Speaker 1: The following. He's a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. This this he's Talking
Speaker 1: Cowboys training live from Dallas Cowboys training camp in Hawksnard, Californias.
Speaker 1: Here are Mickey Spell, Brian Braunis, Rob Phillips, and Phil Jones.
Speaker 1: And this is training Camp two thousand nineteen. We are
Speaker 1: at the corner of Vineyard Inventura and Oxnard, California, and
Speaker 1: the Cowboys will be out on this practice field behind
Speaker 1: us well for a little walkthrough right after Talking Cowboys
Speaker 1: this morning, and then the first practice of the two
Speaker 1: nineteen training camp coming up this afternoon. I am Bill
Speaker 1: Jones with Brian brought us, Mickey Spagnola, Rob Phillips, and
Speaker 1: we are set to go for another training camp. It's
Speaker 1: it's like Christmas is comment, isn't it the return of
Speaker 1: Talking Cowboys? That's right? This is Talking Cowboys And this
Speaker 1: is the first of fifteen practices here in Oxnard. The
Speaker 1: way I look at it over the course of the
Speaker 1: next three weeks, it's like a sixteen game season. Ah,
Speaker 1: you're gonna divide this thing up, that quarter, divide it up.
Speaker 1: This is we're playing the giants today. This is game
Speaker 1: number one. Now, how do I get to sixty because
Speaker 1: there's a preseason game in the middle of that too
Speaker 1: at San Francisco. Yeah, that's good. That's again Oklahoma math,
Speaker 1: you know. But I like the way you're thinking about
Speaker 1: that because I think as players and coaches, you kind
Speaker 1: of break it up too, you know, the first a
Speaker 1: few practices and stuff, everybody trying to get acclimated each other.
Speaker 1: They've had the OTA practices, the mini camp. But we'll notice,
Speaker 1: and we'll talk about it quite a bit, the intensity
Speaker 1: of these practices, you know, And I think that's where
Speaker 1: you know, players will see the players that will have rises,
Speaker 1: then they'll fall. Then you know, you got to You
Speaker 1: gotta avoid the ups and downs of a training camp
Speaker 1: practice or the grind of a practice. Hopefully our show won't.
Speaker 1: We'll be on our way up the way we're gonna stay.
Speaker 1: We're gonna stay on even kill go up. Mickey and
Speaker 1: I will try and kill each other one or two shows,
Speaker 1: but that's maybe Bess are putting them next to each other.
Speaker 1: I did. This is good right here. You hot to
Speaker 1: get hit by the backflap and making it out are
Speaker 1: good with this. But but like I like what you're doing, though,
Speaker 1: And I think players do the same thing. I think
Speaker 1: that they really, you know, they figure out, Okay, you know,
Speaker 1: I can't have any bad days. It's gotta have good days.
Speaker 1: It's gotta keep building, gotta keep doing. And that's the
Speaker 1: great thing he's saying, Okay, how can I get through
Speaker 1: these It'll be it'll be a test for a lot
Speaker 1: of these young kids. It's a it was a young
Speaker 1: roster last year and a lot of these cads coming
Speaker 1: back now knowing guys like Michael Gallup now know what
Speaker 1: it's like to have a full training camp practice under
Speaker 1: his belt. Now he knows what he has to do
Speaker 1: to elevate his game as well. You mentioned the intensity,
Speaker 1: and it's really gonna pick up Monday, yes, Saturday, Sunday.
Speaker 1: And I think it's the right thing not to have
Speaker 1: these padded practices these first two days, because we've talked
Speaker 1: about it. You take a month off. These guys are
Speaker 1: in shape, they have the conditioning run yesterday and all that,
Speaker 1: but you know, ease them back in and then yeah,
Speaker 1: once the pads get on Monday, that's gonna be interesting.
Speaker 1: But the pads for talking cowboys are on intensity begins today,
Speaker 1: you know. But Nicky and I've always talked about this too, though,
Speaker 1: and I think I'm still on the same page with
Speaker 1: you about this. Is if they could have, you know,
Speaker 1: could have had more time off early and then came
Speaker 1: to camp this offseason later and then getting where you
Speaker 1: could we could jump into the pads and stuff like that,
Speaker 1: where they didn't have five six weeks off. That's where
Speaker 1: I think to worry. I think to worry about everybody
Speaker 1: at this table. I think to worry about all the
Speaker 1: guys and gals over in this building over here are
Speaker 1: thinking about, Okay, how do we get that mean we've
Speaker 1: already seen some you know, if you're following news around
Speaker 1: the league, you've already seen some guys getting banged up
Speaker 1: and hurt and stuff banged up. Well that's so I'm
Speaker 1: just I don't want to kind of make that cloud
Speaker 1: over his first opponent, the Giants. So yeah, that practice,
Speaker 1: that's the thing you worry about. Easing in good But man,
Speaker 1: I think, you know, I'd like to see him hit
Speaker 1: the ground running. But I totally agree with Rob. I
Speaker 1: understand what they're trying to do, or what the league's
Speaker 1: trying to do with the player safety and stuff like,
Speaker 1: and I think they did a very good job on
Speaker 1: the conditioning run yeah, I got that again, think that
Speaker 1: they survived that. And even though the weather here is
Speaker 1: pretty good, when they were coming off the field, there
Speaker 1: was some sweaty. Boy, does it look like well, I
Speaker 1: won't use that analogy, Go go ahead. What is it that?
Speaker 1: You know? How? You know they put us off the airs,
Speaker 1: you know, after the Kentucky Derby and absolutely that all
Speaker 1: sweaty lathered up. You know what. I knew exactly where
Speaker 1: you were going with that. I had to think twice
Speaker 1: about using Yeah, so but yeah, no, I think you know,
Speaker 1: now this field is is fairly new, and U already
Speaker 1: inspected the field and all they did was run on it. Okay,
Speaker 1: what do you what did you inspect? Exactly? It looked
Speaker 1: like a golf course, so you know how there is
Speaker 1: a golf course over here. Maybe this is the they
Speaker 1: were over here. And the football they weren't like cutting
Speaker 1: and you know, turning and pivoting and they were just
Speaker 1: running straight ahead and there were a lot of divots.
Speaker 1: So the grass is not real thick, so we'll see.
Speaker 1: This is kind of its gorgeous. I mean, it's good gorgeous. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but it looks like a soccer field. Yeah. Did you
Speaker 1: notice anybody's divots that wasn't there? Did you divots? Somebody
Speaker 1: that fell in there divot? No? No, did you notice
Speaker 1: somebody that wasn't out there making divots? Oh? Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: there was one person. Yeah, and I would imagine he
Speaker 1: would have trouble cutting on this. So maybe it's good
Speaker 1: that this guy's got some balance to him though. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he does have some balance. Yeah. You get to you
Speaker 1: get to practice field worked in before he shows up.
Speaker 1: If he shows up at you want to get to
Speaker 1: the elephant in the room. Yeah, okay, number twenty one,
Speaker 1: All right, what do you make of it? He's not here,
Speaker 1: and you know what, they don't see, they don't seem
Speaker 1: bothered by it. And I know everybody out there is
Speaker 1: panicking and the anxiety levels high because Ezekiel Elliott is
Speaker 1: not here. But you know what, not very long ago,
Speaker 1: this was standard operating procedure in the National Football League.
Speaker 1: Guys holding out to try to improve their contracts or
Speaker 1: to get contract Back in the day when the contracts expired,
Speaker 1: they didn't have free agency, and there was always haggling
Speaker 1: going on, especially with the rookie class, the rookies didn't
Speaker 1: have this rookie scale pay and there was always first
Speaker 1: round draft choices holding out every year. God, I could remember,
Speaker 1: no question. I mean, it was like half my time
Speaker 1: in training camps were spent tracing down contract negotiations, talking
Speaker 1: to agents, getting one side of the story, the other
Speaker 1: side of the story. And the NFL's kind of eliminated
Speaker 1: that the way the system is now with this new CBA.
Speaker 1: But again, if somebody want thinks they're not getting paid enough,
Speaker 1: then I guess Zeke can do what he wants to do.
Speaker 1: But if he watched the press conference yesterday, if it
Speaker 1: was me, I would think they're not really upset what
Speaker 1: am I doing here because they could make me just sit.
Speaker 1: But the bottom line on all this, and I'll get
Speaker 1: to the bottom line of it all, guys do not
Speaker 1: miss paychecks, right, that's fair Now late not and somebody's
Speaker 1: gonna say, well, Leveon Bell did it okay, fine, and
Speaker 1: then you never make that money up. But guys do
Speaker 1: not miss paychecks. Just remember what happened last year at
Speaker 1: this time. What Earl Thomas in Seattle and what did
Speaker 1: he do? He signed on Tuesday before the season opener.
Speaker 1: That's fair. And there is the thirty day rule thing
Speaker 1: that's hovering over this whole thing that like it's okay,
Speaker 1: maybe it's a Zeke hold out, but August six is
Speaker 1: the day you think he would report because if he
Speaker 1: wants to get the free agency, he's got to be
Speaker 1: here by then to get that accrued fourth season. So
Speaker 1: he's got another year to do that too. He does,
Speaker 1: he could do that next year he does. That's I
Speaker 1: don't think it'll ever get to that point. I don't either.
Speaker 1: I don't think, which is why the Cowboys, which is
Speaker 1: why I don't. I don't look at the August sixth
Speaker 1: deadline is affecting Zeke that much just because he's The
Speaker 1: Cowboys are going to sign him sometime, whether it's now
Speaker 1: or proved to a long term deal, whether it's this
Speaker 1: year or next year, whenever, it's never, that's not He's
Speaker 1: never going to get to free agency unless he does
Speaker 1: something off the field that keeps him from, yeah, signing
Speaker 1: a long term Do you feel like though that? Yeah,
Speaker 1: And again I really appreciate what everybody's saying here, but
Speaker 1: can you focus on the other Would he be a
Speaker 1: type of guy that would sit the whole entire season.
Speaker 1: I know, Mickey, You're absolutely right. Players don't miss paychecks,
Speaker 1: and I think they have a firm, firm understanding of
Speaker 1: Zeke with Zeke's lifestyle the way he is. I'm not
Speaker 1: trying to slam Zeke, but he needs money. I'm I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna say it. You know he needs money. He makes,
Speaker 1: He made a lot of it. He needs money the
Speaker 1: way he lives, and that's because the way he plays,
Speaker 1: and he deserves that right to live the way he wants.
Speaker 1: But do we do we just is there a side
Speaker 1: that we could say that he might take the leveyon Bell.
Speaker 1: I know you're not going to get the money back,
Speaker 1: but is that in your mind? Is it a ten
Speaker 1: percent worry that, you know what, maybe he will Maybe
Speaker 1: Zeke will be so stubborn that he won't use to
Speaker 1: use the Levy on Bell example. Is is there something
Speaker 1: in him that has done the history lesson on him
Speaker 1: at Smith where he might do the immittt Smith thing,
Speaker 1: not with the intent of sitting out a whole season,
Speaker 1: but just long enough. I don't where the Cowboys really
Speaker 1: I agree with Mickey. I do agree with Mickey about
Speaker 1: not missing paychecks. Because we talked about Earl Thomas. He's
Speaker 1: but I just I think it's fair to say, is
Speaker 1: this a different cat. Here's here's somebody. It's holding out
Speaker 1: two years before it's time, not a year, but two years.
Speaker 1: Is his approach his or his agent? Yeah? I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't talk to Rocky Arson. Yeah I don't either.
Speaker 1: But this is where all this has started. Okay, And
Speaker 1: now here's the deal. It Are they asking for something
Speaker 1: that is so unreasonable that the cowboys don't budge, because
Speaker 1: they will budge, right if you're reasonable and meet him
Speaker 1: in the middle. If they're asking for unreasonable uh salary
Speaker 1: demand hands, then this thing can be protracted. Because I'll
Speaker 1: tell you what I've seen Jerry Jones operate locations like this,
Speaker 1: and he could be awfully stubborn. Sure, But to double
Speaker 1: down on that, I think Stevens even more stubborn. And
Speaker 1: to your point, the way they were talking at the
Speaker 1: press conference yesterday, coming out and saying he's late, we
Speaker 1: expect our guys your contract to be here. I don't
Speaker 1: think they want to set a precedent that, oh, if
Speaker 1: you're gonna hold out, then we're gonna budge, and we're
Speaker 1: gonna try to accommodate you while you're away. They don't
Speaker 1: want uh, because look, they got a lot of young,
Speaker 1: good players on this team. They don't want to repeat
Speaker 1: of this every time a guy's got a contract up
Speaker 1: that hell, oh, all I gotta do is not show
Speaker 1: up and then we'll we'll try to meet you in
Speaker 1: the middle and accommodate you. I'm surprised he's not here.
Speaker 1: I honestly thought they and there's a lot of people
Speaker 1: in the organization I think that thought he would be here,
Speaker 1: and I think I thought the Cowboys would be able
Speaker 1: to tell him, look, we love you, just show up. Well,
Speaker 1: we'll keep talking. We'll get this done. But it's not
Speaker 1: there yet. And and to Mickey's point, maybe it's because
Speaker 1: they're far apart. So so why is the agent advising
Speaker 1: Zeke to do this? I heard he was. I don't
Speaker 1: know how experienced of an agent he is. I'm not
Speaker 1: familiar with them, but he's been the business for a
Speaker 1: while for a while. Well, I had heard that he
Speaker 1: didn't really contracts this new CBA. Some of the things
Speaker 1: they have to work through. I think, uh. Significant is
Speaker 1: when Zeke was seen at the Star on Wednesday, he
Speaker 1: didn't look like a man that was peoed, like he
Speaker 1: was smiling, shaking hands with people. I'm told, uh so, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it doesn't seem like it's contentious. It's kind of a
Speaker 1: ploy that everybody tries to use to try to get lever.
Speaker 1: I think it gets right back to Todd Gurley last year.
Speaker 1: I mean, the agent saw what the Rams did with
Speaker 1: Todd Gurley. He was in the exact same position that
Speaker 1: Zeke is right now. He was going he had two
Speaker 1: years left under trolled by the Rams because he was
Speaker 1: drafted in twenty fifteen. Zeke was in twenty sixteen and
Speaker 1: he got a four year for whatever fifty seven million
Speaker 1: dollar deal, whatever it was. On July twenty fourth of
Speaker 1: last year is when Todd Gurley signed. And I think
Speaker 1: Zeke's agent thinks the Cowboys should treat Zeke the way
Speaker 1: the Rams did Todd Gurley. I think Bryant nailed it
Speaker 1: right before camp when we were talking about it. You know,
Speaker 1: when we talk about these guys up for contracts, who
Speaker 1: do we name first Dak and then who Cooper? And
Speaker 1: this is a guy that and again that was on
Speaker 1: him to a certain degree. Six games suspension two years
Speaker 1: ago but had he not been suspended six games, Hey,
Speaker 1: I'm probably a three time rushing champ. Three years in
Speaker 1: the league, three time rushing champ. Like you say, Brian,
Speaker 1: just give me a seat at the table. And maybe
Speaker 1: it's just kind of trying to remind the Cowboys. Look,
Speaker 1: I am, I want this. You know I deserve this.
Speaker 1: I want this. Is it the right way to go
Speaker 1: about it? Maybe not? Just remember and I don't have
Speaker 1: I could call it up and read it. But Jerry Jones,
Speaker 1: the most forceful and emotional he got is when somebody
Speaker 1: asks him about comparing Zeke's contract or Das contract to
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz, and he went on a litany and he
Speaker 1: think he started with Saltney said twice. It was a
Speaker 1: litany of the contracts that we have to sign. And
Speaker 1: our list is different from somebody else's list, and our
Speaker 1: salary cap is different from somebody else's salary cap. And
Speaker 1: I'm not going to be dictated by this quote unquote
Speaker 1: market value that the media loves to rest on when
Speaker 1: they make their argument that wealth that guy get paid that,
Speaker 1: then the next guy's got to get paid more. And
Speaker 1: I'm sure the agent thinks the exact same way. And
Speaker 1: to the point what Rob said is and he ended
Speaker 1: it with saying, if I do this, I'll have a
Speaker 1: line outside my door everybody coming up and say, hey, Jones,
Speaker 1: I want some of your money. And that's why you
Speaker 1: gotta put your foot down, because that exactly is what
Speaker 1: will happen. And that was always the argument, uh for
Speaker 1: guys that were under contract before free agency began, that
Speaker 1: if one guy held out and you cave, then the
Speaker 1: next guy goes, hey, what about me? Could could part
Speaker 1: of this be and I'm just gonna throw this out.
Speaker 1: Could part of this be that they have so much
Speaker 1: confidence now in Dak Prescott and being able to carry
Speaker 1: this team? You know, I'm saying that that you know
Speaker 1: you think you think without Zeke can Dak Prescott carry
Speaker 1: this team. I don't think they're making any decision on
Speaker 1: without Zeke. I think they want to get it done,
Speaker 1: but they want to get it done in a fairer
Speaker 1: way and not somebody asking for outlandish money. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: feel that they wanted about Dad. If they thought they
Speaker 1: were going into this season without Zeke any chance not
Speaker 1: having Zeke on the field, their backup running back situation
Speaker 1: would look different. I realized they drafted a fourth round
Speaker 1: running back, the seventh round running back. Absolutely, they got
Speaker 1: Darius Jackson and Jordan Chun, but they would have a
Speaker 1: veteran guy ready to go if if they didn't think
Speaker 1: Zeke was gonna be playing this year. I think it's
Speaker 1: could be both things. Brian, like, they feel good about
Speaker 1: Dak taking a step forward. Yeah, but if you're trying
Speaker 1: to hoist the Lombardi Trophy at the end of this thing,
Speaker 1: they know you need twenty one. They know it. But
Speaker 1: it comes down to, yeah, what Mickey said, what I
Speaker 1: said earlier, the president, you don't want to set this
Speaker 1: question question, can't have it. They've got too many good
Speaker 1: players that have contracts up, and if they're lining up
Speaker 1: at the door, and if you talk to them, this
Speaker 1: whole thing is not about the salary cap this year.
Speaker 1: It's about the salary cap next year and the salary
Speaker 1: cap in twenty twenty one. When you get into the
Speaker 1: unknown needs to be knocked out and what kind of
Speaker 1: rules are are you coming up with? And you don't
Speaker 1: want to hamstring yourself because all you were thinking about
Speaker 1: you were shortsighted and all you were thinking about is
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen. Oh, I got twenty four million dollars of
Speaker 1: space available. Okay, that's fine. What happens that at space
Speaker 1: next year? When immediately, immediately DeMarcus lawrence base salary goes
Speaker 1: from one point five million to sixteen million. And then
Speaker 1: if I got another guy that has sixteen million, and
Speaker 1: another guy that has twelve million, and another guy that's
Speaker 1: going to have thirty million, what happens to my cap
Speaker 1: next year? Because the CAP's gonna go up, yeah, but
Speaker 1: it ain't gonna go up that much. You know. It's
Speaker 1: interesting and bringing up the Todd Gurley thing, and you
Speaker 1: compare the I know Jerry does not want as you said.
Speaker 1: As Jerry said yesterday, he's not comparing his situation with
Speaker 1: the Ram situation. But here's the difference between the Rams
Speaker 1: and the Cowboys. Well, there's several similarities. Number One, last
Speaker 1: year they had to sign their top defensive player, who's
Speaker 1: the best defensive player in the league, Aaron Donald. Whatever.
Speaker 1: Cowboys did that with DeMarcus Lawrence in the offseason. They
Speaker 1: also traded for and then and got and had to
Speaker 1: sign a long term Brandon Cooks their wide receiver. So
Speaker 1: there's your Amari Cooper, and then their quarterback is that
Speaker 1: came into the league at the same time as Dak
Speaker 1: Prescott did. But the difference there is that quarterback was
Speaker 1: at the top of the draft and had two years
Speaker 1: left on his contract and at three years at that time,
Speaker 1: and Dak has one year left. And so that's why
Speaker 1: the Cowboys have to put Dak at the top of
Speaker 1: the priority list right now. Dak and I think mark
Speaker 1: back to where I think Brian said, you know, those
Speaker 1: guys have expiring contracts. Ze doesn't. I'm sorry, I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: you know, And that's what And Jerry and talking with reporters,
Speaker 1: I think as he was leaving yesterday, was talking about
Speaker 1: comparing that Zeke with emm at Smith. Yeah, he said
Speaker 1: there's a difference there, that there's a difference, and he
Speaker 1: said Emmett was not under contract or what well, Emmett
Speaker 1: was under contract, but what he meant was he had
Speaker 1: an expiring contract. He was going into the last year
Speaker 1: of his deal. So we had nothing six months from
Speaker 1: now at that time in nineteen ninety three. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think if you listen to Emmett and that was foggy,
Speaker 1: you know, I always meant to go back and look,
Speaker 1: I think he was restricted, like he could entertain offers
Speaker 1: from somewhere, because he said he had offers from Miami
Speaker 1: to go back home to Florida, but he wanted to
Speaker 1: stay with the Cowboys, and so uh yeah, that whole
Speaker 1: it was different, right, It wasn't the same. And this
Speaker 1: is different from Marco Murray, letting Murray walk, all those
Speaker 1: people that I see, Oh you just get going to
Speaker 1: get another one. Okay, fine, you get another one, but
Speaker 1: you won't get the one. But if you're trying to
Speaker 1: think about it from Zeke's perspective, it may be a
Speaker 1: little different for him compared to other guys in the
Speaker 1: league at different positions than a dak or Amari, because
Speaker 1: what he plays. He plays running back, and there's a
Speaker 1: finite prime for those guys, and it people think it
Speaker 1: ends sometimes twenty seven, twenty eight years old. He's twenty
Speaker 1: three right now, I believe. So if you're twenty four,
Speaker 1: just so if you wait two years to resign him,
Speaker 1: he's twenty six, and now all of a sudden, he's
Speaker 1: creeping closer to what people say, study say, you know,
Speaker 1: the end of somebody's prime. Not that he's gonna be that,
Speaker 1: but he wants to get his money now. Because of
Speaker 1: the position. He's a really good point rob because what
Speaker 1: happens I talk to guys. I'm not an analytics guy myself.
Speaker 1: I mean, I've I'm sitting here doing radio with you guys.
Speaker 1: I don't always look at the numbers and stuff. But
Speaker 1: I did reach out while we had a break and
Speaker 1: talk to analytics guys about running backs. And they all
Speaker 1: put Zeke in a different category. Yeah, they put Todd
Speaker 1: Gurley in a different category. They put Levon Bell in
Speaker 1: a different category. The first thing they'll tell you is
Speaker 1: you should never sign a running back long term. But
Speaker 1: then they'll say, but, but there's some players, some backs
Speaker 1: that you have to eat. It makes you think a
Speaker 1: different way because they'll also say, don't draft a running
Speaker 1: back number four overall? Right, right right? And I think
Speaker 1: that to me, that's where you know you're kind of
Speaker 1: situates the eve the even the analytics guys who it
Speaker 1: seems like our game is gravitating towards that way. Even
Speaker 1: the analytics guys in their minds say yeah, I wouldn't
Speaker 1: do it. But and then you talk to scouts and
Speaker 1: they're like, you know, what do you think about when
Speaker 1: you if you play Ezekiel Ellen You're like, he never
Speaker 1: comes off the field. That's I make up the number.
Speaker 1: I didn't make it up. It's two thousand and one yards.
Speaker 1: It's what he accounted for last year. That's I'm saying,
Speaker 1: you don't. You just don't sit there and say, okay,
Speaker 1: well the offensive line and you could if I personally
Speaker 1: and this is I'm hoping for a Dak elevation this year.
Speaker 1: I really am. I'm hoping that if they if they
Speaker 1: do have to play without him, and they probably won't,
Speaker 1: but if they do had to play without him, I
Speaker 1: hope to see Dak play really, really well and be
Speaker 1: able to carry this team. If Tony Romo was the quarterback,
Speaker 1: I might even feel different. I might feel a veteran
Speaker 1: quarter even though Dak's a veteran quarterback. But I've seen
Speaker 1: I've seen like Tony take a team with nothing and
Speaker 1: make it work. Yeah, And that's where that's what I'm
Speaker 1: trying to help Dak is what I want to Let's
Speaker 1: get into that when we come back here on Talking Cowboys.
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Speaker 1: to Talking Cowboys, We continue on Talking Cowboys. On the
Speaker 1: first day oh practice out here at Oxnard, Brian brought us. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I just want to say hello to all the people
Speaker 1: to hang out with us on periscope. Would be doing
Speaker 1: this every day. Make sure you check us out that way,
Speaker 1: checkout Dallas Cowboys dot com so almost Cowboys all that stuff.
Speaker 1: And also hello to all our folks that follow us overseas.
Speaker 1: I know we got a lot of folks that tune
Speaker 1: in every single day and we appreciate every single water.
Speaker 1: And there are a lot of Cowboys fans out here
Speaker 1: in southern California as well. Some have made the trip
Speaker 1: from Texas out here for training camp and the schedu
Speaker 1: You're four today opening ceremonies. This is specific time at
Speaker 1: two thirty this afternoon and the first practice at three
Speaker 1: thirty and there's a new look to the practice field
Speaker 1: out here. If you look off to my right looking
Speaker 1: at the field, the condos are under construction and boy,
Speaker 1: those are going to be some that's some prime real
Speaker 1: estate to watch cowboys practice next year when they are finalized.
Speaker 1: I'm just glad the guy sandblasting yesterday at this time
Speaker 1: has that was not? You handled it very well. I
Speaker 1: was in fast with you. Yeah, you know, cut it.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what though. The Jerry even reference it
Speaker 1: during the press credit to the residents in Yeah, they
Speaker 1: have a new general manager and uh, I think it's
Speaker 1: the Hotel Association in Oxnard because they kicked in some
Speaker 1: big bucks to kind of renovate the operation out here.
Speaker 1: And if anybody out, it's very noticeable. They've got the
Speaker 1: stay ends up. There's signage that's on the other side
Speaker 1: of the field over our shoulder back. Yeah, you can't
Speaker 1: see it the other direction. They they've got more public
Speaker 1: parking over on that side, on the Ventura Boulevard side
Speaker 1: of the of the practice field where the people come in.
Speaker 1: So before there was just a little spot and it
Speaker 1: was for VIPs only. Now they got a huge I
Speaker 1: can't judge acreage, but it's it's like six seven acres
Speaker 1: of parking there and they've got mulched down for people. Uh,
Speaker 1: it really was Chicago. I know what one acre is,
Speaker 1: but I can't multiply it by whatever that is. But
Speaker 1: there's a lot of room and everything. Come see us
Speaker 1: if you're here. Everything's upgraded, is what I'm telling. It's
Speaker 1: nice come see us. And then what it will be
Speaker 1: noticeable during practice if you look at the stands, which
Speaker 1: in traditionally have stretched freight basically from goal line to
Speaker 1: go line traditional stands. In the middle of it, right
Speaker 1: at the fifty yard line is probably what would you say,
Speaker 1: a twenty five yards stress That is a what is
Speaker 1: now a beer garden. Yeah, that's where Rob and I
Speaker 1: will be up in the stands, meeting with fans and
Speaker 1: talking football and very practice. Seriously, No, I'm thinking about
Speaker 1: it though. I always go up go up there and
Speaker 1: do social setting. This is no lie though, Bill, and
Speaker 1: you'll notice this, Mickey. I think if you walk the field,
Speaker 1: as you said, there's like a yard between us and
Speaker 1: the fans. Look at that. Yeah, there's like literally so
Speaker 1: we will be we will be, We'll be up in
Speaker 1: to stand so if you see us, let's say hello
Speaker 1: that one day there a couple of times last year
Speaker 1: and sat up real high the whole field with your fans.
Speaker 1: Yes you did. I'll take pictures for so. Anyway, it's
Speaker 1: a different look for the fan experience out here. It
Speaker 1: should be very interesting. I don't know how much beer
Speaker 1: is selling for, but the city of ox Nards doing
Speaker 1: all that, so we will know five good beer they
Speaker 1: have that we will see. And you know what, and
Speaker 1: the best part about all this, the upgrade, is they're
Speaker 1: trying to make sure they're entice and the Cowboys to
Speaker 1: continue coming back. And I'm all for that. Yes, sixty
Speaker 1: seven degrees. It's warming up, all right. It's been pretty
Speaker 1: cool back in Dallas. It started off this morning when
Speaker 1: I went out to work out at sixty one. Okay,
Speaker 1: all right, thank you David Finfron and Rob. As you
Speaker 1: can see the one third day in a row, there's
Speaker 1: not a cloud in the sky, absolutely right. All right,
Speaker 1: what's gonna What does it take to get Dack to
Speaker 1: the higher elevation. That's what Brian brought up in the
Speaker 1: last segment. So what do you think, you know what?
Speaker 1: I think he's on the right path. I do like
Speaker 1: the fact that I like the addition of John Kittna,
Speaker 1: just from observations of just watching the OTAs and the
Speaker 1: mini camps and stuff. Attention to detail, you know. You know,
Speaker 1: Dak even talked about it in some of his camps
Speaker 1: and stuff that he was doing that even with John,
Speaker 1: that you know, how to point the knee point, the
Speaker 1: elbow point, you know, keep yourself in throwing position. You know,
Speaker 1: those are all things. If Yeah, we've always for years,
Speaker 1: always talked about Tony Romo. He always worked on one
Speaker 1: thing before camp, always tried to get better on one thing.
Speaker 1: I think Dak is to that point in his career
Speaker 1: where he's trying to think about ways too. Okay, how
Speaker 1: do I improve my game? I could throw to my left,
Speaker 1: I could move, I'm mobile, I'm tough. But how can
Speaker 1: I stand there and make a good accurate throw on
Speaker 1: that dig route? How can I have a little touch
Speaker 1: pass out to the flat, or how can I get
Speaker 1: the ball to the tight end on the drag underneath him?
Speaker 1: These are all things as Dac as he grown older.
Speaker 1: It's not about playing with guts and guile and just
Speaker 1: instinct and God given ability. It's about Hey, let's work
Speaker 1: on my craft a little bit more. Let's get a
Speaker 1: little bit more proficient with how I play. And that's
Speaker 1: where I think if you look for the elevation of
Speaker 1: the game, I think Dak was always one of those
Speaker 1: guys that understood what he had to do and what
Speaker 1: he saw. I think, but he's taken it to a
Speaker 1: whole another level with that ability to the vision and
Speaker 1: then also the athletic ability along with the mechanics to
Speaker 1: make his game better. What you got, I'll go ahead.
Speaker 1: I think it's as simple as this. Maybe I'm being
Speaker 1: too simple with it. I think it's just time in
Speaker 1: the pilot's chair, just time on task. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think people forget that it took Tony Romo a few years.
Speaker 1: I think by the time he was towards the end
Speaker 1: of his career here, he had mastered the offense. He
Speaker 1: had seen everything a defense could could throw at him,
Speaker 1: sure free snap during the play, and was able to
Speaker 1: adjust off of it and have that calm in the pocket.
Speaker 1: And I think Dak, I don't know if the offseason
Speaker 1: workouts or enough of a gauge. I think once we
Speaker 1: get to out here and the games will really see it.
Speaker 1: But he just seemed like such a more comfortable guy
Speaker 1: back there. In the OTA's physical he looks different too, um,
Speaker 1: but I just think he needs more time back there.
Speaker 1: Do you guys think about this? Go ahead? He is
Speaker 1: basically six games away from being where Tony was when
Speaker 1: he started playing in the NFL. I mean it was
Speaker 1: in his fourth year. Yeah, And it was six games
Speaker 1: into the year before Parcels pulled the trigger on him. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Did everybody watch the last eight games? Yes, he was
Speaker 1: pretty good. Now you want to get better? I challenge
Speaker 1: you to look at his three year stats and Troy
Speaker 1: Aikman's three year stats. It pales. Troy's stats pale in
Speaker 1: comparison to what Dak has already done. And when did
Speaker 1: Troy make his big leap his fourth year? Because when
Speaker 1: he left off this team, when he when he hurt
Speaker 1: his knee in ninety one, this was a six and
Speaker 1: five team, and his stats when you looked at him
Speaker 1: at that point were not all that great, and his
Speaker 1: quarterback rating was not all that great. This guy has
Speaker 1: has a career quarterback rating near ninety. He finished last
Speaker 1: year completing seventy one percent of his passes the last
Speaker 1: eight games. If you compared that to everybody else in
Speaker 1: the last eight games. He led the league past percentage
Speaker 1: the second half of the season, and he had a
Speaker 1: one oh three quarterback rating the last eight games, and
Speaker 1: that includes getting shut out in Indianapolis, So he was
Speaker 1: pretty efficient. Now, what happened, oh, Amari Cooper, right, Marie
Speaker 1: Cooper showed up. I don't know that they changed any
Speaker 1: of his mechanics or anything significantly, sure, but he started
Speaker 1: playing better. And if he can do what Brian said
Speaker 1: and now keep elevating the way Aikman did, the way
Speaker 1: Romo did, then you might have yourself a pretty darn
Speaker 1: good quarterback here, especially since I don't think teams this
Speaker 1: year will be able to say we'll take away Amari
Speaker 1: Cooper the way they did in twenty seventeen with Dez
Speaker 1: Bryant and we'll stop this passing game, because I think
Speaker 1: Michael Gallup and Randall Cobb are going to make a
Speaker 1: significant input to what's going on here. Now. It helps
Speaker 1: of Zeke's there right right. I don't wish that on anybody,
Speaker 1: not to have a running game. And I don't care
Speaker 1: what the analytics say or Brad was telling me he
Speaker 1: was reading something some analytic talking about how you can't
Speaker 1: count on the running game. It doesn't help your offense.
Speaker 1: You have to be able to throw the ball. Well,
Speaker 1: I don't agree with that. If you've got a running
Speaker 1: back that can take it to the house anytime he
Speaker 1: can touch the ball, and that helps everything everything, And
Speaker 1: add Travis Frederick into the equation, add tight ends who
Speaker 1: actually come into this season, and not talking about Witton,
Speaker 1: the other two guys that have actually caught a ball
Speaker 1: in the NFL, because neither one of them had caught
Speaker 1: a ball last year, and you were playing those guys
Speaker 1: along with Jeff Swain who had all of nine catches.
Speaker 1: So it makes a difference. And your left guard is
Speaker 1: no longer an undersized rookie at twenty years old who
Speaker 1: should have been playing his last year at Texas. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean we talked about it the first half of
Speaker 1: last year, cycling in all those different receivers without a
Speaker 1: Marie Cooper five or six. Dak even admitted like we
Speaker 1: needed to kind of trim it down, so I knew
Speaker 1: what to expect from this guy lining up in this spot,
Speaker 1: and it Cooper solved that and Michael Gallup solved that.
Speaker 1: To your point, by really getting better game to game.
Speaker 1: Last year, I think his best game was against the
Speaker 1: Rams in the playoffs. So you're so you're expecting a
Speaker 1: jump from him to n I hate to circle back
Speaker 1: to about Zeke because but Mickey eloquently just said it,
Speaker 1: But who who benefits more from Zeke being here or
Speaker 1: not being or who struggles the most of it not
Speaker 1: being again? Was it be Dak or is it Kellen Moore?
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, I mean, a first year
Speaker 1: play caller, But you know Kellen Moore is that he's
Speaker 1: been in the league. He you know, he's been around.
Speaker 1: It's not like he's just a guy that was, you know,
Speaker 1: at W. T. White High School in North Dallas and
Speaker 1: gets thrown into being an offensive coordinator. He's been in
Speaker 1: the league, he's been a team. Yeah, But but who
Speaker 1: who really benefits the most? And I'm not trying to
Speaker 1: put y on the spot, but I'm thinking, if I'm
Speaker 1: killing Moore, give me every every time everything I can
Speaker 1: to call plays. I don't need. Okay, as much as
Speaker 1: I love Dak and as much as I want to try,
Speaker 1: and you know, if I'm killing more, I going love Dak.
Speaker 1: Want to get him involved love and Morey Cooper love,
Speaker 1: Michael Gallup love, Jason Witt love my offensive line. But
Speaker 1: does does does Dak need Zeke Moore or does Kellen
Speaker 1: Moore need him more? No? I think both. I mean,
Speaker 1: just look at the six games he missed in twenty seventeen.
Speaker 1: What did defenses do for a first year play caller.
Speaker 1: They backed off. Yeah, I don't care who's calling plays.
Speaker 1: If the defense is backing off and they're saying, I'll
Speaker 1: absorb anything Alfred Morris does, I'll absorb it because he's
Speaker 1: not gonna beat me. I don't have to worry about him.
Speaker 1: I have to worry about Dak to death, and I'm
Speaker 1: gonna make sure, by God, those two guys aren't gonna
Speaker 1: beat me. And defenses backed off. Y, you gotta make
Speaker 1: sure that they're up at the line of scribbage and
Speaker 1: going we cannot let this cat get past the line
Speaker 1: of square. All the things that you said about Dak
Speaker 1: makes me feel good. So I'm thinking, well, maybe it's
Speaker 1: killing Moore that needs you know, the play caller. I mean, Dak.
Speaker 1: We've all kind of seen when you said eight games, good,
Speaker 1: good trajectory going up. You know everybody Rob is feeling
Speaker 1: up good about everyone's kind of feeling good about DAK
Speaker 1: this year. But it's I think that really the bigger
Speaker 1: unknown is Kellen Moore. Well that's that. That's the thing.
Speaker 1: It's like, how will Kellen Moore react with Next Man Up?
Speaker 1: You know? Is that fair to Kellen Moore as a
Speaker 1: play caller to play next man up with Darius Jackson
Speaker 1: and Pollard and those guys. We've talked to Kellen Moore
Speaker 1: about this and then offseason. What did he say, like, Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: we're gonna look at some new things and we'll putting
Speaker 1: some wrinkles basically and stuff like that, but we're not
Speaker 1: going to get away from what we do. That's four
Speaker 1: principles of the Sea. That's what people the core of
Speaker 1: this offense see Ezekiel Elliott see. That's where people. I
Speaker 1: think we've had mail bad questions, and I encourage you
Speaker 1: guys to always read the mail back stuff because those
Speaker 1: are good, good questions you guys ask. But the thing
Speaker 1: about it is we've asked with Zeke. With all new terminology,
Speaker 1: I don't think it's all new terminology. I don't think
Speaker 1: this is a brand new offense. It's it's it's a
Speaker 1: core offense of what we've seen, the thirty seven going
Speaker 1: off the left end, the thirty eight going off the
Speaker 1: right end, with the run plays. There's core principles about
Speaker 1: this offense. You're right, we're gonna see wrinkles and bunch
Speaker 1: formations and different things. He's gonna do things different than
Speaker 1: Scott Linehan, but at the core, it's not a different offense.
Speaker 1: They're not going to get away from using Ezekiel Elliott,
Speaker 1: not assuming he's on the you know, no, you know,
Speaker 1: and really the offense, I don't think you're gonna see
Speaker 1: radical changes. So the biggest challenge for I think Kellen
Speaker 1: Moore is the rhythm of calling plays. He's never had
Speaker 1: to do it right, never, probably not since I said
Speaker 1: it the other day high school when his dad let
Speaker 1: him call his own place senior year, sure, you know,
Speaker 1: And so that's the key thing. What kind of rhythm?
Speaker 1: How many times does Jason Garrett have to step in
Speaker 1: and go, I don't know about that, let's do this right. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you know, and he's and he's got help. You know,
Speaker 1: John Kitten has been in these situations before, a place
Speaker 1: called nush Meyer. And you know, when Kitten he you know,
Speaker 1: he's played quarterback on teams that didn't have Ezekiel Elliott
Speaker 1: as the running back, so he knows what it's like.
Speaker 1: So there, and I think Kellen is is open to advice.
Speaker 1: I don't think he's the type of guy that's like, hey,
Speaker 1: it's just mic job, get out of here. He's not
Speaker 1: an independent contractor. This is and they keep saying any
Speaker 1: he keeps saying, well, it's a collaborative effort, and I
Speaker 1: think he will listen. And the head coach promoted him, right,
Speaker 1: But the head coach has been in the exact same
Speaker 1: position before. He's been a first time play caller with
Speaker 1: the Dallas Cowboys at twelve years ago, so he knows
Speaker 1: the challenges and he's going to be available to help
Speaker 1: him out. I mean, it's not it's to your point,
Speaker 1: it's not going to be killing on an island by himself.
Speaker 1: So we shouldn't worry about then, we shouldn't worry about
Speaker 1: Kellen Moore the play caller. I want to see it. Well, no, no,
Speaker 1: you said it. He needs every everything at the table
Speaker 1: for him. Yeah, you know, as many pieces as you can.
Speaker 1: That's a pretty big piece that's not here right now
Speaker 1: for the starting. I mean, think about it. Walter Payton
Speaker 1: made whoever's a calling place for the Bears in eighty
Speaker 1: five a lot easier. Yeah, you know, better than having
Speaker 1: a hand the ball a time to Matt Suey. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know you see in this league, Uh, stay fullback,
Speaker 1: good player. And the only reason I did that is
Speaker 1: Brad shab saw the Chicago Tribune. Uh, they're going through
Speaker 1: a series of the top one hundred Chicago Bears all
Speaker 1: time in history. And now when we're talking their history,
Speaker 1: we're not talking going back to nineteen sixty. We're going
Speaker 1: back to the thirties. We're going back to the depression.
Speaker 1: And and Brad was naming some names and I'm going,
Speaker 1: k that guy's in the thirties or forties because I
Speaker 1: didn't recognize those names. Yeah, and and and they were
Speaker 1: only at forty two. They're going down. So who's the
Speaker 1: number one? Uh my, guess it's Dick Buckers. And if
Speaker 1: it's not Dick Buckas, it's Walter Petty unless they go
Speaker 1: with said Luckman, you used to toss it around pretty good. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And there was a gip. Billy Wade was like he
Speaker 1: was he was in the eighties. He was in the eighties,
Speaker 1: so he was the best quarterbacking Bears history, it's probably said,
Speaker 1: said Luckman. Yeah, okay, Jack, modern era, in the modern era,
Speaker 1: Jim McMahon Grossman No, oh okay, Well Mickey ponders or
Speaker 1: talking cowboys just a moment. If you're like me and
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Speaker 1: a player can look good on paper, it's when he's
Speaker 1: out on the field that you really find out what
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Speaker 1: conditions apply back to the Talking Cowboys, Hey Bill, do
Speaker 1: you want to use what the pros use? Jack Black
Speaker 1: is the official men Scarred scare rand of the Dallas Cowboys.
Speaker 1: Jack Black playmaker for JB faves plus a full size
Speaker 1: lip bob for just ten bucks with free shimming at
Speaker 1: getting Jack Black dot com. Used code Cowboys. And by
Speaker 1: the way, the lady that's in charge of this told
Speaker 1: me she really appreciates my reads, and you guys should
Speaker 1: back off. I just know that I get scared whenever
Speaker 1: I approach a day having not used Jack Black. And
Speaker 1: I'll tell you I also get scared every time that
Speaker 1: Mickey starts reading We're holdings. We're here for a while,
Speaker 1: we can use the box pack. We're all I got
Speaker 1: a hook up. She was so good. She got into
Speaker 1: me the day before we left. Give that address, Mickey,
Speaker 1: we'll put it on the table here. I like a
Speaker 1: round table, by the way, I do too. Like this
Speaker 1: a lot, this a lot. Yeah, it's very conversational. Now
Speaker 1: do you feel like you should have a little little
Speaker 1: cup of coffee here? And oh, I've got We've gotten.
Speaker 1: This is like breakfast at Wimbledon. I got my breakfast,
Speaker 1: my fruit plate here. I was not able, by the way,
Speaker 1: I was not able to eat this prior to the
Speaker 1: show because I had a little problem. And this is teamwork, Okay,
Speaker 1: this is teamwork. When you have any team, whether it's
Speaker 1: a football team or a broadcast team, one player will
Speaker 1: pick up another player. And Mickey literally picked me up
Speaker 1: at the Goodyear Tire Service place down here because my
Speaker 1: rental car showed that my left rear tire was low
Speaker 1: on air, and I didn't want to take the chance
Speaker 1: tonight at nine o'clock when that Goodyear place is closed
Speaker 1: and I might have a farm that's a response. Then
Speaker 1: I'd have to have Mickey come out and change the
Speaker 1: tire form. Come on, I was there ten minutes. It
Speaker 1: was I was better than uber you are and cheaper too.
Speaker 1: And I also I also forgot my my credential, so
Speaker 1: coming back I thought was going to be problematic. And
Speaker 1: but he's been around here so long that Mickey didn't
Speaker 1: even need a credential old he get into the doors,
Speaker 1: all right. My question, when we were talking about the
Speaker 1: Cowboys offense, the pass offense, what is the ceiling for
Speaker 1: this Cowboys pass offense when you look around the league
Speaker 1: any when you when you see what Patrick Mahomes did
Speaker 1: last year with fifty touchdown passes his first year as
Speaker 1: a starter, five thousand yards passing. He had some of
Speaker 1: the same elements that the Cowboys have Kareem Hunt for
Speaker 1: much of the season, Berner and Tyreek Hill. Now he
Speaker 1: did have the playmaking tight end and Kelsey as well.
Speaker 1: But uh, and then you look at other teams around
Speaker 1: the league and what's happening pass offenses in the league,
Speaker 1: And I think everyone here will say that, Okay, the
Speaker 1: pass offense, even though the last eight games were much
Speaker 1: better last year, it can it still needs to elevate. Uh,
Speaker 1: what's the ceiling? Did you? Is it the twenty fourteen
Speaker 1: Cowboys when Tony Romo, I think I through thirty four
Speaker 1: touchdown passes, it still had you know, a DeMarco Murray
Speaker 1: who is running for eighteen hundred yards or whatever. Because
Speaker 1: that element is still gonna be here with this Cowboys offense.
Speaker 1: So what is the pass offense ceiling for this team?
Speaker 1: Where has Dak been touchdown wise for three years? About
Speaker 1: that twenty five range? Last year he was at twenty
Speaker 1: two with eight picks. The year before twenty two touchdowns,
Speaker 1: thirteen picks. In his first year twenty three touchdowns, four picks.
Speaker 1: So he's been pretty good with that differential, by the way,
Speaker 1: you Aikman earlier. Yeah, comparing to Aikman's first three years
Speaker 1: and this, of course, it was a totally different deal
Speaker 1: as far as pass the passing game back then compared
Speaker 1: to now, Shock you all, right, touchdowns to interceptions, It's
Speaker 1: gonna shock everybody. Thirty one touchdown passes his first three
Speaker 1: years and forty six interceptions. Yeah, per Aikman and Dak
Speaker 1: right now is at sixty seven touchdowns and twenty five picks.
Speaker 1: Can I get that Miami head coach back here? And
Speaker 1: then maybe that coordinator from Carolina. Those guys did some
Speaker 1: good things with Yeah, but the coordinator from Carolina didn't
Speaker 1: showine was not good. Right, But I mean it's a
Speaker 1: little different story. I know the offensive line wasn't. I
Speaker 1: just have a lot of respect for Jimmy Johnson. That's
Speaker 1: why I said that, uh to me, you know, I
Speaker 1: I think the additions. You know, we talk about what's
Speaker 1: back with you know, Travis Frederick being back. I think
Speaker 1: that helps the offense so much. I think Jason Witten
Speaker 1: being back helps the offense. You talk about uh, you know,
Speaker 1: people think, oh, well he's slow, he can't do this
Speaker 1: case he's yeah, he's not Kelsey, but but still down
Speaker 1: in the red zone, he's a good player eighteen yards in.
Speaker 1: I talk about that a bunch. I think that that's
Speaker 1: where you'll see some good things from him. But the
Speaker 1: biggest thing I really I think the health of Randall
Speaker 1: Cobb could be a huge difference maker here because to me,
Speaker 1: Randall Cobb plays down the field where Cole Beasley played underneath.
Speaker 1: It was really good at Yeah, it's it's throwing the ball,
Speaker 1: he gets it and he gets down. Randall Cobb is
Speaker 1: a catch it, run, get up the field. If Randall
Speaker 1: Cobb can stay healthy, and this is the big if
Speaker 1: about Randall Cobb, if he could stay healthy, then you're
Speaker 1: gonna see somebody different in this offer. You're gonna see
Speaker 1: the ball going down the field. You're gonna see the
Speaker 1: ball going to Gallup. You're gonna see Amari Cooper catching
Speaker 1: the slant and taking it like we did last year.
Speaker 1: But Randall Cobb is the one to me that's going
Speaker 1: to be the difference maker of some third down players
Speaker 1: who it's third and seven and all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: it's if they throw it to him and it's it's
Speaker 1: like a twenty one yard game. You know. Those are
Speaker 1: the things I think you're gonna see different about this
Speaker 1: this pass offense that in that that we didn't see
Speaker 1: last year or in previous years with Cole Beasley playing
Speaker 1: the slot, And I think you will see better production
Speaker 1: from the tight end position. You're gonna they're not Kelsey, right.
Speaker 1: You saw what Jarwin's capable of doing. And now he's
Speaker 1: got some experience. And if you've been watching and Witten,
Speaker 1: and I know it's skeleton drills, he is running much
Speaker 1: better right now than where he left off. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: was watching him run some routes the other day. He's
Speaker 1: catching the ball over his head. He's running sharp, crisp
Speaker 1: routes and and and it's like the year off helped
Speaker 1: his body. Yeah, and he's kind of you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: because I thought at the end he was something I
Speaker 1: don't want. He was uber lumbering. I was gonna say struggling.
Speaker 1: It wasn't lumbering. He was lumbering. Yeah, and and and
Speaker 1: you know, and the biggest drop off I thought was
Speaker 1: his ability to block. Right. He was getting called for
Speaker 1: holding well, you know, with he Shoultz out there, and
Speaker 1: you spot Witten and you put Jarwin out there in
Speaker 1: a two tight end set, and now who's gonna cover
Speaker 1: a six five tight end down the field the way
Speaker 1: that kid can run, right, you know, And then you
Speaker 1: gotta worry about Whitten underneath. And then you gotta worry
Speaker 1: about and I'm gonna assume handing the ball to Zeke.
Speaker 1: So they're gonna have more options and they were the
Speaker 1: start of last year. Michael Gallup, Tony Pollard. They're gonna
Speaker 1: put him out there and have some kind of role
Speaker 1: for him. I think san Ji Lau told us in
Speaker 1: the offseason. I mean, there's speed all over the place.
Speaker 1: They have speed at pretty much every position and that's
Speaker 1: how that's how you get those The thing they were
Speaker 1: missing the most, and Amari Cooper helped down the stretch,
Speaker 1: was those chunk plays. Yeah, chunk players down the field.
Speaker 1: They didn't have him in the first eight games, just
Speaker 1: just didn't have it. Dallup will be the best second
Speaker 1: receiver that Cowboys have had for Dak Prescott, hands down, easy, like,
Speaker 1: maybe better than they've had in a number two receiver
Speaker 1: in quite some time. I was surprised they cut Alan Hearns,
Speaker 1: though I know, I'm it's kind of going away from
Speaker 1: what he's talking about, But I was thinking, who is
Speaker 1: going to be that guy if something happened. I'm with you,
Speaker 1: who is going to be? You know? And there's people
Speaker 1: within the organization that I talked to about Alan Hearns.
Speaker 1: Everybody loves Alan Hearns, Alan Hearns and and Tavon Austin
Speaker 1: and Bent Brown the associate athletic trainer. They I know,
Speaker 1: they didn't take a day off. I mean, we we all,
Speaker 1: we all, we all even though we weren't a had
Speaker 1: shows and stuff build, we could still walk into our
Speaker 1: office look out the window, and every day you saw
Speaker 1: those three guys out there busting there, you know what
Speaker 1: out there. And that's the disappointment because I think that
Speaker 1: Alan Hearns is actually in better physical shape now than
Speaker 1: when he like the Dolphins. The Dolphins got a great
Speaker 1: deal and three million dollars they did, Yeah, okay, but
Speaker 1: I think they did a great favor to him, and
Speaker 1: they couldn't cut him when he's injured, right, okay. But
Speaker 1: the ability for him to stay in the in the
Speaker 1: Cowboys organization throughout the offseason to rehab and so forth
Speaker 1: put him in position where now he held go to
Speaker 1: the Dolphins and make the team. But I thought all
Speaker 1: along that they were going to address his contract situation. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's what That's what Mickey and Robert talking about earlier.
Speaker 1: Stephen Jones might be a little bit tougher than you know.
Speaker 1: I was surprised they picked up his option. Frankly, yeah right,
Speaker 1: but you're not going to cut an injury, so that
Speaker 1: would not cut him. But I was surprised because they
Speaker 1: had the club option on him. It was a club option,
Speaker 1: and I thought, okay, because it's a club option, they
Speaker 1: could do that five million. It's that's a lot. And
Speaker 1: that's where they did him a favor by keeping him
Speaker 1: around so that he could he could write and think
Speaker 1: about is how many how many teams have a A
Speaker 1: I don't think I'm out of place saying he was
Speaker 1: the fourth receiver. That's what I was thinking. How many
Speaker 1: teams have a fourth receiver? Four six million dollars against
Speaker 1: the captains. That's That's a point Steven spoke to this day.
Speaker 1: We spent the first segment talking about how they gonna
Speaker 1: pay all these guys you have. He said, we have
Speaker 1: to watch where we allocate our money when we've got
Speaker 1: this many young players coming up for contracts. It's a
Speaker 1: curse drafting, well, it is, it really is. It's a
Speaker 1: good problem to happen when you have a fourth receiver
Speaker 1: making that much money. I think they would have liked it,
Speaker 1: maybe brought him back at a different salary. But see
Speaker 1: that's he got a nice deal from the Dolphins one year.
Speaker 1: My focus was if something were to happen to one
Speaker 1: of the top three, who is going to be the
Speaker 1: fourth guy that's going to replace? If say, who's going
Speaker 1: to play the X or who's gonna play the Z.
Speaker 1: That's why we're here. Yeah, you can move Cobb around,
Speaker 1: but what if something happens at Cole? Okay, who's We
Speaker 1: had a male bad question again about who's going to
Speaker 1: play the slot, you know, and we went through and
Speaker 1: it wasn't like just one name. It was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: they might try you know, Lance Lenore, they might try
Speaker 1: Austin move in there. Exactly. Yeah. I think this puts
Speaker 1: a lot of pressure on Tavon Austin to make this team. Yeah,
Speaker 1: absolutely team. Yeah, and because they can use him in
Speaker 1: a lot of different ways, but he's got to stay
Speaker 1: healthy and they need a punt return or two. And
Speaker 1: I know Cobb was kind of back there in the offseason,
Speaker 1: but do you want to use him in that role
Speaker 1: at this point? It's Cobb, you think, so? I think so.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's done it. Who else you're gonna put
Speaker 1: back there? Yeah, Tavon. Yeah, but he's got to make
Speaker 1: the team. I'm saying, if he makes one make this roster,
Speaker 1: is the sixth guy? Is that the sixth guy? If
Speaker 1: they keeps six, I could qualify that because he can
Speaker 1: do other things for me. Sure, yeah, he can placeial teams.
Speaker 1: And if it's not Tavon, it's it's Randall Cobb. Uh
Speaker 1: and Keith Keith Keith, I heard no. Keith Keith told
Speaker 1: me that Randall Cobb the second day he was here,
Speaker 1: came to him and said, coach, I would like to
Speaker 1: return punts and he said, you don't get that from
Speaker 1: a nine year veteran ever. Ever, he might be so
Speaker 1: valuable that Brian Ross getting scared the Brian Broadest chicken theory.
Speaker 1: I can't replace the situation. And then you have to
Speaker 1: have a guy that if I had hearns, Yeah, I
Speaker 1: go return punts. Yeah I get a catch, I gotta
Speaker 1: can catch it too. I gotta have a guy that
Speaker 1: can catch. How many times we watched this team just
Speaker 1: struggle with fuel position because it's a catch. But that's
Speaker 1: the that's that's the significance of the punt return because
Speaker 1: what you don't want to do on punt returns is
Speaker 1: make a mistake and yeah, right, you know kickoff returns,
Speaker 1: all right, kick it over my head. We'll go out
Speaker 1: to the twenty five, right, and and you know you
Speaker 1: gotta find somebody to return the kickoffs. But I think
Speaker 1: Pollard's probably that guy. Right, We need to keep an
Speaker 1: eye on that. We do when for the punt, As
Speaker 1: it was explained to me, you you usually don't lose
Speaker 1: games on kickoffs, but you can lose a game right
Speaker 1: away on punts. Yeah, that munt coverage or punt returns.
Speaker 1: You know you don't want one blocked. Uh, and usually
Speaker 1: dropped a punt against the Giants? Was it early on
Speaker 1: in his career? Oh? And then that's what is that
Speaker 1: the game that Dwayne Harris brought back when it was
Speaker 1: that the game of Giants stadium stadium? Yeah, and then
Speaker 1: Dwayne Harris brought one back that won the game. And
Speaker 1: then the and then the Switzer fumbled punting Rams against
Speaker 1: the Rams in twenty seventeen, that turned that whole thing around.
Speaker 1: All right, So what are you look at? What are
Speaker 1: you looking for today out here in our final minutes
Speaker 1: here of talking Cowboys? What are you looking at? Ota practice?
Speaker 1: Basically with the helmets and the T shirt. You know
Speaker 1: what I think Brian said it earlier. We're gonna we're
Speaker 1: gonna get to see how they line up, Yeah, line
Speaker 1: up like for sure, who's the first? Now they'll probably
Speaker 1: go by seniority, right, he's running back, so it's Darius
Speaker 1: Jackson Jackson the way they were doing it. And he
Speaker 1: does look bad though, by the way, his two years
Speaker 1: from being knee surgery, looks a little fresher moving around
Speaker 1: out there in the other and he's gonna have to
Speaker 1: really show him because he got those opportunities late and
Speaker 1: he didn't look like so it'd be sitting good to
Speaker 1: see that and see how they're stiff. How they're lining
Speaker 1: up six scary sixteen yards lining up now behind the
Speaker 1: wide receivers, behind the top three. Yeah, like, wh who's
Speaker 1: out there next? Who's in the slot next? And you're
Speaker 1: missing a couple of defensive linemens still with with DeMarcus
Speaker 1: Tyrone Crawford and Byron Jones. Just figuring out that defensive
Speaker 1: line rotation is going to be interesting over this month.
Speaker 1: A lot of young corners out there too, Yeah, a
Speaker 1: lot of young corners going to try and battle for
Speaker 1: spots and stuff. That's what's really cool about see how
Speaker 1: they use the rookies the draft choices. But I've always
Speaker 1: found this my big experience working in this league. Guys
Speaker 1: cut themselves. You could hot, you know, we could all
Speaker 1: talk about who we're high to see how and we're
Speaker 1: all gonna be anxious to look and buy about that week,
Speaker 1: two week, ten days into practice, about that tenth practice,
Speaker 1: we're gonna look. Okay, these are the fifty three guys
Speaker 1: a week day. You said, you said at the very beginning.
Speaker 1: What a coaches love the most consistency, consistent these young
Speaker 1: guys practice. That's what antoine Wood showed for three weeks.
Speaker 1: Absolutely he didn't really have a bad day. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: he's proved to him I can handle his job. Yeah.
Speaker 1: How many times what we're seeing guys cut themselves the
Speaker 1: fourth preseason game even yeah, well that that who that
Speaker 1: quarter that one year we were playing they're playing the Ravens.
Speaker 1: Who's at the quarter that had the team made? It
Speaker 1: was a the ended I got a wide receiver example, Okay,
Speaker 1: go ahead, Andy Jones a few years ago. Yeah, looking
Speaker 1: great out here and the game started and he took
Speaker 1: lance or could do that to you too. Unfortunately, he's
Speaker 1: gonna have to work really hard to shed that label. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because I think they've seen the same thing we've Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: and I think two guys once the pads come on
Speaker 1: that I think I'd be very interested watching is where
Speaker 1: Travis Frederick is? Is he Travis Fredericks And can Robert
Speaker 1: Quinn hold down that right defensive end spot. I like
Speaker 1: it because if he can, if he and I want
Speaker 1: to see it in pads right, because we did the
Speaker 1: jahad Warden dance last year. Right. Hey, Rod warned us
Speaker 1: back then you gotta see it in pass right and
Speaker 1: he got out here and he disappeared. I love Robert quick.
Speaker 1: I know what you're saying. I don't want to go
Speaker 1: any further. I'm with you, but I think they love
Speaker 1: Robert Quinn. Yeah, now you gotta see it. How about
Speaker 1: Dorn's armstrong too? He I mean, because no Crawford, who's
Speaker 1: played left end all Ota, every OTA snap at starting
Speaker 1: at left end, was armstrong. So so the end positions,
Speaker 1: That's what I'm saying, Taco, Let's see it. Let's see
Speaker 1: Jalen Jelks, I know you got a nice bend and burst. Okay,
Speaker 1: now when your pads like, can you do that? You
Speaker 1: know Carrie Hyder who they say and carry hiders and
Speaker 1: Christians having today we haven't seen yet time, but we
Speaker 1: won't see Chris Covington today and they're really disappointed about
Speaker 1: that because they thought he was coming on. What happened
Speaker 1: to him? By the way, I bet he hit one
Speaker 1: of those divots there, you got all right? We'll be
Speaker 1: back together tomorrow morning with more divot talk as Mickey
Speaker 1: will be watching the divots at practice today. And we
Speaker 1: appreciate you joining us also on periscope. Absolutely, thank you.
Speaker 1: Talk at you again tomorrow on Talking Cowboys. This has
Speaker 1: been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys Football Club.