Speaker 1: The following. He's a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. Are you ready for
Speaker 1: a break? Are you ready for a break? Absolutely ready
Speaker 1: for a break? Yeah, and so much for that. It's
Speaker 1: time for The Break on Dallas Cowboys dot Com with
Speaker 1: Nick Eatman, David Hellman, and bar Garcia and Derek Eagleton.
Speaker 1: It is Monday, August twentieth, twenty eighteen, Season fourteen, episode
Speaker 1: number twenty eight. Welcome to another edition of The Break,
Speaker 1: live from the s WBC Morgage Studios at the Star.
Speaker 1: We're back at the Star, away from Oxnard, California, and
Speaker 1: already talk some Cowboys football. How's everybody field in this morning?
Speaker 1: I feel I mean, I know that's bad timing because
Speaker 1: I feel great. I'm good. I feel great. Yeah, it rested,
Speaker 1: really bad timing. Okay, good, perfect? Amber good. Oh, it's
Speaker 1: good to be home. Yes, it's very good to be ready. Nice.
Speaker 1: Nick tired. I don't know why. The first two days
Speaker 1: it was just a normal time. But now I'm like
Speaker 1: back on the West Coast time or something. I haven't
Speaker 1: try to figure it all out. Yeah, yeah, we're good though,
Speaker 1: Let's get it going here. Good, we got a lot
Speaker 1: to talk about today. We got the game. Are you
Speaker 1: doing Derek? Thank you Amber for asking. No one ever
Speaker 1: ask me that, but thank you. I'm feeling great. Everything's great,
Speaker 1: everything's great. All right, So we got a lot to
Speaker 1: talk about. Cowboys lose, But do they really a game
Speaker 1: where where you saw again, just like the game the
Speaker 1: first week of the preseason, you saw a lot to
Speaker 1: be very positive about when it comes to this team,
Speaker 1: specifically if you want to look at the first team.
Speaker 1: So let's start there. Just give me the kind of
Speaker 1: a quick your thought on the game overall this week
Speaker 1: for the Cowboys versus the Bengals. Well, I mean these games,
Speaker 1: are you win the first half? That's all you really
Speaker 1: want to do. You just want to win the first
Speaker 1: half and get out of the game healthy. And they
Speaker 1: were able to do one out of two. We'll talk
Speaker 1: about injuries in a little bit, but I mean, I
Speaker 1: think you know they're up ten nothing at the half.
Speaker 1: They were up I think fourteen seven last week. I
Speaker 1: mean that that's what you want, That's what you want
Speaker 1: out of these games. Are the starters better than your starters?
Speaker 1: Look at that play? Right? There have been a lot
Speaker 1: of people won't be able to do that there showing
Speaker 1: Dak's touchdown to Terrence Williams on the TV's in here
Speaker 1: right now, right now. So the point is, I wanted
Speaker 1: to point out real quick, it's like how people keep
Speaker 1: talking about Dak Prescott and he's an ability of maybe
Speaker 1: not being like the perfect quarterback or whatever throwing passes.
Speaker 1: But that's again why you like this guy, that he's
Speaker 1: capable to make those moves and although he's not always
Speaker 1: perfect with the passes, the fact that he can move around,
Speaker 1: get out of the pocket and still have time to
Speaker 1: make a good throw there and connect with Terrence. I mean,
Speaker 1: you love, you need a quarterback that can do that,
Speaker 1: and you got Dac that does that perfectly. Honest with you,
Speaker 1: I know you, I know how you prepare, So I'm
Speaker 1: not trying to cut your legs out from underneath you.
Speaker 1: But we've got a lot of topics, so go for
Speaker 1: it with It's it's just a net win because we're
Speaker 1: not talking about replacing Zach Martin right now. That's where
Speaker 1: we're going next. I don't don't care about anything else, honest,
Speaker 1: and I'll be completely honest with you. It's my job
Speaker 1: to cover this team. I'm supposed to watch the game.
Speaker 1: As soon as he got hurt. I checked out down
Speaker 1: to about a ten percent attention span for most of
Speaker 1: the rest of the game because I was writing a
Speaker 1: story about the injury. I was scanning the sideline to
Speaker 1: see if he was coming back out. I was trying
Speaker 1: to listen to the radio broadcast to see if Christy
Speaker 1: Scales had an update. I was imagining the conference call
Speaker 1: on Sunday where Jason Garrett calls in with the results
Speaker 1: of the MRI to tell us that Zach tores acl
Speaker 1: you know, like what veterans are out there, all of
Speaker 1: that stuff that we've done that before, and that's not
Speaker 1: a fun cover. No, no, it's not fun and for
Speaker 1: us to be you know, we're not leading off talking
Speaker 1: about that. I don't give a crap about anything else
Speaker 1: that happened in that game, because Zach Martin is either
Speaker 1: your best or one of your two or three best
Speaker 1: players on this team, and for about an hour and
Speaker 1: a half on Saturday night, I thought he was done
Speaker 1: for the year. So when that happened, I was doing
Speaker 1: sideline and it happened literally right in front of me,
Speaker 1: and when I saw him go down, I'm like, damn, Zach,
Speaker 1: he's a beast. That's why he's a beast. And then
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh wait, crap, that actually because the hint
Speaker 1: was so hard that I'm thinking, you know, this beast
Speaker 1: guy that just can't take anything, and then he's just
Speaker 1: laying on the ground like, oh oh boy, this does
Speaker 1: not look good. It's very unusual for one of those
Speaker 1: guys to have a situation like that. Travis has never
Speaker 1: missed the snap. Zach has never missed a regular season snap.
Speaker 1: It took eight injuries for Tyrn Smith to eventually have
Speaker 1: to bow out of games last year, like it's unusual.
Speaker 1: So to see him have to not only leave the game,
Speaker 1: but go into that evaluation tent I just did not
Speaker 1: seem good. Okay, so let's go a little bit deeper
Speaker 1: into that. Talk to me about the status of Zach
Speaker 1: mar at this point. We all know that I think
Speaker 1: everybody's heard at this point it's not season ending, But
Speaker 1: tell us the status in and how long he's expected
Speaker 1: to be out. An updated status from today is a
Speaker 1: little white sleeve on his knee, able to get a
Speaker 1: chicken sandwich. I think from the line or wherever I
Speaker 1: saw him, No, I didn't. I just saw it. But
Speaker 1: walking around there was two other guys not able to
Speaker 1: do that. They had some crutches. He's slight lamp. And
Speaker 1: then I started doing math in my head, like, okay,
Speaker 1: twentieth eleven more days plus nine, it's twenty days to go.
Speaker 1: He's fine, twenty days to go. He's good for the
Speaker 1: first game. I do. I do think he's good for
Speaker 1: the first game if I had to. I mean, that's
Speaker 1: the word coming out of the organization too, is that
Speaker 1: they're optimistic he'll be ready for week one. No dress
Speaker 1: rehearsal for him. No, No, it's twenty something days away,
Speaker 1: and it's a tough guy. I would imagine he'll be ready.
Speaker 1: Let's be honest here, based on a lot of different scenarios,
Speaker 1: and I'll just leave it at that. I don't think.
Speaker 1: I don't think your dress rehearsal is going to look
Speaker 1: the same as normally. I don't know if you play
Speaker 1: as many guys as you have played in the past
Speaker 1: for this particular Okay, so back up before we get
Speaker 1: to that. I do want to talk though about what
Speaker 1: happened once he left the game. Who goes in in
Speaker 1: his place, and how comfortable do you feel with that,
Speaker 1: knowing that once you get into the season you may
Speaker 1: have a similar situation if he should go down. Remember
Speaker 1: that Travis Frederick was also out with the shoulder injury,
Speaker 1: and I don't think they're too concerned about that. So
Speaker 1: because Joe Looney was playing center, Kadeem Edwards came in.
Speaker 1: If this was just a regular season game that Frederick starts,
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure it would have been Looney that went
Speaker 1: into guard. So that's kind of where they stand, and
Speaker 1: we're all we're all talking, Okay, what happens if he's
Speaker 1: out for a long time. Do you move Lyle back
Speaker 1: to guard? Do you move Fleming to guard? Do you
Speaker 1: put Looney there? You know a lot of different options,
Speaker 1: and they really don't have to mess with that. I
Speaker 1: think for this game, I think you play kade Edwards
Speaker 1: to see if he makes your football team. I think
Speaker 1: he's right there on the edge of the eighth lineman.
Speaker 1: I think he's the eighth lineman right now on the team.
Speaker 1: But is someone that's gonna get cut gonna be better
Speaker 1: than Kadem Edwards? That's what's going to come down to
Speaker 1: to me. Apps, Yeah, I completely agree. I think that's
Speaker 1: one of the biggest things facing one of the biggest
Speaker 1: unknowns is you know, how you round out that old
Speaker 1: line depth chart. I know, I mean it looked pretty
Speaker 1: awful after the main guys got out the other night,
Speaker 1: which I feel like, you know, you look around on Twitter,
Speaker 1: that's like a lot of doom and gloom, like that's
Speaker 1: just preseason football. That's there's not a lot of good
Speaker 1: offensive linemen in the NFL. And if you've got five
Speaker 1: or six that you feel good about. I thought Joe
Speaker 1: Looney played really well for a guy that had to
Speaker 1: come in and play a boatload more than he's probably
Speaker 1: used to because Travis Frederick didn't play. Now you know,
Speaker 1: we know Zach and Travis are probably good for the
Speaker 1: season opener. You got seven guys that you feel pretty
Speaker 1: good about. I think Cam Fleming probably could have played
Speaker 1: better on Saturday, but I didn't think he was terrible.
Speaker 1: I promise the Golden State Warriors are going to have
Speaker 1: a bad bitch because they've got the best players in
Speaker 1: the league. And that's what happens. What what what veteran's
Speaker 1: gonna want to come to play the offensive line here.
Speaker 1: They're not drafting a whole lot of offensive linemen to
Speaker 1: be backups, and the ones they are just aren't very good,
Speaker 1: which I mean, you know, I can hear the people
Speaker 1: at home reminding us about the Chaz Green game. I do.
Speaker 1: I mean Cam Fleming is a step up from that.
Speaker 1: He's he had a good training camp. Like I said,
Speaker 1: he could have been better against the Bengals. I'm not
Speaker 1: sounding any alarms about it right now. Like I think
Speaker 1: you've got seven that you feel pretty good about when
Speaker 1: you add in Fleming and Looney and then whether it's
Speaker 1: Kadeem Edwards. I have a hard time believing it would
Speaker 1: be Chaz Green, but maybe it's possible, or that would
Speaker 1: be interesting, it would be or you look, you look
Speaker 1: to the waiver wire, I think you know, that's a
Speaker 1: spot where I think they're going to be looking for
Speaker 1: a guy who can maybe be better than what they've got. Right,
Speaker 1: if they keep Chaz Green, then they need to just
Speaker 1: give back all those T shirts that say, like the
Speaker 1: seventeen inch shirts of Everybody's the same and all that stuff,
Speaker 1: we don't care where your draft status is, because they
Speaker 1: obviously do. They obviously care about draft status. If they're
Speaker 1: gonna keep Chaz Green, if for three years, I understand,
Speaker 1: Dalton Schultz is a tight end who really hasn't done
Speaker 1: anything and they want to keep him. I get that,
Speaker 1: but not for him, not for Green who almost got
Speaker 1: your quarterback killed last year. I just don't see he
Speaker 1: hasn't done anything to show that much improvement. You would
Speaker 1: just keep him just because you have him and you
Speaker 1: don't want I don't either. I was I was really
Speaker 1: just trying to cover my bases, like, I don't think
Speaker 1: they'll keep him either. I think he's had enough time.
Speaker 1: Kadeem or a guy, a player to be named later,
Speaker 1: if I had a guess. All right, let's move on
Speaker 1: um and this one, Nick, I heard you say. I
Speaker 1: don't know if you were talking to me or I
Speaker 1: just overheard you telling someone else. But after the game
Speaker 1: you said, you know that's that was not the biggest injury.
Speaker 1: Not necessarily concerned, because it was a concern at first,
Speaker 1: but once you kind of figured out he was gonna
Speaker 1: be okay, you were way more concerned about Xavier Woods.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about Xavier Woods and his injury. He gets
Speaker 1: a hamstring injury and it has to leave the game.
Speaker 1: He gets a hamstring injury doing what we've been waiting
Speaker 1: for him health for him to do and he did
Speaker 1: something similar in the San Francisco game as well. He's
Speaker 1: I mean, we talk about Dak being a gamer, Xavier
Speaker 1: Woods appears to be a gamer. It was an awesome player.
Speaker 1: He did get trucked a little earlier in the game,
Speaker 1: but you want your safety. Someone too over the middle
Speaker 1: too bed. It was Byron Jones. He did do that,
Speaker 1: trying to say he's Eric Barry. I'm just he was
Speaker 1: making a good play. Yes, no, I'm with you, I'm
Speaker 1: with it God, and it got him hurt. He dropped
Speaker 1: the ball though too. God. Well, he was making a play.
Speaker 1: Can I get serious? I do give him that, like
Speaker 1: he came from. He made a lot of ground. He
Speaker 1: get there a nice good play. He didn't, I mean,
Speaker 1: didn't make any great That's one of the things we've
Speaker 1: talked about, or at least I have in the past,
Speaker 1: as when you speak about him, is him being or
Speaker 1: not being that kind of player like for example, Jeff Heath.
Speaker 1: That just it's aggressive and just comes out of nowhere
Speaker 1: and it's not afraid to make a tackle. And I
Speaker 1: mean this time he took a chance and it just
Speaker 1: wasn't good. He showed the range that you're looking for,
Speaker 1: and then that's that's good. Okay, in stinks. Well, it
Speaker 1: doesn't matter because now he's done for his every season
Speaker 1: problem two to four weeks, which means there's a good chance,
Speaker 1: I think a sizeable chance that he's not going to
Speaker 1: be there for week one. Now weeks. If guys, if
Speaker 1: you guys are listening, remember last week we were going
Speaker 1: through the roster and trying to make it down to
Speaker 1: our fifty three and one of the things we talked
Speaker 1: about was the lack of depth at the safety position.
Speaker 1: Now you're in a situation where you have to feel
Speaker 1: this spot at least probably for one week, if not longer.
Speaker 1: And you've got some more issues going on there as well,
Speaker 1: because you've got and I know this doesn't matter for
Speaker 1: week one, but it matters for right now, is that
Speaker 1: you're you're when your backups. Jamal Showers hurt his knee.
Speaker 1: He's on crutches right now. Did we hear exactly what
Speaker 1: he's got? Is it a torn a cl I think
Speaker 1: it's an a cl I mean it doesn't look good
Speaker 1: at if you're on crutches, If you're on crushes, you're
Speaker 1: probably not playing this week. Or next at the very least,
Speaker 1: you're probably not playing against the Cardinals. And Huff hasn't
Speaker 1: He's been hurt, that's growing injury hasn't done much. Forget
Speaker 1: forget the part where they might not have their starting
Speaker 1: free safety for week one. They don't have enough guys
Speaker 1: to get through this week, although apparently they disagree because
Speaker 1: I you know, I haven't heard anything about anybody coming
Speaker 1: in here. It's just Monday. But they got practice in
Speaker 1: three hours. I mean, you got you got Joe, you
Speaker 1: got cave On Frasier, you got Tyree Robinson, and he's
Speaker 1: being a little banged up too. Keith was playing with
Speaker 1: an ankle injury too. Tyree Robinson and Cam Kelly are
Speaker 1: about to get a hell of a look so at
Speaker 1: trying to make some noise on this roster. So listen,
Speaker 1: I think that I'm a firm believer of the law
Speaker 1: of attraction, and explain what action the law of attraction.
Speaker 1: When you really believe something, and when you stake your
Speaker 1: mind into it, you attracted, the world just works in
Speaker 1: your favor. You believe that I truly believed, I'm a
Speaker 1: walking testimony of that. Anyways, umat that you want to
Speaker 1: believe in it. I think that the world is conspiring
Speaker 1: to help someone in Seattle to get what he wants,
Speaker 1: which is to be here, and the world is it's yeah,
Speaker 1: it's conspiring to his benefits. I want to have, like,
Speaker 1: I just want to stop talking about the cowboys and
Speaker 1: have like a forty five minute philosophical discussion about this.
Speaker 1: Let's do that after. We can't do that right and
Speaker 1: the break is not time? Um, I mean, I what
Speaker 1: what else can what else can you? What else can
Speaker 1: we say? I mean, I mean, well, here's the question.
Speaker 1: This side of the table has been concerned about safety
Speaker 1: since March. So what do you want me to say
Speaker 1: that I haven't. I think there are two things that
Speaker 1: can be discussed right now. One of them is a
Speaker 1: new development in the way of Georgia Loca, who is
Speaker 1: the safety and Cincinnati. I hope I'll pronouncing that right. Um,
Speaker 1: he was a safety in Cincinnati, was their starting safety
Speaker 1: since twenty thirteen. Uh, they just cut him for what
Speaker 1: they call salary cap reasons. But typically when you cut
Speaker 1: a guy, no matter what his salary is, for whatever
Speaker 1: reason you're not happy with his play. Um. They they
Speaker 1: selected by somebody in the second round. They're ready to
Speaker 1: make that guy their start, presume, and so he's on
Speaker 1: the street. Should the Cowboys go in a player like that,
Speaker 1: that's a veteran that may not cost a ton of money,
Speaker 1: especially where he is right now being cut at this
Speaker 1: point to where you get yourself some relief and you
Speaker 1: get yourself an extra body. And when Xavier Wood comes back,
Speaker 1: he doesn't slow down the progress of an Xavier Woods
Speaker 1: right Wood, Is that the way to go? Or do
Speaker 1: you think that this changes anything about what we've been
Speaker 1: talking about for months, which is this whole thing kind
Speaker 1: of sitting out there in Seattle with Earl Thomas. I mean, well,
Speaker 1: you're the earl guy. Go ahead. Well, And I wrote
Speaker 1: a column after the game and I said, you know what,
Speaker 1: like you have to get a guy that can play now,
Speaker 1: because you didn't even know if you had one. An
Speaker 1: Xavier Woods. We think that he's pretty good, he's got
Speaker 1: he's a good young prospect, and he didn't make a
Speaker 1: ton of plays in training camp. But let's also remember
Speaker 1: this about training camp. This team doesn't really throw the
Speaker 1: ball down the field in practice. They don't really stretch
Speaker 1: the field. They don't really hurt you and make you
Speaker 1: worried about the safeties, don't really have to worry about
Speaker 1: the deep ball. So he's not gonna get tested. He's
Speaker 1: not going to make a lot of plays, so you
Speaker 1: can't the fault him a lot for that. But you
Speaker 1: still don't know exactly what you have. You need to
Speaker 1: get a guy that you do know what you have.
Speaker 1: And the thing about this situation is is that there's
Speaker 1: a player out there that is that you know is good.
Speaker 1: There's a player out there that wants to be here.
Speaker 1: He fits under the salary cap for this year, and
Speaker 1: there now is a glaring need. There's all of these
Speaker 1: reasons of why four yes is usually mean hell yeah,
Speaker 1: And I just made it up, so calculations. We're doing
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff today this I'm not back to school,
Speaker 1: and you know, and we heard Stephen Jones talk a
Speaker 1: little bit on a couple occasions at training camp, and
Speaker 1: I think Steven kind of goes back and forth with
Speaker 1: his in his mind. He's like, you know, we don't
Speaker 1: I really want to pay a thirty year old but
Speaker 1: he's really good, you know, but you know, we don't
Speaker 1: really like It's like Earl Thomas breaks the rules of
Speaker 1: what they typically don't want to do, which is pay
Speaker 1: these guys and give him a third contract. But when
Speaker 1: you're six time pro bowler and you're in you're in
Speaker 1: a position that this team really hasn't had a good player,
Speaker 1: you know it kind of you can there's exceptions to
Speaker 1: the rule. I think he's one of them that all
Speaker 1: sounds really good. But I just keep going back to
Speaker 1: the hear what you're saying, but yeah, well here's why,
Speaker 1: here's why I think you're wrong. It goes back to
Speaker 1: leverage for me, which is the Cowboys now have none, um,
Speaker 1: the whatever impetus there was for Seattle to lower their
Speaker 1: prices gone now at least in their mind, and oh
Speaker 1: now you want it. Oh here's the other thing. If
Speaker 1: I'm being brutally honest, these guys like to think, or
Speaker 1: sometimes maybe they actually are, but they like to think
Speaker 1: that they're the smartest people in the room. And they're
Speaker 1: not going to like come to Seattle with their hat
Speaker 1: in their hand like we're sorry, we'll pay whatever. They're negotiators, Yeah,
Speaker 1: they know how to negotiate. They're not going to do that.
Speaker 1: They're not just gonna be like you were right, we
Speaker 1: were wrong, we'll pay you like that's I don't believe
Speaker 1: that's going to happen. So I don't think this changes
Speaker 1: much of anything except that they're like, crap, we gotta
Speaker 1: we gotta get somebody, but probably not that um. And
Speaker 1: that's why I mean Georgia Loca is like is like
Speaker 1: manna from the heavens, because it's like, this isn't going
Speaker 1: to ruin our cap. He's you know, it's not going
Speaker 1: to slow down Xavier Woods like you're saying he's not
Speaker 1: a progress stopper. It reminds me a lot of Will Allen,
Speaker 1: who twenty thirteen they said he didn't even he didn't
Speaker 1: even last long here, but that was because they had
Speaker 1: a guy they felt good about in JJ Wilcox, which
Speaker 1: I know JJ Wilcox never lit the world on fire,
Speaker 1: but he was better than anything that's here right now
Speaker 1: other than Heath. So that's what I'm thinking is try
Speaker 1: to get him or or somebody like him, if there's
Speaker 1: anybody left on the market. But I don't think it
Speaker 1: changes a whole lot. In terms of Earl Thomas, I
Speaker 1: kind of agree with, And I also think you can
Speaker 1: sign him, and you know, it basically shows Seattle kind
Speaker 1: of what you're talking. You know we're still We're still
Speaker 1: where we are. Like if if you signed Georgia Loca
Speaker 1: and Earl Thomas, situation still fell in your lap for
Speaker 1: what they want, you still do it. I mean something.
Speaker 1: I don't know exactly what he would he's going to
Speaker 1: command when it's all said and done. I know that
Speaker 1: the Raiders are interested in him too. I feel like
Speaker 1: the Raiders have been interested in every free agent the
Speaker 1: Cowboys have been interested today. But I don't know what
Speaker 1: salary he's going to command, But it won't be enough
Speaker 1: to stop you if you can get a world materializes. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And to be honest with you, I think a one
Speaker 1: year deal makes a ton of sense from a standwoy.
Speaker 1: If you can get Georgia Local to sign here for
Speaker 1: a one year deal. The beautiful part about that is
Speaker 1: Earl Thomas is a free agent after this year. So
Speaker 1: then when you tell Seattle's we've already figured ours out
Speaker 1: for this year, we don't need your guy. And now
Speaker 1: you take back what Dave was talking about. You take
Speaker 1: back that that leverage, so now you don't have to
Speaker 1: do a deal with Seattle, and Seattle knows you don't
Speaker 1: have to do it. Again with them, and you can
Speaker 1: wait till he becomes a free agent. When he becomes
Speaker 1: a free agent, if you want him, go get him.
Speaker 1: I think there's a perception that that Seattle and maybe
Speaker 1: these people have watched the movie Draft Day, but I
Speaker 1: think there's a perception that Seattle sitting at a two
Speaker 1: and the Cowboys don't want to pay it too. And
Speaker 1: now that this guy got hurt, and now that they've
Speaker 1: gone to a one, I don't think that. I don't
Speaker 1: think that's the case. I think that they're still probably
Speaker 1: where they are. The Cowboys have to just come up
Speaker 1: to that maybe, but I don't I don't know that
Speaker 1: this again, I don't know that the Cowboys feel like
Speaker 1: again if it's especially if they can find a safety
Speaker 1: that they can get some veterans safety that they think
Speaker 1: they can bring in to add a body to give
Speaker 1: them protection until the Xavier Woods is healthy again. Like
Speaker 1: Dave said earlier, that play he made and he did
Speaker 1: a similar thing against Seattle. Those are things that are
Speaker 1: making the Cowboys I'm sure thinking, right, maybe we got
Speaker 1: something this young guy, and this is what why we
Speaker 1: drafted him is because we thought he had this playmaking ability.
Speaker 1: Maybe we should be going this year with him. So
Speaker 1: I just think, all things being considered, I think this
Speaker 1: doesn't change anything from the cowboysspective's concerned. Georgia Loga hasn't
Speaker 1: missed the start since twenty thirteen. He's got nine career
Speaker 1: picks and three hundred and fifty career tackles. That's better
Speaker 1: than anything you got. For all, I know, his play
Speaker 1: has probably dipped again. For I know they say it's financial.
Speaker 1: You don't get cut if you're playing at the top
Speaker 1: of your game. Now they do say five points six
Speaker 1: million against the cap this year, so if they've got
Speaker 1: another option, that less than a million. But if he's
Speaker 1: playing like Earl Thomas, you happily eat that money makes
Speaker 1: you have a great safety. So he's probably dipped. He's
Speaker 1: still better than a couple of undrafted free agent rookies.
Speaker 1: Now here's the other thing y'all didn't consider. He's a
Speaker 1: boise steak guy. I was about to say, I was
Speaker 1: about to say that. Actually know well, I was about
Speaker 1: to say. I remember being at the Senior Bowl when
Speaker 1: he was there, and I remember he was another one
Speaker 1: of the boise steak guys, and I remember the Cowboys
Speaker 1: talking to him a lot, and so it made me
Speaker 1: think that I'm sure they went to his pro day
Speaker 1: because I mean, they just probably lived there. They have
Speaker 1: a Boysey scout. I want y'all to pay me to
Speaker 1: go to boards to bring him to figure out what's
Speaker 1: going on down to Boyse whole triangle like we did
Speaker 1: the Texas Triangle up there. It's just been a week. Hope,
Speaker 1: I haven't. I boys is beautiful and you've been there, No,
Speaker 1: but I know, I just know it is. Let's go
Speaker 1: to the blue Field. I would love to go to
Speaker 1: We're gonna see, yeah, what's just to see what's happening
Speaker 1: and I and there's no way of knowing how that's
Speaker 1: gonna play. I haven't heard anything. I don't you know.
Speaker 1: I made a joke on Twitter yesterday is like, get
Speaker 1: on the phone. He's probably still in Dallas, like he
Speaker 1: hasn't even left town. But I don't. I mean, that
Speaker 1: would be cool if they would have said, you know what,
Speaker 1: you don't even get to come back. It would be here.
Speaker 1: It would be like that. It would just be too perfect,
Speaker 1: Like he's not going to significantly alter anything that you
Speaker 1: need to do for your future, but he could start
Speaker 1: right now yeah, I agree. All right, let's take our
Speaker 1: first break. When we come back, I do want to
Speaker 1: talk a little bit more about this game. Let's get
Speaker 1: into Dak Prescott and how he performed and really what
Speaker 1: that means for this season. If it means anything, We'll
Speaker 1: do that when we come right back. This is Dallas
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Speaker 1: will be a practice this afternoon here at the Star.
Speaker 1: For those of you in the Dallas area you want
Speaker 1: a chance to be able to come out and check
Speaker 1: out the Cowboys in practice, this is your opportunity. They'll
Speaker 1: be out practicing today, Tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday. They're afternoon
Speaker 1: practices today and tomorrow. No practice on Wednesday, it's player's
Speaker 1: day off. Thursday and Friday they'll be in the morning.
Speaker 1: Check the website for more information about what times and
Speaker 1: what days. But if you get a chance, come check
Speaker 1: it out. It's good stuff. If you haven't been out
Speaker 1: to the Star, it's worth a trip just to get
Speaker 1: out here and see everything. I think there's some really
Speaker 1: cool stuff people I've talked to Sometimes we're too close
Speaker 1: to it. But the people I've talked to who have
Speaker 1: come out here just to hang out saying a lot's
Speaker 1: a good experience. Watch practice in the ac go get
Speaker 1: some raising canes or some pizza before or after. Yep,
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Speaker 1: I have done that before, and I love to do
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Speaker 1: the people I do. I love the people. All right,
Speaker 1: let's get back into it. Let's talk something about this game.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about Dak Prescott. This week he was ten
Speaker 1: of fifteen eighty six yards one touchdown, buying that with
Speaker 1: last week his three or three for thirty nine yards
Speaker 1: in a touchdown. He is thirteen of eighteen, seventy two
Speaker 1: percent completion rate, one hundred and twenty five yards, two touchdowns,
Speaker 1: no interceptions, and in four possessions. As Dave so aptly
Speaker 1: pointed out on Twitter, he's had four possessions in these
Speaker 1: two preseason games, two touchdowns, one field goal, one punt.
Speaker 1: And he's done that without Zeke, without Cole Beasley, without
Speaker 1: Tavon Austin for this last game. What do you think
Speaker 1: right now, Zach, of Dak Prescott and how he's performing
Speaker 1: in these games. I think it's very important that you
Speaker 1: just mentioned without Ezekiel Elliott. I think that that's huge play.
Speaker 1: Actions aren't the same when you're trying to fake it
Speaker 1: to Rod Smith up the middle and fake it to Zeke.
Speaker 1: I think that you know that, and you also know
Speaker 1: another thing that I don't think Dak's gonna run as
Speaker 1: much as he would in the regular season. He did
Speaker 1: in the first game, there was a chance in the
Speaker 1: second game. I don't believe I believe he would have
Speaker 1: run in a regular game. And because it ended up
Speaker 1: being an interest, I mean, an incompletion, he forced it
Speaker 1: to Blake Jarwin to go up and make a play.
Speaker 1: I mean, the only one tight end is going to
Speaker 1: do that, so I don't think it would be him.
Speaker 1: Ut they're not playing the same type of game and
Speaker 1: they're still being effective. I think I think it's it's
Speaker 1: a good sign. I think he looks great. Yeah, um
Speaker 1: and yeah. It hasn't been perfect. I wrote in my
Speaker 1: story on Saturday night, he missed Jarwin. Um he I
Speaker 1: think it was. He loves Blake Jarwin by the way
Speaker 1: he's I think he's targeted him thirty percent of the
Speaker 1: snaps that he's been on. You know that he's thrown
Speaker 1: the ball. Um, he missed him wide again. He made
Speaker 1: a really questionable throw on a comeback route where the receiver,
Speaker 1: I mean the dB had good positioning on it and
Speaker 1: it could have been a pick. Like, He's not perfect
Speaker 1: by any stretch, but I think he's been good. He's
Speaker 1: led the offense. Uh. You know, Brian brought Us always
Speaker 1: gives him so much credit for his sleight of hand
Speaker 1: in his play fakes. I thought the work he did
Speaker 1: on the screen to Rod Smith was incredible, Like he
Speaker 1: basically gave himself up to make that play successful by
Speaker 1: holding onto the ball long enough to get Rod Open.
Speaker 1: He's been moving the offense. They're averaging ten plays per
Speaker 1: possession when he's in there, and that's you know, I know,
Speaker 1: you wonder about explosiveness. I think they averaged five point
Speaker 1: seven yards per completion in this game, and it's like
Speaker 1: six point eight over the two games, which isn't amazing,
Speaker 1: But that's not this offense. It's just not. Even in
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen, Dak threw it long to Dez a few times,
Speaker 1: but that's not what this offense is predicated on. And
Speaker 1: when you mix it with the fact that Zeke hasn't
Speaker 1: been in there, I think it's looked really good overall.
Speaker 1: That's one of the things I was going to mention,
Speaker 1: the fact that you're able to move this offense without
Speaker 1: relying on Zeke. And again Rod Smith, he does a
Speaker 1: great job and he's been doing great. But when you're
Speaker 1: not running the ball, he's still Dak is still able
Speaker 1: to move down the ball. And is it flashy, No,
Speaker 1: But the point is get to these I think it's
Speaker 1: flashy and its efficiency though, like it's again, this isn't yeah,
Speaker 1: this isn't like this big play, quick strike offense, and
Speaker 1: that's you can come at me and say, well, that's
Speaker 1: why they sucked last year, Like that was this offense
Speaker 1: in sixteen two. That's what they do. That's what they've done,
Speaker 1: and it works, especially works when Zeke's out there doing
Speaker 1: his thing, which is why I was so preoccupied when
Speaker 1: I thought Zack Martin was done for the year, because
Speaker 1: that's going to hurt your ability to do that. You're
Speaker 1: going to be successful playing this way, you need that line.
Speaker 1: But I mean, would people magically feel better if he
Speaker 1: had hit Blake Jarwin on that one play? You know, like,
Speaker 1: if that one throw magically makes you feel that much better,
Speaker 1: then I think that's flawed thinking. Yeah, I think, But
Speaker 1: I do think that at some point they're gonna need
Speaker 1: to show some some speed down the field and that
Speaker 1: will happen. I mean, these guys can get down the field,
Speaker 1: but for the majority, you're going to see these curls
Speaker 1: where Hearns is just sitting there and available, and Terrence
Speaker 1: Williams the same way, and very very little Tavon Austin
Speaker 1: so far in this preseason. He's going to be moving
Speaker 1: around and avoiding plays and then there's a tight end
Speaker 1: or one of these receivers just sitting there and it's
Speaker 1: going to be nine yards, turn up the field, get
Speaker 1: two more yards and you're moving the chains and it's
Speaker 1: it's not flashy. You know. What I really like about
Speaker 1: Dak too, is the fact that he's able to think.
Speaker 1: He I mean, yes, he might not be as precise
Speaker 1: with his passes how as you liked him to be,
Speaker 1: but he thinks. He just doesn't get rid of the ball,
Speaker 1: and I know you want to get rid of the
Speaker 1: ball quickly, but he does it in a smart way.
Speaker 1: And and the fact that he's able to run and
Speaker 1: throw the ball at the same time as well as
Speaker 1: thinking and trying to figure out who his target is
Speaker 1: gonna be. I love that about him. And yes he's
Speaker 1: not a perfect but those are the qualities that it's
Speaker 1: still gonna get you somewhere. The biggest way, the biggest
Speaker 1: person that's going to help him become Dak friendly is Dak.
Speaker 1: I mean he knowing the offense and knowing exactly where
Speaker 1: that guy's gonna be. And let's not put this all
Speaker 1: on Daz on Daz's routes and stuff like that. I mean,
Speaker 1: but I do think that there are some not just
Speaker 1: the other players, but Dak knowing this guy's going to
Speaker 1: be sitting right here. So when I can get this
Speaker 1: big lineman out of my face and get over here
Speaker 1: and open up this window, there, Alan Hearns will be
Speaker 1: You think about this in terms of explosive and chunk
Speaker 1: plays too, I mean, like you know, touchdowns from twenty
Speaker 1: or more yards away, like that's a rare thing in
Speaker 1: the NFL. You can probably count on Zeke for four
Speaker 1: to six of those per year based on his track record,
Speaker 1: whether that's screen passes or long runs. And then the
Speaker 1: rest of it is gonna be methodical. And if Tavon Austin,
Speaker 1: Michael Gallop and whoever, if the receivers can combine for
Speaker 1: another five that's all I'm looking for, and then the
Speaker 1: rest of it is going to be this methodical style
Speaker 1: of offense. So I'm happy to see that the bread
Speaker 1: and butter looks like it's working, and then you need
Speaker 1: to see that explosive element. But adding in other starters
Speaker 1: and I think that'll come together as you go, especially
Speaker 1: jam Yeah. I mean, well, like I'm saying, what, you
Speaker 1: probably score for more than twenty yards out eight to
Speaker 1: ten times per season, maybe, and I think they can
Speaker 1: make up for that difference. By adding Zeke and when
Speaker 1: you look at two long, when you look at two
Speaker 1: thousand and sixteen, that was exactly what they were doing.
Speaker 1: That drive that they ended up having that was sixteen
Speaker 1: plays and I think eighty two yards and like eight
Speaker 1: plus minutes. That's how they made their living in twenty sixteen.
Speaker 1: And I think that's what they're looking to do. That's
Speaker 1: the beauty of this offense is when you have that
Speaker 1: dominant and offensive line, that dominant or runner, then you
Speaker 1: want to have those long guys. It makes your defense
Speaker 1: better than on top. Did you did? I mean Dez
Speaker 1: probably scored three or four touchdowns of twenty five or
Speaker 1: more yards that season, and they need a guy that
Speaker 1: can do that. But between Tavon Gallup, Hearns, maybe Deontay Thompson, whatever,
Speaker 1: He'll get a few. Somebody can make up for that.
Speaker 1: Somebody can it. Almost and I said this on Twitter,
Speaker 1: it almost became the worst sixteen play drive ever because
Speaker 1: if it would have been eleven plays or twelve plays
Speaker 1: and you get a field goal and not lose your
Speaker 1: starting guard, right, I mean that's why I said it, like,
Speaker 1: this is a great drive right now if if he
Speaker 1: there's bad news coming out of that medical tent. Then
Speaker 1: this was a really horrible drive. That was my tweet.
Speaker 1: It was about as perfect as he can get, except
Speaker 1: for the fact that I just put be good there.
Speaker 1: If if preseason is for shaking off the rust, I
Speaker 1: love that this offense can average ten yard ten plays
Speaker 1: every time they go out there, like we haven't seen
Speaker 1: we haven't seen a three and out from the starters yet.
Speaker 1: That's great in my opinion. Without Zeke Let's flip to
Speaker 1: the to a little later in the game, Cooper Rush
Speaker 1: comes in and he goes six of nine for thirty
Speaker 1: seven yards, not a touchdown. Are you at all I
Speaker 1: shouldn't even say concern, because I don't think concerns the
Speaker 1: right word at this point, but it seemed to me,
Speaker 1: it seemed to me that the offense wasn't as efficient
Speaker 1: when Cooper was out there this last game. I think
Speaker 1: he played really well against San Francisco though, so again,
Speaker 1: with having that relatively small amount of experience, are you
Speaker 1: more or less about the same concern with him being
Speaker 1: your back up and being the next guy in the
Speaker 1: event that your starter goes down This line, this backup
Speaker 1: line just sucks. I mean, they're just not any good
Speaker 1: and and I don't know how you can really evaluate
Speaker 1: hardly anyone. I know that he did some decent things
Speaker 1: last year. Um, I just I don't know. I'd like
Speaker 1: to see I'd like to see Dak play behind this. Wow,
Speaker 1: I'm not really I don't want to. I mean, I
Speaker 1: don't think they can block very long. I just don't
Speaker 1: think this is a really good set up. I don't
Speaker 1: I don't think these guys are really going to be
Speaker 1: in the NFL on other teams, maybe on you know,
Speaker 1: I mean, I just don't see it. I just don't
Speaker 1: see these guys really helping. So it's hard to evaluate
Speaker 1: what Cooper Rush is trying to do. Yeah, I agree
Speaker 1: with that, and that's you know, we talked about it
Speaker 1: following the forty nine Ers game. I'm not trying to
Speaker 1: take anything away from Cooper, but he got better as
Speaker 1: the game went on, and I think you could argue
Speaker 1: lesser players started subbing in. These guys just looked overmatched
Speaker 1: in that second half. Let's also not forget too and
Speaker 1: now Looney was an exception, but you know, when you
Speaker 1: don't have your star running back, and you don't have
Speaker 1: your starting center, and you don't have a guard for
Speaker 1: most of the time, and a couple of your wide
Speaker 1: receivers are out in Austin and Beasley, so then the
Speaker 1: DAK is playing with some backups. And then when it
Speaker 1: gets the time for Cooper Rush, he's playing with the
Speaker 1: third running back. He's playing with in some cases your
Speaker 1: third center and your third receivers, so it's not even
Speaker 1: a true backups because your starters were out and they
Speaker 1: all had to move up. The funny thing for me
Speaker 1: is I was going to say, let's throw Cooper out
Speaker 1: there with the starters against Arizona, but I don't want
Speaker 1: to play any starters, so it'll probably look the same
Speaker 1: just earlier in the game. Well, and even when we
Speaker 1: saw him in San Francisco. I mean, he was better
Speaker 1: in that game than this past game. Definitely. And again
Speaker 1: you look and it goes back to the guys that
Speaker 1: we're talking about being in and subbing for him. I
Speaker 1: think that Cooper, if you were to put him behind
Speaker 1: the same old line, the first team old line, he
Speaker 1: would be just what you need in a backup, I think.
Speaker 1: So all right, let's go ahead and take our final break.
Speaker 1: When we come back, I want to talk about Rico gathers.
Speaker 1: I think that this conversation is one that we've talked
Speaker 1: about before, but it continues and it continues to be
Speaker 1: a topic of conversation because he continues to make these
Speaker 1: little plays every once in a while. I keep you interested.
Speaker 1: We're going to talk about that when we come right back.
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Speaker 1: Welcome back with the s WBC Morger Studios at the Star.
Speaker 1: Appreciate you guys joining us. All Right, so we've got
Speaker 1: we've got one big topic that I didn't get a
Speaker 1: chance to hit yet. So I want to spend a
Speaker 1: little time on this, Rico gathers um I think the
Speaker 1: way I want to set this up. First of all,
Speaker 1: he continues to make these plays, and we talked about
Speaker 1: this last week when we were talking about whether he
Speaker 1: makes the fifty three or not. They'll continue to be
Speaker 1: these moments and the very isolated moments like you'll get
Speaker 1: one a practice, or you'll get one every three practice, says,
Speaker 1: or you'll get one in a preseason game. But there
Speaker 1: are plays that are so remarkable that they we're talking about,
Speaker 1: and in my opinion, plays that are so remarkable that
Speaker 1: it makes you wonder is this enough for the Cowboys?
Speaker 1: As saying, we gotta keep him around just to see
Speaker 1: how much more he can develop. But I wanted to
Speaker 1: start with a quote that Jerry gave last week about
Speaker 1: Rico gathers and I want to get your thoughts on it,
Speaker 1: he said at a point, and I'm not so sure
Speaker 1: that we're at that point. If he can be consistent
Speaker 1: on a personal basis, then I'll give him the time
Speaker 1: he needs to make those kinds of plays. We talk
Speaker 1: about red zone plays and being a weapon in the
Speaker 1: red zone. He's certainly that he's making those highlight catches
Speaker 1: because of his obvious talent and physical advantage size, leaping ability, strength, hands,
Speaker 1: all that. He blocks well when he's blocking the right man.
Speaker 1: He's got enough there. But the inks comes when you're
Speaker 1: sitting there looking at the guy that's not on the
Speaker 1: roster because you kept him on the roster. A lot
Speaker 1: to unpack there. The first part I'd go to is
Speaker 1: when he mentions if he can be consistent on a
Speaker 1: personal basis. You know, the first time you read you
Speaker 1: read that, it made me think that this is like
Speaker 1: he's talking about like a Randy Gregory or somebody off
Speaker 1: the field. I don't think this is an off the
Speaker 1: field thing. I think this is just it's his personality there.
Speaker 1: I don't even know if it's that. I just think
Speaker 1: it's if him doing the right thing, like blocking the
Speaker 1: right guy and the assignments and that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1: Um that goes along with not being you know, a
Speaker 1: football player for a long time. I don't I hear
Speaker 1: that last thing that he said, and I'll just flip it.
Speaker 1: I mean, who is the player that you cut for him?
Speaker 1: And there's not never really, I mean maybe one guys
Speaker 1: are gonna be one guy that he is cut, like
Speaker 1: we're cutting him and were keeping him. I bet you
Speaker 1: you won't feel as sick as you would if you
Speaker 1: kept this guy and Rico goes and catches forty five
Speaker 1: passes for somebody else for the for the bucks. I
Speaker 1: just I don't think you. I think you'd be sick
Speaker 1: your stomach knowing that it ends a position you're trying
Speaker 1: to rebuild, especially you know it's not only that, but
Speaker 1: he's given you so many glimpses of that ability. Unless
Speaker 1: the guy you cut was Tapper, another guy that's a
Speaker 1: fourth round pick and and you know maybe you know
Speaker 1: you've kind of waited on him as well, that that
Speaker 1: would be one if it comes down to that situation.
Speaker 1: But I wouldn't feel I mean, I wouldn't feel bad
Speaker 1: about just cutting another guy. I think he makes the team. Honestly,
Speaker 1: I think I think you have to keep him on
Speaker 1: the team. I promise I'm not taking this where it
Speaker 1: sounds like I'm going to take it, So just bear
Speaker 1: with me, all right. But this situation reminds me a
Speaker 1: lot of our current political climate in this country, which
Speaker 1: is there's two sides. They're pretty dug in and firmly
Speaker 1: believe what they believe, and I just don't think there's
Speaker 1: middle ground here. The people like the people who want
Speaker 1: to move on from Rico are not going to be
Speaker 1: swayed that he's a guy worth keeping around. And the
Speaker 1: people who think Rico's the next Antonio Gates are not
Speaker 1: going to be swayed because he keeps doing stuff like
Speaker 1: that he takes the ball off the top of a
Speaker 1: cornerback's head. And then for every time he takes the
Speaker 1: ball off a cornerback's head, he's supposed to run a
Speaker 1: mesh play and runs in the wrong direction and messes
Speaker 1: up his pick and messes the whole play up. And
Speaker 1: everybody sees that and says, see, this guy doesn't know
Speaker 1: what he's doing. Trustworthy, who cares if he can take
Speaker 1: the ball off the cornerback's head. If you don't have
Speaker 1: any faith that he knows what he's doing when he
Speaker 1: lines up, and so there's no there's no middle ground here,
Speaker 1: and the people like nobody's coming across the aisle on this,
Speaker 1: And honestly, we're gonna play this thing out for two
Speaker 1: more weeks and the cowboys are gonna make a decision.
Speaker 1: Honestly at this point, I don't know what it is,
Speaker 1: but they're gonna make it and it'll be over. Maybe
Speaker 1: I don't know, but there has to be a firm
Speaker 1: decision on September second, one way or the other. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's kind of the tough part here is that when
Speaker 1: you hear Jerry say that about you know, the personal basis,
Speaker 1: and then when he comes back later and says, you know,
Speaker 1: he blocks well when he's blocking the right man, it
Speaker 1: gives us an It kind of illuminates for us that
Speaker 1: the problem here is that it doesn't that he always
Speaker 1: knows what his assignment is. And to me, knowing your
Speaker 1: assignment is as simple as studying. That is not like
Speaker 1: not being able to carry out your assignment if you
Speaker 1: miss a block, if you know you can't get open,
Speaker 1: like those are things that that's just a matter of
Speaker 1: your talent. Do you have the talent to do it?
Speaker 1: But everybody should be able to know their assignment if
Speaker 1: they get into it and they work hard enough to
Speaker 1: understand what their assignment is right. And that to me
Speaker 1: is where I start wondering if if you've had him
Speaker 1: around here for over a year now and he's still
Speaker 1: not being able to get that part of it. Is
Speaker 1: this a situation where he doesn't work hard enough at
Speaker 1: really understanding his assignments so that he at least gets
Speaker 1: that part down, and if he doesn't do it right,
Speaker 1: he doesn't do it right, but at least be able
Speaker 1: to know what you're supposed to do right. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: I think, I mean what it's upsetting to me is
Speaker 1: you talk about the studying and all that he was
Speaker 1: out a whole year with a concussion and not playing,
Speaker 1: or that that was your perfect time of really diving
Speaker 1: in and studying the game and studying everything that you
Speaker 1: need to learn to be able to come back now,
Speaker 1: and that whatever it is that you're doing, it's not
Speaker 1: about knowledge anymore, it's about you putting it into practice.
Speaker 1: I mean, he should have the knowledge right now, and
Speaker 1: that catch that he made in the game, Yes, fantastic,
Speaker 1: but he goes back to the size that he has.
Speaker 1: He's an athlete, he's a monster, and we all know that.
Speaker 1: But what help does it give you when he's only
Speaker 1: making one play at a time, let's say, per game.
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, it could be a touchdown that could
Speaker 1: change the game. But at the same time, can you
Speaker 1: rely on someone that is as inconsistent as he is.
Speaker 1: He's a goal line player right now, and it's not
Speaker 1: about making the fifty three because they can figure out
Speaker 1: a way to get him on the fifty three. But
Speaker 1: if you're not going to figure out a way to
Speaker 1: get him on the forty six, then what's the point
Speaker 1: because he's got to do those things in the game. Well,
Speaker 1: isn't the point though, that you keep him for more
Speaker 1: time to see if he does develop again we are
Speaker 1: working against and I know Amber has a big problem
Speaker 1: with this. You explain all that last week about the
Speaker 1: whole idea of keep waiting for that potential to show up.
Speaker 1: But I think you cannot. You can't over emphasize, in
Speaker 1: my opinion opinion, that this is a guy that didn't
Speaker 1: play college football and I think that matters. And so
Speaker 1: if you keep him on the fifty three and you
Speaker 1: can't find a way to get him to the forty six.
Speaker 1: You still do keep his rights and you give him
Speaker 1: a little bit more time. Get true. But again, and
Speaker 1: I keep going to this example. It's like when you
Speaker 1: see all the freaking tight ends running and turning right
Speaker 1: catching the ball, and then he's last, he runs and
Speaker 1: turns left catching the ball. I mean, I mean, are
Speaker 1: you paying attention? Are you watching what they're doing? And
Speaker 1: I know, paying attention, you would know. Your point is
Speaker 1: if you just watch the other guys, you would know it.
Speaker 1: And I don't know, but I'm just saying, if I'm
Speaker 1: really learning and I'm watching you guys do this drill
Speaker 1: and I'm doing it after you guys, I'm freaking in
Speaker 1: I'm gonna pay attention and know where I'm gonna go.
Speaker 1: And I'm just I know about instincts and all that,
Speaker 1: and you just gain instincts through playing. But at the
Speaker 1: same time, when it's something that's basic us turning right
Speaker 1: or left. I mean, I feel like you kind of
Speaker 1: contradicted your points though, because you said last week and
Speaker 1: you're saying it now that that you know he at
Speaker 1: this point he should he should learn it. He should
Speaker 1: know it, but he also missed the whole season last year.
Speaker 1: This is really only his second year because he didn't
Speaker 1: practice all of last year, which is which that are
Speaker 1: you sitting on a couch the whole time? Can you
Speaker 1: not move around? I don't know what he was doing.
Speaker 1: He was in the dark tenth the whole time. I
Speaker 1: don't know. I'm just saying to Derek's point. When it
Speaker 1: comes to knowledge, yes, certain things you'd learn on the
Speaker 1: field by actually doing. But as far as knowing where
Speaker 1: to go, I mean those are that's information that he's
Speaker 1: able to get from the staff here and be able
Speaker 1: to study on his own. I really I don't feel
Speaker 1: comfortable questioning or criticizing people's work ethic because personally, I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, people a lot of times view me as
Speaker 1: a slacker, and I work really hard, even whatever image
Speaker 1: I might project. I'm being sorry, whatever image I might project,
Speaker 1: it's not the whole truth. And that's insulting to me
Speaker 1: when people will think that just because I act that
Speaker 1: way doesn't mean I don't bust my butt. So I'm
Speaker 1: not trying to criticize Rico gathers work ethic. But this
Speaker 1: is his third year and his third training camp with
Speaker 1: the same offensive coordinator and the same schemes, and for
Speaker 1: whatever reason, he does not have a great grasp of
Speaker 1: the offense to the point where they trust him in
Speaker 1: every situation. And that's you know, I know there's people
Speaker 1: out there that think it's like a conspiracy theory. You
Speaker 1: can go watch the games and you know, hey, shameless plug,
Speaker 1: go buy NFL game paths. You can see the real
Speaker 1: view of these things and see that to be true.
Speaker 1: He doesn't always handle his assignments the right way. So
Speaker 1: I think there's some validity to that. And I think again,
Speaker 1: you always have to look at this in the context
Speaker 1: of the coaching staff, because we know their patterns, we
Speaker 1: know what they want. That is something that they value
Speaker 1: a lot. Me personally, I don't think it's that crazy
Speaker 1: to think that you find a way to utilize him
Speaker 1: on special teams and if he's a goal line and
Speaker 1: red zone player only, certainly there has to be a
Speaker 1: way to make that work. Like I'm gonna pick on
Speaker 1: Noah Brown just because it comes to my head, but like,
Speaker 1: is Noah Brown that he's just so vital as a
Speaker 1: blocking receiver that that he has to be active and
Speaker 1: Rico can't be active and you take away that mismatch
Speaker 1: opportunity in the red zone. I don't necessarily believe that.
Speaker 1: I think I think it's stubbornness on the coaching staff's
Speaker 1: part that they insist that he has to be completely
Speaker 1: trustworthy to have a role on this team. Having said that,
Speaker 1: they make the decisions at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: and if that's how they feel, that's what they're gonna do.
Speaker 1: That's that was kind of my point at the beginning,
Speaker 1: is it's all just so much sound and fury signifying nothing.
Speaker 1: First day of school. How about that. It's like, we
Speaker 1: can argue about this till we're blue in the face,
Speaker 1: and people who are pro Rico and people who are
Speaker 1: anti Rico both have a point yea, but they're like,
Speaker 1: they're just gonna make their decision. I don't know that
Speaker 1: about it. That all being said, the fact that Jerry
Speaker 1: was so explicit in what he said about him and
Speaker 1: very I think very specific, I personally believe that this
Speaker 1: was Jerry shooting across the bot to let him know,
Speaker 1: we really want you to make this team, but you
Speaker 1: right now, you're giving us too much reason not to
Speaker 1: put you on this team and you better step it up,
Speaker 1: and you say, you can't criticize his work ethic, but
Speaker 1: you can criticize the results. And what we know about
Speaker 1: it right now is the results are that he is
Speaker 1: extremely from what we can tell, very very inconsistent in
Speaker 1: just the assignment. And that's the part I think that
Speaker 1: that could platoon him at this point. I think he
Speaker 1: we've already said that we don't think this is going
Speaker 1: to be a true dress rehearsal. I think this game
Speaker 1: he needs to play. I would say the whole game,
Speaker 1: from start to finish. I mean, because you think they'd
Speaker 1: give him that opportunity when they need to get these
Speaker 1: young inexperienced tight ends reps as well. That's that's I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't know that are they gonna they're gonna get
Speaker 1: the reps with the with the start first team offense
Speaker 1: with Dak. I don't even know if that if Dak
Speaker 1: doesn't play the game, even if they don't, but you
Speaker 1: still want him out there getting them the reps. So
Speaker 1: if here's my assignment, let me do my assignment, right.
Speaker 1: That's they're inexperience. That's the hard part with all of this.
Speaker 1: If you still had Jason well, it's gonna be a
Speaker 1: little bit weird analogy because if you still have Jason,
Speaker 1: then Jason's gonna come off the field after the first
Speaker 1: you know, first a bit and whatever. But I guess
Speaker 1: the point is you got young guys that you're trying
Speaker 1: to develop in addition to Rico Gathers, So you can't
Speaker 1: even say just give him a lot of reps because
Speaker 1: then you're taking reps from other guys that need to
Speaker 1: develop that you actually think which are gonna be playing season.
Speaker 1: Then I don't play Swain and play Jarwin and Chult,
Speaker 1: and then he'll still get in the mix with just
Speaker 1: doing that right there, You don't have to play Swain.
Speaker 1: That is I mean, And that's that's the crux of
Speaker 1: this issue. It really is is I'm sure, like privately,
Speaker 1: away from microphones, Jason Garrett would probably say, these three
Speaker 1: guys like these are the like you're gonna have to
Speaker 1: pull on the goal line and get to your block
Speaker 1: so Zeke can score a touchdown when we're down by
Speaker 1: four in the fourth quarter. You need practice doing that
Speaker 1: and now, and again off the record, you'd probably say,
Speaker 1: we know Rico's not picking that up between now in
Speaker 1: September ninth, he would it would have happened by now.
Speaker 1: He's not magically just going to become this relyable guy
Speaker 1: doing the dirty work between now and then, and so
Speaker 1: some mean the guys that are gonna be doing that
Speaker 1: need the reps. At the same time, he's an awfully
Speaker 1: intriguing talent that you would love to know what you
Speaker 1: have in him. He's an amazing athlete. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: I don't I really don't think there's a completely right
Speaker 1: answer to it. That's why I'm just kind of resigned,
Speaker 1: like I can come up with a really good case
Speaker 1: for why it makes ye to make a really good
Speaker 1: case for why it's intriguing to keep him on the right.
Speaker 1: I just know that people in San Diego will tell
Speaker 1: you Antonio Gates didn't block anyone for years. I mean,
Speaker 1: Witten has has said it before. Now, different type of player,
Speaker 1: but not only different type of player, but a different
Speaker 1: type of offense. Like if this team had Philip Rivers,
Speaker 1: we would be writing Rico's name on paper and sharpie.
Speaker 1: But you that's again going back to ten play drives,
Speaker 1: you know, short passes, sustaining possession, running the ball, any
Speaker 1: mistake by guy blocking that now gives you negative yards
Speaker 1: kills that momentum. Type of player that fits this scheme
Speaker 1: and maybe in a red zone or goal line role, sure,
Speaker 1: but as the every down tight end, it doesn't make
Speaker 1: a ton of sense for what you're trying to do
Speaker 1: with the rest of your office. They had a star
Speaker 1: wide receiver on this team that still was trying to
Speaker 1: learn the offense after eight great point he was way
Speaker 1: as good as as much of an athlete as we
Speaker 1: think Rico is. He was ten times the athlete that
Speaker 1: Rico is. In my opinion, he was. He was at
Speaker 1: his prime. He was way better than what Rico is.
Speaker 1: Oh yes he was. But but when you get down
Speaker 1: to the goal line, you know he I think Rico
Speaker 1: can do those kinds of things, and you get him
Speaker 1: in a mismatch and you may not even throw it
Speaker 1: to him, but you're gonna have to. He's gonna have
Speaker 1: to take somebody away. And I like that. I love
Speaker 1: that concept. But I started thinking about it like this
Speaker 1: the other day. Even even if you keep Rico and
Speaker 1: you put him in the reds, if he's a red
Speaker 1: zone target for you, he's still what your fourth option
Speaker 1: down there, like Zeke's still your your best option when
Speaker 1: you get down in gold and what the defense does
Speaker 1: if they get that third down. I understand that. I'm
Speaker 1: just saying no when you when you think about if
Speaker 1: we're down in goal to go situations, what are our
Speaker 1: best options to get in the end zone. I think
Speaker 1: Zeke is first, I think Dak is probably second, and
Speaker 1: I think you could probably make the argument that one
Speaker 1: of the receivers, whichever one, may be a better or
Speaker 1: more consistent option as the third. So at that point,
Speaker 1: for that number of reps and for that few times
Speaker 1: in those situations that you would use him, Like you
Speaker 1: were saying, can you even get him into on the
Speaker 1: forty six where he's actually available to you to be
Speaker 1: a red zone coping too many options? It's not always
Speaker 1: a bad thing. I get that. Though, I get it,
Speaker 1: I get it. I'm not being sarcastic at all. I
Speaker 1: love like I love the fact that we just burned
Speaker 1: a whole segment of this show on the guy that's
Speaker 1: fourth on the depth chart. But I also saved that
Speaker 1: to the third segment because I knew we would burn
Speaker 1: the entire segment on it. It's a fascinating conversation. I'm
Speaker 1: you know selfishly, I'm a little fatigued by it because
Speaker 1: I mean, this is year three of a very similar conversation.
Speaker 1: I think the expectations are a little different. I don't
Speaker 1: think anybody really expected him to blow up in year one,
Speaker 1: and then year two you had the injury mystery whatever
Speaker 1: that was. Um, but it's the same debate of potential
Speaker 1: verse production to this point, Sweat and he's noticing a
Speaker 1: little report up on the h On the report Earl
Speaker 1: Thomas from from the uh No, it said it just
Speaker 1: said that he's he's paid or he's a crewed one
Speaker 1: point two million dollars. Fine, yeah, for the hold out.
Speaker 1: Of course, this isn't about Earl. Well, yeah it is.
Speaker 1: He could get into camp and play, so yeah, but
Speaker 1: it's from the standpoint of ultimately Earl can't make the
Speaker 1: decision here, right is a This is a Seattle Seahawk
Speaker 1: decision and a cow I think. And to wrap this
Speaker 1: whole thing up, I think the Cowboys, with all the
Speaker 1: stuff that they've got injury wise, at safety and knowing
Speaker 1: that they need guys that could come in and play
Speaker 1: and know this system, I would go in there, and
Speaker 1: I would I would go back. I would move it
Speaker 1: up a little bit to what they where they had
Speaker 1: I would move up just before in the show. That
Speaker 1: was another interesting note that just came up. Adrian Peterson's
Speaker 1: expected to sign with the Washington Redskin. So Howboys fans
Speaker 1: will get to see him twice a year. I think
Speaker 1: I tweeted this place. I like Jeff Heath's chance is
Speaker 1: better this time around. Yeah, I do too, I do too.
Speaker 1: All right, we appreciate you guys joining us. We're back tomorrow.
Speaker 1: I think we're gonna stick at the same time tomorrow,
Speaker 1: we'll be up at two pm, and then later in
Speaker 1: the week we're gonna go move to the morning. So
Speaker 1: just check the website. We've got a lot of things
Speaker 1: going on this week that affect that schedule, but we
Speaker 1: will have the schedule up for you to see what
Speaker 1: time will be on each day till then. For Nicki
Speaker 1: Minamber Garcia, David Hellman, I'm Derek Eagles and this has
Speaker 1: been The Break live on Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio.
Speaker 1: This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.