WEBVTT - Talkin' Cowboys: Top 5 Position Battles 0:00:05.840 --> 0:00:08.400 The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:19.360 and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. This He's Talking Cowboys, 0:00:19.760 --> 0:00:23.200 Screaming live from the Dallas Cowboys World headquarters at the 0:00:23.280 --> 0:00:34.280 Star in Frisco. Elliot Scott and now your hosts Isaiah Stanback, 0:00:34.600 --> 0:00:41.680 heck My Harrison, Rob Phillips and Kyle Yeoman's It's a 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:46.080 June edition of Talking Cowboys here from inside the SWBC 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:49.879 Mortgage studios at the Star in Frisco. As the off 0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:53.440 season continues to roll on for Dallas Cowboys Tion, we 0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:56.960 chop him without Isaiah here in the same it's not 0:00:57.280 --> 0:01:00.120 I mean, it's so Isaiah's going to be flying in 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:03.080 here much like we did for those of you loyal 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:06.160 listeners out there. You'll remember back to the first in 0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:09.679 person episodes that we ever did, Isaiah forgot that we 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:12.240 were doing him back to back days and he came 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:17.280 just flying in like ninety five miles per hour down 0:01:17.640 --> 0:01:22.200 highway or what would that be, I thirty five from Willisville. Sure, uh, 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:25.200 and he came flying into the show. He's gonna do 0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:27.759 something similar to that here over the next couple of minutes. 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:30.240 And I'm sure he's listening so Isaiah stand back. We'll 0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:32.760 join us shortly. But we do have Rob Phillips Cowboys 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:36.160 Insider professional football analyst, and we can say that now 0:01:36.560 --> 0:01:39.199 even more so for HECKM. Harrison because he has made 0:01:39.240 --> 0:01:49.280 his Dallas Cowboys dot Com debut and it is a 0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:52.040 good read. I read it at least twice this week 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:54.000 because I read it while I was out of town, 0:01:54.080 --> 0:01:56.360 and then I read it last night to kind of 0:01:56.760 --> 0:01:59.480 get my thoughts right and get the preparation right for 0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:03.400 the show on Dallas Cowboys dot Com last Wednesday. You 0:02:03.400 --> 0:02:06.800 can go find it. I just tweeted the link out 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:11.000 eight under the Radar standouts from Cowboys ot as. It 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:14.400 really is a good article, and Rob he did a 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:16.960 nice job of kind of laying things out. Because OTAs 0:02:17.000 --> 0:02:19.680 are underway, we'll have some more throughout the week to 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:22.240 talk to you about. But what have we seen so 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:25.480 far from the Cowboys as they have gotten on the field. 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:30.480 A lot of work in shorts and helmets, noe pads. 0:02:30.600 --> 0:02:34.200 Yet we'll do that I think in Oxnard, if and 0:02:34.240 --> 0:02:37.120 when that's officially announced. But like Hecma wrote about, and 0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:39.280 go check it out because it's a great piece. There's 0:02:39.280 --> 0:02:41.240 still stuff to see. You can see how guys are 0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:43.480 moving around. You can you can see it where guys 0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:45.960 are lining up, and if you want to draw conclusions 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:49.000 from that, you can. Now, we're only getting one ota 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:52.239 per week, and this week it's Thursday, so we gotta 0:02:52.240 --> 0:02:55.560 wait till Thursday to see the I know, I know 0:02:55.639 --> 0:02:59.880 they shoveled things around this week, but you know, we watch. 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:03.520 We watched the offense that was out there. There were 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:06.000 some guys missing, and we gotta peek at the defense. 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:08.920 So that was fun to see, you know what I 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:11.679 was trying to do. It's not right through such an 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:15.360 optimistic lens because you have to understand that it is 0:03:15.400 --> 0:03:18.680 just sotas. They are in just shorts in Jersey. So 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:20.840 I'm not about to put anyone in the Hall of 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:23.440 Fame based off of that. But it really was some 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:26.600 positive signs from a few guys, I mean, defensive line wise, 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:29.000 And I had a fan pointed out to me that, 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:31.400 you know, of the eight players, four of them were 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:33.400 defensive linemen, and it guess there's a lot of my 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:35.840 attention was on the defensive line. But it was really 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:38.840 good to see some of the guys that we have 0:03:38.960 --> 0:03:43.560 question marks around actually in action. Seeing these guys you know, 0:03:43.720 --> 0:03:47.440 move basically work on one on one with Quinn, you 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:51.480 just realize that this defense man there's a new infusion 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:55.040 of energy with this group that obviously you need to 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:57.320 have that you can be in a situation where you 0:03:57.360 --> 0:04:01.080 finish as bad as you did last season, but really 0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:03.880 some great signs from some guys that you're looking to 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:06.680 make key contributions in the fall. Name some of those 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:08.280 guys that that kind of stuck out to you. I 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:11.760 know you highlighted like eight separate players in your article, 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:15.000 but the majority of them being on that defensive line. 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:17.839 I think that's just a byproduct of one, there being 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:20.880 so many new faces there and of course drawing your 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:23.440 attention to that. But two, it's just easier to get 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:26.400 a read on those types of guys in these sort 0:04:26.440 --> 0:04:30.000 of drills as opposed to maybe a secondary player, which 0:04:30.040 --> 0:04:32.520 is it's much tougher to kind of read right well, 0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:36.320 Brent Urban one is, when you see that group, the 0:04:36.320 --> 0:04:39.640 defensive line group together, Brent Urban is someone that sticks 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:41.960 out like a sore thumb because of his size. He 0:04:42.160 --> 0:04:46.080 is just a big person. But then just his ability 0:04:46.120 --> 0:04:49.560 to move, you know, you realize that from where we 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:52.280 were last year with guys like Antoine Woods that was 0:04:52.400 --> 0:04:57.440 smaller in stature guy even Crawford a bigger guy, but 0:04:57.640 --> 0:05:00.479 not as big as Urban and so I just think 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:04.240 that his presence on that defensive line, You're gonna see 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:08.440 a lot of you know, momentum with this group as 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:10.880 the preseason going into the regular season, just because of 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:15.039 his presence. He's a great example of the additions they've 0:05:15.080 --> 0:05:17.559 made on the D line this offseason. They've they've added 0:05:17.560 --> 0:05:20.040 a lot of guys who've played in multiple schemes, who 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:22.800 can play multiple spots. He's been in a hybrid scheme 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:25.360 in Baltimore. He's been he can you know, he's an 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:29.760 end who can kick inside. Carlos Watkins can do that too. 0:05:30.240 --> 0:05:32.560 Terrell Basham can stand up or put his hand in 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:36.479 the ground. Ocia dicazooa is played everywhere on the D 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:38.840 line at UCLA. So you kind of get a hint 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:40.880 based off of the additions they made of what dan 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:42.880 Quinn wants to do. I mean, we talk about that 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:46.960 four three cover three scheme and Mike McCarthy said, look, 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:49.120 I don't think we're gonna change too much of what 0:05:49.160 --> 0:05:52.800 we did on defense last year. That might make fans clinch, right, 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:55.080 they just need to execute better. I think what they 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:57.640 felt like was by the end of the season they 0:05:57.760 --> 0:06:01.440 started to get the production they want in some aspects, 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:04.160 especially taking the ball away. Now come in with Dan 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:06.200 Quinn and kind of refine those things and bring in 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:08.640 his own concepts too. But yeah, some of the d 0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:12.080 lineman you know, catch your eye. I was watching the linebackers, 0:06:12.120 --> 0:06:13.800 you know, I just wanted to see where guys were 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:17.120 lining up, and for what it's worth, Jalen Smith and 0:06:17.200 --> 0:06:20.279 Laton Vanderesh, no surprise, are the two linebackers you know 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:22.680 with the first team. That's what you want to call it, 0:06:23.400 --> 0:06:26.479 and typically that's not uncommon. Might very well be what 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:29.600 we see week one, but that's not uncommon for veterans 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:33.880 to take the rookies spots or whatever with first second 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:36.279 team in these in these OTA practices. Now, you said 0:06:36.279 --> 0:06:37.840 a couple of things there that I kind of want 0:06:37.839 --> 0:06:40.560 to put a pin in and come back to. I 0:06:40.640 --> 0:06:43.320 wanted to ask another question about Brent Urban. I mean, 0:06:43.320 --> 0:06:45.920 six foot seven, three hundred pounds. He played a lot 0:06:46.000 --> 0:06:49.560 of defensive tackle throughout his career, but everything that I've 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:53.600 heard is him maybe slipping outside and playing on that edge. 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:57.000 I mean, he had an eighty three plus run defense 0:06:57.080 --> 0:06:59.520 grade on PFF last year in one hundred and eighty 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:04.240 rush defense snaps. So my question is do you think 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:06.520 he plays inside or do you play he plays the 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:09.600 majority of his snaps outside, because I think that could 0:07:09.640 --> 0:07:12.080 play a factor into whether or not he will be 0:07:12.160 --> 0:07:14.160 on the fifty three man because they only take five 0:07:14.200 --> 0:07:17.760 of each. It's a good question. I mean, I would 0:07:17.800 --> 0:07:20.400 think with d Laws you're left end, you're probably seeing 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:25.200 him kick inside at least on first second down and 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:28.040 then third down or clear passing situations. You've got your 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:31.600 best four rushers on the field. That's what I would expect. 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:34.080 And I agree with what you just said, Rob, But 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:37.400 I think Urban is so multifaceted, and which you talked 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:39.520 about it his ability to play the one, play, the three, 0:07:39.520 --> 0:07:43.560 play the five when you ask those questions about the 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:46.559 defense and not completely changing to the four three looks, 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:49.640 still using some variations of that three four. A guy 0:07:49.720 --> 0:07:52.520 of his size is what is prototypical in a three 0:07:52.600 --> 0:07:55.119 four defense, being able to be a two gap guy 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:58.720 with size six seven, three hundred pounds and able to 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:01.800 hold up two guys to allow linebackers to read and react. 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:04.680 So I think that is what is you know, the 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:07.520 thing that he has the feather in his cap. Basically, 0:08:08.120 --> 0:08:11.000 I'm just interested to see because I whenever I watched 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:14.000 him on film, the best tape he had was inside. 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:16.640 And then the first thing I had heard whenever he 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:18.840 showed up was, Hey, he's going to kick outside for us? 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:21.160 And which is fine? You probably both. He probably will. 0:08:21.600 --> 0:08:24.880 Maybe he may be your Tyrone Crawford veteran replacement where 0:08:24.920 --> 0:08:27.000 we have a guy like maybe an Osao Diggi Zooa 0:08:27.080 --> 0:08:29.520 on the inside, yes, who can fill that role as 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:33.240 a rookie. Now, you also said not changing a whole 0:08:33.280 --> 0:08:37.199 lot from a defensive standpoint, And my question to you is, 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:40.920 if that is the mindset from Mike McCarthy in this 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:44.600 entire coaching staff, how is that possible with a new 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:48.880 defensive coordinator, a new energy brought in, how do they 0:08:48.920 --> 0:08:53.120 execute that at least have higher execution on a defense 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:54.760 If they're going to try and run things the same 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:58.440 way we coaches, not divulging what they're gonna do is 0:08:58.520 --> 0:09:01.400 pretty much right typical of coaches. And so is it 0:09:01.520 --> 0:09:04.320 just a big smokescreen? I assume it would be. Well, 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:06.320 when you look at the league in general, a lot 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:09.080 of teams play a variation of all things. You know, 0:09:09.160 --> 0:09:12.120 it's all depending on the amount of receivers, you know, 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:15.679 to nickel coverages and so forth. So you know, if 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:18.400 you have to be multifaceted in your defensive approach, no 0:09:18.440 --> 0:09:20.640 one plays just you know, obviously you have your base 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:23.360 that you you play, and I think their base is 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:26.440 going to be a four three just all things being considered, 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:30.200 but they have to be able to play multiple sets 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:33.319 versus team. So I just I think that whole argument 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:36.319 versus going to one over another, it's just being overblown 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:38.640 because when it comes down to camp, you're going to 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:40.960 see all kinds of looks, you know, right up until 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:42.800 that first week. Yeah, I just don't think it's this 0:09:42.920 --> 0:09:47.960 rigid they're a pure four three base. Every every defense 0:09:48.000 --> 0:09:50.080 in the league pretty much is now a hybrid where 0:09:50.120 --> 0:09:52.640 you're doing all kinds of things. And actually McCarthy said recently, 0:09:53.280 --> 0:09:55.160 don't get caught up so much in four three three 0:09:55.200 --> 0:09:57.760 fords about the techniques and so you know, you're going 0:09:57.800 --> 0:09:59.400 to see a little bit of everything, just like you 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:01.080 see from a lot defenses. And when you look at 0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:04.480 Dan Quinn's background. He has coached three four schemes. He 0:10:04.559 --> 0:10:06.720 has been in hybrid schemes when he was in Miami 0:10:06.760 --> 0:10:10.480 with Nick Saban, a three four based scheme in New 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:14.880 York with the Jets, So he doesn't he's he's he's 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:16.760 been around a lot of different disciplines, so I think 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:18.400 you're going to see a nice mix of that, And 0:10:18.920 --> 0:10:22.880 really I don't McCarthy was I wouldn't say defiance the 0:10:22.880 --> 0:10:26.360 word last year, but I feel like last year it 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:30.440 wasn't so much about in his mind, we did this 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:33.120 big scheme change and it was a failure. It was 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:37.640 just they didn't execute well enough by until maybe towards 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:39.160 the end of the season. Now, the run defense was 0:10:39.200 --> 0:10:42.280 a problem, but he didn't feel like there was so 0:10:42.400 --> 0:10:47.640 much on the players in terms of volume. I don't know. 0:10:47.760 --> 0:10:51.360 I think they tried to do too much personally, but 0:10:51.880 --> 0:10:54.240 I think he felt like from an execution standpoint, it 0:10:54.320 --> 0:10:56.200 got better by December, and now you can try to 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:58.880 build off of that and hopefully have some better communication 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:01.840 than what you said in the off season. I think 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:04.760 Dan Quinn's a big part of that because because under 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:07.520 Mike Nolan, it just it wasn't getting done based on 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:09.440 the off season work they had, and it was virtual 0:11:09.480 --> 0:11:10.959 and it was new, so that's you know, that was 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:13.240 a challenge and I appreciate all of that, man, but 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:16.360 the learning curve was not there. Okay, let's just keep 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:18.800 it real. And you know the way that they looked, 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:21.000 especially in certain situations. You just go back to the 0:11:21.040 --> 0:11:24.360 Cleveland game. I mean, like, duh, of course they weren't 0:11:24.480 --> 0:11:27.480 getting it. Yeah, teams going for three hundred yards rushing 0:11:27.480 --> 0:11:30.679 against you. And now he're talking about now you're in 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:34.520 a situation where you are going to go back to 0:11:34.559 --> 0:11:38.040 the same defense as before. And I think the fan 0:11:38.080 --> 0:11:40.040 base is just asking what's going to be the difference 0:11:40.040 --> 0:11:43.680 between last year and this year? Hopefully as personnel, Hopefully 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:47.679 as personnel, hopefully as simplifying the scheme. Hopefully guys are comfortable, 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:50.840 and that's why you bring in your guys from Atlanta 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:54.040 that know your system, no the terminology, and can execute 0:11:54.080 --> 0:11:56.200 and help other guys execute on the fly. I just 0:11:56.240 --> 0:11:58.360 want to kind of clarify this for any of those 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:01.240 listening that may be asking the same action as I am, 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:02.960 because I've heard this a couple of times from Mike 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:05.560 McCarthy and it may just be smoke screens. He needs 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:08.400 to choose another smoke screen, I think if that's the case, 0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:11.880 But how much impact does he have on this defense? 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:14.440 How much, say, does Mike McCarthy as the head coach have, 0:12:14.640 --> 0:12:17.400 even though he's an offensive mind and he always has been, 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:21.400 how much input and impact does he have whenever he 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:27.320 hops in those rooms as a head coach he makes 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:29.680 any decision he wants to make sure. But I think 0:12:29.720 --> 0:12:34.280 when you hire a guy with dan Quinn's credentials, I 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:36.280 think he's gonna have a lot of autonomy. I mean, 0:12:36.320 --> 0:12:39.160 you look at the draft itself, and what they did 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:42.200 from a personnel standpoint is they found dan Quinn players. 0:12:42.520 --> 0:12:45.880 So I think from that standpoint, I think dan Quinn's 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:49.440 going to have what he needs to run his scheme. Now, 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:51.760 is Mike McCarthy going to spend a bunch of time 0:12:51.800 --> 0:12:53.680 in that room. I don't really think so. I think 0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:56.440 probably more. He's more of a walk around coach anyway. 0:12:56.520 --> 0:12:59.760 But if he's going to spend more time somewhere, depending 0:12:59.760 --> 0:13:01.199 on how things go, I would think it'd be in 0:13:01.200 --> 0:13:04.120 the offensive side of the room. And generals, generally speaking, 0:13:04.240 --> 0:13:06.880 I believe head coaches coach the coaches, you know, and 0:13:07.000 --> 0:13:10.600 just making sure that things operate at an optimal level. 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:13.679 You know, obviously, if there's anything a scheme wise in game, 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:18.760 he may have some tidbits, but you know, I believe 0:13:18.800 --> 0:13:21.559 that he's fully confident in Dan Quinn and his ability 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:25.800 to direct this defense towards better, you know, better statistical 0:13:25.880 --> 0:13:28.800 numbers than we had last year. Lots of positives coming 0:13:28.800 --> 0:13:32.280 out of OTA's with some of these individuals hanging around. 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:34.720 What about Dak Prescott? What are we seen from QB 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:37.439 one as he's back on the field, he is throwing 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:41.080 We've seen pictures. What were you guys able to see 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:44.640 as a media whenever you walked into the Ford Center 0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:46.600 and we're able to kind of get your eyes on 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:48.560 Dak for the first time in a uniform and quite 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:52.040 some time. I did the blitz for Sunday Night on Friday, 0:13:52.040 --> 0:13:53.840 and what I said was, if you were under a 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:57.839 rock for six months, okay, just see somebody's under a rock. 0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:00.240 They didn't see anything about the Cowboys last year. You're 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:06.120 good for you lucky, I know, and you come out 0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:07.960 where do I find a rock? You come out of 0:14:08.000 --> 0:14:10.120 that rock and you think the Cowboys might have won 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:12.520 the Super Bowl. They didn't, unfortunately, and you saw Dak 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:15.839 Prescott practice in that red jersey and you said, wow, 0:14:16.080 --> 0:14:18.400 he looks like Dak Prescott. I don't. I don't think 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:21.080 you would have known that he had the injury he had. 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:25.480 Now again, it's helmets and shorts. He's not getting any 0:14:25.560 --> 0:14:27.880 sort of sort of pass rush against him. They're keeping 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:30.600 him out of that, which is really smart, by the way, 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:33.040 because you got young players, especially on the defensive line, 0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:35.560 learning the pace of practice. You don't want anybody rolling 0:14:35.640 --> 0:14:37.840 up on that one hundred and sixty million dollars ankle, 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:42.800 but from from a pocket presence, rolling out, making throws 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:46.680 on the run, handoffs, everything. He just he looks confident 0:14:46.800 --> 0:14:49.960 on that ankle. Heck. Now, I gotta ask you, Rob, 0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:53.280 how do you like as far as your your worries 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:56.160 about Dak, knowing the kind of player that he is, 0:14:56.200 --> 0:14:58.440 what are some of your concerns coming into this season, 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:01.680 just knowing of that horrific injury that he had. What 0:15:01.720 --> 0:15:03.360 do you what are you concerned? If I had a 0:15:03.400 --> 0:15:05.080 concern right now, I think it would just be the 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:08.320 timing for him, because he's been October since he was 0:15:08.360 --> 0:15:11.720 really on the field practicing timing with his receivers and 0:15:11.760 --> 0:15:13.960 then but I think by training camp he's gonna get 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:17.760 that sorted out. Now. People made not made a big deal, 0:15:17.880 --> 0:15:20.280 but there were some plays he missed. There was an interception, 0:15:20.640 --> 0:15:23.960 there was a pass broken up. He takes chances in 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:26.760 these practices. He always before the injury, he wants to 0:15:26.840 --> 0:15:28.960 kind of test. He even said it afterwards, like I 0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:31.000 want I want my receivers to know I'm gonna look 0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:32.800 for him, I'm gonna try to fit in a spot. 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:35.800 So I wouldn't read into that, but I do think 0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:38.160 there's probably a bit of Russ there. And he talked 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:42.400 about a psychological element there in terms of trusting his ankle. 0:15:42.920 --> 0:15:46.240 And again, I think by week one he says he's 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:48.160 probably out of that already by now, but I think 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:52.080 by week one there should be, you know, no second 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:55.000 thoughts about you know, the health of his ankle and 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:57.200 doing anything he needs to do on it. I love 0:15:57.240 --> 0:15:59.400 when we got an opportunity to listen to the conference 0:15:59.400 --> 0:16:02.240 call with Delta, Scholtz and Dalton Shows talking about the 0:16:02.280 --> 0:16:05.560 velocity of his ball and nothing changed from that aspect, 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:08.240 And you know, it's I think it's the muscle memory 0:16:08.280 --> 0:16:10.400 of it for him as a quarterback that I think 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:13.760 it makes it really easy going into his sixth season 0:16:14.240 --> 0:16:17.960 knowing what it is to prepare and be an NFL quarterback. 0:16:18.240 --> 0:16:20.960 I like everyone else, the obvious thing would be what 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:23.320 happens once he gets pressure? Is he going to be 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:26.600 apprehensive about leaving the pocket? Is it going to be 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:29.000 on his mind? And right now, the way that he's 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:31.840 practicing in shorts, it doesn't look like there's any residual 0:16:31.840 --> 0:16:36.280 effect there. Mentally, My thing for Dak is taking the 0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:38.000 next step. You know, the pressure is going to be 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:40.360 on him because of the contract, and people are going 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:43.200 to be Every throw is going to be under the microscope. 0:16:43.680 --> 0:16:46.600 If you want to get into the realm of the Roethlisburgers, 0:16:46.600 --> 0:16:49.400 the Rogers, the Wilson's, the Mahomes, the elite group, the 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:54.640 elite group, be more cerebral in your approach, meaning you know, 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:57.360 if calling audibles, when you catch a defensive coordinator in 0:16:57.360 --> 0:17:00.480 the wrong coverage you see them trying to do the package, 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:02.520 is harrying up to the line of scrimmage and snapping 0:17:02.560 --> 0:17:05.520 the ball, those little nuanced things of football. I think 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:08.040 those are the things that he has to improve upon 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:12.600 so that he can be elevated to that next level 0:17:12.600 --> 0:17:16.000 of quarterbacks go for Sorry, I just to piggyback on that. 0:17:16.080 --> 0:17:18.360 I think by the time Romo got to like year 0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:21.199 twenty fourteen, when they got to the divisional round, that 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:26.200 does catch year, he had completely gained the perfect understanding 0:17:26.200 --> 0:17:28.000 of his offense. He was like he was like a 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:31.440 pilot that had every He knew everything there, what he'd seen, 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:35.119 every coverage, and he was perfectly in control of that scheme. 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:36.800 And I think for Dak it's just a matter of 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:39.040 continuing to be in that scheme, and I think having 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:42.000 Kellen Moore and having that carryover will help him there. 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:45.040 But that's a shame about Romo's career is that once 0:17:45.080 --> 0:17:47.480 he got to that point twenty fifteen, then the collarbone 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:49.480 injuries and then it was over. You know, there is 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:51.720 a little something that does worry me about that, just 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:57.080 because there was so much uncertainty around his contract situation 0:17:57.320 --> 0:17:59.919 and because of the injury, that could have been his 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:02.680 time to you know, hit the playbooks and really kind 0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:05.080 of get to that point of understanding, and he may 0:18:05.080 --> 0:18:06.960 have done that. We'll see that pretty early on in 0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:10.560 the season if we can kind of see a scout 0:18:10.640 --> 0:18:14.600 difference of the kind of sill excuse me approach that 0:18:14.640 --> 0:18:16.920 you were talking about a moment ago. I think that's 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:19.399 something that would stick out pretty early on Week one, 0:18:19.440 --> 0:18:22.560 two or three. Is there any worry about longevity though, 0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:25.000 with the ankle, with the physicality of this game in 0:18:25.000 --> 0:18:28.240 the longer season, because turning right back around, he's going 0:18:28.240 --> 0:18:30.480 to face hits. At some point he will be hit. 0:18:31.040 --> 0:18:33.520 Is there a chance that not maybe not Week five 0:18:33.640 --> 0:18:36.280 or six, but later in the season you start kind 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:38.520 of worrying about that ankle and whether or not it 0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:41.159 is ready to take a staunch hit like he did 0:18:41.240 --> 0:18:43.520 of course last last year. Well, I think in this 0:18:43.600 --> 0:18:46.760 league you're always one hitaway. It's one hitaway. I mean, 0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:50.439 Dak looked indestructible through how seasons, you know, and it 0:18:50.520 --> 0:18:52.560 just it was a freak play other than maybe taking 0:18:52.600 --> 0:18:54.880 a couple of shots to the helmet and you've got 0:18:54.880 --> 0:18:57.120 to get a check for concussions, like he hadn't had anything, 0:18:57.960 --> 0:19:01.800 and he's still that guy. The ankle strong. Everything you hear, 0:19:01.800 --> 0:19:03.720 the ankle is strong. And I think one thing that 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:06.760 would make Cowboys fans hopefully feel better about it is 0:19:06.760 --> 0:19:09.960 just think about Alan hearns okay. Alan Hearns had basically 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:14.560 the same injury January of twenty nineteen. By OTAs of 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:17.480 that year, he was on the field doing everything everything 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:20.760 at the receiver position where you really got to rely 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:23.760 on your legs and your speed. That's not Dak's game, 0:19:24.080 --> 0:19:26.040 or it doesn't have to be, and he doesn't have 0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:28.639 to be a guy that scrambles as much as he 0:19:28.680 --> 0:19:31.320 does in the future. He's talked about that. I don't 0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:33.160 really have a lot of concern about that. I think 0:19:33.200 --> 0:19:36.640 the ankle is strong and he's gonna be okay. Hopefully 0:19:36.640 --> 0:19:40.879 the offensive line stays healthy because they've had their injury concerns. 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:43.200 Maybe if that's a concern I have, it's like they've 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:46.399 got great lineman, can they stay healthy too. Did we 0:19:46.680 --> 0:19:49.879 hear any or see anything off of ly O'Collins Tyrant 0:19:49.880 --> 0:19:52.560 Smith health wise this week or was there really relatively 0:19:52.720 --> 0:19:56.080 no impact from what they did in OTAs They were 0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:58.080 there a little bit, right, Yeah, they were a little bit. Yeah, 0:19:58.320 --> 0:20:04.440 Britt Brown and bands baby side. That's fun than practice itself. Yeah, 0:20:04.480 --> 0:20:06.960 I've heard. Yeah, he does a great job. I feel 0:20:06.960 --> 0:20:08.439 like training camps where we're really going to get an 0:20:08.480 --> 0:20:11.840 injury update on those two if I would have to guess, 0:20:11.920 --> 0:20:14.000 But there's plenty of guys that we were looking at 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:17.720 for OTAs, two of which former dan Quinn guys. Who 0:20:17.840 --> 0:20:20.840 out of the Falcons team is going to make the 0:20:20.880 --> 0:20:24.800 biggest impact as a Dallas Cowboys under dan Quinn. We're 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:26.880 gonna talk about that and debate when we come back 0:20:26.920 --> 0:20:31.320 on Talking Cowboys, Presented by Geico Honey, Big News, Gary, 0:20:31.440 --> 0:20:34.920 Are you okay? Oh? I'm not Gary anymore. I'm Jackie Flash. 0:20:34.960 --> 0:20:37.360 What see? I want the latest smartphone, But the best 0:20:37.359 --> 0:20:39.159 deals are only for new customers. So to get a 0:20:39.160 --> 0:20:42.680