Speaker 1: This he is Talking Cowboys Screaming live on Dallas Cowboys
Speaker 1: dot com and the official Dallas Cowboys as Now your
Speaker 1: hosts Mickey Spagnola, Brian brought us, Taylor Stern and Rob Phillips.
Speaker 1: Welcome everybody into the SWBC Mortgage Studio. We have a
Speaker 1: riveting show for you in week seventeen as the Cowboys
Speaker 1: prepared to take on the Eagles this week in a
Speaker 1: blustering cold game that we will have covered just like
Speaker 1: every other one we have this season. So Thursday at
Speaker 1: the Star, how are you guys doing? Or the Cowboys
Speaker 1: practicing outside again indoors, indoorsdoors Thursday? Was it cold in
Speaker 1: the Ford Center today? Mickey? Might be? They probably turned
Speaker 1: the heat off. Okay, Yeah, I didn't know. You know,
Speaker 1: they've been practicing outdoors for the past three weeks. And
Speaker 1: then of course it is going to be a really
Speaker 1: cold game on Sunday, and I didn't know if they're
Speaker 1: going to keep that. Yeah, how cold is going to be?
Speaker 1: Low of nine, Mick, I have twenty at game time.
Speaker 1: At game time probably around fifteen, Yeah, one o'clock. That's
Speaker 1: frozen tundrass style. Yeah, you guys need a little that
Speaker 1: in your life, do we though? Yeah, sure you do.
Speaker 1: I'm insight, sure you do. Come ban, No, no, right,
Speaker 1: Lindsey and I do an award winning show in the Star.
Speaker 1: You do do that award take that show on the road.
Speaker 1: We're good. What if I bought your steak on Saturday
Speaker 1: night downtown Philly, you know I wouldn't even go for
Speaker 1: a steak. I used to live in Philly. Philly is
Speaker 1: a good Philly cheese name. I name you Philly Cheesetack.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what, though, it's a it'll be interesting
Speaker 1: because of the conditions, you know, of how how you play.
Speaker 1: I mean, Jason Garrett obviously is going to play to
Speaker 1: try and win this football game. So you know, how
Speaker 1: will his young quarterback handle things? Uh? You know the receivers.
Speaker 1: I wrote about a woozy having to cover you know
Speaker 1: all Sean Jeffrey this week, this for this game, is
Speaker 1: he gonna play? Yeah? Yeah, like you know, you might
Speaker 1: as well make up a matchup. But a Woozia, I mean,
Speaker 1: that's the great thing about Jeffrey. He knows how to
Speaker 1: play in cold weather. So you know, you get some
Speaker 1: guys a Woozia's from Colorado. He knows what it's like
Speaker 1: to play with the toe is cold and your fingers
Speaker 1: cold as well. Jeffrey had a pretty good game in
Speaker 1: that uh yeah thirteen game in Chicago, right, yeah, sure did. Yeah, so,
Speaker 1: I mean that's what I'm saying. But but the Cowboys
Speaker 1: didn't have their last time they faced the Eagles. They
Speaker 1: didn't have this uh defensive bat configuration in play. So
Speaker 1: it should be interesting, you know, with Zach Erntz and
Speaker 1: also with Jeffrey and those guys. I mean, hey, cover
Speaker 1: him up. Let's see if those sleeve nick Foles can
Speaker 1: you know, can they knock him around a little bit.
Speaker 1: I like you bringing the positivity and optimism of this game.
Speaker 1: If you're gonna go win it, go win it. What
Speaker 1: was he being positive or optimistic about that? You know?
Speaker 1: The Eagles haven't seen this dB coordination. Yeah no, I mean,
Speaker 1: and I'm interested to see how they how the Cowboys
Speaker 1: play against these guys, I really am. And if if
Speaker 1: if Doug Peterson doesn't play, any of the guys, Okay,
Speaker 1: I get it, but hey, these young guys, I want
Speaker 1: to see him finish out well, I do. I want
Speaker 1: to see Jeffrey covered. I want to see you know,
Speaker 1: I want to see Tory Smith covered, Nelson Aguilar covered well.
Speaker 1: With the victory on Sunday, the Cowboys would end with
Speaker 1: a nine and seven record and would post back to
Speaker 1: back winning seasons for the first time since two thousand
Speaker 1: and nine. So a lot of people talking about what
Speaker 1: a meaningless game this is. Obviously, you know, no playoff
Speaker 1: imp implications here, but it does mean the difference between
Speaker 1: an eight and eight season in a nine and seven season.
Speaker 1: And these guys have been playing since July and and
Speaker 1: some of them deserve to look back on a winning season.
Speaker 1: Zeke reference winning season Toay yesterday, and I think that matters.
Speaker 1: I think they can look at this season and say,
Speaker 1: we didn't make the playoffs, but as much crap as
Speaker 1: we've been through and things didn't go our way and
Speaker 1: some of itself inflicted, we won more games than we lost.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's something you can at least hang your
Speaker 1: hat on, knowing that you're not in the postseason. They'll
Speaker 1: be sick. If Carolina gets all over Atlanta and knocks
Speaker 1: them out. You know that that will make them sick,
Speaker 1: and they'll come up one game shot, and they'll come
Speaker 1: up one game short. And then but then it's the
Speaker 1: you know, it's the situation. You look at Philadelphia was
Speaker 1: seven and nine last year and now look what happened.
Speaker 1: I had to turnaround. You just want to be more consistent,
Speaker 1: you really do. That's the thing about it. You want
Speaker 1: to find a way. You know, we always talk about this,
Speaker 1: so is this a must win game? We've said it
Speaker 1: a lot here, all of the must win because of
Speaker 1: where you're at. You only play sixteen appen. This isn't
Speaker 1: the NBA or the NHL or you know, major League Baseball.
Speaker 1: This is you. You have to you have to find
Speaker 1: a way to put yourself in position to win all
Speaker 1: these games. And they didn't. That's the biggest problem. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and before we get into all of the Dez craziness
Speaker 1: from the locker room, which craziness was probably the wrong
Speaker 1: word there, because it was actually refreshing to see him
Speaker 1: get into all that. But you know, you bring up
Speaker 1: rob Zeke Elliott talking about a winning season, and it's
Speaker 1: crazy to think that he's only one hundred and twenty
Speaker 1: yards away from a one thousand yards season only playing
Speaker 1: nine games with his suspension. Amazing, isn't it. Yeah, do
Speaker 1: you guys think that he will play enough in this
Speaker 1: game to actually get close to that or even reach that.
Speaker 1: I don't know what the game plan is. We're just
Speaker 1: assuming that all players will play. But that's a good question.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know if he's gonna get
Speaker 1: twenty five carries, and that's might be what it takes.
Speaker 1: But the way Jason Garrett's talking sure sounds like I
Speaker 1: are going up there to go win a football I
Speaker 1: think he's gonna get twenty five carries, Jason Garrett said today,
Speaker 1: Rob and you heard it, and Mickey heard it. We
Speaker 1: all heard it. On Dallas Cowboys dot Com. The question
Speaker 1: was asked, it's Cooper Rush getting any reps and the
Speaker 1: answer was, no, he's not. With a succinct no, yeah, no,
Speaker 1: I mean they're going to go and win this football game.
Speaker 1: Try to win this football game now that you know,
Speaker 1: we'll see if they're good enough to do it. But
Speaker 1: Ezekiel getting twenty five carries on a frigid day in Philadelphia, Yeah,
Speaker 1: this is what he lives for. He's done this in
Speaker 1: his career at Ohio State. The colder, the better, Just
Speaker 1: hand me the football. You know, we've seen him dig
Speaker 1: his fingernails in a ball, you know, in Washington, and
Speaker 1: we couldn't even hang on to it to finish game there.
Speaker 1: He said he's itching to play. Yeah, and you can't
Speaker 1: blame him after sitting out of me. Hey, I've taken
Speaker 1: six games. Yeah, you only get to play ten. I've
Speaker 1: taken game season and you gain a thousand yards, that's
Speaker 1: that's one hundred yards is a game? Yeah? To me,
Speaker 1: I've taken the attitude of why but if if they're gonna,
Speaker 1: if they're gonna practice and go up there with the
Speaker 1: attitude to play and win, by all means, go try
Speaker 1: and do it now again, know what the ramifications are
Speaker 1: and know what the possibilities are. But if you walk
Speaker 1: out of there healthy and with the victory, he did
Speaker 1: the right thing, go ahead to take no. I was
Speaker 1: just going, I think you end this season on a
Speaker 1: positive note too, because Dak talked a lot about a
Speaker 1: positive note is good going into the off season, and
Speaker 1: I think, you know a lot of people don't don't
Speaker 1: take that into account. I remember two years ago, the
Speaker 1: twenty fifteen season, Terrence Williams ended that game against the
Speaker 1: Redskins with his best performance all year, and he said
Speaker 1: that was very important to him. To just keep it
Speaker 1: going and that I think it was a Derek Jeter
Speaker 1: or maybe an A Rod comparison he had, Yeah remember
Speaker 1: that right? Yeah? Yeah? I think so you could be
Speaker 1: one and you could be five and one against your
Speaker 1: division this year. If you win this football game, that's big.
Speaker 1: That is big. I mean, I think you're gonna be
Speaker 1: the best record, right yeah, I think that if you know,
Speaker 1: that's that's what you look at. Now. You spit the
Speaker 1: bid along the way some of these games. We've talked
Speaker 1: about it. It's well documented. But you're five and one.
Speaker 1: When's the last time the Cowboys went five and one
Speaker 1: against the division. I'm going to guarantee you though, what
Speaker 1: was the record last you lost two games in Giant two?
Speaker 1: There were three and three lost two games of Giants
Speaker 1: one game in Philadelphia? Yeah that one counted, did ye? Yeah?
Speaker 1: So that's I'm saying. You know, you'd have to go back,
Speaker 1: I think, to find out when this team was five
Speaker 1: and one in the division. If they do go into
Speaker 1: this game and you know, they get a win, how
Speaker 1: much do you think it benefits these young guys going
Speaker 1: throughout this season? Kind of like, hey, what you just said? Rob?
Speaker 1: Dealing with everything they dealt with. Next year, it's gonna
Speaker 1: be like, hey, there's a breeze. Yeah, absolutely, I think.
Speaker 1: And I thought it was interesting what Garrett, He made
Speaker 1: a good point yesterday and that you mentioned the young guys.
Speaker 1: They're playing just about every young guy you can play,
Speaker 1: at least in some type of role. I mean, unless
Speaker 1: you want to go down the list further and say, oh, well,
Speaker 1: maybe Cooper Rush could get some snaps in a meaningless game,
Speaker 1: or Blake Jarwin or something like that. But you look
Speaker 1: on defense, you got a first year linebacker, you got
Speaker 1: three rookie dbs, you got a bunch of young guys
Speaker 1: out there playing, so more experienced for them. Any type
Speaker 1: of positive experience and just experience playing in general is
Speaker 1: good for them. In this game, I think there's a
Speaker 1: couple of things that happened. They got experience on what
Speaker 1: it means to have to play in a big game
Speaker 1: last week, but sorry, they should say every week since
Speaker 1: the Washington game has been a playoff game for them
Speaker 1: and now, and that's where we started to see that
Speaker 1: young guys play. They got pressure pack play the last
Speaker 1: five six weeks, go up there, finish out the season,
Speaker 1: gainst Philadelphia have a good showing. You know, I'm sure
Speaker 1: those kids, you know, their bodies are tired. I mean
Speaker 1: a lot of them are struggling with you know, I
Speaker 1: think they would like to get to the offseason say Okay,
Speaker 1: I made it, I'm healthy now I'm looking forward to
Speaker 1: getting it. I know this experience, I know what to expect,
Speaker 1: I know what they expect of me. I think those
Speaker 1: are all positive things going forward. Yeah, you want to
Speaker 1: you want to go out there and shut down Jeffrey.
Speaker 1: You want to shut down Nelson Aguilar. You want to
Speaker 1: get a pass rush if you're Taco Charlton and get
Speaker 1: Nick Foles on the ground. You do want to do that.
Speaker 1: I mean, some guys are playing pretty well. You want
Speaker 1: to build on that. A lot less Taco bashing going
Speaker 1: on right now because people are actually seeing some positive things.
Speaker 1: Go out there and have another game, and now this
Speaker 1: coaching staff will say, Okay, this is our plan for
Speaker 1: him going forward. This is what we need to do
Speaker 1: with him going forward, This is what we need to
Speaker 1: have to prepare him going forward. I think it's a
Speaker 1: great experience. Again, I'm from the school of you know
Speaker 1: what they I understand what they're doing. I want to
Speaker 1: try and protect my team the best I can. But
Speaker 1: you know, if they're going to play to win, go win,
Speaker 1: and we reference that. Yeah, it is a balancing act.
Speaker 1: I mean you could take that tact and say let's
Speaker 1: just get out of the seas. Some teams in NFL
Speaker 1: at have the Rams and the Chiefs, but they're playing
Speaker 1: playoff games. I will say offensively, I feel better about
Speaker 1: it today than I did. Maybe, yes, today, hearing that
Speaker 1: Lyle Collins he's going to practice today, looks like he
Speaker 1: could be on track to play. If he's healthy, he's fine,
Speaker 1: then at least you're not without your two starting tackles
Speaker 1: if you're Dak Prescott, Zekol Elliott, and then you could
Speaker 1: be a little more functional. Like I was wondering about
Speaker 1: that because because Lyle has been dealing with something that
Speaker 1: has kept him out of practice for a lot this
Speaker 1: last month. So if he can go, then maybe that's
Speaker 1: that's a better feeling for your offense in this game.
Speaker 1: And just think, if Taco gets one more sack, that's
Speaker 1: four in a limited time. It's not bad for a
Speaker 1: rookie defensive an. Now, once he got rid of more,
Speaker 1: he started playing. They made a good decision there right,
Speaker 1: and more probably kind of self inflicted. Looks like some
Speaker 1: video coming out about him fighting and all that. So
Speaker 1: preemptive strike, get rid of him and now let Taco
Speaker 1: play more. And that's good. That's what you gotta do.
Speaker 1: And he got experience. You can't beat that. And you know,
Speaker 1: have a little success to finish the season. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: I bet go back and look at some of the
Speaker 1: first round draft choices to see how many of them
Speaker 1: got four sacks. Oh, I'll tell you what. You can
Speaker 1: look at Derek Burnett. He's the Philadelphia He was drafted
Speaker 1: ahead of Taco. A lot of people had him way
Speaker 1: high up the food board, you know, food chain there
Speaker 1: on the draft stuff food board, food of the board.
Speaker 1: We got you. Yeah, but you know what I mean. So,
Speaker 1: I mean he that's some say he's a starter. Taco
Speaker 1: needs to walk out of here feeling damn good about himself.
Speaker 1: You know I mean that that. Okay, Now I can
Speaker 1: go into the off season. I know what I have
Speaker 1: to work on. I know my experience. I know I
Speaker 1: need to go get in the weight room getting stronger.
Speaker 1: I need to get with Leon, letting those guys and
Speaker 1: work on some pass rush moves. He'll be better equipped
Speaker 1: for the OTAs and Mini can and then maybe next
Speaker 1: year when he gets held, they'll throw a flag. Yeah
Speaker 1: he got held bad. What are you seeing technically from him?
Speaker 1: That's better? Well, you know what, it's actually starting to
Speaker 1: win more on the edge, where before he rushes down
Speaker 1: the middle and he can't win that way. He's got
Speaker 1: to win to the corner. You know, I didn't know
Speaker 1: if he had the quickness to grab a guy, to
Speaker 1: snatch a guy to get around the corner and flatten
Speaker 1: the angle. He's shown that. You know, that's something when
Speaker 1: if you don't have that ability as a pass rusher,
Speaker 1: you're never going to get to the quarterback. And he's
Speaker 1: starting to keep his feet. Yeah, balance is better, right, yeah,
Speaker 1: balance as much? Man, What did we see in training camp?
Speaker 1: He always was on the ground, had to wash his
Speaker 1: uniform every week because of his uniform was dirt, grass
Speaker 1: stains from being on the ground all the time. Mickey's right,
Speaker 1: better balance, better positioning with his body, better footwork, better handwork.
Speaker 1: You know those are the things I mean. Start, he
Speaker 1: start looks like he's starting to listen to the coaches say, hey,
Speaker 1: you need to do this, and if you rush down
Speaker 1: the middle, you're not going to get there. And he's
Speaker 1: done a better job of that. And let's see if
Speaker 1: you can take advantage of some you know, VITEI the
Speaker 1: tackle it, you know for the for the Eagles here,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's not Jason Peters, So go go do it.
Speaker 1: Go take advantage of that. Have we heard much from
Speaker 1: the Eagles camp side what their plan is for this game,
Speaker 1: who's playing or not? I feel like I haven't seen much.
Speaker 1: Do they have home field wrapped up? Flayff? Yes, then
Speaker 1: then you know what it's gonna be like last year
Speaker 1: in reverse? In reverse? Right, you're gonna you're not gonna see.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I liked your idea, Mickey, though about you know,
Speaker 1: getting Nick Foles some more playing time and getting him
Speaker 1: more comfortable. They might give him a half, give him
Speaker 1: a couple of series like a rehearsal game. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean he will. He will be in there until somebody's
Speaker 1: wrapped around his neck and then he'll be out. I
Speaker 1: don't even know who their backup is set. Yeah, he's
Speaker 1: a second year guy from Indiana, but he's got to
Speaker 1: be in there with his starting line otherwise there's no point. No,
Speaker 1: I mean but but this is one of those things
Speaker 1: you only dress forty six. Yeah, it's not a ninety.
Speaker 1: There's only so many linemen you can play. It's not
Speaker 1: a ninety. So what happens is, yeah, but as soon
Speaker 1: as as soon as one of those lineman hit him
Speaker 1: or go low or knock him on the ground, Doug
Speaker 1: Peterson's gold go. But we're thinking it's it's no time
Speaker 1: to see Cooper rush this week on the opposite side
Speaker 1: for the Cowboys. I guess not. I guess not. I
Speaker 1: think it goes back to Jason's mentality of we're gonna lie,
Speaker 1: We're gonna treat this like this game matters, and he
Speaker 1: has to write yeah, and hey, by the way, dak
Speaker 1: is still a young quarterback. Every every start, every snap helps.
Speaker 1: As long as again, like I said, as long as
Speaker 1: he's got you know, most of his group with him,
Speaker 1: the guys up front blocking, then yeah, I'm okay with that.
Speaker 1: And Zeke's back, Zeke wants to play, Zeke probably needs
Speaker 1: to play. I'm okay with that. But it is a
Speaker 1: balancing act. Like Brian said, you could take the tact
Speaker 1: of let's just get out of the season healthy, treat
Speaker 1: it like a preseason almost, But that's not the way
Speaker 1: they're treating it. They got a chance to win nine
Speaker 1: games and they're gonna try to do it. Looks like
Speaker 1: they've got like nine offensive linemans, so they can't just yeah,
Speaker 1: totally take the bag it out. Yeah, you're talking about
Speaker 1: the Eagles. The Eagles. Yeah, yeah, I just talking to
Speaker 1: people about practice yesterday, and Garrett said it today. It's
Speaker 1: worth repeating. Oh, I take it back. They only got
Speaker 1: eight so they can't pull everybody. Yeah. Yeah, we're gonna
Speaker 1: say about Gret m Yeah he he his approach. I mean,
Speaker 1: NA asked, you know, Christie Scales asked about Cooper Rush
Speaker 1: getting reps. No, No, I don't think I mean, I
Speaker 1: don't think that was a well we'll see that was
Speaker 1: a no that you know, And talking to people yesterday,
Speaker 1: Dak Prescott was able to he went the whole way
Speaker 1: in practice. Yeah he's not. They're they're not. They're going
Speaker 1: to win this football game. And you know what they
Speaker 1: could do with Cooper Rush because obviously he's no better
Speaker 1: than your backup next year, right, right, Put him in
Speaker 1: a backup situation and say okay, you're in yeah, right,
Speaker 1: because that would be what would happen in the regular season.
Speaker 1: But if Dad got hurt, you kind of hope that
Speaker 1: Dallas gets ahead. And Philly says, it's cold and we
Speaker 1: were saving ourselves and you kind of mash them around
Speaker 1: a little bit and it becomes a laugher in the
Speaker 1: second half. And yeah, and then he becomes Cooper Rush
Speaker 1: against San Francisco where he's handing the ball off, throwing
Speaker 1: the ball underneath simple game plan. Mike Mickey says, all right, hey,
Speaker 1: Dack's out, Cooper, grab your helmet, go bom. There you go.
Speaker 1: There's your You're not we're not prepping you. You're We're
Speaker 1: gonna see how you're gonna react without reps. That's his job, right,
Speaker 1: that's his job. Yeah, to be ready. That would be
Speaker 1: good practice, have you really good practice? Yeah? And you
Speaker 1: know what, hats off to these rookies too, because no
Speaker 1: one's acknowledging that most of their seasons are over by now.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, the season said there. There are a lot
Speaker 1: of tired bodies out there right now. Yeah, are over.
Speaker 1: You know, they've either gone to a bowl game or
Speaker 1: they ended around. Thinks that's what Jordan Lewis told me
Speaker 1: the other day. It's like it's essentially like we've I've
Speaker 1: played double what I'm normally playing with the factor in preseason. See,
Speaker 1: but that Jordan Lewis is the only one that's gone
Speaker 1: the whole year. That's fair or Lewis. But Jordan Lewis
Speaker 1: didn't go really at all in training camp. I mean
Speaker 1: he was he was a non non player in training camp.
Speaker 1: There was questions about how his rookie year was even
Speaker 1: going to be if he didn't practice. Yeah, So to me,
Speaker 1: these rookies can kind of talk about, well, now you
Speaker 1: know ZEKEI, I mean, Zeke was last year was a
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm just looking at these guys, these young guys,
Speaker 1: and it's good that they get to play. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: many different factors there. Well, let's take our first break.
Speaker 1: When we come back, we have to talk about Dez
Speaker 1: Bryant and what he said in the locker room YESTERD yesterday.
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Speaker 1: Thank you, Robert T shirts too, and sucks thank you,
Speaker 1: thank you, Thank you for the open honesty by offered
Speaker 1: the chains and chest here. We saw some open honesty
Speaker 1: from Dez Bryant yesterday. Because there's not many days in
Speaker 1: the locker room that Dak and Zeke can get overshadowed.
Speaker 1: I think that's pretty fair to say. Of course, Wednesday's
Speaker 1: the usual day that Dak and Zeke talk, and he
Speaker 1: did and they were great. I mean, Zeke was much
Speaker 1: longer than I expected. And then Dez Bryant became available
Speaker 1: for the media. And and I'll let Rob and make
Speaker 1: you take it away and Brian and I will listen
Speaker 1: and give a commentary on it. But what were your
Speaker 1: first impressions of Dez Bryant's open, honest frustrations about his
Speaker 1: own season contract? So much more? Take it away? Go
Speaker 1: ahead ahead, Well, I first off, the interception in question
Speaker 1: where Dak hit him in both his hands. He owned
Speaker 1: up to that completely, said that was my faults play
Speaker 1: I gotta make he also man, he just he covered
Speaker 1: the whole gamut from would you expect to not be
Speaker 1: here next year? Potentially potential pay cut, all that speculation.
Speaker 1: He addressed all that stuff and kind of went back
Speaker 1: and forth, but ultimately said that's not something he would
Speaker 1: want to consider, which can you blame him given the
Speaker 1: money that he's due next season. But you know, he
Speaker 1: really opened up about a situation. I think he's fresh
Speaker 1: traded like taste said, mentioned the scheme, said he and
Speaker 1: Dak are good. Uh, but you know he would like
Speaker 1: to be more involved. At the same time, I think
Speaker 1: and Mickey we've discussed this. This is a different offense
Speaker 1: than when he came into this team. Um, what's seven
Speaker 1: years ago? Yeah, I'm much different from last year. Well, Mick,
Speaker 1: before you get in yours, Kent says that we have
Speaker 1: a few cuts. So kind of what Rob says, if
Speaker 1: you'll if you'll play that Kent before Mickey gets into it, Yeah,
Speaker 1: this one's about the question. I guess. He gets a
Speaker 1: lot of flak on social media about his route running
Speaker 1: and so he wanted to address that. This is one
Speaker 1: of many things that does talked about yesterday in the
Speaker 1: locker room. Here we go, man, let me actually pull
Speaker 1: that up real quick on Dalla stowboys dot com. Yes,
Speaker 1: it is what we're you gonna say, though, Micky, you're
Speaker 1: saying it's not too much difference since last year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: what's I mean the scheme changed? Oh like you to
Speaker 1: say that different routes, Yeah, you know, running different routes.
Speaker 1: You know. One thing I hate hearing is um right here,
Speaker 1: um people say, oh I can't run routes. You know
Speaker 1: some of the film that I see. Uh My, damn,
Speaker 1: I'm running rout a lot better than this person and
Speaker 1: this person. You know. It's all about the opportunities, you know,
Speaker 1: and um, you know it is what it is. Hey, man,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm this Brian baby all the day. You know.
Speaker 1: It's just you know, knows what it is? Does Brent
Speaker 1: all day? God love him? Yeah? Hey, he's a competitor
Speaker 1: and he knows he's being criticized. Yeah, and he doesn't
Speaker 1: mean so prideful. It just needs to stay off of
Speaker 1: social media. But they can't. They can't, and we will
Speaker 1: see that more and more because it is so second
Speaker 1: nature to them. They're finding their own validation and what
Speaker 1: other people are saying and that, and that to me
Speaker 1: is sad. You know a lot of these guys, they
Speaker 1: go on social media and if they have a great game, oh,
Speaker 1: retweeting everyone here reading this. Man, everyone loves me. I
Speaker 1: have the most followers on Instagram. This matters to these
Speaker 1: guys shouldn't and they should stay off the talk radio
Speaker 1: and they need to listen. They need to learn to
Speaker 1: know who they should listen to and who they shouldn't.
Speaker 1: The whole thing gets distorted when you get into that situation.
Speaker 1: Did he did he forget how to run routes in
Speaker 1: the offseason? No, because the last seven games last year,
Speaker 1: if you just took those seven games and factor him
Speaker 1: over a season, he had a Pro Bowl season. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: So what happened. What happened? Quarterback didn't play as well,
Speaker 1: the offensive line didn't play as well, and there was
Speaker 1: other factors, and there was things that I think he
Speaker 1: wanted to say, sure, but he didn't. He caught himself,
Speaker 1: and I give him credit for that. Was there a frustration, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, I thought the the best thing that came
Speaker 1: out was the fact that He admitted that he'd been
Speaker 1: dealing with the tendonitis this whole time. Now, you know tendonitis.
Speaker 1: Everybody's got something soreness hurts. Yeah, and you know he
Speaker 1: didn't miss time, he didn't miss practice. He pointed out. No,
Speaker 1: he goes, I'm a warrior year. You know I'm gonna
Speaker 1: I'm gonna play. But I'm sure it affects your speed
Speaker 1: at some point. Um, I just to me the whole
Speaker 1: thing what Brian just said, The whole thing's mystifying. How
Speaker 1: you can have All anybody has to do is go
Speaker 1: call up the Packer game, the playoff game. Sure he
Speaker 1: was a he was All Pro in that game. So
Speaker 1: what happened. Yeah, he's healthy. We thought, I don't know
Speaker 1: how much the tendon nine has bothered him. And as
Speaker 1: tendon ninus, we think goes back to what the Chiefs
Speaker 1: game said Kansas City about a month and a half ago,
Speaker 1: a halfway of the season. Yeah, that was eight games.
Speaker 1: So you know, there's a lot of things. And he
Speaker 1: talked about his frustrations and you know, and Brian and
Speaker 1: I have pointed this out. When he gets in a
Speaker 1: game and he gets frustrated, he loses his poise. And
Speaker 1: it causes him to play freely and he starts trying
Speaker 1: too hard. That's what he did in that game. He
Speaker 1: was trying too hard. It's got to sit there and relax. Okay,
Speaker 1: I caught a pass. I love having the ball in
Speaker 1: my left hand, but you know what, on the sideline
Speaker 1: it should be in my right hand. And I'm not
Speaker 1: going anywhere because there's three guys in front of me.
Speaker 1: Just get out of bounce. Yeah. You know, if you're
Speaker 1: gonna run a route over the middle and you're supposed
Speaker 1: to settle down five yards, then settle down. Don't try
Speaker 1: running before the ball gets there. Before you get into that.
Speaker 1: Let's play the Cluttered Mind clip where he talks about
Speaker 1: kind of dealing with some of these different things when
Speaker 1: he doesn't have a clear minded play game. Like I said,
Speaker 1: just got to focus on things I can control, and
Speaker 1: then only I can control, you know, And I know
Speaker 1: if if I don't, if my mom not cluttered, I
Speaker 1: can beat whoever and whenever, anybody at any time. You know,
Speaker 1: it's just you know, um, sometimes they send things get
Speaker 1: to me that I should I mean, what did how
Speaker 1: did deck put it? Control the controllable? What were you
Speaker 1: gonna say, Brandon, No, I think he's right. I think
Speaker 1: to what happens with Dez is he's his emotion got
Speaker 1: the best of like he said, you know, Mickey said,
Speaker 1: changed the ball. But he's the left handed player. We
Speaker 1: understand that he tried to run over a guy instead
Speaker 1: of just getting out of bounce and fighting for the
Speaker 1: next play. And I give him full credit. With Maxwell
Speaker 1: knocking the ball out of his hands, I mean that's
Speaker 1: Maxwell wanted no part of him. You could tell he's
Speaker 1: backing up. He just punches the ball straight out of
Speaker 1: his hands. You know, that's a that's an understanding of
Speaker 1: you know, no one who you're playing right here. But
Speaker 1: you know, to me, there's so many things that have
Speaker 1: led to the problems that they've had, and I think
Speaker 1: everybody's frustrated because the offense was really the star of
Speaker 1: coming into the season. The offense was gonna you know,
Speaker 1: Dak was not going to regress because of Dez Bryant,
Speaker 1: the offensive line and Ezekiel Elliott. That wasn't going to happen.
Speaker 1: So what happened you had Dak Prescott not play very
Speaker 1: good football at times this year because of the offensive line,
Speaker 1: the lack of the running game with Zekiel and Dez
Speaker 1: Bryant not being as consistent as he's usually is. You know,
Speaker 1: I think that there's a lot too it Dez Bryant.
Speaker 1: When you know, when Dak Prescott was not able to
Speaker 1: throw the ball in the move, that was going to
Speaker 1: be a problem. When you see offensive linemen have problems
Speaker 1: blocking one on one, that was going to be a problem.
Speaker 1: When you saw Noah Ezekiel Eliot in the game and
Speaker 1: there was no threat there, that was going to be
Speaker 1: a problem, you know. And then with Dez Bryant's inability,
Speaker 1: like I say, to catch the football. You know how
Speaker 1: many times Dez Bryant can make one hand and catches
Speaker 1: all day We've seen, we've been we've been marveled by
Speaker 1: watching him warm up and just you know, the way
Speaker 1: he snatches the football and stuff. When he drops balls
Speaker 1: that are right in his hands, something's wrong And almost
Speaker 1: I mean in that play, it's almost like he's thinking
Speaker 1: end zone, run after catch and just securing the football
Speaker 1: first and just trying to make a big play instead
Speaker 1: of first the little play and then try to But
Speaker 1: you know what, he's had success doing that. He's punished
Speaker 1: people with the football, right hands and so, and that's
Speaker 1: a frustrated guy running a football. He had a drop yea,
Speaker 1: he had to slant drop. Yeah, you try to tackle
Speaker 1: me Maxwell, I'm gonna just run right over you and
Speaker 1: I'll get five more yards out of the play. And
Speaker 1: he wasn't thinking. Maxwell was like, I want no party.
Speaker 1: You punch the ball out. You know. That's a smart
Speaker 1: play on his part. But I think the biggest I
Speaker 1: don't think. I think again, the questions going into this
Speaker 1: season were not offensively. The questions coming into the season
Speaker 1: was defensively. And I think that's where I think that's
Speaker 1: where everybody's having the problem. I don't think Scott Linehan
Speaker 1: got stupid from last year to this year. I really don't.
Speaker 1: Now as he made some mistakes along the way with
Speaker 1: a play call. Yeah, but that happens in games. We
Speaker 1: see it all the time. You know, Lett go back
Speaker 1: to Seattle, they lost a Super Bowl on a stupid
Speaker 1: call by Daryl Darren Bevel not to run the ball
Speaker 1: right there on the goal line with with Marshawn Lynch.
Speaker 1: That was a stupid play that lost a Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: Think about that. Okay, So now you mean coaches do
Speaker 1: make bad decisions but but it's about execution as well.
Speaker 1: It's about des Bryant securing the football. It's about ezekiel
Speaker 1: Let running the football. It's about Byrne Bell getting his
Speaker 1: guy one on one. Yeah, you know. And it's about
Speaker 1: Dak Prescott making an accurate throw on the move or
Speaker 1: making the right read. When the coaches call a play
Speaker 1: where it's an RPO and a guy's open, that's that's
Speaker 1: Those are things, I mean, those are all factors that
Speaker 1: deal into why people have fifteen minute locker room conversations
Speaker 1: of what's wrong. Yeah. I liked when he said, for me,
Speaker 1: the most frustrating part is they don't know what goes
Speaker 1: on in house. He's talking about the media. You got
Speaker 1: a lot of people just yapping at the mouth like
Speaker 1: they just know, they don't know how we run things
Speaker 1: over here. Well, I thought Zeke made Zeke actually made
Speaker 1: a lot of sense yesterday. We ought to be playing
Speaker 1: his cuts. What was the difference plans, what was the
Speaker 1: what was the what was the difference between last year
Speaker 1: and this year? We one close games last year, sure,
Speaker 1: we lost two close games, by the way, and he
Speaker 1: didn't bring up the Chargers game, and he didn't bring
Speaker 1: up Atlanta. He brought up the Rams and the Packers.
Speaker 1: He was in those ones. Yeah, that's right, and you're right,
Speaker 1: so that's why we have that's why we had that poll. Right. No,
Speaker 1: he pointed it out. And then you know, he also
Speaker 1: pointed out that when they questioned him about not getting
Speaker 1: the ball on the goal line, he says, we probably
Speaker 1: threw six touchdown passes, and I don't know what the
Speaker 1: number was, but his point was that play has worked
Speaker 1: on the goal line when we've hit Beasley out of
Speaker 1: the slot. No, but it's worked when you're throwing the
Speaker 1: ball to Jason Witten who still blocked nobody, which you
Speaker 1: pointed out right correctly yesterday. But that's but that is
Speaker 1: but point. He's pointing out some things that I think
Speaker 1: are very accurate. He's absolutely right, I mean, and that's
Speaker 1: you know again, Scott Linahan to me, I think you
Speaker 1: give Scott Linahan credit. I will say this, and and
Speaker 1: I was told this from guys in the scouting department,
Speaker 1: and I'm happy to admit this. They give the coach's
Speaker 1: credit for bringing Dak Prescott here. You know, And I
Speaker 1: don't think I think everybody's quick to like dismiss Dak Prescott,
Speaker 1: you know, and I think that Majorito's people probably are
Speaker 1: Tony Romo fans that are They're very happy right now
Speaker 1: to say see told you so. We're last year they
Speaker 1: couldn't say see told you so. You know, they just
Speaker 1: want to be right. Yeah, it sounds familiar tone. Yeah,
Speaker 1: absolutely not. Don't make stuff up. Yeah, I am right.
Speaker 1: I will say this about Dea. I've always said this
Speaker 1: about Dez and I respect him for it. He you know,
Speaker 1: you never see him talk publicly about his frustrations with things,
Speaker 1: scheme whatever. He wants to win so badly, and when
Speaker 1: he doesn't, that's when he might air some of that,
Speaker 1: you know. And and some guys receivers worried about just
Speaker 1: getting theirs, and he is. He is acquiesced in this
Speaker 1: situation where it's a run first offense. And I think
Speaker 1: you do have to look at that and say, his
Speaker 1: numbers in the last couple of years they were going
Speaker 1: to be down because the way the Cowboys do things.
Speaker 1: But when they're not winning, that's when things like this surface.
Speaker 1: And you know, you did mention the scheme, but there's
Speaker 1: also things he could have done better to maximize his
Speaker 1: opportunities and like Brian said, it all goes together. You
Speaker 1: can't focus on one or two guys offensively. I'm not
Speaker 1: willing to point the finger at one guy here. When
Speaker 1: you look at the whole body of work, when you
Speaker 1: do the autopsy, you know you don't just look at
Speaker 1: one section. You look at the whole, the whole thing,
Speaker 1: the whole thing. If I told you at the beginning
Speaker 1: of the season that the defense is going to finish
Speaker 1: ranked higher than the offense, would never probably thought me
Speaker 1: I was crazy. Well, right now, it's the offense is fourteenth,
Speaker 1: the defense is eleventh. Yeah, and I can remember saying
Speaker 1: one of the things that had to happen this year.
Speaker 1: Can the defense make that next jump because they've been
Speaker 1: getting better and better better each year each week last
Speaker 1: year or was fourteenth, Can they get to the top ten? Right? Well,
Speaker 1: you know, if they have a good game against the Eagles,
Speaker 1: they might finish tenth. The defense played well enough in
Speaker 1: that game to get you to an opportunity to maybe
Speaker 1: play again against Philadelphia with a chance to get in
Speaker 1: the playoffs. That's that's how well they played down the stretch.
Speaker 1: Just immediately when you said that, making the thing that
Speaker 1: I was thinking of is who can you put a
Speaker 1: majority of responsibility on that for? Is it the coaching
Speaker 1: on each side of the ball, or is it the personnel,
Speaker 1: the growth, the growth of the defense, or the just
Speaker 1: the overall demise are going from a playoff team to
Speaker 1: a non player? Yeah, if you have here's your defense,
Speaker 1: you have a defensive coordinator, and you have a personnel,
Speaker 1: their success hand in hand. I think they I think
Speaker 1: they gambled on getting rid of veteran players in the
Speaker 1: secondary and it paid off. For true point, and now
Speaker 1: now it was a slow It was a slow ascend
Speaker 1: up the mountain, and I wish that they could have
Speaker 1: done it in week Again, I think the problem you
Speaker 1: hodded in the sea and the Chargers game magnified what
Speaker 1: you needed to do. And you know, maybe they could
Speaker 1: they could have made that decision quicker. But I felt
Speaker 1: like that they gambled on no Church, no car, no Clayborn,
Speaker 1: and it paid off, and it bade it off. Eventually
Speaker 1: they felt like that group had reached a ceiling, you know,
Speaker 1: and maybe they were the fourteenth best defense, right and
Speaker 1: that's what they were. And with that group, with that
Speaker 1: group veteran guys, you're not thinking upside with those guys
Speaker 1: anymore who approaching thirty years old, and and then you
Speaker 1: factor in money, and it's like, we can get younger,
Speaker 1: we can get faster, maybe a little more dynamic, but
Speaker 1: there's gonna be some growing pains. And these guys by
Speaker 1: by late December, they're looking like future cornerstones of this defense.
Speaker 1: Right now? Do you see them doing the same thing
Speaker 1: for a position this year like they did with the
Speaker 1: secondary one position? And just yeah, saturated, Yeah, just saturated,
Speaker 1: and say, you know what, we're gonna bite the bullet
Speaker 1: on A, B and C and just go ahead and
Speaker 1: and try a whole new line of attack for the
Speaker 1: offensive side. You're saying just in general, enjoy you might
Speaker 1: you might have to replenish your linebackers. Maybe that's the well,
Speaker 1: but that's gonna come down to two things. Can you
Speaker 1: resign Hitchens? Yeah? And what is your evaluation going forward
Speaker 1: of Jalen Smith? What do you project he can do?
Speaker 1: Is he a sixteen game sixty snap a game starter?
Speaker 1: Because if he is, then he's your middle linebacker. Buy
Speaker 1: Anthony Hitchings and then you don't sign Anthony Hitchens, right,
Speaker 1: But if you say you start sucking breath, yeah, then
Speaker 1: you gotta sign Hitchens. Yeah, and then you can't sign
Speaker 1: Hitchens and say Jalen Smith's gonna help me some and
Speaker 1: then use your first round draft choice we talked about
Speaker 1: it yesterday, and then sign another linebacker. Yeah, in the
Speaker 1: first round. I mean, draft a first round linebacker? Sure?
Speaker 1: How do you do that? Because if Hitchins is here,
Speaker 1: he's your middle linebacker, right, where's that guy gonna play?
Speaker 1: You know what I hate to say. For this last
Speaker 1: month of the season, I think we saw the end
Speaker 1: of David Irving here. Yeah? Maybe really you think so? Yeah,
Speaker 1: even though he's restricted and you can can kind of
Speaker 1: control Yeah, but I think that you can. You can
Speaker 1: kind of heade your bet. Yeah, he's right. Yeah, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I can either do him on his you know,
Speaker 1: normal get him a minimum right or a second round
Speaker 1: or a second round. See I I you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: you can control your risks. I want to. I'm gonna,
Speaker 1: you know what if it's second round, if it's a
Speaker 1: second round tender. I still don't know if anybody would
Speaker 1: do that. I still don't. I mean, now maybe somebody would, yea,
Speaker 1: And I think that I think, to be honest with you,
Speaker 1: I believe that that if somebody offered them a second
Speaker 1: round tender on him, that they would take the second
Speaker 1: round pick. I've been saying that too, and it's no
Speaker 1: knock against him, but second round picks are well, they
Speaker 1: push his commodity. They busted a few of them here,
Speaker 1: well they have, but I mean it's I mean, first round,
Speaker 1: huge second round pick. You're expecting teams expect their second
Speaker 1: round pick to be starters. I mean, how many games
Speaker 1: year one, if not year two, how many games is
Speaker 1: he gonna end up playing this year? Eight? Well, he
Speaker 1: missed the first four, but eight, yeah, yeah, because he
Speaker 1: would have been four and four, four and four, yeah, bookends.
Speaker 1: I'm just you know, it's interesting you're saying that, though, Brian,
Speaker 1: because just because man, before he got hurt, he was
Speaker 1: looking like he had put five sacks in his first
Speaker 1: five games, looked like maybe the most dynamic defender other
Speaker 1: than DeMarcus Lawrence that they have. I have a feeling
Speaker 1: that they Yeah, I have a feeling that they just
Speaker 1: they tender what they have to tender, and if it
Speaker 1: if it turns into a move on situation, they move on.
Speaker 1: It's almost like let somebody else decide how much he's worth,
Speaker 1: because if it's a second, it's not gonna even be
Speaker 1: three million dollars. Well, it'll be to something. Yeah, if
Speaker 1: no one, you know, and and I would think, well,
Speaker 1: you never know what other people think. Right. If it
Speaker 1: was me and I saw this guy and what his
Speaker 1: production is and then the Cowboys say, oh, I'm just
Speaker 1: gonna tender him a second, boy, I'd have a red
Speaker 1: flag going ahead and saying, okay, I'm gonna sign you
Speaker 1: for three years fifteen million dollars. Yeah, there's some teams
Speaker 1: Saint Jacksonville looks like they've had some success with their draft,
Speaker 1: and then who they signed defensively, maybe somebody say, you
Speaker 1: know Clais Campbell and Bouoye and those guys that they signed.
Speaker 1: Maybe somebody's you know, the Giants. You look at what
Speaker 1: the Giants gave the Cowboys fits last year with the
Speaker 1: guys that they signed, you know, with the corner and
Speaker 1: with the defense. I mean, some teams might say, hey,
Speaker 1: we're a David Irving away in a rotation from being
Speaker 1: pretty good defensive, and we've got salary cap money, and
Speaker 1: we can go ahead and and bet three million dollars.
Speaker 1: I just have a feeling I just have a feeling
Speaker 1: that that that if they're gonna, they're gonna, they're gonna
Speaker 1: let this thing go if you gotta express your feelings,
Speaker 1: as des Maria showed us yesterday. So thank you. Let's
Speaker 1: take our final break here. When we come back, we
Speaker 1: will get into Rob's Twitter pool and so much more
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Speaker 1: does it mean to be a Dallas Cowboys fan. It
Speaker 1: means you've got the passion of the heart to do
Speaker 1: your part supporting the boys no matter what That's why
Speaker 1: when the game's on the line, you're on your feet,
Speaker 1: whether you're at home or in the stands. Actually, you're
Speaker 1: more than a fan. You are a member of Cowboys Nation,
Speaker 1: and so is AT and T doing their part to
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Speaker 1: and T is a proud member of Cowboys Nation. This
Speaker 1: is talking Cowboys. This is Papa John's pizza. Now here's
Speaker 1: what it is. The ingredients the veggians, one fork and
Speaker 1: beef on the pepperoni. And when you have ingredients like
Speaker 1: that minus the salary on that pizza, it is Papa John's.
Speaker 1: I like it. I like it. The energy, Mickey, you're
Speaker 1: bringing it. Bring us home, Rob with your Twitter pool.
Speaker 1: I thought we had a nice segue at the end
Speaker 1: of segment two beautiful discussing the rise of this defense.
Speaker 1: Could they rise to top ten status by the end
Speaker 1: of the season. Here's today's question. With the season coming
Speaker 1: to a close, which phase do you feel best about
Speaker 1: on the Cowboys heading into twenty eighteen? Offense, defense or
Speaker 1: special teams? I want the obvious answer, defense, defense, Brian,
Speaker 1: is the defense now the strength of this football team?
Speaker 1: I still think it has a lot of questions. I
Speaker 1: think it has questions or really, what you're gonna do.
Speaker 1: Are you gonna be able to franchise tag your rusher?
Speaker 1: What's the health of the linebackers. Don't think you have
Speaker 1: any questions about what the corners could be, you know,
Speaker 1: I think there's some you know, but man, you have
Speaker 1: some you would figure that as the offensive line. I mean,
Speaker 1: you're probably gonna lose your left guard. You know, you
Speaker 1: don't think Cooper's back. I don't think Jonathan Cooper's back.
Speaker 1: I don't you want them back? Played pretty well. I'm
Speaker 1: in a situation where I think you're gonna need Mickey
Speaker 1: swing tackles a really good plan right there. Yeah, you
Speaker 1: know you got it. You better figure something out for
Speaker 1: Cole Beasley too. You better figure out how to get
Speaker 1: him more open. You better figure out, Hey, Zekiellett, you know,
Speaker 1: be careful with yourself in the offseason. My friend, need
Speaker 1: you for all sixteen next year? Bubble wrap them? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, I think Dak Prescott's gonna work hard. I
Speaker 1: think he's gonna try and do what he has to
Speaker 1: do to learn and be better. You know, I think
Speaker 1: the coaches need to help him with some stuff. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't feel good help him. But here's here's all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, now I'm a kickers starting to missfield goals.
Speaker 1: You know, felt good about the punter, felt good about
Speaker 1: the coverage teams, felt good about the returner, except when
Speaker 1: he fumbled in the Rams game that killed Mickeys, That
Speaker 1: killed Mickey's dream. Yeah, there's a lot of quarter. Do
Speaker 1: I sound like there's a lot of questions on this team? Sure,
Speaker 1: oh nine and seven there are, but no, no, no,
Speaker 1: when you go oh nine seven guaranteed to win. No,
Speaker 1: when you go to when you you go two and
Speaker 1: fourteen like the Giants, you're gonna go. I just kind
Speaker 1: of named off a lot of things, didn't they for
Speaker 1: nine and seventeen? Yeah? You did, which is amazing to
Speaker 1: think that they were able to get there. That was
Speaker 1: going to be my point. They were one win away
Speaker 1: if they win this last game. The case with every
Speaker 1: team though some of the way. No, No, there's some
Speaker 1: really bad teams in this league. How there's questions on
Speaker 1: going into an offseason with every team. Forty Niners feel better? Yes, Yeah,
Speaker 1: they got a quarter. Yeah, but I'm just saying from
Speaker 1: a salary cap Era's perspective, You're always gonna have questions
Speaker 1: about certain guys contract, right. You gotta deal with guys
Speaker 1: getting a little older, right, you know, it's never perfect
Speaker 1: for any team. I think we've seen across the league
Speaker 1: this year. There's not a great team in this league
Speaker 1: right now. There's really not. So there's a lot of
Speaker 1: good team. I think Philadelphia is a great team with
Speaker 1: your quarterback, with their quarterback, what's the questions? What's the vikings?
Speaker 1: But the vikings obviously playing with a backup quarterback too.
Speaker 1: Who do you feel best about what position? With phase?
Speaker 1: I still think the offense is personnel is the best
Speaker 1: of the three groups. And here's another question you got
Speaker 1: Tyrn Smith has dealt with a lot of stuff this year.
Speaker 1: The back has been bothering for a couple of years now.
Speaker 1: If he can get back and he's okay there, I'm
Speaker 1: I'm still leaning an offense because you've still got three
Speaker 1: Pro bowlers on your offensive line that are your foundation,
Speaker 1: that helps your running game. You've still got a young
Speaker 1: quarterback you feel good about. Does Bryant can still be
Speaker 1: a productive receiver in this league? Are you hoping there now?
Speaker 1: Are you open? What do you think last year was
Speaker 1: an accident. What asking, Brian, I'm just saying offense was
Speaker 1: last year an accident? No, I think they were. I
Speaker 1: think their offense was really good because of their ability
Speaker 1: to run the football, and I think that I think
Speaker 1: they that helped him. I don't know now with where
Speaker 1: the offensive line is. I don't know if you can
Speaker 1: get really the consistency. You want Mickey to be honest
Speaker 1: with you, well, because the offense is going to affect
Speaker 1: you running the ball if it's healthy. Is it healthy though?
Speaker 1: That's the question. And and and we've we've dealt all
Speaker 1: year long with a bulky left tackles health, and we've
Speaker 1: dealt now with a with a right tackles health who
Speaker 1: has to deal with a back injury. The consistency of
Speaker 1: the left guard has not been great. Second round tackle
Speaker 1: that can play guard, that's going to be the top
Speaker 1: priority in the draft. You would enroll with Cooper again
Speaker 1: next year? Is your left guard? I let me ask
Speaker 1: you this as my back is the is the offensive
Speaker 1: lines downfall has affected the whole team? Yes? Yes, yes,
Speaker 1: absolutely so. Everybody feels good about the offense, though right
Speaker 1: I feel better about the defense. I need two spots.
Speaker 1: You need a linebacker and a swing No on the
Speaker 1: offensive line. Oh, you need a left guard tackle and
Speaker 1: a left guard. But you but your swing tackle might
Speaker 1: play guard. It's what you're saying. Maybe maybe see that's
Speaker 1: it's got to be, or he's a tackle for the future.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: Mickey had this all right, the offensive lines issues. It
Speaker 1: was really that. It wasn't Zeke being out of the lineup.
Speaker 1: It was the offensive lines problems because the offensive line
Speaker 1: made Dak Prescott what he is. Offensive line made Ezekiel
Speaker 1: what he is. The offensive line helped. See. We keep
Speaker 1: talking about does Bryant and all we do is look
Speaker 1: at his numbers. No, but go back and look at
Speaker 1: the plays that caused those. Oh no, I'm with how
Speaker 1: many passes do you think tipped off some? But he's
Speaker 1: hand for an interception this year? Half dozen? Oh we
Speaker 1: had six pick sixes, right, am? I right? Four or four? Ye?
Speaker 1: And at least three he had some. He had some
Speaker 1: clang passes, There's no doubt about that. I'm gonna say
Speaker 1: a lot of that had to do with problems you
Speaker 1: had with your offensive line. Let's be honest. Protection. I mean,
Speaker 1: look at what happened in this last game. I love
Speaker 1: Tyrn Smith, but was Tyrn Smith the reliable player this year?
Speaker 1: Wasn't healthy? No, it's I'm saying his health caused you
Speaker 1: to have problems. They net Mickey's right. Actually never his
Speaker 1: absence he played through. They never if they never when
Speaker 1: he was out of the lineup, they never solidified that
Speaker 1: position right right, And I'm saying if there there is
Speaker 1: a question, obviously can he come back be Hell if
Speaker 1: he is, You've still got three elite players up front.
Speaker 1: There's no reason that your offensive line can't be better
Speaker 1: than next year. Maybe it's not going to be what
Speaker 1: it was in twenty fourteen, but it should still be
Speaker 1: a strength on your football. It's just an elite offensive line.
Speaker 1: This year it hasn't been. It has not been, but
Speaker 1: that potential still there. You still got guys in the
Speaker 1: prime of their career. Oh I I'm with you. I'm
Speaker 1: with you on three or four of them. Yeah, but
Speaker 1: that one spot the problem is, and who's behind those
Speaker 1: guys when they get Your left tackle is an elite player, right,
Speaker 1: The problem is how much can you rely on your
Speaker 1: left tackle? What's his How old is he? Twenty six?
Speaker 1: I think yeah. Six. He turned twenty six on December twelve, twelve.
Speaker 1: Any big guy with a back, I mean, that's it's
Speaker 1: something you got to think about and make sure you
Speaker 1: got to manage that. But I think they can manage it.
Speaker 1: The problem was he had a straight groin and then
Speaker 1: he had a spray knee. Can he get it fixed
Speaker 1: like DeMarcus did over the off season. No, it's not
Speaker 1: a disc Yeah, it's see. Let me ask you guys
Speaker 1: this though. I mean no, No, I know you want
Speaker 1: to switch the left guard and you talk about Collins back,
Speaker 1: but what are you going to invest to do that?
Speaker 1: You know, what are you gonna spend in free agency
Speaker 1: on and a left guard? You didn't resign Ron Leary Nick,
Speaker 1: it's a draft one. I don't disagree with him. There
Speaker 1: gonna draft one that's gonna step in and start for you. Yes,
Speaker 1: you have to second or third round be better than
Speaker 1: what you got right now, as team has a history
Speaker 1: of not picking those guys very well. Either come second
Speaker 1: round over second or third round guys. Was on third
Speaker 1: with Chaz Green. I'm just saying it's not it's not
Speaker 1: this easy fix. You go find yourself another Ron Leary.
Speaker 1: You know, you do have three pieces that when they're healthy,
Speaker 1: to me, it ought to be good enough to be
Speaker 1: a really good offensive line. But and Collins too, He's
Speaker 1: played better and better except when one of the pieces
Speaker 1: is out. Do you see them indulging in free agency
Speaker 1: more for this? See that's my points. They just don't
Speaker 1: ever seem to spin like that. They're gonna focus on
Speaker 1: Zach Martin becoming the richest guard. You think they bottom
Speaker 1: feed for a guard? I think you have to now,
Speaker 1: don't that's your solution. But you just bottom fix Bride.
Speaker 1: It's my bridge. But I gotta find somebody to play
Speaker 1: that spot, and I got I'm make a bad face
Speaker 1: at Umia. I'm just sitting there thinking about how many
Speaker 1: times it's the bottom feed. They bottom feeded on ron
Speaker 1: Learry and it worked right well, they took it. They
Speaker 1: had They actually got ron Learry out of the draft, right,
Speaker 1: I know, But it was kind of a bottom feed
Speaker 1: because he ended up being a free He's got a
Speaker 1: knee problem, right, exactly problem they said people had him
Speaker 1: off the board. It's very similar what they've done in
Speaker 1: the past. They bottom feed on Lale Collins. That was
Speaker 1: an extraordinary uni, right, But they they made sure that
Speaker 1: they went and got him. They bottom fed on Nolan Carroll. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and that didn't work Steven, who retired even five games
Speaker 1: in the season. Yeah. See, so bottom feeding to me
Speaker 1: is not the answer. No, I'm with you on drafting
Speaker 1: the draft guy. I mean, they were taking how do
Speaker 1: I say it, just say it, educated chance on a
Speaker 1: Ron Leary. Yeah, because they knew about him. Oh, they
Speaker 1: had a high enough great on finimum salary. Yeah, undrafted, right,
Speaker 1: I didn't spend any money on these bottom feeders they signed,
Speaker 1: thank god. No. But but you're still that being said,
Speaker 1: and Tay's pointing this out, and she's right. Nold Carroll
Speaker 1: stepped in as your starter, he wouldn't have Zozy was healthy.
Speaker 1: Maybe maybe not. Paia will look like a key piece
Speaker 1: in the defensive line during Yeah, they were counting on
Speaker 1: a couple of these guys. Try more in the rotation too.
Speaker 1: I worry about the Cedric Thornton's of the world, that
Speaker 1: kind of ye. I worry about that when somebody comes
Speaker 1: with that name and Stephen Jones goes, Okay, well, is
Speaker 1: this is this guy Cedric Thornton. It's like the time
Speaker 1: that Jerry Jones asked me about Leroy Glover. Can this
Speaker 1: guy really play? I'm about to hand him five million dollars,
Speaker 1: you know, but but it might be a little gunshi
Speaker 1: there were they maybe they took those chances on not
Speaker 1: Thornton because he was here already, but Paia. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: it wasn't much right, right, because they knew David Irving
Speaker 1: was going to be suspended for four games. Yeah, they
Speaker 1: got rid of more Hia and in the corner because
Speaker 1: they had trust that MALIEK. Collins was going to be
Speaker 1: one of their starters in there, right, and then David Irving.
Speaker 1: You you had to do something there because he wasn't
Speaker 1: going to be there for four games. So there was
Speaker 1: a little secondary thought there and what you had to do.
Speaker 1: All right, let me ask you this, keep it rolling
Speaker 1: legitimate guard starting guard free agency or Anthony Hitchins in
Speaker 1: free agency. I think I'm going after a legitimate defensive end.
Speaker 1: I might draft when they're t bolster your pass, but
Speaker 1: that's gonnat you ad another zeke. Let me ask you this, well, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's gotta beat Taco. Yeah. Well, let me think about
Speaker 1: you're gonna you're gonna pay Anthony Hitchens or you're gonna
Speaker 1: pay a quality left guard that can start. You gonna
Speaker 1: have to tell me what's the prognosis on Jalen Smith.
Speaker 1: Jalen Smith, this is gonna play sixteen games for you.
Speaker 1: I mean he snaps per game. He's gonna play them all.
Speaker 1: But then I can't resign Hitchens, So you gotta go through.
Speaker 1: I hate to say it. Yeah, that's gonna be the
Speaker 1: hardest thing. Okay, what what's gonna make what's gonna make
Speaker 1: you what's gonna make you cringe? What's gonna make you cringe?
Speaker 1: I have to because if I do it that way,
Speaker 1: then I've got to have another what's the stat line
Speaker 1: that's gonna or what's this recently? A decent not high
Speaker 1: like a first round pick, but somebody that can come
Speaker 1: in and play linebacker. Yeah, as a backup, right, And
Speaker 1: I can't do that in the first round if the
Speaker 1: guy's not going to be a starter. Yeah, like ray
Speaker 1: Kuan Smith from Georgia. Yeah, because if I do that,
Speaker 1: then you know, but I won't know. You want somebody's play,
Speaker 1: don't I want somebody that In case Jalen can't do
Speaker 1: it or Sean Lee can't do it, I can have
Speaker 1: a guy and that amazed. A backup, you're being held
Speaker 1: hostage now by two good players. I mean, I think
Speaker 1: Jalen Smith is going to be a good player, but
Speaker 1: the unknown that he's just talking about now has held
Speaker 1: you hosta They've got to get a very good medical
Speaker 1: evaluation of where they think he's at, and they will.
Speaker 1: But can you get it soon enough? Like, can you
Speaker 1: get it by April? They think, No, they think he's
Speaker 1: gonna be better than eighteen. They do, and they can.
Speaker 1: That was the timeline he played. He's played sixty more games.
Speaker 1: I thought he would they honestly, I think all along
Speaker 1: they were looking at twenty eighteen even Yeah, well they
Speaker 1: were here in the fact that he played sixteen. Doctor
Speaker 1: Steiner basically said twenty eighteen will be his season. He
Speaker 1: plays ten games for the season to make you cringe. Yes, okay,
Speaker 1: does that make you want to go get Yes, Anthy Hitchins. Yes,
Speaker 1: what's more important to Anthony Hitchens or that left guard?
Speaker 1: I have to get the left guard in the draft? Okay, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's the cheapest way to do it, and then maybe
Speaker 1: I can afford Hitchens, because you know what Hitchens can
Speaker 1: he may be Jalen Smith out who knows the biggest
Speaker 1: bus factor in the draft if you had to go
Speaker 1: get a linebacker or the guard guard. They've missed on
Speaker 1: guards years ago, I mean pre McLay. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: do you trust him now? Draft an offensive lineman David
Speaker 1: Arkin in the third round? Oh well that's ancient history. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but I'm just saying, just saying, it's not an exact science.
Speaker 1: Regardless of who's pulling the trigger for you, that one
Speaker 1: should have been exact. Okay, yeah, okay, MC David Arkin
Speaker 1: about Chads Green in the third he didn't know he
Speaker 1: was going to be hurt. For two, he was hurt
Speaker 1: coming in. Chads Green was not terrible last year. No,
Speaker 1: he wasn't. Anybody was hurt. Right, let me ask you this.
Speaker 1: He missed, he missed all of last year. Basically interested
Speaker 1: in replacing the offensive line coach? Would that be a consideration.
Speaker 1: I mean, I know, I know nobody wants to get fired.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be Oh you're not
Speaker 1: firing anybody. But they were pretty good last year. Yeah yeah, right,
Speaker 1: minus one spot. Yeah, Siekes got more rushing yards than
Speaker 1: Emmett did in this first There you go. I'm hesitant there.
Speaker 1: And by the way we're talking about all this, you
Speaker 1: gotta pick and shoes. You may have to make hard decisions.
Speaker 1: That's why I'm very tapped the brakes on his dad's
Speaker 1: gonna be back, because man, if you were to let
Speaker 1: him go, then you create another big void of how
Speaker 1: do you know he always talks about that if you
Speaker 1: get rid of guys, who's gonna tell me who might
Speaker 1: replace me? And he's right about that. He is right. Well,
Speaker 1: you're gonna spend a first round pick now on receiver.
Speaker 1: I just, oh yeah, would drive him nuts if he
Speaker 1: knew he needed a linebacker or needed another position. Because
Speaker 1: it's established they're not gonna spend tons of money in
Speaker 1: free agencies. Jack Martin is their big free agent or
Speaker 1: or and also the rush end. Right, they're gonna give
Speaker 1: seventeen million dollars. They're gonna guarantee seventeen million dollars to
Speaker 1: Lawrence think about franchise tag Yeah, yeah, hopefully it CAP's
Speaker 1: going up. Wow wow, Well before we go, we have
Speaker 1: two minutes left, but let's get to Denny and why
Speaker 1: he's been paid on the line. Denny, sorry to cut
Speaker 1: you short. Hello, Hello, how are you guys doing thanks
Speaker 1: very good, Danny. Yeah, that's really quick. Um this offseason,
Speaker 1: do you think that Will McClay and Stephen Jones really
Speaker 1: sits down with um Marinelli or with the offense? Like
Speaker 1: I think we need more team speed on offense and
Speaker 1: then on defense. I want a true number one technique
Speaker 1: to keep guys off of Jalen and and um leet.
Speaker 1: That's what I really want. And you know, can they
Speaker 1: sit them down and convinced them to take these guys on?
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Alla, Hello, thank you. Can you
Speaker 1: get that guy from Texas from last night? Ninety five?
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what. Why was his name? Pop Poa?
Speaker 1: Somebody asked me about it last night. I had not
Speaker 1: looked at him. Somebody on Twitter asked me big enough
Speaker 1: to take up two spots machine with arms? Oh it was,
Speaker 1: We'll see that's Washington's got a guy too the university WinCE.
Speaker 1: And by the way, some one techniques in this draft.
Speaker 1: You need the number one punter in the in the draft.
Speaker 1: I saw him last night from Texas? Are you kidding me?
Speaker 1: I can't wait pee of the game. I can't wait
Speaker 1: for your player breakdowns coming up with the draft. Please
Speaker 1: use coke machine with arms at point. Please do that.
Speaker 1: I'll tell them what that that that they've got some
Speaker 1: one techniques in this draft. You're gonna have to convince
Speaker 1: Rod to do that now. The next question is though
Speaker 1: about speed. Everybody's seeing Christian Kirk play. Yes, sex's A
Speaker 1: and M. That's that's a legitimate guy right there. If
Speaker 1: you want a guy that can stretch, can stretch defenses,
Speaker 1: can run routes with the same speed, explosives, electric player
Speaker 1: at the college. It's five eleven, he's two hundred pounds,
Speaker 1: he's thick enough. There's a lot of things that you
Speaker 1: can do with him. How about the kicks? How about
Speaker 1: the guy at SMU. I'm small, No, no, he's a
Speaker 1: six three, you know type guy, good player. The problem
Speaker 1: is making I'm getting away from these big, big guys
Speaker 1: that aren't great route runners. I think you have to
Speaker 1: be able to separate. I really really do. You guys
Speaker 1: are great. Previous show coming our next week a game
Speaker 1: on Sunday. There is a game, and we'll have a
Speaker 1: Friday show, our last day show up, showing up tomorrow.
Speaker 1: I'll be there, Mickey. This has been a production of
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club