WEBVTT - Cowboys Break: Down For Long? 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:07.720 The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:07.760 --> 0:00:19.880 and the Dallas Cowboys Football Clubs. Are you ready for 0:00:19.920 --> 0:00:23.560 a break? Yes? Are you ready for a break? Absolutely? 0:00:23.720 --> 0:00:27.920 Ready for a break? Yeah? And so much for that. 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:33.280 It's time for The Break on Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:39.599 with Nick Eatman, David Hellman, and bar Garcia and Derek Eagleton. 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:44.720 It is Friday, December eighteenth, twenty twenty, season sixteen, episode 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:47.600 number eighty three. Welcome to the latest edition of The Break, 0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:51.480 presented by Geico. We will be talking about Cowboys versus 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:55.520 San Francisco forty nine ers that happens this Sunday at noon. Uh. 0:00:55.640 --> 0:00:57.240 And in order to get ready for that, we got 0:00:57.360 --> 0:01:00.920 to start with the injury updates. Um Zeke Elliott. He 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:04.080 has not practiced all week. Mike McCarthy said this morning 0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:06.320 that he's a little bit behind because he actually played 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:09.280 last weekend. Jerry in a later interview this morning, see 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:12.679 he fully expects Zeke to play. My question for you guys, 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:15.160 and I'll start with you, Nick, why risk playing him 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:18.759 if he's not healthy at this point? Well, I mean, 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:22.200 if if you wouldn't, you're not gonna play him if 0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:24.080 he's not healthy. If he's not healthy, I don't think 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:25.960 he plays. If he's healthy enough to play, then I 0:01:26.000 --> 0:01:28.040 think he plays. I mean, it's just as simple as that. 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:32.280 I mean, he's he's he's your top running back, and 0:01:32.319 --> 0:01:35.080 he got games to play, and you know they can 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:36.680 still make the playoffs. So I mean, if he's healthy 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:41.240 enough to play, he plays. Dave. Yeah, I mean, And 0:01:41.360 --> 0:01:45.200 that's the classic difference between fans and media and the 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:47.960 team itself is you know, you don't have to believe 0:01:48.000 --> 0:01:50.720 that they're gonna make the playoffs, but they're mathematically still alive. 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:54.160 If Zeke's healthy enough to play, he should play. I 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:57.800 mean that goes again. First of all, you know, also 0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:00.600 Zeke Elliott wants to play. He's a competite, he wants 0:02:00.640 --> 0:02:02.960 to win. He doesn't care about draft order and any 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:06.240 of that stuff. And he makes fifteen million dollars a year. 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:09.400 So get out there and play some football if you 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:11.600 feel up to it. Yeah, I don't have a problem 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:17.200 with it. What do you think? Ever? No, I agree 0:02:17.280 --> 0:02:19.760 I think that well. I think that I would. My 0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:22.520 hope is that the medical staff is doing their job 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:25.480 and being careful with him, a guy like him and 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:28.799 all that. But if it was up to me, I 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:30.920 would not be playing it. But that's out of my 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:33.840 control and definitely not my decision. I would sit him 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:36.720 out and just chill over there, watch the game from 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:40.600 the sideline. You're good, But he seems like if he 0:02:40.680 --> 0:02:43.560 can play, he's gonna play. The interesting thing about the 0:02:43.600 --> 0:02:46.480 secondary right now is that just as their game looks 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:49.760 like they're gaining guys, they're also seemingly losing guys because 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:51.840 you look at their injury report. There are guys that 0:02:51.919 --> 0:02:54.520 played last week when they had so many guys out, 0:02:54.560 --> 0:02:57.119 that are now on the injury report. So Dave catch 0:02:57.200 --> 0:02:59.960 us up. As far as the cornerbacks and safeties, who 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:02.639 looking like they're up and who's looking like maybe they're down, 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:09.720 I'm leaning toward thinking everybody's up. Are you talking about 0:03:09.800 --> 0:03:12.079 Xavier Woods, who's supposed to be down? Yeah? I mean 0:03:12.240 --> 0:03:14.840 Xavier Woods. You had Rashard Robinson. There were several guys 0:03:14.840 --> 0:03:16.560 that were listed on the injury report that either did 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:21.080 not practice. You're right, I did. I forgot it last week. Yeah, 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:24.560 I forgot about Richard. I think Xavier. I think that's 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:28.440 that's a caution issue. Mike McCarthy didn't sound overly worried 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:32.079 about it today and then he came out and opened 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:35.280 his press conference by saying he's optimistic that Anthony Brown, 0:03:35.360 --> 0:03:39.640 Treyvon Diggs, and Donovan Wilson can all play. So and 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:43.000 and we I mean, Cheeto is coming back. We've known that, so, 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:47.520 um there's still way more guys coming back than potentially 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:51.920 going down. Um. Yeah, Richard is interesting. I'm not you know, 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:53.800 he hasn't practiced yet this week, but I do think 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:56.920 Xavier Woods will be available. So I think it's way 0:03:56.920 --> 0:04:00.440 more likely they have guys available than not. And like this, 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:02.720 I would assume that it's a good thing for them 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:05.280 right now. You look at all the guys that they 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:08.080 will will need this week against a team that, again, 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:10.360 this isn't a great team, but certainly they do some 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:12.920 things that can can confuse you, that can trick you. 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:16.279 I disciplined, something that Mike McCarthy actually talked about this morning, 0:04:16.440 --> 0:04:18.120 and that's not something we've seen this team to be 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:20.200 very very good at. So you would you would think 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:22.039 that they need this, They need as many hands on 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:23.880 deck as it can. Well, yeah, I mean you're trying 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:26.600 to make San Francisco one dimensional team. You want them 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:28.640 to throw the ball. I mean, that's what you want. 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:30.840 You want to force Nick Mullins to try to win 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:33.479 the game. And so if they can get them to 0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:35.880 do that, then obviously it'd be better to have your 0:04:36.320 --> 0:04:38.560 your you know, your pieces back there in the secondary, 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:41.919 a group that hasn't played together really all year long, 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:44.880 so that that would be good. Um, you know, if 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:47.600 they can do that. And frankly, San Francisco, you know, 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:51.000 the Cowboys have had tons of injuries. San Francisco's had more. Yeah, 0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:53.040 I mean San Francisco is more beat up, I think 0:04:53.880 --> 0:04:56.600 than what the Cowboys are. You know, and you looked 0:04:56.600 --> 0:04:58.919 at it yesterday. Always had three Pro Bowlers on IR. 0:04:58.960 --> 0:05:00.800 I mean San Francisco's got four and I didn't even 0:05:00.880 --> 0:05:03.719 count their quarterback, who we all know. When the quarterback 0:05:03.720 --> 0:05:06.360 goes down that changes everything. So they've had more injuries, 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:08.880 I think. Yeah. I've read that they have roughly about 0:05:08.960 --> 0:05:12.440 seventy million dollars in there in cap space currently on 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:15.120 IR for their team. I think the Cowboys are somewhere 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:18.000 in the range of sixty something million. But yeah, whatever 0:05:18.040 --> 0:05:20.560 you can say about the Cowboys and what they've been 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:23.320 experiencing this season, you can probably say the same thing 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:26.160 about San Francisco and possibly a little bit more than 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:28.839 what the Cowboys have been and their record reflects it. 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:31.360 They're five and eight Cowboys at four and nine. Let's 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:33.240 go ahead and talk about the preview though, between the 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:35.240 Cowboys and the forty nine Ers. DA if you wrote 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:38.719 an interesting article where you talked about the fact that 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:41.040 you look at this forty nine Ers team and you think, 0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:44.560 really it sets a blueprint for maybe what the Cowboys 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:47.240 should be aspiring to be lay out the I guess 0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:49.239 the foundation of what you were saying in that article. 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:53.320 I mean, it's really it's something that I've been thinking 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:57.680 about since Dak got hurt, and it's something that I've 0:05:57.839 --> 0:06:00.120 I've probably talked a lot about over the course the 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:02.400 last two months. But and I think you might have 0:06:02.480 --> 0:06:04.960 you said something like this earlier this week, Derek, is 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:08.920 you know, are you a bad team because you're awful 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:10.599 and you don't have any talent? Or are you a 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:14.320 bad team because of bad breaks? And you know, the 0:06:14.360 --> 0:06:16.760 Cowboys aren't the most talented team in the league, especially 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:20.400 on defense, But this strikes me as a season more 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:23.120 about bad breaks. You know, like if if they've got 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:27.400 Dak and their offensive tackles, like even if only some 0:06:27.480 --> 0:06:30.360 of those guys get hurt, you know, maybe you're not 0:06:30.400 --> 0:06:33.120 contending for the super Bowl, but you're definitely alive in 0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:35.839 the playoff picture, maybe even leading the NFC Yeast. You know, 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:39.080 this is probably a an eight to ten win team 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:41.440 if if you know, a few more things go their way, 0:06:41.440 --> 0:06:45.320 in my opinion, and so it reminds me a lot 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:47.640 of the twenty eighteen forty nine ers. They finished four 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:51.000 and twelve, and a lot of that was bad breaks. 0:06:51.040 --> 0:06:53.280 They had a lot of injuries that year, none more 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:56.839 important than Jimmy Garoppolo going down in Week three. They 0:06:56.880 --> 0:07:00.320 slumped to a four and twelve record, and that was 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:02.680 coming off a year they had gone six and ten. Actually, 0:07:02.680 --> 0:07:05.560 I forgot about this. They started the twenty seventeen season 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:08.479 oh and eight. They trade for Jimmy Garoppolo, They go 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:10.720 six and two. Over the second half, they finished six 0:07:10.760 --> 0:07:13.960 and ten. They were a trendy pick to be a 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:16.960 playoff contender. Jimmy g goes down week three. They finished 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:21.160 four and twelve, Again, probably more about bad breaks than 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:24.400 how bad their roster was. And sure enough, they draft 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:27.480 Nick Bosa number two overall. They draft Deebo Samuel in 0:07:27.520 --> 0:07:30.520 the top five of the second round, and they started 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:32.400 the next season eight no and made it to the 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:36.080 Super Bowl, which I wrote in the article. I was like, 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:38.160 I'm not trying to convince anybody the Cowboys are going 0:07:38.200 --> 0:07:40.240 to make it to the super Bowl next season, but 0:07:41.560 --> 0:07:43.720 you know they're gonna have a chance to add four 0:07:43.840 --> 0:07:46.640 or five really talented draft picks to a roster that 0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:49.440 I don't think is that bad, and hopefully they're gonna 0:07:49.520 --> 0:07:51.880 have better luck with injuries. I just I think this 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:54.440 is more of an aberration than a sign that this 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:57.000 team is headed for dark times. I think they can 0:07:57.000 --> 0:07:59.960 turn it around very very quickly if they do smart 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:02.440 things in the off season. And Nick Dave talked about 0:08:02.480 --> 0:08:05.120 bad breaks. Let me ask you this question. Do you 0:08:05.200 --> 0:08:07.680 think that at least some of the bad breaks that 0:08:07.760 --> 0:08:11.600 the Cowboys experienced were predictable, in which case maybe the 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:14.120 Cowboys should have had a little more or should have 0:08:14.120 --> 0:08:17.800 been a little more prepared to sustain them. No, Okay, no, 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:21.760 they don't. I think their swing tackle was probably the 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:24.720 best swing tackle that they've they've added. I thought, I 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:26.760 mean a first round pick and Cam Irving. I thought 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:29.480 that was about as good as of a swing tackles. 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:32.559 We've seen Andy Dutton. Here's the thing. The interesting part 0:08:32.600 --> 0:08:35.040 about that is the coaching staff didn't think so because 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:37.400 they didn't even think that he was better than who 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:39.360 you're talking about the coaches. Are you talking about Jerry 0:08:39.360 --> 0:08:41.960 and Stephen? Either way, all I'm saying is when they 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:44.520 brought him in, whoever brought him in, I don't think 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:47.679 the coaching staff necessarily saw the same level of player 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:49.480 once they got to the point of the recauld season 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:52.120 they living to start Terrence Steele. Yeah, but they loved him. 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:54.520 They loved Terrence Steele and they shouldn't have and they've 0:08:54.520 --> 0:08:56.440 proven that, and they've proven that. I mean, we'd know 0:08:56.480 --> 0:08:58.880 that they loved Terren Steele. They come back later and 0:08:58.920 --> 0:09:01.000 put Cam Irving at left tackle and he's been fine, 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:04.000 and we all know he's better than Terry. So whatever 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:05.840 whatever he was dealing with and I don't know what 0:09:05.880 --> 0:09:07.559 he was dealing with in training camp, it was kind 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:12.439 of a weird deal. But anyways, they were prepared to 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:15.240 have a pretty talented swing tackle, and they were obviously 0:09:15.280 --> 0:09:18.320 prepared to have the best backup quarterback that they've had, 0:09:18.640 --> 0:09:21.000 So you know, I don't know if you say it 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:23.480 was predictable that it was coming. I mean, I mean, 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:27.440 I think they tried to bolster their depth. And you know, 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:31.200 Dak said it the healthiest team wins. He said it 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:34.000 way back in the summer. And as ironically they're one 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:36.760 of the least healthiest teams and they're one of the 0:09:36.800 --> 0:09:38.760 worst records. And er, do you think any of these 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:45.480 bad breaks were predictable? I mean, there are things that 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:49.720 I think were more under their control, things that happened. 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:52.760 As far as and not looking specifically at the offense. 0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:56.000 The offense obviously we know how much they've been affected 0:09:56.040 --> 0:10:00.480 by these injuries are definitely unpredictable. But as far like 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:04.560 the defense goes, I mean, you look at guys that 0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:07.920 they had to get rid of, free agent guys, varying 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:10.559 guys that they decided to cut, and these were guys 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:15.240 that they themselves brought in here didn't work out. That said, 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:18.120 by then you got guys. I mean, when you really 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:21.520 look at the D line and the linebackers, I mean, 0:10:21.559 --> 0:10:25.800 what's really the excuse there? You only really lost I 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:29.520 guess two guys two injuries. I mean there's been guys 0:10:29.520 --> 0:10:32.720 that have been banged up. But the defense as a whole. 0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:35.640 There were so many other things that I feel like 0:10:36.480 --> 0:10:39.760 it was more under their control and that they could 0:10:39.800 --> 0:10:43.920 have adjusted better and done things differently to start seeing 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:47.720 maybe an earlier change during the season, rather than waiting 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:51.720 this far down the line of the season to seeing 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:56.680 some motivation and some explosiveness like in the game against 0:10:56.679 --> 0:11:00.320 the Bengals. So I think it's a mixture of so 0:11:00.360 --> 0:11:04.040 many different elements combined together. And when you looked at 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:06.200 the offense, even when Dak was still in I mean, 0:11:06.280 --> 0:11:08.839 they were still struggling. They got better in the second 0:11:08.920 --> 0:11:11.439 half of the game, but that was not an offense 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:14.440 that was perfect by any means. It was still having 0:11:14.440 --> 0:11:17.840 their own struggles. So it's just a combination of a 0:11:17.880 --> 0:11:20.920 bunch of different elements, things that were under their control 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:24.960 and things that just there was no way that they 0:11:24.960 --> 0:11:27.520 could have predicted. Dave, do you expect that some of 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:30.719 these bad breaks that they had this year are predictable 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:33.280 for next season, so they should be more prepared to 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:34.880 sustain some of them. What are some of the things 0:11:34.880 --> 0:11:37.920 that you're concerned that they may that happened this year 0:11:37.920 --> 0:11:40.680 that you may still see sometin remnants of it next year, 0:11:44.520 --> 0:11:46.520 So you cut out for a second. Is that directed? 0:11:46.559 --> 0:11:48.760 I mean, yeah, that was direct at you. I'm sorry. Yeah, 0:11:48.760 --> 0:11:51.240 I was saying what things happened this year that were 0:11:51.280 --> 0:11:53.320 bad breaks that you think could be that you could 0:11:53.320 --> 0:11:58.720 still see remnants of next year. I mean, I would 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:02.400 love for them to find mind a way to ease 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:06.440 our concerns about the tackle spot. I mean, a draft 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:09.240 pick is basically what I'm saying, not necessarily in the 0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:12.040 top ten of the draft, but you know a guy 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:14.160 that you think can play right away, because you know, 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:16.240 this is year five in a row that Tyrn Smith 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:19.160 has dealt with injury issues. He's only thirty, but he's 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:21.319 been playing in the NFL since he was twenty. I mean, 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:24.600 that's a lot of mileage. And you know, I don't 0:12:24.720 --> 0:12:27.480 know this, but you know Lyle Collins's hip problem, Like 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:30.640 you're basically talking about a situation where he didn't have 0:12:30.679 --> 0:12:33.280 like any cartilage on his hip, like his hip bones 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:36.840 were grinding against each other. And that is a troubling 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:40.440 thing to hear about an offensive tackle. So I'm optimistic 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:42.320 that those guys will be fine, but I don't think 0:12:42.360 --> 0:12:45.280 you can just leave it to trust and so you know, 0:12:45.360 --> 0:12:49.480 that's a situation where you know they they need to 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:51.840 address that one way or the other rather than just 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:54.040 run it back and hope that it will be fine. 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:56.440 I mean, there's reason to believe that it will, but 0:12:56.520 --> 0:12:58.320 you can't. You know, hope is not a strategy like 0:12:58.360 --> 0:13:01.960 they always say. So that's the one thing that you know, 0:13:02.400 --> 0:13:04.480 I have my eye on is just how can you 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:08.040 keep the offensive tackle health from holding you hostage again 0:13:08.080 --> 0:13:10.480 next year? When you talk about bad breaks, Nick, do 0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:15.320 you think that you would factor Layton Vanders Layton Vanderesh 0:13:15.400 --> 0:13:18.120 into that? And is that something that going into next year, 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:20.560 if you're going in knowing he's going to be a starter, 0:13:21.000 --> 0:13:23.559 like you better be aware and be better be prepared 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:25.839 that he may miss games looking at his injury history, 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:27.679 or do you think it's just these are all just 0:13:27.760 --> 0:13:29.760 kind of flukey type things and so I don't you 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:31.520 don't really worry as much about it for the future. 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:33.880 I think you factor that in when you're looking at 0:13:33.920 --> 0:13:36.520 the linebacker position and you say, Okay, what we've got 0:13:36.520 --> 0:13:38.560 to do next year? You know, we've got to get 0:13:38.600 --> 0:13:40.760 better at this position. We don't I don't know what 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:43.640 you can expect from Sean Lee. I would imagine he's 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:46.920 probably not coming back. I mean, but if he's not 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:48.920 helping you that much, I mean, you got to you 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:52.199 gotta get a better third linebacker. Maybe you know, draft 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:55.559 a young guy and hopes that, Okay, if Layton is 0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:57.640 banged up, we could play this guy, or we need 0:13:57.720 --> 0:13:59.920 him as our third linebacker, or maybe he's better than Jay. 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:02.199 Whatever it is. I mean, I think it's a position 0:14:02.240 --> 0:14:05.920 of need and Layton's injury and history of injuries is 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:08.800 part of that. Yeah, you guys concerned, Amber, Are you 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:12.600 concerned about Layton's history as as a player that seems 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:17.800 to be injured often? I am. I've always been one 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:21.800 that is always concerned about reoccurring injuries in the same 0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:25.800 area of the body. So it is something that concerns me. 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:29.880 It really sucks to see that certain areas that we 0:14:30.040 --> 0:14:32.560 really thought coming into the season, we really thought that 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:34.960 the Cowboys were set, you know, as far as death 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:37.760 and talent, and then it turns out that it just 0:14:37.800 --> 0:14:40.680 didn't work out, whether it was injury related or just 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:45.160 performance wise. It this is gonna be a tough offseason 0:14:45.240 --> 0:14:48.240 trying to figure out exactly what you need, what you 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:52.640 can get to reinforce this team because they after what 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:56.200 we saw this year. I mean, they're not as set 0:14:56.320 --> 0:15:00.160 and secure as far as like backup guys as at 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:03.800 least me personally, I thought they were beginning this year. 0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:06.560 So they got a lot of work in their hands 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:09.760 and a lot of areas of concern all throughout the roster, 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:12.280 both on the defensive side of the ball and the 0:15:12.360 --> 0:15:15.240 offense as well. Yeah, it's interesting you say that. I 0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:17.040 actually look at it, and when we were back going 0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:19.600 back to training camp, the two positions I felt best 0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:21.960 about where the two positions that ended up being, in 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:25.440 my opinion, the biggest problems the offensive line and the linebackers. 0:15:25.520 --> 0:15:27.360 I thought going to the season they had good depth 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:29.640 at each one. I thought they had good play, good 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:32.080 front line players. I thought they were gonna those are 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:34.360 gonna be the strengths of both the offense and the defense, 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:37.080 and it ended up being just the opposite. That tells 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:38.920 you about the NFL. That's the nature of the NFL. 0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:40.960 As soon as you start thinking something's good in the NFL, 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:43.040 it'll flip on you, no doubt about it. Yeah, I 0:15:43.080 --> 0:15:46.400 can't see one position that you would look Yeah, right, 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:49.880 I can't see a position that you wouldn't just say, yeah, 0:15:49.960 --> 0:15:51.560 we don't need to draft this one. You know, the 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:57.680 only one I could quarterback. Oh, I don't know, first round, 0:15:57.720 --> 0:15:59.400 but I mean I'm just saying I wouldn't. You know, 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:01.120 I think they're to sign them. But what if Dalton 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:03.840 doesn't come back? I still think that something you would consider. 0:16:03.880 --> 0:16:07.400 And wide receiver maybe not, but I mean, who knows 0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:09.720 how long m Mario will be here. You know, he's 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:12.680 gonna sign a three year deal, so I mean in gallop, 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:14.040 it's gonna be free agent a couple of years. So 0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:16.680 I mean any every position, that's just every position across 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:19.640 the board, you could make a case to draft. Yeah, 0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:22.160 all right, we're gonna take our first break, and we 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:23.800 come back from the break. We're gonna talk a little 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:26.160 bit more about the Cowboys versus the forty ninets. Will 0:16:26.160 --> 0:16:27.400 do that, we can come right back. This is Dallas 0:16:27.400 --> 0:16:33.680 Cowboys dot Com Radio. 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See att dot com slash five 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:34.160 G for you for details. Back to the break. Cowboy 0:18:34.240 --> 0:18:37.000 fans finish up your holiday shopping at the Dallas Cowboys 0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:39.400 Pro Shops with up to forty percent off new gear 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:41.600 for the fan in your life. The pro shop has 0:18:41.640 --> 0:18:43.840 a huge election of cold weather gear and the hottest 0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:46.600 holiday gift is the season for football and holiday fund 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:49.159 Visit any of your local Dallas Cowboys Pro shops throughout 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:52.080 DFW and at entry A at AT and T Stadium 0:18:52.280 --> 0:18:54.840 for all the holiday savings. Welcome back. It is a 0:18:54.880 --> 0:18:57.600 second second to the brake clap from the SWBC Mortgage 0:18:57.640 --> 0:19:02.080 Studios presented by Geico. Before the break, Dave laid out 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:05.240 the blueprint that San Francisco went through in order to 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:09.240 get themselves from where they were in twenty eighteen to 0:19:09.440 --> 0:19:11.680 being a super Bowl team. And it's hard to remember, 0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:14.199 like that seems like ancient years ago that they were 0:19:14.240 --> 0:19:16.280 in Super Bowl. Literally last year they were a Super 0:19:16.280 --> 0:19:19.719 Bowl team. And so my question for you guys is 0:19:19.760 --> 0:19:23.800 how likely do you think it is, based upon where 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:27.240 you think Dallas will net out and their ability to draft, 0:19:27.640 --> 0:19:30.359 that they can get those kinds of impact players and 0:19:30.520 --> 0:19:33.080 enough of those impact players to where they can make 0:19:33.080 --> 0:19:36.040 themselves a serious contender next year. Let's start first with 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:39.320 Nick Well, I mean they I think they're gonna need 0:19:39.359 --> 0:19:41.840 to get a really talented defensive player. There's no doubt 0:19:41.880 --> 0:19:44.359 about a difference maker like San Francisco did. But I 0:19:44.400 --> 0:19:46.120 also feel like, you know, the forty nine ers were 0:19:46.119 --> 0:19:48.960 bad for a while leading up to that, and to 0:19:49.720 --> 0:19:53.119 get some some talented players on the defense. But you 0:19:53.160 --> 0:19:54.840 can make the case that Calways have been doing that 0:19:54.920 --> 0:19:57.000 on offense and stacking. You know that they had a 0:19:57.040 --> 0:20:00.119 better offense place, so you need a difference maker. You 0:20:00.160 --> 0:20:01.639 need to get a guy, a couple of guys on 0:20:01.720 --> 0:20:03.959 defense that that can that can help term this around. 0:20:03.960 --> 0:20:06.560 And you know, you just look at the schedule this year. 0:20:06.600 --> 0:20:10.160 I mean, you know, I think Dave and I talked 0:20:10.160 --> 0:20:11.800 about this other day. I think the Cowboys would have 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:13.320 gone eight and eighth this year, even if the Act 0:20:13.320 --> 0:20:15.840 doesn't get hurt, you know, I really yeah. I mean 0:20:16.000 --> 0:20:18.280