WEBVTT - Cowboys Break: Work to Do? 0:00:04.640 --> 0:00:07.160 The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:19.360 and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. Are you ready for 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:23.040 a break? Yes? Are you ready for a break? Absolutely? 0:00:23.200 --> 0:00:27.400 Ready for a break? Yeah? And so much for that. 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:32.760 It's time for The Break on Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:33.560 --> 0:00:39.080 with Nick Eatman, David Hellman, Ambar Garcia, and Derek Eagleton. 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:47.440 It is a play twenty twenty season sixteen, episode number four. 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:50.279 Welcome to another edition of The Break. I am live 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:53.240 from my home along with Dave Hellman and Nick Eatman 0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:55.440 and Amber Garcia. They are all at their own homes 0:00:55.840 --> 0:00:58.000 and we're happy you guys took some time to sit 0:00:58.040 --> 0:01:01.160 down and talk some Cowboys football with us today. We're 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:03.560 gonna get into our position series again today and talk 0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:06.440 a little bit about the linebacker position as well as 0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:08.840 a tight end position. Of course, Amber has a game 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:11.679 for us in the second segment, maybe third segment, Not 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:13.959 sure how that's going to time out. But we will 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:16.200 also get some of your questions hopefully, so make sure 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:18.640 you hit me up on Twitter. We'll take whatever questions 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:21.559 you guys have there as we get into the show. 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:28.240 How's everybody feeling today? Great? Great there, awesome, Thank you 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:30.800 for bringing the energy in the enthusiasm. It's good to 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:33.080 see all you guys. What are you saying? Nick? I 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:40.080 just said, great, wonderful, awesome, outstanding. Help while we're gonna 0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:42.280 go with this. You're a writer. I'm sure you get 0:01:42.520 --> 0:01:45.039 probably twenty more words at work, right, Not really, though, 0:01:45.080 --> 0:01:48.080 this is this quarantine stuff. I mean, I'm all that 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:51.400 is kind of out the window at this point. Yeah, 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:53.120 all right, I got a question for you guys before 0:01:53.120 --> 0:01:55.680 we get into the Cowboys content. I want you to 0:01:55.720 --> 0:01:58.320 just tell me one thing you missed the most about 0:01:58.360 --> 0:02:00.680 being stuck at home, and one thing you've kind of 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:02.560 gotten used to that you're like, I wish this can 0:02:02.640 --> 0:02:05.040 kind of go on forever. All right, let's start. Let's 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:08.480 start with you, Dave. I think I said this the 0:02:08.520 --> 0:02:11.079 first time we did this. Is it sounds dumb, but 0:02:11.240 --> 0:02:14.040 I miss driving, Like I actually I just drove to 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:16.480 go pick up lunch, and like it was so nice 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:18.640 to drive around with the windows down and listen to 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:21.600 some music and I don't know, just feel like I'm 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:24.919 going somewhere. So I definitely miss just being able to 0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:30.280 go around in my car. Honestly, I'm really fortunate obviously, 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:35.360 like it's affected everybody's job, but like, for the most part, 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:39.120 I can do my job pretty effectively from home. So 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:41.880 it's cool to just be able to sit on the 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:45.519 couch and write stories without having to commute. So that's 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:48.360 pretty cool. You kind of want to keep that up 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:50.919 after this is done, maybe on like you know, Mondays 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:53.079 and Fridays or something like that. Yeah, that would be great. 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:59.000 Oh okay, miss Amber, what do you what do you 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:00.680 miss most and what do you what do you want 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:04.640 to keep after this is done? Well, not to be 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:08.400 a copy cat, but to be honest, I do miss driving. 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:11.560 Prior to this whole thing happening, I was on vacations, 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:14.000 so I haven't driven my car for like over two 0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:17.280 months now, and every time I try to turn it 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:20.480 on to get it out of the garage, the battery dies. 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:26.760 So I hope my car can survive this crisis. But 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:30.560 aside from that, I enjoy not having to get ready, 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:33.240 you know, just being in the comfort of your own home, 0:03:33.480 --> 0:03:36.520 having to put makeup on you, having to wear certain 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:39.320 things that women need to wear to go out. So 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:44.960 just you know, just being comfortable at home. Got it. 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:50.920 I mean I miss a lot of things. I mean 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:52.920 one of the things that I've always had, Like a 0:03:53.280 --> 0:03:57.560 I always hate is like Thanksgiving night or New Year's 0:03:57.560 --> 0:03:59.960 Eve or whatever, where you can't go and get something 0:04:00.120 --> 0:04:02.040 to eat, Like I always hate that. I just like, 0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:04.360 let's get back to normal, like things aren't open and 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:06.400 all that, and that A lot of that's been the 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:08.400 way it is for for a long time. So just 0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:10.840 just the normal sea of you know, going, I mean, 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:13.040 you can still go get something to eat, but you know, 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:15.800 just just go. Getting a chance to go and do 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:18.240 something that's the biggest thing for me. And then what 0:04:18.320 --> 0:04:22.280 do I like. I mean, I mean, I guess, you know, 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:25.359 not having the shower every day, I guess if you know, 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:28.599 I mean, you can, but you can't. But I'm just 0:04:28.600 --> 0:04:31.960 saying you don't have to. So well, but you don't 0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:34.760 have life in a family, so maybe it'd be good 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:37.039 on their behalf with you to You're just saying, I'm 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:39.480 just saying you don't have to, but yeah, you still 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:42.279 you still do. But I mean I still find myself 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:44.480 waking up at the same time. So yeah, I can't 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:47.080 say that's been much different. I just wish I knew 0:04:47.120 --> 0:04:50.039 what day it is. I know, it's all running together 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:52.479 It's interesting you brought up food because y'all know how 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:55.240 much I love food. Like I'm I'm addicted to food, 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:57.720 and h it's one of those things. Right now, I'm 0:04:57.800 --> 0:04:59.800 dying not being able to just whatever I have to 0:04:59.839 --> 0:05:01.960 take for a run out and grab it like I was, 0:05:02.200 --> 0:05:04.960 Like probably the first week we were here, like I was, 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:08.800 I convinced my wife that food was considered necessary, so 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:10.719 I just needed to go out every meal and go 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:13.640 get something. But she shut that down pretty quick, and 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:15.600 now I'm just eating whatever we have for the house. 0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:18.280 So that's pretty bad for me. But I will say this, 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:20.520 I am not missing having to get up in the 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:22.760 morning and get dressed to go to work, like having 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:25.280 a sport coda on all day, Like I don't want 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:27.599 to go back to that. I'm very happy with shorts 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:30.720 or whatever. I decided to roll into my office to 0:05:30.760 --> 0:05:34.120 be able to work. So but anyway, this is an 0:05:34.120 --> 0:05:36.320 interesting time I'm sure for everybody. I'm sure everybody out 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:38.720 there listening has some of those similar things that they're 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:43.159 dealing with. And so we hopefully hopefully this next hour 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:44.800 that we we're with you guys, we can bring you 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:46.200 a little bit of levity and you have a little 0:05:46.240 --> 0:05:49.320 fun talking a little Cowboys football. Let's jump into our 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:54.040 conversation a day around our position series. We talked last week, 0:05:54.040 --> 0:05:56.240 we got this going. This week, we want to move 0:05:56.279 --> 0:05:58.799 on to the linebacker position, also the tight end position. 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:03.920 Let's start first the linebacker position. It's interesting that this 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:07.080 is a position where it looks like the Cowboys really 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:10.000 didn't do a whole lot. They didn't change a whole lot. 0:06:10.520 --> 0:06:12.960 They had a lot of free agents going into the offseason, 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:16.000 but ironically they kept pretty much all of it the same, 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:18.800 agreeing to a one year deal with Sean Lee. Justin 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:21.000 Marx is another guy. They agreed to one year deal with. 0:06:21.240 --> 0:06:23.680 Joe Thomas, another guy they did a one year deal with. 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:27.720 So just from an overall perspective, how do you think 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:30.560 they're matching up right now with the personnel? Is it 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:33.360 pretty much gonna be the same. Is it something that 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:36.000 you see in what they did in keeping them together 0:06:36.040 --> 0:06:38.200 that may make it better or do you think it's 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:40.719 it may be worse because they kept all those guys together. 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:44.840 Let's start first with you, Hamper. You know what's interesting 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:48.000 is last year we kept talking about whether or not 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:51.680 this was a talented group you know, that was a 0:06:51.760 --> 0:06:56.080 question are they really talented or are they just really 0:06:56.120 --> 0:06:59.360 not good enough? And to me, I do believe this 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:02.440 whole group is talented. They just need to combine it 0:07:02.839 --> 0:07:06.080 with the right kind of coaching and just having some 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:08.760 different kind of mentality in there, which they're going to 0:07:08.839 --> 0:07:12.360 have with the coaching changes. But you know, I'm expecting 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:15.160 Layton Vander esh to be able to recover fully from 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:19.200 what I'm hearing, So I do expect for this group 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:22.800 to kind of go back from start. Hopefully Jalen Smith 0:07:23.120 --> 0:07:26.600 can look at last year and kind of humble himself 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:29.080 down and watch what he was able to make last 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:31.840 year and kind of, you know, go back to two 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:38.800 years ago and spark up the defense once again. Nick, 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:42.920 I think, you know, they have made a lot or 0:07:42.960 --> 0:07:46.560 made sure that they kept all those guys from the 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:49.760 top to the bottom, you know, so the continuity is there. 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:52.960 But the interesting part about the linebacker position is that 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:56.440 there's still so many question marks. And so yes, you've 0:07:56.480 --> 0:07:58.800 got you've got all the guys that you had before, 0:07:59.240 --> 0:08:01.680 but you know, you still don't know exactly what you're 0:08:01.720 --> 0:08:05.680 gonna get from Jalen Smith or Layton vanders coming back 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:08.200 from the injury or And I say that about Jalen 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:09.800 Smith because I think that they need to figure out 0:08:09.840 --> 0:08:12.160 exactly where they want to play him and where the 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:13.840 best fit is going to be for him. I think 0:08:13.880 --> 0:08:16.520 that's the biggest priority for Mike Nolan on the defense 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:18.560 this year is figuring out where to play Jalen but 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:21.040 Sean Lee Kenny stay healthy. What does he have left 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:23.240 in the tank? You know, in those in those backups 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:26.239 as well. So yes, a lot of continuity stays the same, 0:08:26.400 --> 0:08:29.240 but their coach is different, and you know, who knows 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:31.840 what you're going to get out of these guys. Dave, 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:35.320 It's really weird how good I feel about the position 0:08:35.480 --> 0:08:41.120 considering how mediocre it was last year. Um, but I 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:43.880 like the continuity. I mean, you just spent the first 0:08:43.960 --> 0:08:48.040 round pick on Layton vander Esh Jalen Smith. You know, 0:08:48.320 --> 0:08:51.640 definitely not a great season, but he was. He was 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:55.680 adequate And not only I agree with Nick completely, I 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:57.760 think figuring out what to do with Jalen should be 0:08:57.960 --> 0:09:01.359 Mike Nolan's number one priority. Guy also has an extensive 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:05.439 background coaching defense and linebackers, specifically, That's what he was 0:09:05.480 --> 0:09:08.439 doing in New Orleans before Mike McCarthy hired him away, 0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:12.400 So I like Mike Nolan's potential to bring that out 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:15.160 of Jalen Smith. Then there's the factor of you know, 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:18.120 what exactly is this defense going to look like? You know, 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:21.120 if you follow if you follow Dallas Cowboys dot com, 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:24.760 you're probably aware that the front office made available an 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:29.480 interview with Zach Bonn yesterday and today it was Kenneth Murray. 0:09:29.640 --> 0:09:33.080 Those are two very different types of linebackers, but they're 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:36.080 both linebackers. So does it mean they're gonna draft one 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:40.199 of them? No, But based on those conversations, the Cowboys 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:43.520 could have a completely different idea of what their linebacker 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:45.960 corps is gonna look like. I mean, I don't anticipate 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:48.359 that they would make a move to a three four immediately, 0:09:48.920 --> 0:09:50.800 but it's something that they could do if they added 0:09:50.800 --> 0:09:52.840 the right personnel or at the very least look a 0:09:52.840 --> 0:09:56.360 lot more multiple. So I like the guys that are 0:09:56.360 --> 0:09:58.440 in place. Sean Lee was great as a deaf piece 0:09:58.520 --> 0:10:00.480 last year. I think he can do that again this year. 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:04.800 But I am intrigued if it's gonna look exactly the same. 0:10:06.760 --> 0:10:09.000 Let's let's dive into some of those topics that you 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:12.439 all mentioned throughout your your your opening statement, Let's talk 0:10:12.480 --> 0:10:15.840 about the about Layton. He's coming off a neck surgery. 0:10:16.360 --> 0:10:19.520 What we've heard from the organization is that everything appears 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:21.560 to be fine. He looks like he's gonna be ready 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:24.400 to go at whatever point this thing gets going. That 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:28.880 being said, how comfortable do you guys feel if there 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:31.400 should be, if there should be a setback for him, 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:33.960 How comfortable do you feel with Sean Lee being your 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:36.719 primary guy that will be taking those snaps and now 0:10:36.760 --> 0:10:39.160 Pep playing a full load this season, Let's say, if 0:10:39.240 --> 0:10:41.640 if he gets a setback playing that full load for 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:44.920 it for an extended period of time. So sorry, you 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:48.920 nick not comfortable really at all with that. And I 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:51.480 you know, I think that it's important that they signed 0:10:51.880 --> 0:10:54.080 Joe Thomas. I think Joe, but Joe's got to stay 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:56.120 healthy as well. But I mean, he's a really good 0:10:56.160 --> 0:10:59.080 backup to have in there. I think the combination of 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:02.200 Sean Lee and Joe Thomas would help. I still think 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:04.319 that you need to draft someone. I don't know where 0:11:04.880 --> 0:11:07.440 it'll fit, but I don't think that you get too 0:11:07.520 --> 0:11:10.160 far into the second, third, fourth round if there's one 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:12.200 on the table that you really like I don't see 0:11:12.200 --> 0:11:15.840 how the Cowboys could pass on a linebacker just with 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:18.959 like I said, all the uncertainty that you have starting 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:23.080 with Layton and then all the way down Dave. I 0:11:23.160 --> 0:11:26.480 honestly I feel better about it than most and I 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:30.000 definitely I do not implicitly trust the Cowboys that Layton 0:11:30.080 --> 0:11:33.840 vander esh is fine. But at the same time, I 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:37.000 don't know to some degree you have to be willing 0:11:37.000 --> 0:11:38.679 to have faith. Like I said, I mean, the guy's 0:11:38.800 --> 0:11:41.240 entering his third season. They just made him a first 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:44.439 round pick. I haven't seen enough to make me think 0:11:44.480 --> 0:11:47.400 that I need to move on from that or worry 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:51.160 about it. So I'm comfortable assuming he can start for me. 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:54.440 And then I'm very comfortable with Sean Lee as a backup. 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:55.800 I mean, that's what he did last year and he 0:11:55.840 --> 0:11:59.320 was fantastic. Throw Joe Thomas in there as an additional 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:03.040 safety blank it. I feel perfectly fine about it. For 0:12:03.120 --> 0:12:06.240 twenty twenty, I do agree. I mean, you could always 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:08.520 look to improve your depth in the draft, especially for 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:12.920 guys with injury problems like Sean and Layton, But I 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:15.040 don't feel as panicky about it as a lot of 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:20.920 people seem to ever I'm kind of in between, right 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:23.720 in the middle. You know, obviously, I'm not gonna feel 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:28.800 super comfortable thinking that everything's gonna be fine and you 0:12:28.920 --> 0:12:31.240 have Shaun Lee as a backup. You know, obviously I 0:12:31.400 --> 0:12:35.000 love Shaun Lee. He's my favorite favorite player on the team, 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:37.760 and I will be always rooting for him. But we 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:42.960 do know his injury list and his history there. And 0:12:43.000 --> 0:12:46.400 then with Layton Menderesh, he's been dealing with the next 0:12:46.440 --> 0:12:51.079 thing since forever. Last year it kind of got worse 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:53.960 and that happened and he was out basically the whole year. 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:57.920 But I don't know. I think that last year is 0:12:57.960 --> 0:13:00.880 an example of how the Cowboys shoot, like an early 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:05.080 warning to prepare now, you know, get an extra guy 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:08.000 in there aside from Joe Thomas, Get somebody else that 0:13:08.120 --> 0:13:11.720 can kind of help you, and you can start training 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:14.760 early on in case something was to happen and things 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:18.400 were to get worse and then Sean Lee got forbids 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:22.600 goes down as well, you know that there is someone there. 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:27.240 What was the linebacker guy? I like him too from 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:31.600 last year he got injured. Gifford. Look Gifford. Yeah, and 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:34.880 we'll talk about him a little bit. Yeah, yeah, but hopefully, 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:38.920 hopefully he can start, you know, getting healthy again and 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:42.360 being able to get some reps and develop into something 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:44.959 that the Cowboys can be able to use this upcoming year. 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:48.080 All right, let's flip over the conversation to Jaylen Smith. 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:51.080 I think it's no surprise or I don't think I'm 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:53.760 speaking out of turn to say that Jayalen struggled sometimes 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:57.640 last year in coverage. Particularly that being said, do you 0:13:57.679 --> 0:13:59.760 think that's a sign of things to come, or do 0:13:59.800 --> 0:14:02.000 you think that's something that was an aberration? You expect 0:14:02.080 --> 0:14:04.360 him to be much better this year. I'll harken back 0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:07.520 to Roy Williams and Nick you were around and covering 0:14:07.520 --> 0:14:09.840 at that time, and I'm talking about Roy Williams, a safety. 0:14:10.000 --> 0:14:13.120 We started to see this kind of this snowball that 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:16.760 started to grow where teams were recognizing that he was 0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:19.400 a liability for the Cowboys in pass coverage, and that 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:22.160 got worse and worse and worse, and to the point 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:23.920 where it was just it was just something that the 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:26.320 Cowboys really could protect him from. Do you see it 0:14:26.360 --> 0:14:28.040 as that kind of situation or do you think it 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:30.840 was just an aberration for him last year? Well, I mean, 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:34.720 I think linebackers are not You are not supposed to 0:14:34.840 --> 0:14:38.840 be covering wide receivers or tight ends. I mean, there's 0:14:38.880 --> 0:14:42.000 not any linebacker that's probably good enough to do that, 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:45.200 so or they would probably be a safety if they 0:14:45.240 --> 0:14:47.840 really could. So it's all about the mismatches. It's it's 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:51.240 figuring out offensive coordinators figuring out the scheme. And I 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:54.400 remember how many times did we hear that players would 0:14:54.400 --> 0:14:57.160 say Rod Marinelli's scheme it's really easy to learn. Well, 0:14:57.200 --> 0:14:59.120 if it's really easy for someone to learn, it's really 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:01.320 easy for the offensive coordinator to figure it out too. 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:03.560 And so I think that they just got to figure 0:15:03.560 --> 0:15:06.840 out ways that they don't put their players in bad situations. 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:10.200 Every team in the league would want to match up 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:13.400 their slot receiver or an athletic tight end against a linebacker. 0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:15.760 The Cowboys have to figure out ways that they could 0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:18.240 put Jalen in the right spot and not leave him 0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:20.560 into that situation because no, I don't think he can 0:15:20.640 --> 0:15:25.280 cover very well, especially the really athletic tight ends. Camber, 0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:32.280 what you got, Well, it's so hard for me to 0:15:32.360 --> 0:15:37.600 keep my personal opinions of the guy off the field 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:40.680 from the guy that's on the field. It's so hard. 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:43.880 But like I said earlier on, I think one thing 0:15:43.960 --> 0:15:49.280 that plays a big role is how you conduct yourself, 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:54.560 your behavior, and hopefully this past year he was able 0:15:54.600 --> 0:15:58.040 to take a step back, look at what he did 0:15:58.160 --> 0:16:04.040 last year and get humble, humble yourself down and shoot 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:07.920 hopefully put him back in the right path into performing 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:11.520 better on the field. You know, but this one's hard 0:16:11.560 --> 0:16:13.640 for me because it's hard for me to separate my 0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:23.080 emotions from it. Dave, that was so diplomatic. Amber I 0:16:23.280 --> 0:16:25.600 leaned toward what Nick said. Honestly, A big, a big 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:27.480 talking point that I was going to bring up. I've 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:30.400 been thinking about it all offseason. Is you know, Jalen 0:16:30.560 --> 0:16:33.720 was not as active in the offseason program last year 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:36.360 as you would expect because he was finishing his degree 0:16:36.360 --> 0:16:39.280 at Notre Dame. And in my head, I was like, well, 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:41.560 you know, he'll be back at the facility, he'll have 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:44.840 a more complete program this year, and you know, hopefully 0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:47.320 that'll make a difference in his level of play. Obviously, 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:50.600 it doesn't look like that's going to happen. So for me, 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:53.520 I go back to Mike Nolan. I would I would 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:55.720 hope that a guy with thirty two years of NFL 0:16:55.800 --> 0:17:02.120 coaching experience can maximize his skill set. I think Jalen's 0:17:02.160 --> 0:17:05.200 great when he's moving toward the line of scrimmage, so 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:09.400 fine waves to maximize that, use him as a rusher more, 0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:12.240 use him as a blitzer more. Maybe even you know, 0:17:12.400 --> 0:17:14.199 I'm sure he wouldn't like this, but if you have 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:17.080 to get him off the field on third down, whatever 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:20.320 you got to do to limit team's abilities to take 0:17:20.359 --> 0:17:23.440 advantage of that, and I trust my going to do that, 0:17:23.880 --> 0:17:28.119 and I trust Jalen to just also be better in 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:31.960 twenty twenty two. So it's kind of like Layton. I'm 0:17:32.000 --> 0:17:34.680 you know, last year was concerning, but I'm not I'm 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:37.040 not overly worried about it yet because I do think 0:17:37.040 --> 0:17:41.080 there's plenty of room for improvement, you know, and it's 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:44.080 not just Jalen Smith. As far as you know guys 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:46.639 you would want the offseason program. I mean, I know 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:50.520 Amber just mentioned Luke Gifford. There's so many players especially 0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:52.879 we always talk about year one to year two, just 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:57.000 how important it is to make that jump. Well, usually 0:17:57.000 --> 0:17:59.520 it's because it's the weight room. I would love to 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:04.320 have seen what Tristan Hill, Jalen jelks Um, you know, 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:08.920 Luke Gifford, Connor McGovern, those guys what they would look 0:18:08.960 --> 0:18:10.840 like here, and they still can It's not like they 0:18:11.720 --> 0:18:13.720 can't work. I don't know. I don't know where these 0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:18.800 guys are working out, honestly, so um, but that's cowboys. Sorry. 0:18:19.040 --> 0:18:22.720 I just it's interesting because if you're on your second contract. 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:25.400 I saw Zach Mardin on the radio yesterday said he's 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:27.399 got a gym at his house. Obviously he's on a 0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:30.480 huge contract. But get a guy on a rookie contract 0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:32.240 afford to build his own gym in his house. I 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:34.440 don't know. I mean it's probably got like a bowflex 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:37.640 or something, but it's not quite the same as as 0:18:37.720 --> 0:18:39.720 what the cowboys have at their facility. So I think. 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:41.600 I mean, that's a really good question about what a 0:18:41.720 --> 0:18:44.879 shaker weight. Yeah, I mean, I'm sure those guys have 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:49.000 workout equipment at home, but maybe maybe they're doing like 0:18:49.320 --> 0:18:52.119 push ups every ten minutes or something like that. They 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:58.760 could do that. Yeah, maximize here, Oh baby pulled out 0:18:58.760 --> 0:19:06.360 the weights. Well, let's just keep it up with tradition. Yeah, 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:09.280 you use whatever you got, right whatever. The good thing 0:19:09.440 --> 0:19:11.840 is is that I used this every time. The good 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:14.399 thing is it's still wrapped, so it's not like that's 0:19:14.440 --> 0:19:17.400 a good sign. Yeah, yeah, you're not running out anytime too. 0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:19.239 I actually, maybe over a little later, try to get 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:21.760 some because we all know it's getting it's getting a 0:19:21.800 --> 0:19:24.360 little bit worsome over here. Not there yet, but we're 0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:27.360 starting to worry a little bit. Yeah, maybe a little 0:19:27.359 --> 0:19:32.120 bit too much. Okay, yeah, right, all right, so we're 0:19:32.119 --> 0:19:33.639 gonna take it. We're gonna take our first break we 0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:35.320 come back. I do want to jump a little bit 0:19:35.320 --> 0:19:37.440 into that conversation on Louke Gifford. He was a guy 0:19:37.440 --> 0:19:39.960 that we all liked a lot during training camp last year, 0:19:40.240 --> 0:19:42.159 and I'll be interested to see what you guys have 0:19:42.200 --> 0:19:44.480 to say about what you think he can become this 0:19:44.600 --> 0:19:46.400 next season. We'll do that when we come right back. 0:19:46.440 --> 0:19:50.240 This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. Your new apartment's big. 0:19:50.480 --> 0:19:58.359 Such a great deal, that's okay, just okay? Right about 0:19:58.440 --> 0:20:02.119 the subway, Well, I bet you don't even notice it 0:20:02.200 --> 0:20:07.159 after that's my neighbor. Ange the deal. That's just okay, 0:20:07.280 --> 0:20:10.960 it's not okay. Get a great deal with America's best network. 0:20:11.200 --> 0:20:12.880 Come into an AT and T store to find out 0:20:12.880 --> 0:20:15.000 how to get one of our popular smartphones for zero 0:20:15.040 --> 0:20:18.200 dollars down based on GWS one score September twenty nineteen. 0:20:18.240 --> 0:20:20.480 Do you want the most interesting, up to the minute 0:20:20.560 --> 0:20:23.520 Dallas Cowboys news straight from the Star in Frisco. How 0:20:23.520 --> 0:20:27.200 about exclusive and on command. 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