CANTON, Ohio  — The NFL is back, sort of.

With no stars and few starters on the field Thursday night, the Dallas Cowboys edged the Arizona Cardinals 20-18 in the Hall of Fame game.

At least the turf held up — unlike a year ago, when the game was canceled for safety reasons. The new field passed NFL operations directors’ approval, and the footing was steady.

Rookie Sam Irwin-Hill, unlikely to beat out Dallas veteran Dan Bailey for the place-kicking job, made field goals of 23 and 43 yards, the latter providing the winning points in the fourth quarter.

The opening half featured a handful of big plays, with Arizona’s third-string quarterback, Blaine Gabbert, consistently finding open receivers down the middle.

“There were a couple specific plays by the defense on those first couple of drives,” Cowboys Coach Jason Garrett said. “Blown assignments on a big third-down conversion, and it wasn’t physical enough. It wasn’t aggressive enough.”

Dallas’ Kellen Moore, who missed last season with an ankle injury, had some success passing down the sidelines, but his second-quarter interception by Brandon Williams in the end zone ruined a drive.

With the likes of Carson Palmer, Larry Fitzgerald, David Johnson, Patrick Peterson and Tyrann Mathieu sitting it out, Arizona could be pleased with the work of backup running backs Kerwynn Williams and Andre Ellington, who both scored on short runs.

“It was great to see the offense move the ball and get touchdowns on those first two drives,” Fitzgerald said. “O-line, running game, passing the ball, that was impressive and I’m happy for every one of those guys.”

And with Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, Jason Witten, Sean Lee and their strong offensive line pretty much inactive, the Cowboys could point to veteran RB Alfred Morris and receivers Brice Butler and Rico Gathers.

Morris showed off a spin move worthy of Elliott on a 25-yard run, Butler had 78 yards on two catches in the first half , and Gathers, a hoops starter at Baylor, made a 26-yard touchdown catch.

Gathers also made a diving reception and slipped a pair of tackles on a 17-yard play early in the third period . That led to Uzoma Nwachukwu’s 14-yard TD catch from fourth-string rookie Cooper Rush. The former rebounding standout had three catches for 59 yards.

Generally, though, it was a sloppy exercise befitting the lack of star power.

Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill passes the ball during Thursday’s practice. Tannehill injured his left knee later when it buckled as he scrambled and fell without being hit.

DOLPHINS: Quarterback Ryan Tannehill reinjured his left knee in practice Thursday when it buckled as he scrambled and fell without being hit.

Tannehill walked slowly off the field, accompanied by trainers. He underwent an MRI, but results weren’t definitive regarding the extent of the injury, and further assessment is expected Friday.

“You see your quarterback go down, you think the worst,” tight end MarQueis Gray said. “He’s in all of our prayers, and we hope he’s back on the field.”

Tannehill missed last season’s final four games, including a playoff loss at Pittsburgh, after spraining two ligaments in the same knee. He decided against surgery and took part in all offseason drills.

He was wearing a brace when his knee gave out near the right sideline while running full speed to escape tackle Ndamukong Suh. Tannehill stayed on the ground for at least 15 seconds, surrounded by teammates, before rising and leaving the field.

“I saw him buckle and go down. There was no contact on the play,” offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen said. “The initial reaction is, ‘OK, next man up.’ That’s football. It’s going to happen somewhere in this season. The game doesn’t stop. You go on to the next play.”

PANTHERS: Quarterback Cam Newton was held out of passing drills for the third straight day while battling soreness in his surgically repaired right shoulder.

Coach Ron Rivera was vague on if this is part of the team’s plan for Newton or if he’s had a setback, saying after practice Thursday, “We are going to do what the doctors and trainers tell us.”

Newton underwent surgery in March to repair a partially torn rotator cuff. He participated in the first five training camp practices at Wofford College but was held out of the second half of practice Sunday because of shoulder soreness. He’s only thrown two warmup passes since then.

GIANTS: As the weeks progress in NFL training camps, it’s not unusual to see players grab each other by the jersey, wrestle, yell a few profanities and then get separated by teammates as the coaches repeatedly blow their whistles.

It’s the old boys-will-be-boys approach, and the New York Giants have been going through it lately as camp stretches into its second week and players don shoulder pads.

Coach Ben McAdoo doesn’t mind it. He wants his team to be physical. He wants his players to know what it is like to hit and be hit. What the second-year head coach doesn’t want is the prolonged scrums. Invariably, someone gets stepped on or knocked down and an injury happens.

“The extracurricular stuff after the whistle is something that irritates the vets, and those are the things we need to put an end to,” McAdoo said Thursday. “You can be physical and you can be heavy-handed; you can fit your pads in and you can finish, but when that whistle blows, that extra stuff after the whistle is unnecessary.”

The biggest blowup Thursday was between starting right tackle Bobby Hart and defensive tackle Damon ‘Snacks’ Harrison.

The other flareups were shorter. Defensive end Olivier Vernon and rookie offensive tackle Adam Bisnowaty got in each other’s face, as did middle linebacker B.J. Goodson and veteran running back Orleans Darkwa after the second-year defender hit him on a play.

“Practice is practice,” Vernon said. “You’re going to get things like that. You know, we just keep moving forward from that. We’re still teammates at the end of the day.”

CHARGERS: Rookie offensive lineman Forrest Lamp tore a ligament in his right knee Wednesday.

Lamp was taken off the field on a cart, and the second-round pick’s injury was later diagnosed with an MRI exam.

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