Speaker 1: And the Dallas Cowboy Cowboys Football's world headquarters at the
Speaker 1: start production Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys
Speaker 1: Football and now your host, Isaiah stand back. He's Cowboys.
Speaker 1: Kyle Ringing live from the Dallas Cowboys World headquarters at
Speaker 1: forty eight days away from the start of the NFL season,
Speaker 1: and it's a Cowboys training competition of talking Cowboys presented
Speaker 1: by Geico here from Oxnard, California. It's the first show
Speaker 1: we've done from out here at Cowboys Training Camp, presented
Speaker 1: by him Errican Airlines, Rob Phillips, and Well, we were
Speaker 1: supposed to get the bank, the band of brothers, the
Speaker 1: gang back together. That has not happened, as Mickey Spagnola
Speaker 1: will join us at some point throughout the course of
Speaker 1: this this podcast, but I'm Kyle Yeoman's it'll be me
Speaker 1: and Rob Phillips for a quick moment here. But this
Speaker 1: is one way that camp gets underway. We're talking Cowboys.
Speaker 1: You sent us a rundown for the show. Has mentioned
Speaker 1: how many camps he's been to, like thirty five, Yeah,
Speaker 1: thirty five camps. We figure out the Dallas, California time difference,
Speaker 1: you know, let's just let's get that settled here the
Speaker 1: first week of camp. Mick, he'll be here. He'll be here,
Speaker 1: I'm sure he will. He may have a he may
Speaker 1: have a scoop or something. You know. Yeah, it may
Speaker 1: come back with a big scoop. Yeah, we can't make
Speaker 1: fun of him too much because maybe that's what he's doing.
Speaker 1: Maybe he's out there, he's talking with players. He's gonna
Speaker 1: bring it back to us and we're gonna have plenty
Speaker 1: of information to relay back to the Cowboys fans back home.
Speaker 1: Or he was just on a Sunrise bike ride. Who
Speaker 1: knows either way throughout California. But Rob, what what training
Speaker 1: camp is this for you? Fifteen and all of them
Speaker 1: in Oxnard or I guess not necessarily a handful in
Speaker 1: San Antonio, including my first one in h three, which
Speaker 1: happened to be Bill Parcel's first camp as Cowboys head coach.
Speaker 1: But the majority out here and it is so nice
Speaker 1: to be but it's cold out here today. It is
Speaker 1: yell Philly. We're both wearing sleeves at the moment, and
Speaker 1: of course this being nine am Pacific Coast time compared
Speaker 1: to the eleven am for the majority of our audience
Speaker 1: back in Texas, and hey, look who made the trip Pola. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we're gonna have to get back over here and kind
Speaker 1: of scoot in and get him here. This is professional radio.
Speaker 1: This is fantastic, thirty five years of camp experience, everybody,
Speaker 1: and this is Mickey Spagnola back on Talking Cowboys. Were
Speaker 1: you just that excited to get back on this podcast?
Speaker 1: All right? I almost wear that ship today too. I
Speaker 1: was thinking that I needed to be back here by
Speaker 1: nine o'clock, and I got back at eight forty and
Speaker 1: I go, okay, I got twenty minutes, went to breakfast. Oh,
Speaker 1: I forgot good thing you'd text me? Yeah, I thought
Speaker 1: you're asleep. You didn't answer me. We've been riding for
Speaker 1: an hour and a half. It was a sunrise bike ride.
Speaker 1: What was your route? Where you go? We went down
Speaker 1: Vineyard to the Oxnard Airport, took a ride and went
Speaker 1: to the beach. Nice cool. I showed Alex the way.
Speaker 1: And now I'm out of breath too, great talk Cowboys.
Speaker 1: I am all right, absolutely. Now I will ask this question.
Speaker 1: I was about to ask it to Rob a moment ago.
Speaker 1: But throughout all of your training camps that you've been
Speaker 1: a part of it, I've never been late for talking Cowboys.
Speaker 1: There's one god, Um, I was gonna ask, has there
Speaker 1: ever been a training camp that you've been around that
Speaker 1: has been so excitable? Has there been so much excitement
Speaker 1: and so much anticipation around a training camp much like
Speaker 1: this one? Maybe not necessarily because of the expectations. Sure
Speaker 1: there are some expectations that are there, but mostly just
Speaker 1: getting back to normal and getting back to Oxnard, Mickey.
Speaker 1: Maybe in and I got to remember where we were
Speaker 1: two thousand and seven when t O showed up or
Speaker 1: he was here and Tony Romo was going to be
Speaker 1: the starting quarterback, so I can kind of kind of
Speaker 1: remember that. Now eighty nine, there was a lot of
Speaker 1: excitement when Jimmy Johnson became the head coach. Troy Aikman
Speaker 1: was the first pick in the draft, so yeah, there
Speaker 1: was some serious excitement then. And then they went out
Speaker 1: and in four preseason games they went three and one
Speaker 1: and won the last one at home in the last
Speaker 1: seconds over Houston and Jimmy and Jerry running off the
Speaker 1: field at the arms in the air. And then things
Speaker 1: went downhill quickly because they went to New Orleans for
Speaker 1: the opener and got the snot knocked out of him
Speaker 1: twenty eight to nothing, and then reality set in that
Speaker 1: maybe we're all ways away. I think they didn't even
Speaker 1: gain two hundred yards, got shut out and back in
Speaker 1: the day the Cowboys score. The one thing Tom Landry
Speaker 1: teams did is they scored points right, and it was
Speaker 1: like their first shutout in twenty years or the first
Speaker 1: time they were shut out in twenty some years. So yeah,
Speaker 1: but I remember that training camp. It was pretty exciting,
Speaker 1: and actually it was my first one to be at
Speaker 1: training camp. The entire time before that, it was a
Speaker 1: week at a time for I was a backup guy.
Speaker 1: And so when they gave the beat writer time off,
Speaker 1: because back then training camp was like five six weeks,
Speaker 1: so they let them either go home or bring somebody out,
Speaker 1: and so I would go for a week. I was
Speaker 1: the relief man. But yeah, that was my first one.
Speaker 1: The only one that compares for me is oh eight
Speaker 1: when Hard Knocks was here. Oh wow, ironically, and you know,
Speaker 1: there was just so much star power on that team
Speaker 1: and so much Super Bowl expectations, yet TiO running on
Speaker 1: the beach in the Hard Knocks episode and it was
Speaker 1: just it felt like a Hollywood script. You know, this is,
Speaker 1: like you said, excitable for a different reason. This just
Speaker 1: feels like a fresh start for this whole organization, not
Speaker 1: just us getting to be back here, but you know,
Speaker 1: I think this is your first camp. Yeah, but for
Speaker 1: anybody that's been out here, Mickey and I, Chris and
Speaker 1: obviously members of the organization, this is like a second
Speaker 1: home for the Dallas Cowboys. It really is. There's a
Speaker 1: there's a comfort level coming out here. And when you
Speaker 1: run into people these first few days, it's not just
Speaker 1: players and coaches, but staff members people we haven't seen
Speaker 1: that much for a year and a half. There is
Speaker 1: a it's almost like a sense of relief for people
Speaker 1: to see each other a little bit and feel like
Speaker 1: we've got some simbulance of normalcy right now. It's you
Speaker 1: feel in this like a homecoming. It is. I just
Speaker 1: ran into one of the guys that has been working here,
Speaker 1: I swear since we've come. He was in the in
Speaker 1: the lunch room, and I just saw him for the
Speaker 1: first time. I hadn't seen him before, and I said, oh,
Speaker 1: you're still here. He goes, yeah, and it's good to
Speaker 1: have you back, you know. And I had made friends,
Speaker 1: we used to stay over closer to like where you are,
Speaker 1: where the pool is. And every morning when i'd get
Speaker 1: up to go work out, this guy was out there
Speaker 1: cleaning the leaves out of the pool. And I don't
Speaker 1: remember his name, but we became friends, like, Hey, how
Speaker 1: you doing this morning, you know, And every year he'd
Speaker 1: be out there cleaning the pool. Right. I haven't seen
Speaker 1: him this year, but I've seen some of the volunteers
Speaker 1: that we're used to being around. They're back. And all
Speaker 1: these people that you haven't seen in two years, will
Speaker 1: you forget their names, but all these people are back.
Speaker 1: To the security people, they're back, and they're also happy
Speaker 1: to be here volunteering again. And let me see, that's
Speaker 1: a capital V volunteering. And not just that, but staff
Speaker 1: within the Cowboys that we used to see all the
Speaker 1: time at the Star and we don't as much anymore.
Speaker 1: And even when players are happy to see us, that's
Speaker 1: you know, that there's a sense of relief because we
Speaker 1: make their jobs difficult, you know. So I just think
Speaker 1: I think that is what Jerry was trying to get
Speaker 1: across when he kind of got emotional a couple days
Speaker 1: ago at the press conference. There is a sense of
Speaker 1: normalcy right now, and let's enjoy it because you know,
Speaker 1: this pandemic is not over, and hopefully it stays the
Speaker 1: way it is, right. That's like I told you the
Speaker 1: other day. When I showed up on time for the podcast,
Speaker 1: I passed Dak and I heard him kind of shout
Speaker 1: out right, yeah, And I turned to my left to
Speaker 1: see who he was yelling at, you know, and he
Speaker 1: got up the steps and he yelled at me again,
Speaker 1: and he goes, hey, good to see you. And I said, oh,
Speaker 1: he's talking to me right, you know. And and and
Speaker 1: I realized, how long has it been since I've been
Speaker 1: that close to Dak Prescott to say hi? Well, we
Speaker 1: have to go back to December or in the last
Speaker 1: season of the twenty nineteen season. Yeah, he may have
Speaker 1: seen us on a video conference call, yeah, but maybe
Speaker 1: not that close to him and and actually talk or
Speaker 1: just say hi, you know. And was so different, And
Speaker 1: it's happened with a lot of people like I had
Speaker 1: a long conversation the other day with Mike McCord, the
Speaker 1: head of the equipment hadn't talked to him, and year, sure,
Speaker 1: you know, and we're used to being around these guys,
Speaker 1: you know, all the time, and I think they returned
Speaker 1: to normalcy really got came to a peak yesterday whenever
Speaker 1: the first practice was out on the field and then
Speaker 1: you kind of got out there and we were making
Speaker 1: our way to our spot, and the players were already
Speaker 1: out on the field, and guess what, fans started filing in. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and they were all lined up on the fence and
Speaker 1: they were talking to everybody, and they were yelling at players.
Speaker 1: They were singing Ezekiel Elliott, Happy Birthday. There were so
Speaker 1: many different animated things that hasn't been a part not
Speaker 1: only of training camp, but of football the last couple
Speaker 1: of years, just because of the COVID nineteen protocols and stuff.
Speaker 1: But I do want to talk about the practice and
Speaker 1: kind of get into that a little bit. Yesterday Mike
Speaker 1: McCarthy doing his press conference said it was going to
Speaker 1: be simplified. Early on, he said it was going to
Speaker 1: be a reinstall of the offense. We're gonna lay a foundation.
Speaker 1: We'll get to some of the simulated practice stuff pretty quickly. However,
Speaker 1: we want to make sure the foundation is set for
Speaker 1: some of these young guys and then also maybe some
Speaker 1: of the changes, especially on defense. But Mickey as you
Speaker 1: were watching practice yesterday, was there anything that stuck out
Speaker 1: to you overall? I don't know so much about practice,
Speaker 1: but from his press conference, which you know, how many
Speaker 1: times have we seen him do that that close? Right? Yeah,
Speaker 1: we got to go back to Dack citing his con track. Uh,
Speaker 1: and then the draft the draft, Yeah, but from the
Speaker 1: contract standpoint, we hadn't talked to him in person since
Speaker 1: January of twenty twenty, right, Yeah. So, uh, here's what
Speaker 1: stuck out to me. The first I don't know, what
Speaker 1: do you think ten fifteen minutes of the press conference
Speaker 1: was about COVID nineteen. That's what stuck out to me
Speaker 1: that there was a huge discussion on that, and you know,
Speaker 1: not only did they have to talk about it when
Speaker 1: they did the camp opening press conference, that then Mike
Speaker 1: had to continue to sort of address it. And it's
Speaker 1: you know, it's a hot topic. I mean, especially after
Speaker 1: what the NFL came down yesterday right with UM, you know,
Speaker 1: if if you're unvaccinated and and you create a breakout, um,
Speaker 1: you know they're gonna find you. You're gonna forfeit games
Speaker 1: and there's no more rescheduling. And so to me, that
Speaker 1: tells you the NFL can't come out and tell players
Speaker 1: you need to get vaccinated, but they can give ramifications
Speaker 1: if you don't, and the NFL PA has to sign
Speaker 1: off on that, and I'm assuming they did. So there's
Speaker 1: a lot of centives for these guys to get vaccinated,
Speaker 1: and no more so than when Zeke was asked the
Speaker 1: question and he kind of gave the politically correct answer
Speaker 1: and then somebody said, yeah, but if you're unvaccinated and
Speaker 1: you cause a breakout, they're gonna, they're gonna it's gonna
Speaker 1: cost you a check, And all of a sudden his
Speaker 1: eyes light up and go a check, check, a check,
Speaker 1: Zeke's check in particular. Right, it's pretty nice. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: so that got his attention and maybe it's got the
Speaker 1: other player's attention too. So I know you asked about
Speaker 1: the practice, but that that's the two days. Yeah, this
Speaker 1: first two days. Really that's what stuck out. That's why
Speaker 1: it's a semblance of normalcy. Yeah, it's not there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because this is still an issue. It's still an issue league.
Speaker 1: Why now the Cowboys feel good about where they are?
Speaker 1: They think Steven Jones said that he thinks they're going
Speaker 1: to hit that eighty five percent that the league wants
Speaker 1: in terms of vaccinations, but they're not there yet, and
Speaker 1: so there are some protocols around here. As far as practice,
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's still ota mini camp. Feel sure.
Speaker 1: I mean, they're they're not in pads and they won't
Speaker 1: be until next week. That's just part of the league protocols,
Speaker 1: I think, or league rules. You got to be day seven,
Speaker 1: I think to get back in pads. But you know,
Speaker 1: it kind of reminded me of early practices that we've
Speaker 1: seen in camps before, where the defense maybe a little
Speaker 1: bit ahead in terms of making plays on the ball
Speaker 1: and the offense not quite as crisp. And and look, honestly,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of new faces on the offense, at
Speaker 1: least with the first team that not new signings, but
Speaker 1: just guys coming back from injury. And I think it'll
Speaker 1: kind of sort itself out as we go here. But
Speaker 1: you know, we gotta tap the brakes a little bit
Speaker 1: on evaluations early because we're we're not seeing anything really
Speaker 1: different in terms of padded work and that type of stuff.
Speaker 1: But Mike McCarthy did speak to it, there's gonna be
Speaker 1: some more competitive stuff early because they feel good about
Speaker 1: the installations they did in the spring to where now
Speaker 1: they can just kind of review it and then get
Speaker 1: after it with some situational work and some competitive stuff,
Speaker 1: which is fun. And yeah, and then you know, one
Speaker 1: of the things, they were still offensively for a lot
Speaker 1: of the team drills and even the seven on seven
Speaker 1: they were still doing their scramble thing where they weren't
Speaker 1: running a play that was called. It was like, okay,
Speaker 1: here's the formation, and then Dak starts spinning around and
Speaker 1: you know, trying to scramble and throw on the run.
Speaker 1: So there was a lot of that going on still,
Speaker 1: and he showing that, you know, I'm fine, I can run,
Speaker 1: I can plant, I can stop and start, I can
Speaker 1: throw deep, you know. And I heard somebody go yeah,
Speaker 1: typical Dak Prescott. He won very good, and it's like, okay, seriously,
Speaker 1: this is the first time they did team since he
Speaker 1: had his foot going the wrong way. Yeah, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: he did none of that in the right ring. And
Speaker 1: I mean it was all seven seven on seven or
Speaker 1: against air or even when they had eleven, it was
Speaker 1: eleven on seven, and there was no no line, no rush,
Speaker 1: there was no congestion around him. So yeah, it's like,
Speaker 1: give me a break. And the other thing is, when
Speaker 1: you're in practices like this, you're gonna throw the ball.
Speaker 1: You're not gonna take a sack or you're not gonna
Speaker 1: just throw it away right. You're gonna try to drill
Speaker 1: one in and it might get intercepted, but big deal.
Speaker 1: The way you do, you're trying to find out where
Speaker 1: your margin of error is. And it's like the comeback
Speaker 1: one that Digs picked off right away. It's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: in the game, he's not throwing that pass and he
Speaker 1: just tried to drill it in there. He has said
Speaker 1: that for five years that in training camp, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: take chances, I'm gonna test my limits. I'm also gonna
Speaker 1: show my guys I'm willing to throw it up to
Speaker 1: you and try to let you make a play on
Speaker 1: the ball. But in games he's going to be more
Speaker 1: cautious in terms of not making mistakes. So that's a
Speaker 1: good point by Mick. I remember I remember one training
Speaker 1: camp and somebody was like, I don't I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't remember who it was or what affiliation it was,
Speaker 1: but they were new to training camp, and so the
Speaker 1: offense was practicing against the scout team or no, the
Speaker 1: defense was practicing against the offensive scout team. Okay, And
Speaker 1: and and the next day the next morning is you
Speaker 1: know who's hot and who's not? Well, who's not was
Speaker 1: the scout team quarterback because he got picked off five times?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, sure, well you're supposed to throw the ball
Speaker 1: so the defense could succeed, right, And I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: come on, let's not go through this. Uh so yeah,
Speaker 1: but you know, even those guys they're gonna they're gonna
Speaker 1: gun it in there and see what they can do.
Speaker 1: So it's really hard to judge, especially the first practice, right, um,
Speaker 1: and the defense should be playing well, you know. And
Speaker 1: and who you know caught your eye again, you know,
Speaker 1: because he's caught everybody's eye and perked their right. Yeah. Again,
Speaker 1: he's always making a play on the ball. It seems
Speaker 1: like one or two every practice. Three in the span
Speaker 1: of six plays yesterday, he's uh, you know, he he's
Speaker 1: turning some heads. And he can close so quickly because
Speaker 1: of his length. Yes, you know, he can get up
Speaker 1: on even if he's beat on a play, he's got
Speaker 1: the arm length to close and make a play on
Speaker 1: the ball. And he did it two straight plays earlier
Speaker 1: in the pract and if I had arms like that,
Speaker 1: I'd have been great in tennis. Uncortunately the net, Josh
Speaker 1: Nicky's gonna win win Wimbledon with long arms. The one
Speaker 1: thing you're looking at in these practices isn't, like you said,
Speaker 1: It isn't the stats. It isn't the charts, It isn't
Speaker 1: in completions, completions and whatnot, whatever it may be. You're
Speaker 1: looking for footwork, you're looking for positions, you're looking for
Speaker 1: speed at the same time, and I think Nishan right,
Speaker 1: that was what was intriguing about yesterday. Not only was
Speaker 1: he getting a hand on the football on multiple occasions,
Speaker 1: but his footwork was good, his closing speed was there,
Speaker 1: and then the change of direction was honestly there too,
Speaker 1: that I thought was pretty impressive overall. Before we do
Speaker 1: take our first break, I wanted to give a quick
Speaker 1: update for those who did not see it on the
Speaker 1: breaking already. Yeah yeah, yeah, right, I miss unfortunately the
Speaker 1: quick update on the pup list, the physically unable to
Speaker 1: perform list, Amari Cooper to Marcus Lawrence, Tristan Hill, Mitch Hyatt,
Speaker 1: Greg Zurline, a couple of those names on there. T J.
Speaker 1: Vascher not on the pup list. He's on a different
Speaker 1: list at the moment. Triston Hill Tristan Yes, yeah, Tristan
Speaker 1: hill On There anybody that sticks out there that has
Speaker 1: any concern for you guys going into camp. I don't
Speaker 1: know if it's concerned. I think the surprise was I
Speaker 1: don't think we knew Greg Zerline had back surgery, had
Speaker 1: any issue, yeah, because but you know, he wasn't there
Speaker 1: for the OTAs and he wasn't there for Mini camp.
Speaker 1: And I remember asking somebody about are the kickers like
Speaker 1: working inside when we're outside, and it was like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that's what they're doing. And it's like, well,
Speaker 1: because I haven't seen Zurline and somebody goes, well, he's
Speaker 1: a veteran. He didn't need to be out here. And
Speaker 1: it's like, oh, okay, you know he wasn't perfect. So
Speaker 1: and then you know, you hate to hear your kicker
Speaker 1: had back surgery. But if he had it like after
Speaker 1: the season in January, and it's and I'm assuming the worst, right,
Speaker 1: I don't know that it was a disc, but I'm
Speaker 1: assuming when it's a back, it's usually is that's a
Speaker 1: three month recovery, so he they're probably out of an
Speaker 1: abundance of caution with him and all the rest of
Speaker 1: the guys the same thing. Yeah, it was zeroline. I
Speaker 1: don't think it's anything long term, and they you know,
Speaker 1: Mike said that about all the guys they're coming off
Speaker 1: these lists now. DeMarcus Lawrence has a back too. Did
Speaker 1: the back surgery in the spring, apparently clean up procedure.
Speaker 1: I don't know what a clean up procedure means necessarily
Speaker 1: with the back, and it's his third procedure I believe
Speaker 1: of his career. Um but there they say they're not
Speaker 1: concerned about it. So we'll see. He's in great hands
Speaker 1: with the athletic training staff. But the sooner he could
Speaker 1: get back out there, obviously the better. For this. I'm
Speaker 1: assuming he had it while before we saw him doing
Speaker 1: his rehab stuff. Yeah, the OTAs in mini camps. He's
Speaker 1: out there, and if that's the case, he was running
Speaker 1: pretty good during that. That's why I didn't think it
Speaker 1: was he had any leg issue or anything. But um, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's a three month recovery. And you know, I
Speaker 1: can take you back to the summer of ninety three
Speaker 1: when Troy Aikman had his dissurgery micro dissectomy, and he
Speaker 1: had it middle of June, and by the second or
Speaker 1: third preseason game, he's diving head first into the end
Speaker 1: zone for a touchdown and it's like, seriously, can't be
Speaker 1: doing that. And they told him, you know, you don't
Speaker 1: need to run, and he did that. Jimmy, you're out.
Speaker 1: That's it. Take his helmet away. It's a good way
Speaker 1: to put it. And I think Mine McCarthy said it
Speaker 1: in his press conference, but Tristan Hill probably the furthest
Speaker 1: from being ready is one of the one things that
Speaker 1: he said. I had a little bit of perspective on
Speaker 1: that that if they needed him to be out there,
Speaker 1: he would be out there. But they're kind of so
Speaker 1: slow playing it because there might be somewhat of a
Speaker 1: log jam tackle and especially if Bohanna proves that he
Speaker 1: can do something right and so, I don't know, it
Speaker 1: may have something to do with, yeah, let's watch his back,
Speaker 1: but we put him on pup and if we do
Speaker 1: get a log jam there, then you can leave him
Speaker 1: on pup right and and and you would buy what
Speaker 1: is it eight eight more weeks at least six six
Speaker 1: minimum six minimum, right, Yeah, and then you if something
Speaker 1: happens in the defensive line, then oh I got here
Speaker 1: in my last pocket. You don't have to take up
Speaker 1: a roster spot in order to exactly So I think
Speaker 1: there might be some of that uh talk in there.
Speaker 1: The other thing too, Yeah, the other thing too is
Speaker 1: he's three hundred pounds and what we've heard about the
Speaker 1: you know, coming off acls if you're if you're heavier player,
Speaker 1: it can take a little bit longer than maybe a
Speaker 1: Blake Jarwin who's at two forty five to fifty. So
Speaker 1: I think that's part of it too. They just want
Speaker 1: to get him in the right place. And again, yeah,
Speaker 1: the numbers Mike reference to the press conference, d tackle
Speaker 1: is one. They've got to figure out who's gonna make
Speaker 1: this team, who's gonna play because you know, they needed
Speaker 1: to upgrade that position in the interior big time, and
Speaker 1: they've got some numbers they like, Yeah, keep that thought,
Speaker 1: you gotta hit. Yeah, I was gonna hit the break
Speaker 1: real quick and then we'll hit somet's come back to
Speaker 1: the defensive tackles. But okay, we could do that. We're
Speaker 1: gonna actually, yeah, we'll push fans to the on the fifty.
Speaker 1: On the final segment, we'll come back and talk some
Speaker 1: defensive tackle. When we return. You're on Talking Cowboys, presented
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Speaker 1: make that work. But uh, yeah, we've got uh, We've
Speaker 1: got Mickey's Bagnola, Rob Phillips and Isaiah stand back and
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Speaker 1: the Star. They'll join us of course again in whenever
Speaker 1: we returned back to Frisco. But Talking Cowboys back for
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty one season. In before we headed a break, Mickey,
Speaker 1: you wanted to talk a little bit more about defensive town. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we were talking about defensive tackle. Rob brought it up
Speaker 1: that McCartney. McCarthy said there's gonna be some competition there. Well, yeah,
Speaker 1: because coming to training camp, I'm sitting there going, well,
Speaker 1: I don't know who the starters are. Well, the first
Speaker 1: two guys to go out, I believe it was uh
Speaker 1: Neville Gallimore and uh Carlo Carlos Watkins Watkins Watson, I
Speaker 1: keep want to call him Watson um and and stay
Speaker 1: with the Shawn Watson in college. Yeah, and then and
Speaker 1: on the Texans too. There you go, And that's that
Speaker 1: was kind of okay, that's what they're thinking. I guess
Speaker 1: now it's a matter of Okay, let's see let's see
Speaker 1: what uh Brent Urban can do. Let's see what osa
Speaker 1: Odigi Zua can do. Um and and there's and then
Speaker 1: you got Bohannah in there, right, So that's gonna be
Speaker 1: some serious competition. And I think that to me, that
Speaker 1: position there kind of highlights everything on defense because I
Speaker 1: think there's gonna be a lot of competition for all
Speaker 1: but maybe two or three starting spots. To me, Lawrence
Speaker 1: as a starter, Gregory's a starter, digs as a starter, Okay, Okay.
Speaker 1: Now the other corner, they got Anthony Brown there, but
Speaker 1: he's gonna have to play well to keep that spot.
Speaker 1: And then the safeties, I think it's open. I don't
Speaker 1: you know, I don't. I don't think anything's grandfathered into anybody.
Speaker 1: And Samon linebacker. Now they're going out there you know,
Speaker 1: when they're just two linebackers with Vander esh And and
Speaker 1: Jalen Smith. But how about this, I think I saw
Speaker 1: an alignment out there with three linebackers at the same time.
Speaker 1: There were a bunch of different snaps with that right,
Speaker 1: and I saw it rotate. Barson's playing all three. I
Speaker 1: think he was at least playing the strong side because
Speaker 1: he was out there covering in man on the tight end.
Speaker 1: The majority, the majority of parts and snaps came off
Speaker 1: the edge. He did play some at the mic. He's
Speaker 1: did play some at the will. I think he played
Speaker 1: more at the will than he did at the mic. Well,
Speaker 1: he was playing. You saw him on the edge though
Speaker 1: he was. There was three linebackers exactly, and and he
Speaker 1: was either covering or they they they blitzed him from
Speaker 1: the strong side. So his versatility I think creates huge
Speaker 1: competition at that linebacker spot. And let's not forget Dabril
Speaker 1: Cox either, by the way, uh so between those four
Speaker 1: guys and then Coian O'Neill five who had a forced fumble, Yes,
Speaker 1: right on Michael Gallop so but Mick, I think his
Speaker 1: versatility is a good thing in terms of maybe opening
Speaker 1: up snaps for everybody, no, because you can. You can.
Speaker 1: He's a he's a Swiss army knife that you can
Speaker 1: move around different spots. You guys are right. He plays everywhere.
Speaker 1: I was watching the one on one there wasn't one
Speaker 1: of the the ones. It was pass rush drills before they
Speaker 1: got in teamwork with the offensive lineman defensive lineman. He's
Speaker 1: on the edge rushing, he has this sick inside move
Speaker 1: on I forget which tackle it was for a would
Speaker 1: be sack, and then he's then you watch him in
Speaker 1: team drills and he's dropping, covering tight ends and running backs.
Speaker 1: He can do a lot of different things, and they're
Speaker 1: putting a lot on his plate, but he can do
Speaker 1: a lot of different would you You wouldn't be surprised
Speaker 1: if he was out there on special teams, would you?
Speaker 1: I would not. In coverage, nothing would surprise me. I
Speaker 1: think you know my job for him. I want him
Speaker 1: to be the personal protector on the punt team because
Speaker 1: I want to see him snap him the ball and
Speaker 1: I want to see him run with the ball. One
Speaker 1: thing you said that I might disagree with you on
Speaker 1: the number of starters that I think are kind of
Speaker 1: set in my mind. Anyway. On defense, I think Neville
Speaker 1: Gallimore is a starter this year at defensive I don't
Speaker 1: know if that's a lock though. I don't know if
Speaker 1: it's a lock, but I think that's what I think.
Speaker 1: It's good enough to earn it. Yeah, but he's I
Speaker 1: have to earn. He's got to earn it. But I
Speaker 1: think they view him as as a maybe you know,
Speaker 1: cornerstone hopefully going forward on defensive if he can keep
Speaker 1: up what he did last year. To me, I think
Speaker 1: Layton vander Esch health Willing is going to be a
Speaker 1: starter at linebacker. I think he is. I think the
Speaker 1: scheme change and going back to probably the will will
Speaker 1: help him just kind of what he's used to doing.
Speaker 1: And it's gonna be yeah, but it's gonna be interesting
Speaker 1: with the linebacker spots. How they figure that out, how
Speaker 1: Jalen Smith fits in, How Michael He's gonna play a lot,
Speaker 1: but how Michael Parsons fits in. And Neil's gonna play too.
Speaker 1: He's there, he's at linebacker for a reason. For dan Quinn.
Speaker 1: What about Donovan Wilson, why is he not being conversation
Speaker 1: or said as a lock? I think he knows about
Speaker 1: as good of a lock as a starter could be
Speaker 1: at the safety's part. I think we have to see
Speaker 1: it now coming into training. Can't remember he didn't do
Speaker 1: anything those last few weeks in the off season workouts,
Speaker 1: did not participate in OTA's wasn't really a big part
Speaker 1: of the He wasn't in mini camp, and so that
Speaker 1: was the first time we saw him on the field
Speaker 1: and he did. But I think he's still got to
Speaker 1: earn it because I don't think that you know, you know,
Speaker 1: is Kazy gonna be the free We we got to
Speaker 1: see that yesterday. Jay Ron Curse, who I didn't realize
Speaker 1: was that tall, right, Uh, you know, I'm sure he's
Speaker 1: not rolling over, especially after he earned some starting uh
Speaker 1: games at Minnesota. So I think there's a lot of
Speaker 1: competition there. Uh well, so yeah, I just think that
Speaker 1: nobody better have two bad days in a row because
Speaker 1: they may lose their rotation spot. So yeah, I think
Speaker 1: the competition is great and we can go back to
Speaker 1: where we started a defensive tackle. Yeah, let's go. I
Speaker 1: want to see it. What was the biggest problem last
Speaker 1: year stopping the run in that area too? Yeah, the interior,
Speaker 1: you know, allowing linebackers, not giving linebackers enough space, to
Speaker 1: go make plays and they're just second level just on
Speaker 1: him right away. That happened way too often in the
Speaker 1: run game last year. Is that why you think Neville
Speaker 1: Gallimore is going to be a cornerstone of the defense
Speaker 1: is because of the run defense and what he could
Speaker 1: do potentially sideline to sideline as compared to what they
Speaker 1: had in the past with maybe an Antoine Woods and
Speaker 1: Tyrone Crawford. Yeah, I just yeah, stopping the run. But
Speaker 1: I think he just you know, one thing, when I
Speaker 1: talked to players at mini camp about you know, dan
Speaker 1: Quinn style, they said, it's up the field, and it
Speaker 1: kind of reminds you of what people said about Rod
Speaker 1: Marinelli's scheme. We're gonna get up the field. We're gonna
Speaker 1: be disruptive, and it's not just a matter of just
Speaker 1: holding blocks and holding up lineman. And I think Nevill
Speaker 1: Gallimore has a chance to be an explosive up the
Speaker 1: field rusher to help this defense out. I think he
Speaker 1: can really develop into that. We'll see, we'll see. But
Speaker 1: he showed flashes of it last year. He did it
Speaker 1: a little bit last year. He did it a lot
Speaker 1: during his time in Norman. He did it a lot
Speaker 1: for Oklahoma, and I think that was where some of
Speaker 1: the intrigue came with him where they got him in
Speaker 1: the third round last year. Yeah, and I think I
Speaker 1: think though his his biggest problem at Oklahoma was the
Speaker 1: fact that they were playing a three four sure and
Speaker 1: he's not a three four defensive end, and that's what
Speaker 1: they had being better play the three technique in a
Speaker 1: four man line where he's not getting double teamed the
Speaker 1: whole time, right, And if he is getting double team
Speaker 1: then good luck. Who's ever blocking Randy Gregory right or
Speaker 1: DeMarcus Lawrence or Osa diggiz who or whoever ends up
Speaker 1: being that other starter at defensive tackle. Now, you mentioned
Speaker 1: Dan Quinn and some of the changes that he's made.
Speaker 1: Have you, guys? Of course, you've been around a lot
Speaker 1: longer than I have, and you've seen the Rod Marinelli days,
Speaker 1: You've seen other defensive coordinators other than Mike Nolan. But
Speaker 1: there feels like an energy. There feels like a tempo
Speaker 1: from this defense. Even in practices that resemble OTAs and
Speaker 1: minicamp sort of deals, it still felt like there was
Speaker 1: an energy. Though yesterday, am I wrong in saying that?
Speaker 1: Uh No? And the other word I use for The
Speaker 1: impression I got of what he's done with this defense
Speaker 1: is organized. They look organized. Everybody kind of seems to
Speaker 1: understand what they're doing. I think yesterday and look, I'm
Speaker 1: not charting every play. I think I saw. I might
Speaker 1: have been sitting standing next to you. I saw one
Speaker 1: busted coverage. Okay, last year that was their biggest problem
Speaker 1: defensively to me. You know, it's one thing to get
Speaker 1: beat physically, but to bust coverages the way they did
Speaker 1: is inexcusable. And I think I only saw one. I
Speaker 1: think I remember Kelvin Joseph, like everybody was in man
Speaker 1: and he was playing zone. There was something wrong on
Speaker 1: the right side. His guy ran wide open, ride a open.
Speaker 1: Jerry was here, right, But but they seem organized, and
Speaker 1: I see him talking and calling out like, hey, line up,
Speaker 1: line up there, and that wasn't happening last year, So
Speaker 1: good on him. Whatever they've done in the off season.
Speaker 1: And I know they didn't have an off season last year, right,
Speaker 1: And they tried to install too much defensively, way too
Speaker 1: much without any offseason work over the computer. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: then and then at three weeks the game and zooming
Speaker 1: and no preseason, no preseason, right. I mean every team
Speaker 1: dealt with that though, let's point that out. They had
Speaker 1: but they but they all didn't have new defensive coordinators
Speaker 1: and new defensive line coach and new linebacker coach, new
Speaker 1: secondary coaches. I think the only one you can argue
Speaker 1: had a successful year under those circumstances was probably Cleveland. Right. Yeah,
Speaker 1: maybe Washington a little bit better. And I don't know
Speaker 1: that their entire staff changed. You know, you never know
Speaker 1: what what happened. You we see head coaches changed. When
Speaker 1: the head coach has changed, usually the whole staff is changing.
Speaker 1: And the majority of the defensive staff changed, right, those
Speaker 1: two teams that you just mentioned, the personnel is better,
Speaker 1: was better last year than it was year. It just
Speaker 1: are you saying Washington's base or are you saying with
Speaker 1: the injuries that the Cowboys deal with? Well, I'm both,
Speaker 1: but I'm talking defensively. I think, you know, if Dan
Speaker 1: Quinn's gonna happen a lot of success here, he's got
Speaker 1: to have playmakers, and I think they're taking steps to
Speaker 1: do that. And when they're at full strength, they do
Speaker 1: have some playmakers on this defense. Um, but yeah, Mickey's right,
Speaker 1: it's to me and I've said this on our show
Speaker 1: all offseason. It's a it's about the communication and getting
Speaker 1: guys to trust the scheme. And when you trust the scheme,
Speaker 1: you play fast. That's what Joe Thomas, who's not here anymore,
Speaker 1: he's in he was, but he said that mid season
Speaker 1: last year, and it really stuck with me. That was
Speaker 1: the biggest problem. Guys started to kind of settle in
Speaker 1: by November December, and it was too late, you know,
Speaker 1: at that point. But but I think dan Quinn's communication.
Speaker 1: His former players talk about it. Demante Kazi had a
Speaker 1: great story yesterday about when he did you hear that story, Mick.
Speaker 1: When he first started in Atlanta playing for dan Quinn,
Speaker 1: he had been a corner his whole life. Yes, yes,
Speaker 1: So they move him to safety where you've got to
Speaker 1: be the quarterback of the defense. You got to talk,
Speaker 1: you gotta communicate, you gotta get people lined up. He
Speaker 1: was hesitant to do that because usually at the corner, Hey,
Speaker 1: you line up against your guy and your island, your man.
Speaker 1: You play your island. Yeah, Rivas Island, right, but rob
Speaker 1: Pie Island. H Yeah, there we go. That's the best.
Speaker 1: Shout out to Heck and Isaiah. But um to get
Speaker 1: him to communicate more. Dan Quinn miked him up hard
Speaker 1: knocks style every practice, and they would go into his
Speaker 1: office after practice and listen to what he said and
Speaker 1: how he communicated in practice, and it helped him communicate
Speaker 1: better as a safety. I mean, that is that's coaching,
Speaker 1: that's teaching hands on approach. It's impressive. I want to
Speaker 1: know where dan Quinn was when I started college to
Speaker 1: teach me how to take notes. Tell that story right,
Speaker 1: he's he did, spends ten minutes of their team meeting
Speaker 1: defensively explaining to them how to how to take notes, Like,
Speaker 1: you can't write down everything I say because you can't
Speaker 1: keep up, So you got to learn to pick out
Speaker 1: the important things and write them down. And I guarantee
Speaker 1: you my first my first class in college was a
Speaker 1: five hundred person lecture on American history. And I didn't
Speaker 1: take notes in high school. You didn't take notes in
Speaker 1: high school. We didn't. We didn't take notes in high school.
Speaker 1: And all of a sudden, I'm sitting there trying to
Speaker 1: write all this stuff down, and then I'm you know,
Speaker 1: it took me a year in classes like that to realize, Okay,
Speaker 1: you got to read the stuff. Remember what he highlights
Speaker 1: of what he told you, and then go back and
Speaker 1: look at it again. And then when I got into
Speaker 1: this business, and you know, no one was using tape
Speaker 1: recorders back then, Um yeah, we had teletype two by
Speaker 1: the way. Um you you learned to listen to what
Speaker 1: the person was saying and kind of right down, and
Speaker 1: you learned your own little shorthand on on words like
Speaker 1: if somebody said something about through, well through means t
Speaker 1: h are you you don't need the ou gh you know, uh?
Speaker 1: And and but you learned how to take notes and
Speaker 1: and that's what he was trying to explain to these guys.
Speaker 1: I thought that was pretty interesting just watching him. And
Speaker 1: again we'll see how you know. What's one other thing.
Speaker 1: He used to be a teacher. I think he started
Speaker 1: off in high school. Well maybe that's where it comes.
Speaker 1: And he he was a teach. What that's what these
Speaker 1: guys are, right. Sure, I don't coaches or teach. If
Speaker 1: you're coaching, you're teaching, right. And I think he started
Speaker 1: off in high school. I think I read and he
Speaker 1: was actually had classes, not just p that's interesting. Well,
Speaker 1: we'll see how it again, we will see how it
Speaker 1: all comes together on the field. It's got to come
Speaker 1: together on the field. But you watched dan Quinn on
Speaker 1: the field in between series before drills. He's right in
Speaker 1: the middle of of it, talking to guys. And I'll
Speaker 1: just say that Mike Nolan has had a great career coaching,
Speaker 1: but he was more detached. He was he was on
Speaker 1: the other side of the field, talkie and you know,
Speaker 1: he wasn't his hands on as dan Quinny. I think
Speaker 1: given the situation they were in last year with the
Speaker 1: restrictions and the lack of time on the field, they
Speaker 1: probably needed more hands on defensive coordinator with the new scheme.
Speaker 1: That's what dan Quinn does. But see, he what what
Speaker 1: I think Mike's mistake was he he he made his
Speaker 1: bones in the NFL before he became a coordinator and
Speaker 1: a head coach as a linebacker coach. Sure, so I
Speaker 1: thought he would spend all his time with the linebackers
Speaker 1: and he didn't know, you know, he had, uh is
Speaker 1: it Scott mccurly, Scott and George George he delegated and
Speaker 1: and but but Mike did the kind of walk around thing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: well dan Quinn ain't walking around. He's with the defensive line, right,
Speaker 1: he's the defensive line coach basically, and that's kind of
Speaker 1: what Mari and how Marinelli did it, right. Marinelli was
Speaker 1: the coordinator, but he was the defensive line coach. And
Speaker 1: so I think I think I liked Quinn's approach. I
Speaker 1: like the fact that George Edwards looks like he's taken
Speaker 1: over the linebacker spot. They bring in Joe Witt Junior
Speaker 1: to help with the secondary um and that's a lot
Speaker 1: of experience, right, because last year I'm gonna forget the
Speaker 1: guy's name, he ended up getting the head coaching job
Speaker 1: at Buffalo, New Yeah, and that was the first time
Speaker 1: he had coached in the NFL too, So you had
Speaker 1: a lot of inexperience helping out McCarthy. And hey, hey, look,
Speaker 1: when when you get named the head coach, you don't
Speaker 1: have carte blanche treatment to hire whoever you want. They
Speaker 1: got to be available, yeah, right, And so I think
Speaker 1: you know, it takes time, and Jason Garrett can tell
Speaker 1: you this. You know, he inherited his staff basically when
Speaker 1: he became head coach. But it takes time to get
Speaker 1: the guys you really want on your staff. Because he
Speaker 1: I gotta be a failber. You've got to be able
Speaker 1: to bring them in and they've got to be interested
Speaker 1: in what you're selling them. That's a great point and
Speaker 1: I think it is refreshing as to what we've seen
Speaker 1: with Dan Quinn over the first couple days of Cowboys
Speaker 1: training camp and went come back. We're gonna wrap things up.
Speaker 1: We're gonna answer a couple very quick, very quick fan
Speaker 1: questions with fans on the fifty when we return here
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Speaker 1: don't miss your chance to see the Cowboys at AT
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Speaker 1: to see the Cowboys that are out here in Oxnard.
Speaker 1: And of course every practice at Oxnard open to the
Speaker 1: public and free admission, so there were tons of fans
Speaker 1: out there. Was really energetic. It was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: And I'm sure tomorrow is gonna be nuts because it's Saturday.
Speaker 1: People are off and they're gonna be able to make
Speaker 1: trips and it's gonna be oopening ceremony. Oh yeah, yep,
Speaker 1: that's no thing Saturday. I think usually it is Saturday.
Speaker 1: I think it is tomorrow. We'll double check so that'll
Speaker 1: break in more people. There's gonna be a lot of
Speaker 1: people tomorrow because this is I'm not gonna say that
Speaker 1: I don't have the schedule because they usually they don't
Speaker 1: get that many practices on the always on the weekend.
Speaker 1: But I think it might have got planned out a
Speaker 1: little bit better this Yeah, it definitely did. There's more
Speaker 1: there's Saturday Sunday. Yeah, there's more days off this year
Speaker 1: in camp, just because of the league rules and and
Speaker 1: so they got to maximize the practices that I think
Speaker 1: it's twelve or thirteen practices out here. That's it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so what, But but camp doesn't end when they're right that.
Speaker 1: Jason Garrett taught us that because you got another what
Speaker 1: two weeks back home, yes you do, or three weeks
Speaker 1: before you actually opened the season. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's
Speaker 1: gonna be plenty more of camp to come whenever we
Speaker 1: do break camp here in Oxnar. But it was funny.
Speaker 1: I was writing this rundown last night, which, by the way,
Speaker 1: we have not hit on anything in the rundown, but
Speaker 1: that's fun Save it for Sunday. It's okay. Yeah, use
Speaker 1: for saying thanks to me. I'm sure it's okay. Mikey.
Speaker 1: We like having you back, so I wrote fans on
Speaker 1: the fifty, and I was like, there's no way we're
Speaker 1: gonna hit it at fifty. We're gonna hit this at twenty.
Speaker 1: It's fine, whatever, but I don't want to call it
Speaker 1: Twitter on the twenty because that's of course what the
Speaker 1: Draft Show does, but we're actually starting this on the fifty.
Speaker 1: I've got a question from sting Ray any concern over
Speaker 1: the loss of leadership following the retirements of Shan Lee
Speaker 1: and Tyrone Crawford. Ropp will start with you. Yes, to
Speaker 1: some extent, Yes, anytime you lose both guys. I think
Speaker 1: Tyrone Crawford's leadership people don't really know as much about
Speaker 1: what he brought to the locker room and kind of
Speaker 1: a mentor for DeMarcus Lawrence early in his career as
Speaker 1: much as Sean Lee, because we've here about Sean Lee's
Speaker 1: leadership all the time throughout his career. Yeah, I do
Speaker 1: think there's a void there, but I think it can
Speaker 1: be filled. I think there's guys that with their work ethic,
Speaker 1: you know, Layton vander Esh comes to mind, and there's
Speaker 1: there's young guys coming up. I think DeMarcus Lawrence has
Speaker 1: that too. In terms of just kind of his spirit
Speaker 1: on the field. There's guys that can fill that void.
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy talked about that Mick at the press conference
Speaker 1: that you don't have to be a veteran too, you
Speaker 1: can be a rookie. I think Michael Parsons approach to
Speaker 1: the game can rub off on people, even in his
Speaker 1: first year at twenty two years old. So I think
Speaker 1: there's guys who can step in. Layton Vanderish was on
Speaker 1: his way to doing that last year, and then things
Speaker 1: got derailed. First, there was no offseason, and so when
Speaker 1: he got to training camp, he was much more vocal.
Speaker 1: I thought he was much more opinionated in his press conferences, right,
Speaker 1: and so, and they put him in the middle, So great,
Speaker 1: you're the middle linebacker. You're gonna be more vocal, right
Speaker 1: and was it one quarter into the season and he
Speaker 1: breaks his collar bone. So now you're out four weeks
Speaker 1: and by time you get your sea legs back underneath
Speaker 1: you when you come back, it's basically you were out
Speaker 1: six weeks. And and so it kind of derailed him
Speaker 1: taking charge when you're out. Even for Sean Lee when
Speaker 1: he was out, it was hard for him to speak
Speaker 1: up a lot. Uh and then he gets hurt at
Speaker 1: the end of the year. So I think you're right
Speaker 1: on vander Esh. I like the sound of a couple
Speaker 1: of the guys they've brought in that played for dan
Speaker 1: Quinn for dan Quinn, And I was very impressed with
Speaker 1: Demante Kaz yesterday. He looks like you know, he reminded
Speaker 1: me of kind of looks like him too, Aaron Glenn
Speaker 1: when Aaron Glenn was here, And Aaron Glenn was a
Speaker 1: veteran guy that was a really good leader in that secondary.
Speaker 1: And I think Keane O'Neill probably could fill in that
Speaker 1: void also, So it's good to have some veteran guys
Speaker 1: in there to help out with missing those two guys.
Speaker 1: You know, it's hard to replace Sean Lee. John Lee there,
Speaker 1: it replaced basically was a linebacker coach last year and
Speaker 1: and so you you miss him. Uh. I like the
Speaker 1: fact that George Edgwards is running the linebackers because that's
Speaker 1: his deal. That's how he made his bones in the NFL,
Speaker 1: going back to the linebackers, and that's how he became
Speaker 1: a defensive coordinator. Yeah, playing here, I've got I've got
Speaker 1: two more questions. He's gonna be rapid fire. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: start with Big Jay's question. He said, if you had
Speaker 1: to pick one player on defense to make the Pro
Speaker 1: Bowl this year, who would it be and why? Mickey
Speaker 1: Michael Parsons, ooh, that's a bold statement. I'm okay with that,
Speaker 1: rob aside from DeMarcus Lawrence. So I think he's done it.
Speaker 1: He's he's a star when he's healthy. Um. I think
Speaker 1: Layton Vanderesh can have a big ear this year. I
Speaker 1: think he's got He says he doesn't have a chip
Speaker 1: on his shoulder with the contract and all that, but oh,
Speaker 1: he definitely does. He's got a chip on his shoulder
Speaker 1: all the time. He kind of reminds me of Sean Lee.
Speaker 1: Don we forget his rookie year. He was a Pro
Speaker 1: Bowl Yeah right, yes, and in the first Pro Bowl
Speaker 1: linebacker rookie linebacker for like forever. Yeah. So yeah, good,
Speaker 1: good pick. But you know it's it's not you know,
Speaker 1: he's had some bad luck. I agree with him. You know,
Speaker 1: you break your collar bone, you step on somebody's foot,
Speaker 1: and you twist your ankle. I don't think it's all, Oh,
Speaker 1: he's just injury prone, but he's got to be able
Speaker 1: to stay on the field to get comfortable. I think
Speaker 1: he was on the field last year he didn't seem
Speaker 1: as comfortable with his role. Well he changed, yeah, and
Speaker 1: I think the production showed it. I think if he
Speaker 1: can just stay on the field, I think Dan Quinn's
Speaker 1: gonna put him in good spots to be successful. You
Speaker 1: got a guy, uh yeah, I was gonna say Treyvon Dicks, Okay,
Speaker 1: kind of change it up a little bit. I agree,
Speaker 1: DeMarcus Lawrence is there. I love the pick on Layton
Speaker 1: vander Esch because I do think he will have a
Speaker 1: bounce back year. And I'll tell you one guy. Don't
Speaker 1: go to sleep on Randy Gregory. Yeah, I agree a
Speaker 1: completely he can. He just looks spectacular. I know the pads, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I gotta watch that, But just watch his pass rush,
Speaker 1: his bend. He do you if they're in some pass
Speaker 1: rush drills and they're in a line and he's up
Speaker 1: first and tied Niseki's next, He'll go, yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: my knee a little bit, I'll get the next one.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get over here the helmet. Yeah, final question.
Speaker 1: I do like that though. Man. The thought of Randy
Speaker 1: Gregory and de Marcus Lawrence is exciting hard to tell early,
Speaker 1: and this is from Chris By the right way, not
Speaker 1: Chris Beam, even though he's doing great work. Chris would
Speaker 1: like to ask questions. He could ask questions if he
Speaker 1: wanted to hard to tell early. But with so much
Speaker 1: emphasis on length and speed in the off season, was
Speaker 1: there a noticeable difference there whenever we watched practice yesterday.
Speaker 1: I think it's too too early to tell on that.
Speaker 1: Except for the long arms of Sean Wright, Oh yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: length kind of helps him. Yeah yeah, he's got some
Speaker 1: speed to him too, But I don't know who else
Speaker 1: they added that has length like that, and Chauncey's out,
Speaker 1: so Brent Urban does pretty much everybody they sign and
Speaker 1: urbane human being. He is a huge six foot seven,
Speaker 1: three hundred pounds. He is a large human being that
Speaker 1: doesn't that doesn't show up until yeah, yeah, right, we
Speaker 1: gotta wait on that thin and then and then just
Speaker 1: the size of Bohannah. Yeah, he's pretty any he moves,
Speaker 1: he doesn't move like a guy that's six four three
Speaker 1: thirty Um, so I'm being interested to see that. Yea.
Speaker 1: A matter of fact, that's Nate Newton's pet cat. He
Speaker 1: wants to see more of Bohannah. As a matter of fact,
Speaker 1: he wants him to force the coaches force him in
Speaker 1: there to give him snaps because he thinks that big
Speaker 1: body would create havoc in the middle. One other name,
Speaker 1: not length, but speed. Kelvin Joseph is a guy we
Speaker 1: didn't really see much in the off season, and he
Speaker 1: made a play on the ball against I think it
Speaker 1: was and I just think it's just a gut feeling
Speaker 1: that I don't know if he's gonna be a starter
Speaker 1: week one, but I do think his talent is going
Speaker 1: to show up out here, and I do think he's
Speaker 1: gonna play, and maybe he is a walking starter. But
Speaker 1: even if he's not, I think we kind of forgot
Speaker 1: about him because he wasn't on the field that much
Speaker 1: and we saw Nashan Wright make all these plays. There's
Speaker 1: a reason he was drafted in the second round in
Speaker 1: speed and ball skills are the big reason why he
Speaker 1: may be one of those guys that maybe Week five
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden he shows up, yes, and
Speaker 1: he may give him some opportunities to earn his spot.
Speaker 1: Kind of reminds me when Kevin Smith came in as
Speaker 1: a first round picked cornerback, and it was ninety one
Speaker 1: ninety two and I Coult was the starter and Pop
Speaker 1: didn't start until about eight ten games into the season.
Speaker 1: But once he got out there, look out, he's taken
Speaker 1: on Jared. He's baiting Jerry Rice. It's like young and
Speaker 1: mind yourself, right, but he wouldn't back off, you know.
Speaker 1: And but sometimes from a cornerback standpoint, it takes a
Speaker 1: while to make that. You know, port Port tray Von Diggs,
Speaker 1: you know, day one starter, you're out there, buddy. We
Speaker 1: got injuries, so we got no choice, right, and we
Speaker 1: saw the growing pains. M I'll be interested to see
Speaker 1: after those growing pains how much better he is after
Speaker 1: an off season offseason workout. And he made some plays
Speaker 1: against Michael Gallup yesterday. Again it's it's not pads and
Speaker 1: all that stuff. But remember the top four corners all
Speaker 1: missed at least one game last year. So they need
Speaker 1: Kelvin Joseph to be ready. They need Na Shawn Right
Speaker 1: to be ready. It's possible both guys get starts this year,
Speaker 1: depending on how injuries work out. So and you got
Speaker 1: to have at least really four corners that you feel
Speaker 1: good about in this Leagueuzier missed half the season. Yeah, um,
Speaker 1: Big Game missed like four I think games. Joe Lewis
Speaker 1: missed the opener, so yeah, yeah. Having all those guys
Speaker 1: back and at least depth, I think that's what I'm
Speaker 1: most excited about is the fact that there is some death,
Speaker 1: not only in the cornerback room, but also a defensive line.
Speaker 1: We just named seven different defensive tackles and defensive ends
Speaker 1: that could make an impact this year, and they probably
Speaker 1: all can't make the team. Right, No, right, there's gonna
Speaker 1: be some odd men out. And I can't remember if
Speaker 1: I mentioned this in the In the press conference, Jerry
Speaker 1: mentioned that their top ten or or maybe as Stephen
Speaker 1: ten or eleven players paid, you know, they they got
Speaker 1: to get production from them, and last year we had
Speaker 1: a lot of injuries. So I went back and looked
Speaker 1: out out of the top salaries right now, the top eleven.
Speaker 1: If I look back to last year, eight of those
Speaker 1: guys miss seventy five games. Eight w seventy five games
Speaker 1: from your top paid players. That's bad. And we can
Speaker 1: start with Daks. You got no games out of Layo Collins,
Speaker 1: You got two games out of Tyrn Smith, you got
Speaker 1: one game out of Blake Jarwin, who I think was eleventh.
Speaker 1: He was the eleventh highest paid player. Yeah, he didn't
Speaker 1: even finish. You can count it. You know, you lost
Speaker 1: games from vander esh uh, you lost six games from
Speaker 1: Zach Martin, uh Dak's games. You eleven, missed a game
Speaker 1: from Zeke had one game he missed. So and if
Speaker 1: you take Zeke out, then it's seven guys missing seventy
Speaker 1: four games. Oh my gosh, it's an easy road to
Speaker 1: six and ten that way, right. Yeah, that's a lot
Speaker 1: of money you spent for I R can't make a
Speaker 1: ton of excuses, but that's one that it's blatant. I mean,
Speaker 1: that is a fact. That's not an excuse, that's a fact.
Speaker 1: Whenever you have your top eleven players missing that much time,
Speaker 1: it's gonna affect you. But that's gonna do it for
Speaker 1: us here talking cowboys. Plenty more to come, Mick, glad
Speaker 1: have you been? When are we doing this again? Sunday? Okay? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Do you want to market the same time? Andine am
Speaker 1: right here. I'll set your alarm on your phone right now,
Speaker 1: and we and we start at nine just so we
Speaker 1: we are all get that underway. It's eleven o'clock Central
Speaker 1: time back in Texas. Will be back on Sunday, but
Speaker 1: until then for Rob Phillips, Mickey's Back, No Rom, Kyle
Speaker 1: Yeoman's that's it for Talking Cowboys, presented by Guyko. This
Speaker 1: has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and
Speaker 1: the Dallas Cowboys Football Club