Speaker 1: This is Talking Cowboys, streaming live on Dallas Cowboys dot
Speaker 1: Com and the official Dallas Cowboys No. Your hosts Mickey Spagnola,
Speaker 1: Brian brought us, Taylor Stern, and Rob Phillips. Hello, everyone,
Speaker 1: and welcome into the SWBC Mortgage Studio. We have a
Speaker 1: great last show for you guys for the first game
Speaker 1: week here of the twenty seventeen season. Of course, always
Speaker 1: joined by Mickey Spagnola, Rob Phillips and Brian brought us. So, gentlemen,
Speaker 1: how are you guys doing today? Well, ready to go,
Speaker 1: Ready to go, Ready to talk Friday. Right, it is
Speaker 1: Friday where we're gonna talk some inactive possibilities, some game predictions,
Speaker 1: and we even have a guest Mickey if you would
Speaker 1: like to introduce him, and he'll be in our third segment.
Speaker 1: John Schmelt, the I think he's got this weird title
Speaker 1: is managing producer for the New York Football Giants and
Speaker 1: I just got off the phone with their show. So
Speaker 1: he said he'd see us in a little bit, so
Speaker 1: I think we can count on it. Were you just
Speaker 1: as informative as he will be trying to be. I
Speaker 1: was kind of step We lost in that bit, right, well,
Speaker 1: giants took the l there. John's a heck of a guest. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a tough challenge for you. Yeah, yeah, especially since
Speaker 1: he asked me about Jack Rabbit. Did you know? Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: he knows. Now we all know jack Rabbit. It's in
Speaker 1: the New York Post, the whole story with Jack Rabbit
Speaker 1: in the headline. There's Megatron and there's Jack Rabbit. And yeah,
Speaker 1: you guys get into discussing the fact that finally we
Speaker 1: know that Odell Beckham Junior is questionable for the game.
Speaker 1: They said that, yeah, but they didn't haven't seen the
Speaker 1: practice yet, so didn't know if he was going to
Speaker 1: do anything more than what he hasn't done the last
Speaker 1: two games. But I did, in my research find out
Speaker 1: that in twenty fifteen, he missed a whole week of practice,
Speaker 1: was listed as questionable, and then played in the game.
Speaker 1: He's done this three times at four catches against the
Speaker 1: Cowboys thirty some yards. So my guess was when the
Speaker 1: day started that he would do a little something today
Speaker 1: and they would list them as questionable. And I guarantee
Speaker 1: you that's what they do. Ye not going to tell
Speaker 1: the Cowboys, right? Why would they? Why would you, but
Speaker 1: keep them guessing something that we don't need to guess about.
Speaker 1: Is the only guy who's for sure out for them
Speaker 1: is Kenyan Robinson, their linebacker within concussion Brian O'Dell. Is
Speaker 1: he going to surprise us all? You know? I mean,
Speaker 1: I went on yesterday feeling like that if he didn't
Speaker 1: practice today that he would be out. And you know,
Speaker 1: Mickey's right, They're not gonna say whether he's in or out.
Speaker 1: They're gonna let it roll to a game time decision.
Speaker 1: I will say this though, they practiced all week with
Speaker 1: the thought of him playing, So this is not going
Speaker 1: to be a surprise. If he doesn't show up, they'll
Speaker 1: there's other weapons you have to deal with. I think
Speaker 1: that they're more than prepared to handle. You know, whoever
Speaker 1: else has to step into thirteen shoes if he doesn't play, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it won't be like, oh he's playing, we don't know
Speaker 1: what to do. Yeah, They've got a game play compared
Speaker 1: for both ways, and regardless of what they say, right absolutely,
Speaker 1: I think that's why they went ahead and kind of
Speaker 1: stacked that receiver corps in the offseason, obviously adding Brandon Marshall.
Speaker 1: They feel more comfortable with Sterling Shepherd than they did
Speaker 1: before let go of Cruise. They were looking at this
Speaker 1: receiver corps because part of the playoff loss was around them.
Speaker 1: They couldn't catch the ball. Yeah, they had some troubles
Speaker 1: in that Green Bay game. They again, it goes all
Speaker 1: the way back tay to their inability to run the
Speaker 1: football though too. That's something that we, you know, we
Speaker 1: have to keep an eye on. You know, the Cowboys
Speaker 1: one of the best in the National Football last year
Speaker 1: defending the run. You add Steven Pia to the mix,
Speaker 1: I think that even helps more. Now, you know, we'll
Speaker 1: see what happens at the middle linebacker spot. We think
Speaker 1: maybe Jalen Smith will be the guy justin Durant will
Speaker 1: get some opportunities there. But it's a different team to
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys up the middle now if you think about it,
Speaker 1: with Pia's starting with a new mic linebacker and Jeff
Speaker 1: Heath also playing as a safety. So usually your run
Speaker 1: defense is predicated on how you play up the middle.
Speaker 1: And that's three really new parts. But we all think
Speaker 1: him as positive parts. We mentioned offensive line for the
Speaker 1: Giants yesterday and that's that's a question mark for them.
Speaker 1: And John might speak to it later in the show
Speaker 1: for me that you mentioned Pie, you mentioned Malie Collins.
Speaker 1: That's what I want to see in this game is
Speaker 1: can they get that middle rush to prevent Eli from
Speaker 1: climb in the pocket and making throws. If he's flushed
Speaker 1: out of the pocket, that's going to only help the
Speaker 1: guys on the edges. To me, that's a huge key
Speaker 1: in the game on Sunday. I think they're going to
Speaker 1: primarily look to Paul Perkins to be their primary back
Speaker 1: in this game. And you may recognize the last name, Mickey,
Speaker 1: Paul Perkins. You mentioned Don Perkins last week, and he
Speaker 1: is related to him. It is his great nephew or
Speaker 1: it's a nephew. I don't know how great it is,
Speaker 1: but yeah, there's a relation there. Went to UCLA. Yes,
Speaker 1: second year guy. I think it's his nephew. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think it's his brothers son related. Yeah, Perkins last name
Speaker 1: running back. Yeah, kind of in the bloodlines, right, yep? Yeah,
Speaker 1: not making pies now making pies. You you looked at
Speaker 1: Paul Perkins a lot. Yeah, how boys drafted? I did
Speaker 1: Zee Elliott. Now that was if they took a running
Speaker 1: back a little bit later, and sure, fourth overall, Is
Speaker 1: he a deep threat? I mean no, this is this
Speaker 1: is a guy that with the Giant. The Giants don't
Speaker 1: have a home run hitter per se as at running backs,
Speaker 1: you know, if you look at there and really what
Speaker 1: they do Perkins, Shane Vereen got they got steady, kind
Speaker 1: of grinded running backs. Perkins has got. He's one of
Speaker 1: those guests. It's got initial movement, can make one guy miss,
Speaker 1: but then it far as extending runs, not so much.
Speaker 1: They just don't have that. I mean, you know, the
Speaker 1: Cowboys are blessed to have a guy like Ezekiel Elate.
Speaker 1: It has that ability to finish runs. And really the
Speaker 1: Giants don't have that steady kind of handing the ball.
Speaker 1: Get what they can breaking the casual run, but nothing
Speaker 1: that would make you alarm about the way they play
Speaker 1: or the way they run the football. Al Perkins nothing
Speaker 1: like the rookie from the Chiefs last night. Oh Kareem Hunt.
Speaker 1: He had himself a game pretty good. Oh my fantasy team,
Speaker 1: so it's very happy. I'll start. But after that, Paul
Speaker 1: Perkins one hundred and twelve carries last year, four hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty six yards, four point one average, No touchdown,
Speaker 1: still looking for his first NFL touchdown comes Sheppard had
Speaker 1: his first running or last year. I don't like talking
Speaker 1: about right guys, that's right, celebrating in the end zone. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I just think it's you know, you need to find
Speaker 1: a way to be Mickey brought up the point last
Speaker 1: year the Giants were able to finish the game in
Speaker 1: Week one by running the football. They kept the ball
Speaker 1: away from Dallas, They made some he first downs, you know,
Speaker 1: running the ball late, and you know, I mean Dallas
Speaker 1: has got to be on the screws and not allow
Speaker 1: them to have to deal with you know, with that.
Speaker 1: I mean, they need to find a way to make
Speaker 1: this a game where they make Manning play in long
Speaker 1: yarded situations. It affects the way that he plays. The
Speaker 1: longer yarded situations you put him in, the harder it
Speaker 1: is for him to have success. Talked about it a bunch.
Speaker 1: Twenty nine percent of the time this team goes three
Speaker 1: and out. That was last year. Not a lot has
Speaker 1: changed other than adding you know, really Brandon Marshalling and
Speaker 1: adding the tight end. We'll see if that really makes
Speaker 1: the difference for them. But their inability to run the
Speaker 1: football really hurts them. Rob. Yesterday you were writing about
Speaker 1: the practice, and fortunately for the Cowboys, it's pretty much
Speaker 1: the same practice report as it was on Wednesday. Of course,
Speaker 1: they're practicing as we're speaking right now and kind of
Speaker 1: wrapping up things for the week. But the Cowboys fortunately
Speaker 1: had only the same limited player in Jordan Lewis, even
Speaker 1: though coach Garrett said that he was going to be
Speaker 1: doing more. Yeah, maybe some team snaps, I believe is
Speaker 1: what he's said. Has been working that way, but he's
Speaker 1: the lone question. Market looks like I think a Woozier
Speaker 1: seems ready to go. As far as the rookies go.
Speaker 1: Woods has been practicing, Xavier Woods, Ryan Switzer's not even
Speaker 1: on the injury report, so that's a good sign. Some
Speaker 1: of the guys that have been banged up, Chaz Green
Speaker 1: has been taken left guard snaps, Tyrone Crawford looks to
Speaker 1: have some type of role in the defensive line rotation Sunday.
Speaker 1: So the Cowboys a pretty good health shape. Two things
Speaker 1: I learned from practice today or five minutes I was
Speaker 1: there today or yesterday today, the tours are flourishing here,
Speaker 1: Yes they are. Could barely walk through the hallway Hey,
Speaker 1: I'm glad to hear that. What's going on? And I realized, Oh,
Speaker 1: it's the Friday before the season opener. At number two.
Speaker 1: The Miami Dolphins are vacating and they're going to Oxnard,
Speaker 1: California to set up camp because their next game is
Speaker 1: against the Chargers. Out there, they're gonna be practicing on
Speaker 1: the River Rich. Yes, they're gonna put up tents and
Speaker 1: they don't know maybe when they're gonna get back. So
Speaker 1: that's breaking news, isn't it? An you think cowboy related?
Speaker 1: They're using the Cowboys facility? So did the Rams for
Speaker 1: a while? There you go, it's kind of a regular
Speaker 1: So did the Saints. Yeah, let me ask you this though,
Speaker 1: you know, going back real quick, ta if I could, though,
Speaker 1: you know, the with the comfort level with a Woozier,
Speaker 1: you know, because Mickey's thought, you know, you're gonna have
Speaker 1: to play dime package stuff. And I'm interested to see
Speaker 1: how they're gonna play against Evan Ingram. And I know
Speaker 1: that's a guy that you haven't got to. I mean,
Speaker 1: we were kind of going through names and stuff. I
Speaker 1: wonder how you know, and just what you guys feel
Speaker 1: about him playing in that matchup right there. I don't
Speaker 1: think it's gonna be him totally all the time, But
Speaker 1: what about him? How are they going to handle Well,
Speaker 1: wouldn't you have more of a comfort level with Byron
Speaker 1: Jones doing that, giving his ability to cover tight ends?
Speaker 1: So then what's your comfort level with Cavon Frasier playing
Speaker 1: deep safety? See that? Well, I mean, what if it's
Speaker 1: if it's what if it's what if it's Heath Fraser. No, No,
Speaker 1: I'm saying, well in the slot, not Byron Jones, you know,
Speaker 1: because they've practice Heath down there off they do practice
Speaker 1: And that's what I'm saying though, and I know it
Speaker 1: it kind of takes us away, but I just feel like, though,
Speaker 1: if no Beckham, They're gonna have to go to other things.
Speaker 1: I'm just thinking about from a standpoint of how you
Speaker 1: match up in this game, because you know, he hasn't
Speaker 1: practiced much in training camp, but now he's going to
Speaker 1: get thrown into a pretty big situation having to carry
Speaker 1: a guy that's a pretty good downfield threat from what
Speaker 1: I've seen the preseason games and for what I saw
Speaker 1: from when he played at Old Miss. Well, maybe they're
Speaker 1: not in man because you know, one of the other
Speaker 1: things they've done on that dime defense when they've only
Speaker 1: had one linebacker, They've brought Heath down and somebody in
Speaker 1: the slot. They've played single high play zone in the
Speaker 1: back and then had a Woozier in the other slot
Speaker 1: Orlando on the other side. So they've had about three
Speaker 1: different formations of defense right that they've been practicing. And
Speaker 1: I would imagine they're going to roll some stuff up
Speaker 1: to try to confuse Manning. If you can't get to him,
Speaker 1: you're better confused. Yeah, yeah, I think that's gonna be. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's something I think that you need to keep an
Speaker 1: eye on in this game. You know, how how are
Speaker 1: they going to handle the different packages that you know,
Speaker 1: because what will happen with Evan Ingram. They'll line him
Speaker 1: up as in the backfield in line flexed out, So
Speaker 1: you have to find him. You can't allow him to
Speaker 1: be a big player in this game, especially if they
Speaker 1: do a good job of covering. We've seen the past
Speaker 1: with Scandrick in his ability last year to cover, you know,
Speaker 1: cover Shephard. You know how gimpy is Beckham going to be?
Speaker 1: You know, he might be compromised. They're gonna have to
Speaker 1: find somebody to throw the football too, or they snap
Speaker 1: him the ball. No, they won't. I saw an interesting
Speaker 1: tweet discussing the fact a lot of discussion over the
Speaker 1: offseason was about how teams are going to be watching
Speaker 1: tape on Dak figure out ways to beat him, the
Speaker 1: rookie quarterback. Obviously the Giants will or his kryptonite last season,
Speaker 1: and everyone's saying and he I thought he had a
Speaker 1: great response this past summer. Maybe it was at training,
Speaker 1: camper the exact time it was, but he said, Hey,
Speaker 1: I've been watching tape two right, and now that he's
Speaker 1: going against a defense just like the Giants, how do
Speaker 1: you guys think he will prepare? To me? It comes
Speaker 1: down it's not all about Dak. I mean, you're right,
Speaker 1: he's They did some things to kind of keep him
Speaker 1: in the pocket and contain him and force him to
Speaker 1: make throws, and there weren't always receivers open. But I
Speaker 1: we just talked about it on our roundtable segment our
Speaker 1: Keys to the Game a few minutes ago, which you
Speaker 1: can catch on Dallas Cowboys dot com. Down and distance
Speaker 1: for me is is huge. You mentioned it for the
Speaker 1: Giants first down stuff. You're right, it's huge for the
Speaker 1: Cowboys too. I mean last year they had thirty two
Speaker 1: first downs in two games. Sixteen times Dak was facing
Speaker 1: third and eight or longer. And that is just I mean,
Speaker 1: what can you draw are to convert? Those really hard
Speaker 1: to convert. And that's with Ezekiel Elliott playing in both
Speaker 1: of those games. But you'd like to think with Zeke
Speaker 1: in the game, they got a better chance to get
Speaker 1: into second, five, third, and two. Things like that. They
Speaker 1: ahead of the change, stay ahead of the change. That
Speaker 1: to me against this type of defense, that is the
Speaker 1: key to the game for me. Well, and I liked
Speaker 1: what you said earlier and also blueprint the red zone offense. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that was kind of going to what Mickey was saying
Speaker 1: the other day about these defenses just didn't let these
Speaker 1: teams score at all. Yeah, this is a these are
Speaker 1: high powered offenses. Yeah, this is gonna be tough and
Speaker 1: in space is tough to fight for down in the
Speaker 1: red zones, especially with the way the Giants play in
Speaker 1: their secondary and they have guys that can cover, that
Speaker 1: can chase. You know that don't give you a lot
Speaker 1: of room. They don't make it. They give you tight
Speaker 1: window throws. You have to take opportunities. And we talked
Speaker 1: about last year the game. In the second game they
Speaker 1: had no red zone opportunities, but the first game they
Speaker 1: were one of three in the red zone. Right, the
Speaker 1: Giants one of the best teams in the league in
Speaker 1: the red zone, and when you get inside the thirty
Speaker 1: they're even better than that. So yeah, it's you know,
Speaker 1: you just can't go in there and kick field goals.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be about finding ways to score touchdowns. The
Speaker 1: Giants were three of three, so they missed an extra
Speaker 1: point that first game. Yes it was Josh why they
Speaker 1: end It wasn't John Brown, It was the guy who
Speaker 1: was at ain't gonna be Josh Brown anytime soon. Well,
Speaker 1: he was missing that first game and it was a
Speaker 1: kicker they had for that one week. Yeah, that's why
Speaker 1: they had money. Yeah, they have a rookie kicker. That
Speaker 1: Ross is his name. Yeah, I saw some interesting notes
Speaker 1: about that. This is the first time they've ever started
Speaker 1: a season with a rookie kicker. Not that that matters,
Speaker 1: but we're talking about a game that has come down
Speaker 1: sure very close to a lot of field goals and
Speaker 1: you're ruining up against Dan Bailey, Mister accuracy The Cowboys
Speaker 1: clearly have the advantage in this one. They really really do.
Speaker 1: And you're right, Tae. If it comes down to having
Speaker 1: to make long field goals even even extra points that
Speaker 1: we've seen y Yeah, we've seen this. You know, we've
Speaker 1: seen this. We've seen this script many a day. Yeah. Now,
Speaker 1: you were talking about Evan Ingram, but I want to
Speaker 1: talk about a Cowboys tight end and we haven't seen
Speaker 1: him in a year. But James Hannah. You mentioned him, Mickey,
Speaker 1: Where do you see his role being for this game
Speaker 1: on Sunday? Oh? I think that one they go to
Speaker 1: tight ends that James Hannah's on the field. Uh, and
Speaker 1: that's one way they can help minimize any problems. If
Speaker 1: you know Lal Collins struggles, you know, you put another
Speaker 1: tight end over there. Uh, you don't have to take
Speaker 1: up your running back. So yeah, I think it's huge
Speaker 1: that they have both Hannah and swam Back on the
Speaker 1: field and they can do multiple things with their tight
Speaker 1: ends in blocking situations, but also two guys that can
Speaker 1: get across the field and catch the balls. So that's
Speaker 1: something they I thought they sorely missed last year because
Speaker 1: Escobar was a one trick pony and evidently that trick
Speaker 1: wasn't real good in Kansas City. Got yeah, I think
Speaker 1: that to me though, that Mickey's right. And this is
Speaker 1: where you're gonna see thirteen personnel, one back, three tight ends. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you know, and they're going to find a way.
Speaker 1: The Giants are gonna have to find a way to defend,
Speaker 1: you know, the extra tight ends, and especially if you've
Speaker 1: got a guy like Swaim who can make plays in
Speaker 1: space catching the football. I think Hannah we saw in
Speaker 1: the preseason he you know, a little bit underrated in
Speaker 1: that regard, but he's no more as a blocker now.
Speaker 1: But yeah, they find a way. Some of the biggest
Speaker 1: plays they had running the football last year in the
Speaker 1: second game was on the edge, and that's where you
Speaker 1: have to find find a way to attack. You got
Speaker 1: to you gotta crash these ends, you wherever you want
Speaker 1: to do. Crack him, block him, shield him however you
Speaker 1: want to do it, and get the ball to the outside.
Speaker 1: That's gonna be the way they're gonna have to run
Speaker 1: the football. And one way with those guys on the field,
Speaker 1: even if they go three, one way to slow down
Speaker 1: that Giant's rushes to continue wanting that waggle play where
Speaker 1: you'd exactly fake the run up the middle and you
Speaker 1: have a naked boot and those tight ends crossing the
Speaker 1: field and now which one you're covering, you know who
Speaker 1: you're ready for, because you can't use all your linebackers
Speaker 1: to go with those tight ends because the next time
Speaker 1: they may hand it off and then you get faked out.
Speaker 1: Very underrated trade of Dak Prescott is his way the
Speaker 1: ball handle that that that right there, We've seen it.
Speaker 1: The one big play if you remember the touchdown in
Speaker 1: the second game, was a fake sweep to Zeke going
Speaker 1: to the left and they take Williams all the way
Speaker 1: across the field and that was just off a left
Speaker 1: hand play, fake him spin and then fire the ball
Speaker 1: down the field. So Giants are aware of that, but
Speaker 1: it's a it's a great weapon to have you allowed
Speaker 1: to run that play again. Why not? Aside from the
Speaker 1: playoff game, I feel like those two Giants games just
Speaker 1: haunted Dak Prescott last season. They were the last yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, the division games, just felt like he couldn't
Speaker 1: get any movement at traction at all. So I just
Speaker 1: feel like he's gonna come out hungry this Sunday you
Speaker 1: realize he threw for more yards than Eli Manning did
Speaker 1: in that first game. Yeah, but I mean what I'm
Speaker 1: saying is that was he's a team guy, you know.
Speaker 1: He wants to bring this team that victory, especially that
Speaker 1: first one right there. So we're gonna get to enactis.
Speaker 1: But we're gonna take our first break really quickly here
Speaker 1: in the SWBC Mortgage studio. Make sure you call us
Speaker 1: the numbers two one four eight seven two twenty one
Speaker 1: h two. We'll have a caller in the third segment,
Speaker 1: So stay tuned. We the entertainment loving people to and
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Speaker 1: great deal. But we mentioned it prior to the break.
Speaker 1: Let's get into it. The guys that we expect to
Speaker 1: be in sweatsuits come this Sunday. These seven inactives that
Speaker 1: are possible for this Cowboys team. Of course, let's explain it. Obviously,
Speaker 1: fifty three on the final roster, but there are seven
Speaker 1: on game day that are inactive, and now you go
Speaker 1: down to forty six. So I have a few names
Speaker 1: here I'll just mentioned and you guys kind of fill
Speaker 1: in some blanks or let me know if you think otherwise.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go first with the quarterback, and I think
Speaker 1: Cooper Rush. Then I think a wide receiver. Obviously them
Speaker 1: carrying six, you're gonna have Noah Brown. You agree on
Speaker 1: this so far? Oh Rush? Brown's me he doesn't agree
Speaker 1: with Rush? Yeah, you know what you see Brown to
Speaker 1: hear the rest of them before I say Brown, go
Speaker 1: fort Okay, I think Cooper. I think Jonathan Cooper. Right,
Speaker 1: They've been waiting this week to really gauge Chas Green's health,
Speaker 1: so I'm going to go there for that one. Then
Speaker 1: I'm thinking more Jordan Lewis. Honestly, I think that's kind
Speaker 1: of our expected one. Anthony Hitchens okay. And then even
Speaker 1: though he just brought was brought in, I don't know
Speaker 1: if he's necessarily ready and fans may disagree with this,
Speaker 1: especially with rookie DBS. But Banet ben Wickery I think
Speaker 1: will be the other one. And then lastly, I'm having
Speaker 1: a hard time and this is where I want to
Speaker 1: talk to you guys about this. We gotta have a
Speaker 1: running back out there. So you know last year Alfred
Speaker 1: Morris had success against them Week one. Later on in
Speaker 1: the year it was more Darren McFadden, but you got
Speaker 1: to seek in this game. He's hungry. You want to
Speaker 1: play him as much as you can. Coach Garrett has
Speaker 1: come out and said that where are you leaning? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know if you keep five running backs active
Speaker 1: because now keep in mind, Keith Smith, your fullback, has
Speaker 1: been healthy practicing all week. He's on the injury report,
Speaker 1: so full practice for him, Rod Smith for special teams.
Speaker 1: So to me, it might come down to either Darren
Speaker 1: McFadden or Alfred Morris. That's where I'm thinking. One's a
Speaker 1: primary backup to Zeke and the others inactive. We'll see
Speaker 1: Micky who you got? Yeah, same thing? But who who
Speaker 1: would you guess out of those two? Um, who's played
Speaker 1: the best out of the two. Well, Alfred Morris has
Speaker 1: showed the most. Yeah, Um, but then who did he
Speaker 1: play against? Yeah, it's one of those two guys. And
Speaker 1: then you have to decide if it's Um, do you
Speaker 1: still need a wide receiver out? Yeah? I need. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna play. I'm gonna play with five because my fifth
Speaker 1: one is gonna be is gonna be my punt kickoff
Speaker 1: return guy. Yeah, So I don't I can't play with six.
Speaker 1: So Noah Brown's Noah browns out. I had Noah Brown
Speaker 1: in my mind. When you start going through the names,
Speaker 1: I'm thinking, okay, good, good good. I'm in the same
Speaker 1: boat with her though as far as who would be
Speaker 1: the inactive running back. But if you go on, if
Speaker 1: you go on who has played better or has shown
Speaker 1: more in the preseason, and Mickey, I know you're gonna
Speaker 1: disagree with me about the level of competition, but I'm
Speaker 1: I'm I'm almost positive in my mind that Alfred Morris
Speaker 1: is outplayed Darren McFadden And so with that being said,
Speaker 1: I would probably lean towards taking Darren McFadden off the
Speaker 1: field and going with with Zeke Morris. See, I thought,
Speaker 1: I thought even if Morris had to start, if Zeke
Speaker 1: got suspended, I would consider starting Morris just because I
Speaker 1: feel like that first second down you get what you need.
Speaker 1: Third down McFadden, yes, or your third down type back anyway. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but I could see you made the point about Rod
Speaker 1: Smith being needed for specialty. D Smith for sure, And
Speaker 1: I know some fans may disagree because they want McFadden
Speaker 1: and Morris both out there, but they're one and the
Speaker 1: same sometimes, and so returning kickoffs I've got if I'm
Speaker 1: gonna have number ten active and that would do both. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Ryan Switzer is gonna return kicks and punts for me
Speaker 1: in this way because that was one thing McFadden was doing,
Speaker 1: by the right. That's true. I'm usually got to bring
Speaker 1: up the different traits that each of them bring. You
Speaker 1: could use Rod Smith there too, if you him be inactive,
Speaker 1: he could be your guy. But yeah, I me personally,
Speaker 1: if you're thinking about special team stuff, Switzer is a
Speaker 1: guy I need, and then Smith, Rod Smith's a guy
Speaker 1: I need. I don't necessarily need McFadden only for kickoff
Speaker 1: return stuff, which is kind of minimized these days. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because if they just not gonna be watching the ball
Speaker 1: go overhead. Usually, Yeah, it is get all fired up
Speaker 1: for the first kickoff of the season and then it's
Speaker 1: so we're comfortable here saying that it's out of those inactives,
Speaker 1: one of them will either be Darren McFadden or Alfred Morris.
Speaker 1: You're leaning more towards McFadden. I'm leaning towards mcfadd. If
Speaker 1: you if you tell me who is played, if they
Speaker 1: if they clearly, if both are equal, if you feel
Speaker 1: like that both are equal, and the only thing you
Speaker 1: really need McFadden for would be kickoff return right right, So,
Speaker 1: I mean I think the guy that I think the
Speaker 1: guy that's I think that that Morris has come into camp.
Speaker 1: He's obviously he was in shape. He showed up. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm going to give him the nod in this. If
Speaker 1: we have to make one or the other inactive, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna make McFadden in active. You think it's Ben Rickery
Speaker 1: instead of Elliott. Elliott probably can contribute on special team. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think Elliott to me can cover kicks, he could play.
Speaker 1: I mean I watched him do this. He could cover kicks.
Speaker 1: He could also play as a wing and the punt
Speaker 1: or the a tackle the punt return. And I can
Speaker 1: also watched him play on the arts on the punt team,
Speaker 1: and he could also help you on the punt return
Speaker 1: as a blocker. So I think he's I think. And besides,
Speaker 1: I'm a little leary about my linebacker situation with if
Speaker 1: you talk about with Jalen Smith, if you talk about
Speaker 1: with with also then with with the rant not playing
Speaker 1: a whole lot in the training camp, I mean, maybe
Speaker 1: you get a situation you don't want to be light
Speaker 1: at linebacker. I don't believe. So you're good with the
Speaker 1: Woozier being the next man up at cornerback. I think
Speaker 1: we have to be at this point, you know what.
Speaker 1: I'm okay with that. Okay, I'm okay with him because no,
Speaker 1: I'm just asking no, no, And that's why I asked
Speaker 1: the question earlier. Yeah, because I feel like that A
Speaker 1: Woozier is gonna have to play in this game as
Speaker 1: your dime linebacker. I mean, it's your dime player. Now
Speaker 1: there's your dime player. He's gonna play in the slot.
Speaker 1: He's gonna play linebacker, he's gonna play. You know, they're
Speaker 1: gonna put him in all over the place. But you
Speaker 1: draft show. That's why he was drafted. Absolutely. If they're
Speaker 1: doing a good job with the front four stopping the run,
Speaker 1: then here's one way they can cover that linebacker spot
Speaker 1: is you just play one. You've got two guys in
Speaker 1: the slot, A Woozier, Scandrick and Sean Lee is your linebacker, right,
Speaker 1: you know, but you gotta be able to stop the run.
Speaker 1: You gotta stop the run. You gotta be able to
Speaker 1: tackle and get them into situations where you know, darn
Speaker 1: well they're throwing one of the worst in the league
Speaker 1: last year when it came to third downs, one of
Speaker 1: the worst. Yeah, well, let's hear from the callers. We
Speaker 1: have one on the line, Ernesto in Virginia Beach. What
Speaker 1: is your question? How are we doing? Guys? It's been great,
Speaker 1: Thank you, good good. A few things. First of all,
Speaker 1: somebody's game is going to come down to who can
Speaker 1: run the ball the best. You look at last night's game,
Speaker 1: New England had to respect Kansas City's running game and
Speaker 1: they made Alex Smith look like Aaron Rodgers. So that's
Speaker 1: going to come down. Um, and I think we're gonna
Speaker 1: run it well no matter who's in there, m Zeke
Speaker 1: or Morse or McFadden. U. Secondly, I was a little disappointed,
Speaker 1: but Tam I know, was on the practice squad, but
Speaker 1: who just kept showing up larding me a lot of jails.
Speaker 1: George Selby a couple of years ago. UM, can't wait
Speaker 1: to see what he can turn into. And Yantly, I
Speaker 1: think not week one, but probably towards Week five. Taco
Speaker 1: Charlton and Jalen Smith are really going to be contributors
Speaker 1: on this team. You look at preseason, each week they
Speaker 1: got better, especially Taco from the first preseason game to
Speaker 1: the last. So I think these guys are going to
Speaker 1: develop point in the system. They're gonna be big contributors. Brian,
Speaker 1: if I ever own a team, you're going to be
Speaker 1: in my GM. Thank you, Hey, Mick, give you a
Speaker 1: hard time. Oh he got muted, Sorry you broke up? Yeah,
Speaker 1: wad He's gonna say mother Nature, muting mother Nature. Thank you.
Speaker 1: So first, you know, I thought he brought up a
Speaker 1: good point about he believes it's going to come down
Speaker 1: who can run the ball the best. You've brought that up,
Speaker 1: We've discussed that. Getting the last night's game. I think
Speaker 1: that's little bit different you had. As Mickey mentioned earlier,
Speaker 1: Kareem Hunt just showed up for a great game and
Speaker 1: Tom Brady dealing with some different pieces missing from his offense.
Speaker 1: But for the Cowboys coming back to their run game,
Speaker 1: he said, it didn't matter. Do you agree with the
Speaker 1: McAdoo logic, m Now, the runner matters. They need Zeke
Speaker 1: in this football game. He is too much of a
Speaker 1: home run threat. And I've said earlier this week he's
Speaker 1: a guy that on a run that should get you
Speaker 1: one yard, he gets you three or four and then
Speaker 1: he can break something. And I don't one thing about
Speaker 1: McFadden when he was the guy a couple of years ago.
Speaker 1: And I like him as a runner and he's a
Speaker 1: great professional, but there were runs. There were yards left
Speaker 1: on the field when he was the back. There they
Speaker 1: meat left on the bone. There was meat left on
Speaker 1: the bone. I mean in terms of when you look
Speaker 1: at the number of touchdowns they scored when he was
Speaker 1: the guy a couple of years ago compared to what
Speaker 1: I think Zeke had fifteen touchdowns last year. Like that's
Speaker 1: that is a huge difference. What do you always say?
Speaker 1: He runs for touchdowns, runs the ball into the end zone, Right,
Speaker 1: That's what the offense has to do, right, He's yeah,
Speaker 1: and the runner does matter. And before we move on
Speaker 1: and talking about Ezekielly at the TRORO hearing ruling will
Speaker 1: be before five pm, around five pm, No, it will
Speaker 1: be today. But Ezekie Elliott And one thing we haven't
Speaker 1: discussed about his game coming into here, and this was
Speaker 1: heavy at training camp. He really worked on his passing skills. Yes,
Speaker 1: and that's something that Dak has been comfortable with him
Speaker 1: and how much of a passing threat he might be
Speaker 1: in this game that he wasn't as much last season. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and that's another thing when we talk about who could
Speaker 1: be inactive, do we think about maybe leaving mcfaddener Morris
Speaker 1: on the bench. Zeke can play all three downs, he
Speaker 1: can he can be an every down guy for you.
Speaker 1: And Scott Lenahan apparently said yesterday, look, when you think about, oh,
Speaker 1: could he be suspended or could he could he keep
Speaker 1: playing after week one? We're gonna wear him out regardless.
Speaker 1: And he's a guy that's hard to take off the field.
Speaker 1: So yeah, that's absolutely right. I wouldn't worry about that,
Speaker 1: and I think, yeah, his role could be I mean,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't say sixties snaps, but he's gonna be on
Speaker 1: the field a lot. Saying that's another way to slow
Speaker 1: down that pass rush using him as a receiver, Yes, exactly,
Speaker 1: because we saw them using him as a receiver quite
Speaker 1: a bit, and then he certainly can help him that way.
Speaker 1: Every compete period it seemed that he was involved with
Speaker 1: there was some one on one stuff where he was
Speaker 1: able to get loose. And you know, but I'm always
Speaker 1: from the other end of this though, too. If the
Speaker 1: giant splits, you know, you want Ezekiel at standing there
Speaker 1: picking up blitz Us. In my opinion, so you have
Speaker 1: to weigh, you know, when do you want to get
Speaker 1: him in the route or when do you want him
Speaker 1: to stand in there and help your quarterback get the
Speaker 1: ball out of his hand. Rob, Let's hear it from
Speaker 1: your pole for the last one of this week. Yes,
Speaker 1: so we went with a giant centric pole today. How
Speaker 1: can the Cowboys beat the Giants? And we've covered a
Speaker 1: lot of those topics. I gave you four in today's pole.
Speaker 1: The key to winning score touchdowns is that what a
Speaker 1: person who has the most points on the board will win. Wait,
Speaker 1: you're you're such a practical guy. All right, do you
Speaker 1: ever ride end today? Did you? Mic? I would have
Speaker 1: used Marinelli's Did you hear Maridelli? What do you say
Speaker 1: play football? Oh? They said they were asking him something
Speaker 1: about that you limited teams to points last year. You
Speaker 1: were fifth in scoring. One of the best, he goes,
Speaker 1: is that's your goal, he goes, My goal is to
Speaker 1: give up one less point than we score. It's a
Speaker 1: good goal. It's always a good goal to strive for.
Speaker 1: All right. Hell, he helps me all the time with
Speaker 1: goals all the time, All the time. All right, all
Speaker 1: these are important, But what's the biggest key pass protection
Speaker 1: for Dak? Pass rush against Eli, the running game, or
Speaker 1: red zone efficiency? Really close poll today, twenty nine percent
Speaker 1: say pass rush gotta get to Eli, gotta get more pressure.
Speaker 1: A tie for second twenty seven percent run game and
Speaker 1: red zone efficiency, followed by protecting Dak Prescott. I know
Speaker 1: you have a lot of notes over there, Mickey. How
Speaker 1: many sacks did the Cowboys get against Eli Manning in
Speaker 1: those two games last season? Got three the second time around?
Speaker 1: For you, the second time around, first game, he didn't
Speaker 1: hurt them last year. They hurt themselves by not scoring
Speaker 1: in the red zone. So that's my red zone. That's
Speaker 1: my vote. Ze efficiency definitely, when you kick field goals
Speaker 1: from the five and seven yard line, you're asking to
Speaker 1: get beat. Yeah, that's why. Again, the Giants are very
Speaker 1: very difficult, and they they can keep you out of
Speaker 1: the end zone. They're gonna win a lot of games.
Speaker 1: I mean they obviously they beat the Cowboys twice doing that,
Speaker 1: and that's that's how they play football. I Mean, they're
Speaker 1: they're gonna make it tough on you down there. They're
Speaker 1: gonna cover you, They're gonna put pressure on you. They're
Speaker 1: gonna choke the run. So yeah, if you you have
Speaker 1: to find a way, my vote on that poll would
Speaker 1: have definitely And that's one of the on the Xerox
Speaker 1: blueprint that we had red zone offense. You know, the
Speaker 1: Cowboys are gonna yeh, the Cowboys are gonna get in
Speaker 1: the red zone. You know, the Cowboys are gonna get
Speaker 1: in the red zone. Now, how do you finish drives?
Speaker 1: That's gonna be to get they start kicking a bunch
Speaker 1: of field goals and keep the giants around. Never Mind,
Speaker 1: never mind, that's that's just that's not gonna be a
Speaker 1: recipe for them to win. I agree. Now, let's talk
Speaker 1: about this. A week makes a huge difference here in
Speaker 1: Cowboys Land. A week ago we're talking about who will
Speaker 1: make the fifty three and if they'll keep three quarterbacks. Mickey,
Speaker 1: you agreed with the Cooper rush. So I think now
Speaker 1: we're not we have nothing to complain about because we
Speaker 1: are forced to accept Kellen Moore as the backup at
Speaker 1: least this week one. Is everyone comfortable with it? I
Speaker 1: mean I've seen it as hey, they have the confidence
Speaker 1: in him. He's comfortable with his offense. He's been here
Speaker 1: for almost three years now here he is. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean what what do you guys feel like they've been
Speaker 1: never comfortable with the backup quarterback at all at all? Then,
Speaker 1: you know what, he makes a point. But but if
Speaker 1: you had to play, if you had to play with
Speaker 1: one guy just in comfort fact, let's okay, maybe comfortable
Speaker 1: was a wrong word. No, no, no, I don't know
Speaker 1: it's a wrong word at all. It's the right word
Speaker 1: because that's why. Yeah, that's right, it's comfortable. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: that's there. You go. Good point. Yeah. See to me,
Speaker 1: I think that you always would love to have a
Speaker 1: quarterback that you feel like you could put in there
Speaker 1: and you know, not worry about and not worry about it.
Speaker 1: You know, the Cowboys for years had a guy like
Speaker 1: a Danny White that could come in, you know, early
Speaker 1: before that, Craig Mooreton. They've always had, always had players
Speaker 1: they have backup quarterbacks that could come in and win games.
Speaker 1: And then you know, we went to an era where
Speaker 1: you know, the Cowboys were winning Super Bowls, but boy
Speaker 1: they were doing it with Bernie Cosars of the world
Speaker 1: and people like that, see Berline, Yeah, exactly. So Rodney Pete. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you want it. You want to be able to have
Speaker 1: a guy you can really and this is what it
Speaker 1: really comes down to. The Cowboys coaches are comfortable with
Speaker 1: Kellen Moore. Is could Cooper Rush be a better player?
Speaker 1: Pretend absolutely he could, but good then he can develop
Speaker 1: at least Yeah, and that and if and if if,
Speaker 1: if Dak Prescott can play the whole entire season, you know,
Speaker 1: knock on wood, as they like to say. But to me,
Speaker 1: it is it's just about comfort. We might not like it,
Speaker 1: you know, they don't care what we think. But but
Speaker 1: but if you look at how I can understand and
Speaker 1: being in that side of the building at one time,
Speaker 1: I understand what coaches go through. Nobody asked Nobody asked me,
Speaker 1: but didn't. They didn't ask me for my opinion. But
Speaker 1: a question for you guys, if you're looking at comfort
Speaker 1: level week one is the guy they cut and this
Speaker 1: is hindsight, but it is the guy they cut. Would
Speaker 1: you be more comfortable with Luke McCown in this situation
Speaker 1: just based on his time in the league, number of years,
Speaker 1: what he's been able to do as a backup. You know,
Speaker 1: they Cooper Rush. I get it. You bring him back.
Speaker 1: He's a developmental guy, Okay, you want a veteran Kellen Moore.
Speaker 1: I know there's the history with Scott Lindahan, but McCown
Speaker 1: was probably the most on paper resume guy to be
Speaker 1: in this position and they let him go. Teams, I think,
Speaker 1: if I think, I think if McCown had come in
Speaker 1: last season, I think it would be a little bit mad.
Speaker 1: I know if I'm okay with that, But I'm okay
Speaker 1: with mccount. I mean, I watched the one game, the
Speaker 1: one start he had, you know, gets Carolina and you
Speaker 1: know he's spinning the ball all over the place and
Speaker 1: they're moving the ball, and that's all I want. Yeah,
Speaker 1: give me the guy's gonna it's Mickey would say, give
Speaker 1: me the guy's gonna move the offense. And it might
Speaker 1: have been different story had he not got hurt. He
Speaker 1: got hurt executed, because I don't know how healthy he
Speaker 1: would have been either at the end. Anyway, you know,
Speaker 1: we said comfortable, and we're never comfortable. I agree with you, Mickey,
Speaker 1: and I think this Cowboys front office, executives, teams, they're
Speaker 1: all feeling so much more comfortable than they wore at
Speaker 1: this point. Last year when they were sitting there with
Speaker 1: rookie starter quarterback Dak Prescott, and then oh behind him
Speaker 1: was Mark Sanchez, right like just a right who had
Speaker 1: literally just arrived. You're right, So I think we're gonna
Speaker 1: see how this plays out. Knock on wood. We don't
Speaker 1: have to hope there's one of their improvements. That's one
Speaker 1: of their improvements here. So we're gonna take our final
Speaker 1: break here on Talking Cowboys. When we come back, we
Speaker 1: have a special guest us from Giants dot com, John Schmilk.
Speaker 1: He's going to give you insight behind enemy lines. So
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Speaker 1: we still worry about Papa John's. Make sure you guys
Speaker 1: we're worried about well, because I think people forget about it.
Speaker 1: Oh I never forget. I don't forget about the ingredients
Speaker 1: in those Papa John pizzas, the vegetables, you know, they
Speaker 1: just kind of bring them in fresh all the time,
Speaker 1: and the pepperonie you asked DA approved. Then you can't
Speaker 1: go wrong if you get Papa Johns and absolutely you
Speaker 1: can't go wrong because we're still waiting for your cold pizza. Brian.
Speaker 1: You you left us hanging on that one. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: need to figure that out. Cold pizza is the best.
Speaker 1: It truly is, and I guess you guys can enjoy
Speaker 1: that Monday morning. Hopefully a victory on Monday morning sounds great.
Speaker 1: So before we get to our guests, we're gonna do
Speaker 1: a little bit of a game here. And Rob Phillips,
Speaker 1: why don't you lead us through this game? Now? Are
Speaker 1: we taken from Cowboys? Break? Are we going with our deal?
Speaker 1: I think we go with our Let's go with our deal.
Speaker 1: Let's go with we are our own people, we are,
Speaker 1: we are our own crew. We got two crew members
Speaker 1: new from Talking Cowboys last year, Tay Brian. We're doing
Speaker 1: a thing called rank Them. Okay, it's very simple, very
Speaker 1: simple game. We just go around the table, pick a
Speaker 1: guy on either team that you think is going to
Speaker 1: make an impact, a big impact, big influence on the
Speaker 1: outcome of Sunday's game, and we'll review them early the
Speaker 1: next week. Okay, So can I interrupt and just tell
Speaker 1: Kent to go ahead and give him a call because
Speaker 1: I just got a text that John's ready, Kent is
Speaker 1: working on it. We are ready to go. But let's
Speaker 1: just you wanna go around the table real quick? Yeah,
Speaker 1: let's just get our names. Okay, Mick go. I'm sorry.
Speaker 1: I was taking care of you know, the game rank them. Oh,
Speaker 1: you're trying to pick a player. It's a game we've
Speaker 1: been playing. Oh, MALIEK. Collins. There you go. No explanation needed.
Speaker 1: I guess none. Tell you got I got cold. Beasley
Speaker 1: mentioned him early this week. I think, oh, Beasley is
Speaker 1: going to be a guy you might be in consideration
Speaker 1: for Player of the game. All eyes on Ezekiel Elliott.
Speaker 1: They're preparing for a running back, but let's give him
Speaker 1: a wide receiver. Brian Shawn Lee, Sean Lee the general. Yeah,
Speaker 1: gotta play. I gotta play some tough defense here. It's
Speaker 1: gonna be a run past. He's able to make plays
Speaker 1: in both areas. I'm gonna go with Dez Bryant to
Speaker 1: try to get a vertical threat for the Cowboys, try
Speaker 1: to open things up against Norris Jenkins on Sunday. So
Speaker 1: we got MALIEK. Collins, Shawn Lee, Dez Bryant, and Cole Beasley.
Speaker 1: Week one of Rank them will go revisit that next week.
Speaker 1: Did you have any predictions with any of your guys
Speaker 1: Dez Bryant, you think he's gonna score a few touchdowns.
Speaker 1: I think he'll throw up the X one or two times.
Speaker 1: I do absolutely. I think his time And I asked
Speaker 1: Garrett about this last week, the time on task he's
Speaker 1: had with Dak this year, it makes a difference. They
Speaker 1: kind of know where each other is gonna be with
Speaker 1: the ball. And when you think of because Dez is
Speaker 1: missed time, you know, this is his first full off season.
Speaker 1: I think he's benefited from that with Dack. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: think Cole Beasley was the one talking about that the
Speaker 1: other day. He said, Dez is ready. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: and you know it's it's a it's a it's a matchup.
Speaker 1: Though that he has had a little problem, some problems
Speaker 1: with the last two games. You know, if you look
Speaker 1: at where Jenkins, Jenkins relish just the fact of playing
Speaker 1: against des Bryant, you know he realizes the level in
Speaker 1: which Dez Brian is viewed around the league. You go
Speaker 1: out and shut a guy down like Dez Brian, a big,
Speaker 1: physical wide receiver, you know, people notice that about you.
Speaker 1: They don't call. You know, you say Norris Jenkins is
Speaker 1: a gambler, a guesser, and all those things. Now they
Speaker 1: kind of talk about Norris Jenkins is being a pretty
Speaker 1: damn good cornerback. He is, Yeah, he is. And I
Speaker 1: mean I think that they valued their secondary so much.
Speaker 1: You got you got great cornerbacks and then he got
Speaker 1: Landing Collins. Yeah, Landing Collins makes a big difference back
Speaker 1: there at safety, and you know he could be that
Speaker 1: extra guy. He's the guy that if you don't account
Speaker 1: for him down in the box. You know, say you
Speaker 1: get hat on hat on the front seven and you
Speaker 1: get everything kind of blocked up. But then here comes
Speaker 1: Landing Collins, number twenty one, walking down in there, and
Speaker 1: then he's going to make the tackle. It looks like
Speaker 1: it's going to be a seven or eight yard gain,
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, it's a gain of four or
Speaker 1: a gain of three because Landing Collins, you know, he's
Speaker 1: just he's got that rare ability to play the run,
Speaker 1: be physical. But also take whoever you want to throw
Speaker 1: the football to, whether it's Witten, he could play in
Speaker 1: the slot, he can line. I mean, it doesn't matter
Speaker 1: where you play him. That has that kind of ability
Speaker 1: very similar to what you know a guy like Darren
Speaker 1: Woodson used to be his ability to play at a
Speaker 1: lot of different levels. And I liked what Mickey said
Speaker 1: with Malie Collins. I know you said no explanation needed,
Speaker 1: but the fans think that this game is going to
Speaker 1: really depend on getting to Eli Manning. I think Malie
Speaker 1: Collins could be that guy. You're talking about a new
Speaker 1: middle rction. But Malie Collins is so comfortable, he's ready,
Speaker 1: He's ready for a second season. You've got any guesses
Speaker 1: on maybe some sack numbers for us? Mickey, Oh, he'll
Speaker 1: get a couple against that Giant's line. You watch out,
Speaker 1: He's going to cause some problem out front. Yeah, prediction, man.
Speaker 1: I think that Justin Pugh is the one tackle the
Speaker 1: left guard. I think you have to kind of be careful.
Speaker 1: He's the one guy. John Jerry on the right side
Speaker 1: is a guy you maybe want to go at because
Speaker 1: he handled. He doesn't handle the quickness, he doesn't handle
Speaker 1: the power as well. What you don't want to do
Speaker 1: with these guys just rush them down the middle. Make
Speaker 1: these guys have to move, Make these guys have to
Speaker 1: be athletic players. I could say Pew is a good
Speaker 1: Richberg the center I think is a good player as well.
Speaker 1: The rest of them, though, try and take advantage of
Speaker 1: moving these guys around a little bit. Two young tackles
Speaker 1: on the edges. I think they're both twenty three years old,
Speaker 1: So how do they handle? You know? Could the Cowboys
Speaker 1: get some edge pressure? That's gonna be a key too. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: all right, we have our guest on the line. John,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining us today. I know
Speaker 1: you you've talked to all these guys multiple times. Very
Speaker 1: familiar with mister Spagnola to my right. But John, thank
Speaker 1: you again. And they have some questions for you. Fireway boys.
Speaker 1: Come on, I need that update on Odell Beckham. You
Speaker 1: tell me you're gonna give me Yeah, questionable. I would
Speaker 1: imagine he's going to be a game time decision. They'll
Speaker 1: bring him a couple hours before the game. They'll see
Speaker 1: if he can go with his ankle, and we'll see
Speaker 1: what happens. He did say the other day it was
Speaker 1: interesting that he would not want to play if he
Speaker 1: has to tape his ankles. He wants to go with
Speaker 1: the natural and not have to wear tape. I'm not
Speaker 1: sure if I buy that. I think if they tell
Speaker 1: him you have to wear tape to play, he'll play.
Speaker 1: We will see. I think right now it's a coin toss. John.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm interested to see you know a lot
Speaker 1: of us talking about the Giants and that, you know,
Speaker 1: not that so much. The offensive line gives up sacks,
Speaker 1: but they give up pressure, they give up hits, you know,
Speaker 1: and Manning is you know, it succumbed to that. It
Speaker 1: affects the way he plays. Though, Were you surprised though
Speaker 1: that the Giants did not address their offensive line? You know,
Speaker 1: they go with the Titan Evan Ingram is a nice pick.
Speaker 1: I mean, it would probably be a great pick one day.
Speaker 1: But are you surprised the Giants did not try and
Speaker 1: do anything at their offensive line this year? You know, Brian,
Speaker 1: I'm surprised that nothing happened looking at the big picture perspective.
Speaker 1: But when I looked at the individual options offseason, I
Speaker 1: think the one guy that could have worked was Whitworth,
Speaker 1: the veteran tackle that went to the Rams. But he
Speaker 1: just got so much money. I don't think he would
Speaker 1: have been a fit in the Giant's budget. And then
Speaker 1: when the Giants picked you know middle of that first round.
Speaker 1: I don't think they see a guy like Ken Robinson
Speaker 1: from Alabama was great to step in and play. I
Speaker 1: don't think they liked the offensive lineman in the draft,
Speaker 1: to be honest with you, So they figured there was
Speaker 1: a better chance of Eric Flowers taking a jump making
Speaker 1: an improvement than one of these rookies stepping in in
Speaker 1: year one and being better than what Flowers is now. Hey,
Speaker 1: great talk. We've been talking a lot about this game
Speaker 1: coming down to the run game. People know Ezekie Elliott,
Speaker 1: but tell us more about Paul Perkins and what you
Speaker 1: expect from the second year running back. I'm a big
Speaker 1: Paul Perkins guy. I think he's very elusive. But I
Speaker 1: think when you get back to the offensive line, like
Speaker 1: the question that Brian asked, they allow way too much
Speaker 1: penet traction, especially in the middle of the line, and
Speaker 1: too many times Perkins is looking at one or two
Speaker 1: guys in the back room before he can get going.
Speaker 1: If he can a couple of steps in and he
Speaker 1: can get one on one with a linebacker, he didn't
Speaker 1: make that guy miss. It's just a matter of that
Speaker 1: offensive line can give him the room to use his skills.
Speaker 1: And make guys miss to get to the second level. Hey, John,
Speaker 1: one matchup we're really talking about as Lyle Collins at
Speaker 1: right tackle making his debut for the Cowboys at that
Speaker 1: position and JPP probably being the primary matchup for him.
Speaker 1: Where Where is Pierre Paul in terms of kind of
Speaker 1: rounding back into form. It looked like he was last
Speaker 1: year and he's had a nice preseason coming off of
Speaker 1: that hand injury he had a couple of years ago,
Speaker 1: a horrific injury. Where is he right now in kind
Speaker 1: of getting back to form opposite Olivier Vernon? Yeah, I
Speaker 1: don't think you guys like this answer, Jim Po. Paul
Speaker 1: probably looked as good this summer as I've seen him
Speaker 1: in three or four years. To be honest with you.
Speaker 1: He's been dominant in the limited snats he's had in
Speaker 1: the preseason. He's using those long arm to get into
Speaker 1: those right tackles. He's speed to get around the edge.
Speaker 1: He's been dynamic. So I think it'll be interesting to
Speaker 1: see how LEL. Collins does against him in his first
Speaker 1: ever NFL started right tackle, and maybe how much help
Speaker 1: he needs right exactly. Hey, here's a serious question. Now,
Speaker 1: I want to know, did you guys give Genores Jenkins
Speaker 1: the nickname jack Rabbit or did he come accompanied with it? No,
Speaker 1: he came with it, he said his high school coach
Speaker 1: at practice. So I'm kind of running around and being
Speaker 1: all quick and jumping around and he called in jack
Speaker 1: Rabbit and that's where it came from. Well, John, thank
Speaker 1: you so much for all of this great insight. We
Speaker 1: will see you Sunday night at at and T Stadium.
Speaker 1: Have safe travels here and we'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1: Thanks guys, Sorry for the sports spot. I gotta one
Speaker 1: up to talk to he Ben mcindoefore, already, you're not
Speaker 1: much more important than talking to us. I'll guarantee you
Speaker 1: absolutely good. Thank you, Thank you Mickey for getting that
Speaker 1: great interview with us, because he You're right, he gave
Speaker 1: us a lot of good insight there. You know, when
Speaker 1: we go around the league and try to find people
Speaker 1: to talk about their team, John's tops. Yeah, I don't
Speaker 1: think we can find any guys that are. He's not
Speaker 1: going to sugarcoat it. He realizes that that you know,
Speaker 1: he's right about JPP. He's absolute right about that, and
Speaker 1: he's right about the offensive line. I mean, they've got
Speaker 1: issues in the middle of the line, and that you
Speaker 1: know they they they have struggles, and so yeah, he's
Speaker 1: always going to give you the fair assessment of really
Speaker 1: what's going on with this football team. Everybody's got issues
Speaker 1: the first week of the season at least, question right,
Speaker 1: because you haven't seen it. Yeah, so we'll see there's
Speaker 1: a lot of moving parts. But for the Dallas Cowboys,
Speaker 1: I want to know, let's make some gang predictions here.
Speaker 1: If you guys, who would just give us a score?
Speaker 1: We could put it on the rank of and we
Speaker 1: can who's keeping score here? I got it, we got it,
Speaker 1: the secretary, you start first, Mickey, I got the Cowboys
Speaker 1: twenty three twenty. Everyone's feeling really comfortable with that. Twenty
Speaker 1: is like a field goal to win it kind of
Speaker 1: a thing? Or yes? Probably you think it's like a
Speaker 1: last second field goal. Yes, this is gonna be or
Speaker 1: is it gonna be a very close game just like
Speaker 1: everyone last year against the Giant, They're gonna mob Dan
Speaker 1: Bailey after he kicked. Yes, absolutely all right, and he'll
Speaker 1: be interviewed on is that NBC does something NBC? Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: Does he get a turkey or what does he get? Nothing?
Speaker 1: I don't know what that's only for Thanksgiving holiday. Sorry.
Speaker 1: I got the Cowboys twenty four or fourteen defense first,
Speaker 1: but then they pull away, they get going. The Giants
Speaker 1: can't figure it out. Odell doesn't play, doesn't play, doesn't plays.
Speaker 1: Odell put that down as their bold prediction, as a
Speaker 1: good Bowl prediction, though Brian brought us you know, I've
Speaker 1: kind of gone back and forth in my mind on
Speaker 1: this one because I think the teams really are pretty
Speaker 1: evenly matched. I think that the Cowboys defensive offensively very explosive,
Speaker 1: and but the Giants can match that. You know, I
Speaker 1: wanted to say that it was going to be a
Speaker 1: low scoring game. I'll keep it as low scoring game.
Speaker 1: I think the Cowboys win this game twenty one seventeen.
Speaker 1: I don't think they're going to be able to kick
Speaker 1: field goals, so they're going to have to score touchdowns.
Speaker 1: I think the Cowboys defensively can do enough if they can.
Speaker 1: You know, if we talked about yesterday, I ask you
Speaker 1: guys some questions about interceptions, turnovers. That's going to be
Speaker 1: the difference in this football game. Right now. People talk
Speaker 1: about running the football and all that, but can the
Speaker 1: Cowboys take advantage of some giant misques. Hopefully Eli Manning
Speaker 1: will throw you a couple. Hopefully Dak Prescott won't throw
Speaker 1: them any that'll be the difference in the game twenty
Speaker 1: one seventeen Cowboys. What do you think was the key
Speaker 1: last year that the Cowboys you're going to defense held
Speaker 1: them to no more than twenty points in both games.
Speaker 1: That the Cowboys defense, I mean, they did that to
Speaker 1: so many teams, and I think, but we're talking about
Speaker 1: the Giants. No, they did a nice job. If the
Speaker 1: Giants did not have the big play guys they have.
Speaker 1: If you look at really, I mean the big plays
Speaker 1: that they made, there was like one big one big catch,
Speaker 1: one big run. They didn't they didn't give up. The
Speaker 1: Cowboys didn't give up a bunch of big plays. And
Speaker 1: when you play the Giants, that's usually the problem. You know,
Speaker 1: usually you get a Beckham slant pass that goes for
Speaker 1: sixty five yards or they are usually yeah, they run
Speaker 1: play action right and use that and they've they've struggled
Speaker 1: running the ball. But that's been a big Eli staple
Speaker 1: over the years. You use the run, you set up,
Speaker 1: you go play action and he goes deep. Yeah, sometub
Speaker 1: at the trap pass, stuff like that that they do.
Speaker 1: That one pass they threw down that they threw the
Speaker 1: seam in the first game to the tight end down
Speaker 1: the seam. See, that's what I worry about. Plays like that.
Speaker 1: Can you know, can the Cowboys match up and you
Speaker 1: know the Cowboys defense recipe defense for success or recipe
Speaker 1: for success on defense. Don't give up big plays they
Speaker 1: Mary Nelly's right, I'm gonna give up one less point.
Speaker 1: That's his that's his mantra, give up one less He
Speaker 1: could care less about the yards and Manning didn't have yards,
Speaker 1: they didn't run the ball, they didn't have success throwing it.
Speaker 1: It's just the Cowboys could not take advantage of the
Speaker 1: things that their defense gave him in those games. Well,
Speaker 1: I would have to say tackling, at least in the
Speaker 1: second game, Sean Lee was an absolute monster. I think
Speaker 1: he's anything getting past him. And I like what you
Speaker 1: say as far as he's your guy to watch because
Speaker 1: he feels comfortable. Yeah, not realm Just get him down,
Speaker 1: get him down, don't let him move, and keep going.
Speaker 1: So there you go, and Rob, let's hear your prediction.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go because we just to your point, Brian,
Speaker 1: you talked about big play guys, and we'll see if
Speaker 1: Odell plays in this game. But they have they added
Speaker 1: new weapons. They got Evan Ingram, They've got Brandon Marshall.
Speaker 1: The Cowboys have Zeke Back. I'm gonna say this is
Speaker 1: a little more higher scoring than we think it'll be.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go you guys basically said first team to
Speaker 1: twenty wins. I'm gonna say first team to thirty wins,
Speaker 1: thirty one, twenty seven. Cowboys get some revenge. Somebody said
Speaker 1: it's going to be an overtime game here. Oh oh,
Speaker 1: that'd be a late ever good ever good win. It's
Speaker 1: overtime game. It wasn't bad two years ago. It wasn't
Speaker 1: bad Philly. The Philly game with Dak last year, that
Speaker 1: was pretty good. Did you enjoy the dissertation last night
Speaker 1: on overtime? I did not hear that. This nobody. I
Speaker 1: enjoyed them hearing how important social media has been for
Speaker 1: Did you hear that? I guess I missed that part. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Chris Collinsworth made the comment, and now Michael's agreed with them.
Speaker 1: Al Michael's legendary broadcaster. They showed j They showed JJ
Speaker 1: Watt's fundraising page, and I think he's closing in on
Speaker 1: like thirty million. He's over twenty five millions. Right, it's
Speaker 1: a power social society. It will be in the death
Speaker 1: of society. Okay, except for raising money for people that
Speaker 1: need it. Thank you are the people that should be
Speaker 1: using Yeah. Yeah, but it's bad except for the what
Speaker 1: ca Yeah, it's only bad when it's not good. Hey,
Speaker 1: if I guess this couple of minutes to be what
Speaker 1: what could go bad? What do you think what would
Speaker 1: be the I mean, just a bad scenario, just one
Speaker 1: bad thought. It's something that you would say, Man, if
Speaker 1: I if this happens, if Kellen Moore's playing, okay, that's
Speaker 1: that's fair. But if there's no If if Mike Mickey says,
Speaker 1: if the Cowboys can't stop the run and all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, the giants are just staying ahead of the
Speaker 1: chains and they're just wearing you down that way now,
Speaker 1: you know, running and play action and all that stuff.
Speaker 1: I mean to me, that would be that would be
Speaker 1: a big, a big issue. Last night, both teams guys
Speaker 1: were falling like flies. Yeah, And one of the things
Speaker 1: Marinelli pointed out yesterday. What he worries about is I'm
Speaker 1: going to be playing a lot of guys that we
Speaker 1: had to regulate their snaps during preseason. Very fair point,
Speaker 1: that we had to regulate their snaps during training camp.
Speaker 1: And now I'm going to ask that Benson Mayo was
Speaker 1: the Tyrone Crawfords. The should be a woozier to go
Speaker 1: out there, Jalen Smith right out there and maybe play
Speaker 1: forty eight to seventy plays. Yeah, yeah, And he was
Speaker 1: somewhat concerned about that should be. That's good though, if
Speaker 1: you want to concern no matter how good this offensive
Speaker 1: line is, I the Giants pass rush and defensive pressure
Speaker 1: stopping the run. To me, if they get into third
Speaker 1: and nine, third and ten, third and eleven, they're not
Speaker 1: going to put a lot of points on the board.
Speaker 1: So it's it's it's a big challenge for this Cowboys
Speaker 1: offensive line. I think they're up to it, all right,
Speaker 1: Well all of us. Mickey, you'll have pregame coverage on
Speaker 1: Sunday and you'll be doing different things. Brian, you'll be
Speaker 1: here at the Star. Rob you'll be on the sidelines
Speaker 1: with me. We will be at at and T Stadium,
Speaker 1: and we will be covering the Dallas Cowboys season opener
Speaker 1: against the New York Giants, and we'll be here Monday
Speaker 1: at eleven thirty am to break it all down for
Speaker 1: you guys. Join us then. This has been a production
Speaker 1: of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.