him, and the guy makes a heck of a catch. The post down the middle, we got a busted coverage. We're supposed to have a safety deep in the middle. ... I'm not sure that was Dish's sole responsibility."