WEBVTT - Talkin' Cowboys: Who's More Physical? 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:06.960 The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:07.000 --> 0:00:16.440 and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club Cowboys. This He's Talking Cowboys, 0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:20.279 screaming live from the Dallas Cowboys World headquarters at the 0:00:20.360 --> 0:00:31.360 Star in Chris, Joe Scott and now your hosts Isaiah Stanback, 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:38.239 heck My Harrison, Rob Phillips and Kyle Yeoman's It is 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:42.840 a Thursday edition of Talking Cowboys presented by Tostitos, helping 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:46.720 fans get in on the game and the official chip 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:50.680 in Dip Chip and the dip of Talking Cowboy Carbs 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:53.319 for the day. Yes, all the carbs. You've been doing 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:55.080 a good job. By the way, you're looking sleek. You're 0:00:55.080 --> 0:01:02.720 looking fantastic in this velvet. No, I don't know. I 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:05.959 don't even know what kind of what kind of jacket 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:11.800 that is? Alaca, Oh my god, everybody's looking nice and 0:01:11.840 --> 0:01:14.880 buttoned up today. We've got TV shows and we've got brunch. 0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:17.440 Is that what that is? Yeah, that's what she told me. Yeah, 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:20.240 let me take it somebody mom in the brunt. Oh okay, 0:01:20.280 --> 0:01:23.039 all right, well I like it. I think it looks 0:01:23.080 --> 0:01:26.760 spazzy back there, spizzy, spisy, whatever the I got you. 0:01:27.040 --> 0:01:29.000 I don't know what it is, but glad you're with 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:32.080 us here on Talking Cowboys. Heck my Harrison, Isaiah stand back. 0:01:32.120 --> 0:01:34.320 We've got Chris Beam in the back. No Rob Phillips 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:36.920 again for the second straight day, but do not worry, 0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:40.640 don't fret. Rob Phillips is back tomorrow. So we will 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:43.160 have a say it with your chest Friday with all 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:46.760 four quarters of Talking Cowboys. Thank you, Chris. That's the 0:01:46.800 --> 0:01:50.240 perfect way to summarize not having Rob Phillips. But we 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:53.200 do have Isaiah in the Rob p Island chair, trying 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:56.600 to get close to greatness, my best best. How's everybody 0:01:56.600 --> 0:02:01.200 doing today? Done? Good? Good? Still? How about how about 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:05.360 even better? After yesterday's practice report for the Cowboys. Felt 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:08.920 pretty good about that, right, Getting Randy Gregory Neville Gallimore 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:11.560 back on the practice field kind of what we had anticipated. 0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:13.839 But at the same time, you also didn't have any 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:17.440 Tony Pollard out there. Oh no, that's one thing I 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:20.280 was really happy to hear about. No one COVID listed. 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:24.440 That's another huge Mike McCarthy back in the building. Yes, 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:27.480 he even joked around yesterday as of twelve or one 0:02:27.520 --> 0:02:30.280 am today, which would have been a minute after midnight 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:33.720 and that's that's huge. So everybody's off the COVID list, right, 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:37.320 everybody's good at the moment. Knock on wood, where's that wood? 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:40.079 We have knocked on it. But that's that is that's 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:42.840 a huge key to having everyone back. You feel like 0:02:42.919 --> 0:02:45.520 that's an added boots to this team of having just 0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:48.400 regalvanizing the coaching staff and kind of getting back to 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:51.280 your roles. Health in general, health in general. But you know, 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:53.960 it's it's amazing how you go through a season having 0:02:54.000 --> 0:02:58.360 to check who's on the injury report and COVID report. 0:02:58.680 --> 0:03:00.280 That's the biggest thing. I mean, we did and have 0:03:00.280 --> 0:03:03.680 our coach, our head coach last game and just to 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:05.440 hear that he's back in the building, I think in 0:03:05.639 --> 0:03:08.920 Phil Bend and other assistance. You know, although we have 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:12.360 more coaches on the staff than any other team, obviously 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:14.400 just having guys back healthy is going to be a 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:16.320 boost for this team. I believe. How much is that 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:20.560 a boost for guys, not even just the players and 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:24.040 looking around and seeing their coaches back, which is obviously 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:26.480 going to be a confidence level that's higher than it 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:29.000 was without those guys, But really for the coaches that 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:32.320 had to do two three, four, jobs at a time. 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:34.960 I mean, you talk about the guys who had to 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:37.240 fill in for the head coach Dan Quinn. Of course 0:03:37.280 --> 0:03:40.680 you talk about the offensive line coaches and having Wells 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:43.280 jump over to from the tight end spots coach the 0:03:43.320 --> 0:03:45.840 offensive line. How much of a relief is that. I 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:47.200 don't know how much. I don't know how much of 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:50.160 a relief it is. I think those guys honestly their competitors, 0:03:50.200 --> 0:03:52.119 so they look forward to those opportunities too. They don't 0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:55.000 look forward to the situation presenting itself, but once it does, 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:56.600 you know they're not going to back down from it. 0:03:57.120 --> 0:03:59.280 I think every coach on his staff looks for opportunities 0:03:59.280 --> 0:04:01.720 to try to expand and kind of proof in themselves 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:04.120 what they are and what their capabilities are. So whenever 0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:07.080 those type of situations present area rear their head, you know, 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:10.560 I think those guys step up, you know, willingly. But 0:04:10.680 --> 0:04:14.680 I am now concerned with their backfield. The heck's going 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:17.240 on there? And talk about running back? Yeah, yeah, what's 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:19.520 going on? TP doesn't go to practice, you know, and 0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:21.560 doesn't practice. He's over there with Britain, those guys, and 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:25.080 then we signed somebody else, so we have Clement already. 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:28.279 What is this an indication to That's so yeah, that 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:30.680 was the that's the three things that you can talk 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:33.200 about when it comes to the running back position. Is one, 0:04:33.200 --> 0:04:37.320 Ezekiel Elliott despite the knee concerns, is one practicing. Two. 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:39.760 They actually got a really good report on Zeke and 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:43.720 said that his knee injury at the moment will not 0:04:43.760 --> 0:04:46.840 require any offseason surgery, which is huge to say that 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:49.680 it's healing up and it's looking better. And so that's 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:52.440 a positive spin. But then a not so positive spin. 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:55.440 Tony Pollard, dealing with a foot injury, spent time off 0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:58.680 the practice field yesterday, was with the athletic trainers and 0:04:58.800 --> 0:05:01.279 on the bands with Brown and company and trying to 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:04.880 get back and ready to go. So the Cowboys are 0:05:04.880 --> 0:05:07.919 anticipating both of those guys playing. But then they go 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:10.719 out and signed Edo Smith, a five one hundred ninety 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:14.839 five pound very gat back type of player. He's actually 0:05:14.839 --> 0:05:17.760 went to Southern miss and it's pretty good little back, 0:05:17.839 --> 0:05:19.480 but he's been around the league for quite some time. 0:05:19.520 --> 0:05:21.919 They go out and get him veterans, So is that 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:24.719 an indication that there maybe isn't a chance that those 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:27.000 two guys play on Saturday, and I guess asking you 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:29.440 when you have you bringing guys to the practice squad 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:32.279 mid season, it's just, you know, obviously shoring up the 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:35.599 position in a way if all else fails. But I 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:38.080 don't think that this time to take the glass off 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:40.440 the panic button? Am I? Am? I too? Am? I 0:05:40.520 --> 0:05:42.719 just too laid back about it because we've gone through 0:05:42.720 --> 0:05:45.640 situations throughout the week where Ezekiel Elliott has been hurt 0:05:45.760 --> 0:05:49.040 and been on the bands with Brett, and maybe we're 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:50.880 going through the same thing with Tony Pollard. I watched 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:53.400 the game just trying to find when he actually hurt 0:05:54.200 --> 0:05:56.240 his foot. I couldn't find it because the last thing 0:05:56.240 --> 0:05:58.240 I saw Tony Pollard was running by somebody and they 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:03.279 didn't even have him in the angle on the sideline. Yeah, 0:06:03.279 --> 0:06:05.360 you know, so I'm just evaluating that just to see 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:07.600 exactly what it is. But obviously it's enough to keep 0:06:07.680 --> 0:06:09.719 him out of practice. But if they feel like he's 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:11.600 going to be healthy and ready to go against Washington, 0:06:11.640 --> 0:06:14.480 then hell, who am I to panic? I wouldn't say 0:06:14.560 --> 0:06:17.400 panic mode, but you know you don't. You don't panic 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:19.839 with your finances, but you prepare for the worst case scenario, 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:22.400 right so I mean, this is what an indication of that. 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:24.359 I don't think this is something that you can ignore. 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:26.680 They have running backs on the roster. You know, they 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:29.400 have Zeke, they have Polor, they have clements, right, so 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:31.480 they have some guys on the roster already. So to 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:34.360 bring somebody else now from the crib and put them 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:36.560 on your practice squad, now you're prepping him for there 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:39.719 just in case. Right, Obviously, Zeke has not been healthy. 0:06:39.760 --> 0:06:41.720 I don't care what nobody says. Zeke has not been healthy. 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:43.680 He's been playing through it, right, but he has not 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:45.800 been healthy. Therefore, he has not been Zeke or even 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:48.400 a reflection of what Zeke has been. So we know 0:06:48.520 --> 0:06:52.040 Zeke is injured, but he's not missing practice time, right. Yeah, 0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:55.440 then we have TP who actually is now missing practice 0:06:55.520 --> 0:06:57.640 time and he didn't appear to be injured at all. 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:00.040 Being that it's a foot injury, we don't know the 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:02.239 complexity of the injury. But being that it's a foot, 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:04.600 trust me, I've blown my foot out before I know 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:08.080 about those. It takes one bad cut, one bad cut 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:10.200 for whatever he may be dealing with, and it's now 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:13.480 inflamed because it's a foot, right, So you got Zeke 0:07:13.480 --> 0:07:15.560 who's not healthy but playing through it. He said he 0:07:15.600 --> 0:07:17.040 already has a quote on under saying you have to 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:18.400 drag me off the field. Well, and we hope we 0:07:18.400 --> 0:07:20.120 don't get to that point. And then you have this 0:07:20.240 --> 0:07:22.360 guy that he has a change of pace back, who 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:25.400 has his filling TP, who's now missing time, and who 0:07:25.440 --> 0:07:28.280 has possibly an injury that could requires one bad cut 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:31.360 that not even a non contact potential injury can remove 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:33.360 him off the field. And now you possibly down to 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:36.000 Clement and now Ito that you just brought out to 0:07:36.000 --> 0:07:39.560 the roster. So not panicking, but have your antennis though 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:41.960 you got you got your concerns. Yeah, and I think 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:44.520 that's fair to say, because I mean, how thin do 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:47.040 you look at this running back position now as opposed 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:49.120 to what you had maybe going into training camp you 0:07:49.160 --> 0:07:52.000 thought you had Rico Dowdle back behind Pollard and Zeke. 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:55.000 You had Shiwoallana Lua back there as well. Both of 0:07:55.000 --> 0:07:57.600 those guys had great training camps up until the point 0:07:57.640 --> 0:08:00.160 where they got injured. So now you have to go 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:02.920 to the Corey Clement side, who's played a decent amount 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:04.640 of time on special teams and he's been a nice 0:08:04.640 --> 0:08:08.720 little fill in Without those two guys, though, you feel 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:11.560 severely limited in your run game. You know. I think 0:08:11.760 --> 0:08:14.960 going back to the interview from one of our three 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:18.920 the Fan and Jerry Jones was speaking and talking about 0:08:19.080 --> 0:08:22.239 Zeke being the glue of this team, I really would 0:08:22.400 --> 0:08:25.400 And I was excited about that, Kyle, because you know, 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:28.880 we do interviews with coaches, college coaches, football coaches, high 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:31.720 school coaches, and one of my main question is who's 0:08:31.720 --> 0:08:33.959 your glue guy. Who's your guy, who's your guy? Who's 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:36.520 the glue guy? And I asked that question because I 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:39.480 feel like when you have a glue guy, that's a uniter, 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:43.000 that is the guy that everybody looks to for leadership, 0:08:43.000 --> 0:08:44.679 and he's the one that's putting it on the line. 0:08:44.720 --> 0:08:46.960 And that's been so much being talked about about Zeke 0:08:47.000 --> 0:08:49.600 and this injury. But at the same him being injured 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:52.760 but playing through that, I think that catapults your whole team. 0:08:52.960 --> 0:08:55.079 That everybody's nicked, and you talked about it doing this 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:58.160 time in the season. Everybody's a little hurt, right, but 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:01.200 guys are playing through things because our main guy, the 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:03.920 guy that leads us, is playing through it, you know, 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:06.280 And well, I'll take I'll take a one out of 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:08.600 page out of the Great Nate Newton, and Nate said, 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:11.320 you know, if he could stand, if a mule could stand, 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:13.319 he'll work, right, He's like a mule. And he was 0:09:13.320 --> 0:09:16.880 talking about Emmitt Smith in the game versus New York 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:20.719 Giants to seal home field advantage where he completely sublocked 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:24.320 his shoulder was out of place, right, And so you 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:27.200 he's a hero around here because of the way that 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:30.400 he played in that game. For some reason, Zeke and 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:33.360 his toughness is viewed and looked at completely differently. But 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:35.160 he's playing through it. It's not a tear. It's not 0:09:35.200 --> 0:09:37.079 something he's gonna have to have surgery on at the 0:09:37.160 --> 0:09:40.320 end of the year. So obviously the ten day rest 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:42.080 that they got, I think that he's gonna be a 0:09:42.080 --> 0:09:45.000 lot better. But I also feel as though this should 0:09:45.040 --> 0:09:47.840 be his time of the year. We want him obviously 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:50.360 to be healthier. I don't want him to play obviously 0:09:50.400 --> 0:09:53.200 if he's injured. But these are the things that get 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:55.640 guys the glory that they want. If you're not contributing, 0:09:55.679 --> 0:09:57.800 then that's a whole other thing. But just to say, 0:09:57.840 --> 0:09:59.800 hey man, you need to sit and go away, you know, 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:02.240 and I'm not saying that anybody here saying that. I'm 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:05.720 just saying particularly Zeke and his toughness in him saying that, hey, 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:08.040 you're gonna have to drag me off, that sends a 0:10:08.120 --> 0:10:11.120 message to everybody that look, man, I'm in it, and 0:10:11.360 --> 0:10:14.199 I don't think there's anybody is questioning his toughness. I 0:10:14.240 --> 0:10:16.520 don't think that anybody's question his toughness nor his ability 0:10:16.600 --> 0:10:19.000 to produce one healthy. But the reality is he's not 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:22.120 healthy and he's not productive in the running game right 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:24.560 now because of his because of this knee injury, whatever 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:27.360 he has sustained, it's affecting his ability to run. Officially, 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:29.319 I don't think there's any question marks around that. But 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:32.400 can I ask you this, with the offensive line, and 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:34.920 we've seen the musical chairs that we played up front 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:37.840 in the offensive line, do you think that and even 0:10:37.840 --> 0:10:40.120 coming from last year and the way that teams have 0:10:40.240 --> 0:10:44.280 been pretty much daring Dak to throw the ball into 0:10:44.320 --> 0:10:46.800 these seven eight man boxes, do you think any of 0:10:46.840 --> 0:10:50.520 those things have anything to do with his production? I 0:10:50.559 --> 0:10:53.040 would say yes. I mean, obviously, the officive line always 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:55.200 plays a part in any running backs production, unless you're 0:10:55.200 --> 0:10:59.360 Barry Sanders. But but here's what we saw last week. 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:00.959 We can just go to what we saw last week 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:02.599 with the holes that were there. Even at times he 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:05.520 got through the holes. That was a Now I don't 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:07.720 know what that was a fraction of what Zeke is. 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:10.600 He was limping, he was he was gimpy, he was slow, 0:11:10.640 --> 0:11:13.120 he had no acceleration. And he could be a dog. 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:14.960 He could be he is all those things. He's a dog, 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:17.599 he's a physical specimen, he is mental you know, fortitude, 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:19.559 he's he's gonna ground it out, he's gonna be your leader. 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:21.760 He's all those things. But that doesn't make you a 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:24.280 productive running back on the field. And I don't think 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:27.320 that that he is that right now, simply because of 0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:30.520 his hindrance with his injury. Now you you you you 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:33.520 you pair that up with the fact that now Pollard 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:36.240 has something that he's dealing with, and now that worries me. 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:39.199 That worries me because now even when Zeke's not even 0:11:39.360 --> 0:11:43.120 Zeke was reverted to a third down back simply and 0:11:43.160 --> 0:11:45.240 they're just a block exactly because his ability to be 0:11:45.240 --> 0:11:47.760 able to diagnose the defense what they have going on 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:49.760 and be able to negate uh some kind of a 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:51.920 factor that they are there, they're they're imposing on deck. 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:55.040 So that's why he was really out there as a threat. 0:11:55.360 --> 0:11:57.440 And also his ability to keep people off Deck's back. 0:11:57.720 --> 0:11:59.880 He can do that all day long, but he's not 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:02.640 toting the ball. So if you take Zeke out the 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:05.760 running game the running game, and you take Pollard out 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:08.600 the running game, if injury occurs, if it's this thing 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:11.360 gets worse or whatever it has flares back up, now 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:13.439 you really don't have a running game that we're already 0:12:13.480 --> 0:12:15.680 struggling with with those guys in the picture, and I 0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:18.120 know you're gonna you're gonna go forward with the matchups 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:21.520 and everything in this game. So I like this conversation though, 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:24.200 because I think it is a concern because at some 0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:26.960 point in the last couple of weeks, when Zeke hasn't 0:12:27.000 --> 0:12:30.080 looked like Zeke, you at least had the fall back 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:33.200 of saying Tony Pollard's here, Tony Pollard's gonna take this 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:35.320 rock and he's gonna have a fifty eight yard touchdown 0:12:35.400 --> 0:12:37.960 run That opened up the game completely for your offense. 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:40.160 So there is that concern. But I agree with you 0:12:40.200 --> 0:12:42.520 in the fact that I think there's a lot of 0:12:42.679 --> 0:12:47.040 the wrong idea the wrong perception of Ezekiel Elliott by 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:49.720 playing through this because he is that glue guy. Because 0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:52.640 he is the guy, and going back to the conversations 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:54.199 that you and I have with these college and high 0:12:54.240 --> 0:12:57.520 school coaches, for the most part, it's either an offensive lineman, 0:12:57.600 --> 0:13:01.120 it's a quarterback. It's never the tailback. It is almost 0:13:01.280 --> 0:13:04.160 never the half back. There are a couple exceptions, of course, 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:07.040 but Zeke is that guy, and he's been that glue 0:13:07.040 --> 0:13:08.480 guy for a couple of years now, and I think 0:13:08.480 --> 0:13:10.800 Mike McCarthy knows that. I think Amari Cooper is another 0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:13.200 one of those guys that this year, early in the year, 0:13:13.200 --> 0:13:15.640 we heard him talk about saying, in order to be 0:13:15.679 --> 0:13:17.600 the best, and I want to be the best, I 0:13:17.679 --> 0:13:19.480 have to be on the field, right I have to 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:22.760 be healthy, I have to play through whatever's nicking at me. 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:25.440 I think Zeke probably picked up a little bit of 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:27.840 that too. He knows that, hey, I can help this 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:30.240 team when I'm on the field, and especially now with 0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:32.320 Tony Pollard out, he's going to have to help the 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:34.679 team out. And hopefully this ten days does do that. 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:37.719 And I think it also for a Cowboy Nation, a 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:39.680 lot of people are looking at what's going on with 0:13:39.720 --> 0:13:41.360 the running game. But then you look at where the 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:45.000 running game work ranks in the NFL, and I believe 0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:47.520 it's still it's still a top ten running game and 0:13:47.559 --> 0:13:50.360 so it's hard to panic when you look at the 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:52.560 numbers and you see it. But then if I told 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:56.040 you that running in general in the league was down 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:58.600 without actually looking at a stat, I'm sure you would 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:01.199 believe me because of the way that teams are throwing 0:14:01.240 --> 0:14:03.079 the ball and the league has changed. Right, So I'll 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:04.640 get you, guys know, I'm not a big stat guy 0:14:04.800 --> 0:14:08.840 or by any means, but this team, I don't care 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:11.000 how many receivers we get. I don't care what we 0:14:11.080 --> 0:14:14.320 have at the quarterback position. This team is revolves around 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:17.320 the ground game, and most offenses do. There's very few 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:19.920 that just can just light you up with the air 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:24.080 raid offense. Okay, So Dallas's inability to run the ball 0:14:24.560 --> 0:14:27.320 has affected their ability to win ball games. That is 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:30.120 a fact. That's a fact over the last five games 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:32.080 or so, yeah, I mean, which they lost three of 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:34.720 four at one point in time, right, So that is 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:36.360 a fact. This team needs to be able to run 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:38.760 the ball. Now, can Dak throw the ball fifty times. 0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:40.280 We've seen it happen. Yes, he can throw the ball 0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:42.720 fifty times. Does he have the receivers out there? Absolutely? 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:45.440 Is that an effective way to win ball games with 0:14:45.480 --> 0:14:48.760 this team. No. So, at the end of the day, 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:52.080 regardless of what we can do around these issues that 0:14:52.120 --> 0:14:55.080 we're having, sustaining you have to create a ground game. 0:14:55.200 --> 0:14:56.880 And if you don't have a ground game and you 0:14:57.160 --> 0:14:59.960 and your opponents due, you're gonna be in trouble. You're limit. 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:02.640 I mean, it goes back to the six game win streak, 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:04.880 when everything was going right. What was the thing that 0:15:04.920 --> 0:15:07.760 was leading the way to the ground Yeah, but let 0:15:07.800 --> 0:15:10.000 me ask you this. You know, obviously, and I've already 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:12.480 asked this question and pointed to the injuries and everything 0:15:12.520 --> 0:15:16.080 that we had. But also you're going up against professionals here, 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:19.480 and defensive coordinators are not going to allow you to 0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:22.800 get away with things. Yeah. Once we see that, Okay, 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:25.040 you bring in kind of a governor as a fullback. Okay, 0:15:25.080 --> 0:15:26.400 we know where you're going with this, you know, And 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:30.080 so teams have adjusted. Regardless of Vick Vangio's claim that 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:32.920 he came up with the recipe of the blueprint to 0:15:33.080 --> 0:15:35.680 beat you, you've seen teams make the adjustment. I think 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:38.560 that adjustment started versus the Patriots. The Patriots were one 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:40.400 of the first teams to say, we're going to crowd 0:15:40.400 --> 0:15:42.960 the line of scrimmage. We're gonna body you on the outside, 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:45.800 and we're gonna dare Dak to find it and hell 0:15:46.000 --> 0:15:49.040 walk off home run. You know, and over time is 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:52.200 what he shown. Since the injury, since then, since the 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:55.120 musical chairs at the offensive line position, you've seen our 0:15:55.200 --> 0:15:59.160 offense not be able to generate that kind of rushing um. 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:01.920 And it's because teams are just again crowding the line 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:03.920 of scrimmage and we don't have that take a drink 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:07.080 continuity at the offensive line that's been plaguing us. I 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:08.800 think we get back to that. I think you have 0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:10.360 to because you just pointed out if you go up 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:12.440 against a team that has a running game and you don't, 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:15.480 what can they do. They can sustain drives that can 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:17.560 milk the clock, and if you do three, if you 0:16:17.600 --> 0:16:20.120 have a three and out, you're just putting your defense 0:16:20.160 --> 0:16:22.360 out there to drive. Yeah, it's a bad situation, and 0:16:22.480 --> 0:16:25.040 I'm gonna double down on the fact that, you know, 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:28.360 I think Jerry Jones gave Dak a scapegoat. I'd be 0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:29.840 honest with you, I'm gonna call a spade a spade. 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:31.360 I think he gave him a scapegoat the other day 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:33.160 when he said that those receivers that are running the 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:36.800 y didn't like didn't like them, didn't like it at all, 0:16:37.040 --> 0:16:39.040 didn't like it at all, and did not like you. 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:41.600 Felt like he threw he threw the receivers under the bus. 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:43.440 I felt like he threw the receivers under the bus. 0:16:43.680 --> 0:16:46.600 And he gave gave Dak an exit. And this is 0:16:46.600 --> 0:16:50.520 a former quarterback and the reality and the reality is, 0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:55.360 since since Dak's injury to his calf, his mechanics have 0:16:55.440 --> 0:16:58.920 been off. There are pockets that Dak is not stepping 0:16:59.000 --> 0:17:01.560 up into. There are a lot of balls that he's 0:17:01.600 --> 0:17:03.760 throwing off his back leg. His form is bad, his 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:07.080 deliveries bad, his accuracies not there. So all these things 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:09.240 you pair that up with, and that's something that he 0:17:09.280 --> 0:17:11.399 can correct, right, he can correct that out. Yeah, that's all. 0:17:11.680 --> 0:17:13.240 That's all fixed the bo out here in the practice field. 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:14.560 But he has to show it, right, he has to 0:17:14.600 --> 0:17:16.320 show it He's taken from the practice field or from 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:18.600 his mind and make it physical into the actual game. 0:17:19.000 --> 0:17:23.240 You pair those bad mechanics up, they reflect in those 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:25.720 Mickey bad mechanics reflecting a two out of thirteen on 0:17:25.760 --> 0:17:27.840 third down. Yeah, all right, and then you pair that 0:17:27.920 --> 0:17:29.760 up with an inability to have a ground game and 0:17:29.840 --> 0:17:33.200 injured running backs. It's a bad combination. That's all I'm saying. Yeah, 0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:36.520 that's all. You're not saying Dak Prescott has been playing poorly. 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:39.160 You're saying his mechanics are are putting just a little 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:40.719 bit off. He has to show him up because there 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:43.000 are times when Dak Prescott, especially in that Saints game, 0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:47.639 we're making just the perfect times now just dots to 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:50.280 his receivers, But there were other times, like you said, 0:17:50.280 --> 0:17:53.000 that miss wide open guys and missed first down opportunities 0:17:53.000 --> 0:17:55.399 and multiple things of the of the sword. And actually 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:58.439 we're looking at there's a monitor in here with NFL 0:17:58.480 --> 0:18:01.160 Network and it's got Jerry and says why Cowboys widers 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:05.359 didn't run? So how about that for timing? But what 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:07.440 about I mean, and even this week, you know you 0:18:07.520 --> 0:18:09.840 heard Ceedee Lamb in an interview talk about that fourth 0:18:09.840 --> 0:18:12.359 down play where he was supposed to be a little 0:18:12.359 --> 0:18:14.280 bit more shallow or more to the outside where the 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:16.119 ball would would land to him. Anyway, they would have 0:18:16.119 --> 0:18:19.080 had success. But he threw himself on the sword and said, 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:22.920 I didn't I misheard what was going on. And then 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:25.360 and then in the same breath, for the last those 0:18:25.359 --> 0:18:28.200 five game stretches that you're talking about, we're playing without 0:18:28.280 --> 0:18:30.919 key guys at positions. Whether it'd be the concussion or 0:18:30.960 --> 0:18:35.479 whether it'd be COVID for Amari Cooper, and guys taking 0:18:35.520 --> 0:18:39.560 reps that they wouldn't necessarily be taken. I think Central Wilson, 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:42.359 all of these guys, Noah Brown would also with the 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:45.040 amount of reps that they got, they're not used to that. Again, 0:18:45.440 --> 0:18:47.880 no excuses for that, all right, because you get enough 0:18:47.920 --> 0:18:49.760