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10 notes from Cowboys’ preseason debut
By Calvin Watkins 1h ago 2
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Cowboys’ first preseason game ended with a 24-21 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. There were plenty of positives, mostly centering around the first-team offense – and some major concerns with that secondary. If ever a preseason opener changed the narrative from practices, it was this one!
1. The first-team offense was just average through nearly three weeks of training camp practices, raising concerns about quarterback Dak Prescott’s ability to lead the offense. Former Cowboys wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson created a stir when he said on ESPN that he wouldn’t be surprised if Prescott got benched this season.
In 10 snaps and one series, the Cowboys first-team offense did its job. Prescott completed the 75-yard drive by connecting on a 30-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Michael Gallup. The offense was missing star running back Zeke Elliott, who watched from the sidelines, something you can expect a lot of during the preseason. Prescott has this reputation that’s he’s not a good practice quarterback, but one that steps up noticeably during games.
What was impressive about the drive was Gallup developing chemistry with Prescott on the touchdown throw. Faced with a second-and-seven from the 49ers 30, Gallup noticed he had single coverage on the outside. The safety, Jaquiski Tartt, was in the middle of the field, and Gallup is supposed to know he’ll get the ball.
“I had a go route,” Gallup said. “Not sure what the coverage was, (but the) safety was in the middle of the field and I assume the ball was going to go to my side and I made a play on the ball.”
One of the main reasons the Cowboys drafted Gallup in the third round is his smarts. A good football IQ is what the Cowboys need. Sure, the wide receivers will win some physical battles and improvise from time-to-time, but WR Coach Sanjay Lal wants the quarterback to be able to throw blind. That means if the wide receivers are where they’re supposed to be, everything goes smoothly.
That was the case with Gallup in catching this touchdown pass.
And while Elliott was the only offensive starter who sat Thursday night, Terrance Williams started with the first team at wide receiver. Williams spent a majority of training camp getting practice reps with the second team as the Cowboys bring him along slowly due to his recovery from foot surgery. Williams didn’t catch a pass from Prescott, but he did have two catches for seven yards in the loss and it seems he’s running well despite dealing with pain in his foot.
If there were any questions about Elliott’s backup, Rod Smith continues to cement himself as the No. 2 man. Smith rushed for 32 yards on eight carries, including two particularly tough yards on a third-and-1 from the 49ers 35. On the first run of the game, Smith ran off right tackle for 15 yards then went up the middle for six. There’s a chance Elliott would have taken one of these two plays to the house, but Smith isn’t expected to be Elliott. The Cowboys got positive plays from them regardless.
It was a strong first night for the first-team offense and outside of rookie left guard Connor Williams missing a block on a Prescott sack, everything was nearly perfect.
“It comes down to routine plays,” Hurns said. “What we preach as an offense is ‘do your job,’ so once you see all 11 on the same page, I made a third-down catch, Mike made his touchdown, those are routine plays. We do that each and every day in practice, the main thing is once you come into the game and it’s not letting the game speed slow you up and play the same the way you practice.”
2. DeMarcus Lawrence kept it real when it came to the pass-rush. The Cowboys had zero sacks but three quarterback hits and numerous pressures on 49ers starter Jimmy Garoppolo and backup C.J. Beathard. It didn’t impress Lawrence, who led the Cowboys in sacks last year with 14.5.
“We can’t count pressures over here,” said Lawrence, who was credited with a quarterback hit. “That quarterback need to be on the ground. I felt like we had zero sacks and that’s not the ‘Hot Boys’ way. We got to be hot and we got to be blowing they ass up. Blowing them off the ball. They should want to get this game over and we didn’t do that today.”
3. The Cowboys defensive line started Antwaun Woods and Datone Jones at defensive tackle with Lawrence at left defensive end and Tyrone Crawford as the right defensive end. Woods starting over Jihad Ward continues a trend that came into full view in the last week and half of camp. Ward was getting first-team snaps in practices at the start of camp, but Woods passed him on the depth chart. On Thursday night, the line was the strong part of the unit. Ward and Jones got an early tackle for loss on running back Jerick McKinnon. The two biggest surprises were the strong play of backup ends Dorance Armstrong and Taco Charlton, who each wound up with a pair of quarterback pressures. Charles Tapper and Kony Ealy, two other ends, are fighting for roster spots right now. Tapper was flagged for an offside penalty whe Jason Garrett had a chat with him between plays in the third quarter. Tapper made up for the miscue by forcing and recovering a fumble with 1:29 to play. What should be noted about the defensive line is Ealy got snaps before Armstrong, but we didn’t see him too much after that.
4. It’s story time with DeMarcus Lawrence: “I’m in the game, right, and I beat the tackle (Mike McGlinchey) and I’m coming and the only thing I hear is, “Jimmy!” And he throws it. So I go to him after the game and I’m like, ‘Bro why was the right tackle calling your name?’ ‘I had to tell him that because I knew you was coming.’ Y’all crazy, every time I went (to pass rush) he call Jimmy name.”
Lawrence who played nine snaps, was asked how many times Garoppolo’s name was called. “Twice. Yeah.”
22% is a pretty good ratio.
5. Tweet of the Night from an amateur scout on Leighton Vander Esch
6. We decided to pay particular attention to a few players, so here’s a five-snap recap of what we saw from swing tackle Cameron Fleming and linebacker Leighton Vander Esch
With Cooper Rush in the game, the second-team offensive line took the field with the exception of Connor Williams, who remained at left guard. Fleming replaced Tyron Smith at left tackle and did his thing. On the first snap we checked out, he faced left defensive end Solomon Thomas. In a three-receiver set, tight end Geoff Swaim lined up next to Fleming. But he didn’t need to stay and chip Thomas, as Fleming blocked him cleanly on a pass play.
The second snap we watched, Fleming let Thomas go on an inside rush, as he himself went to the second level and blocked Reuben Foster. Smith ran up the middle for no gain.
Fleming’s third snap was on a third-and-nine with Thomas flying off the snap. Fleming handled himself well, getting both hands on Thomas, who tried to go toward the center. Rush’s pass went toward the right side and in a gaggle of bodies, Thomas dove after him and got kicked in the head. Thomas left the game with an apparent head injury and was diagnosed with a concussion.
On the fourth snap we watched Fleming, he took on Sheldon Day, Thomas’ replacement. Smith ran up the middle for no gain but Day was slowed down on a good block.
Our final look at Fleming came on a second-and-10. The Cowboys were in a shotgun formation and Fleming’s viewpoint was of Cassius Marsh, who was lined up wide at an angle. It was clear Marsh anticipated a pass play here because he wanted to get Fleming wide, far from the line of scrimmage, leading to a lane between him and Williams. Marsh looked a little slow off the ball and Fleming handled him while Rush completed a six-yard pass to Williams.
We viewed the Vander Esch’s first five snaps. He entered with 22 seconds to play in the first quarter and was on the strong side, where the tight end lines up pre-snap. Raheem Mostert gets the run for the 49ers and runs off right end — and here is where the speed of Vander Esch comes in. Mostert got downfield and Vander Esch chased him down, getting an assist from Chidobe Awuzie. It was a 19-yard gain as the first quarter ended.
On Vander Esch’s second snap he lined up again on the tight end side and with motion, he adjusted by moving toward the center of the line of scrimmage. On a play action, Beathard’s pass was incomplete as Charlton got some pressure on him. The ball wasn’t near Vander Esch, who did move a step toward the quarterback on the play action, but moved back once he realized it was a pass play.
The Cowboys believe Vander Esch is good in coverage and his third NFL snap of the preseason proved that when he backed up in zone. Beathard’s pass on this second down play is behind Vander Esch but falls incomplete. It appears Vander Esch covered his area well.
The fourth snap for Vander Esch was another pass play and he was once again backed up in zone coverage. Beathard completed a high throw Kendrick Bourne for 18 yards.
Our final look at Vander Esch, as brief as it was for this little exercise, came on a first-and-10 at the 49ers 49. Vander Esch was on the tight end side again and this time we saw a tackle for loss, as linebacker Joe Thomas stopped Mostert one yard short of the line. Vander Esch moved well to the ball but didn’t have anything to do with the play. You want players moving to the ball at all times, especially on run plays.
7. If you thought Smith had a strong game running the ball, check out Bo Scarbrough, the Cowboys’ seventh-round pick. Scarbrough finished his night leading the team with 33 rushing yards on nine carries. Scarbrough’s one-yard touchdown run gave the Cowboys a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. The score wasn’t easy. Faced with a second-and-goal from the 2, the Cowboys had three tight ends in the game: Rico Gathers, Dalton Schultz, and Blake Jarwin. Scarbrough got the ball and couldn’t find any room up the middle. It was a decoy of sorts, because you believe Scarbrough might go toward the strong side of the line; instead, he tried to get behind backup center Joe Looney and Williams, following them into the end zone. Scarbrough got zero yards. Third down almost didn’t end well either for Scarbrough. It was a play designed for him to jump over the pile, but Schultz was blocked into him. Scarbrough couldn’t jump like Superman, so he stayed low and snuck into the end zone for the score. At first glance it appeared Scarbrough didn’t get across the goal line, but he stretched the ball across.
“I’m very comfortable (near the goal line), it’s something that we did back at Alabama,” he said. “And I’m sure you know any goal line situation I was in, you got bigger and stronger guys in front of you and you got to push the pile.”
8. Here’s the deal with the secondary: we have questions and not many answers. The Cowboys’ defense forced three turnovers, two picks and a forced fumble. In the second quarter, linebacker Joe Thomas picked off a pass from Beathard and it was set up when safety Kavon Frazier tipped the ball while in coverage. The other interception, in the fourth quarter, was the easiest takeaway of the night. Fourth-string cornerback Duke Thomas basically played receiver. 49ers No. 3 quarterback Nick Mullens either made a bad throw or the receiver ran an incorrect route. Mullens’ throw went directly to Thomas for the pick. Those were the highlights.
Starting slot cornerback Anthony Brown, who has dazzled at camp, took a step back with two penalties in the loss. He was called for a holding, and on another play, pass interference with a face guard. The second penalty was part of a scoring drive for the 49ers which cut their 14-0 deficit to seven with 10 seconds left in the half. Jourdan Lewis, who lost the slot corner spot to Brown, will have an opportunity to get it back. However, Lewis didn’t look good — allowing rookie receiver Dante Pettis to get wide open early in the third quarter for a 53-yard reception. It’s not clear if Lewis was supposed to have deep help as safety Marqueston Huff got over late. Charvarius Ward, a young corner who played well with a pair of interceptions in the last week of practices, missed a tackle on a run play but made up for it with a good stop on the same series and finished with four total tackles.
Despite Frazier’s tip of a pass, he took a bad angle as he tried to tackle receiver Richie James Jr., who ran down the field for a 21-yard gain near the end of the first half.
If backup corner Donovan Olumba is going to make this team he has to be consistent. He broke up a pass with 18 seconds left on a quick slant to Victor Bolden Jr. But he was called for face-guarding on a two-point conversion try, giving the 49ers another chance to convert it. They did.
The secondary was inconsistent, from backups to some starters – starting corner Byron Jones missed a tackle. It’s early, but one wonders whether that might escalate the Earl Thomas trade talks. At some point, the Cowboys have to decide whether they’re sufficiently interested.
9. Backup quarterback Cooper Rush had six possessions and had two touchdown drives with 10 first downs gained. Rush got off to a slow start as the second-team offense punted on its first three possessions.
“A lot of clean up, protection-wise,” said Rush who completed 15 of 23 passes for 145 yards with one touchdown. “I wasn’t as clean as I wanted to be, watch the film and there were some throws I left out there — but overall I felt pretty good.”
10. The Cowboys left a couple of people in Oxnard for the first preseason game due to health reasons. Wide receivers Cole Beasley (slight groin), Deonte Thompson (Achilles), Noah Brown (hamstring), linebacker Chris Covington (illness) and defensive tackle Maliek Collins (foot rehab) stayed in Southern California. However, defensive end Randy Gregory and lineback Sean Lee made the trip, dressed and did pregame warmups. Lee most likely won’t play in the preseason. Elliott didn’t play either, and he’s probably in the same situation as Lee. Gregory is being brought along slowly but there’s a chance he could practice fully this weekend. Kicker Dan Bailey and No. 4 quarterback Dalton Sturm also didn’t play.
Final thoughts
Cowboys running back Darius Jackson could have been flagged for leading with his helmet on consecutive runs. Jackson did have a nice game, rushing for 21 yards on six carries, but unless Scarbrough struggles the next three weeks, he might not make the 53.
49ers linebacker Elijah Lee was flagged for that very same penalty as he hit Scarbrough up high with 4:37 left in the third.
Prescott had a quarterback rating of 158.3. Pretty good. How much will we see him the rest of the preseason?
Rico Gathers is a fan favorite but might not make this roster.
By Calvin Watkins 1h ago 2
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Cowboys’ first preseason game ended with a 24-21 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. There were plenty of positives, mostly centering around the first-team offense – and some major concerns with that secondary. If ever a preseason opener changed the narrative from practices, it was this one!
1. The first-team offense was just average through nearly three weeks of training camp practices, raising concerns about quarterback Dak Prescott’s ability to lead the offense. Former Cowboys wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson created a stir when he said on ESPN that he wouldn’t be surprised if Prescott got benched this season.
In 10 snaps and one series, the Cowboys first-team offense did its job. Prescott completed the 75-yard drive by connecting on a 30-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Michael Gallup. The offense was missing star running back Zeke Elliott, who watched from the sidelines, something you can expect a lot of during the preseason. Prescott has this reputation that’s he’s not a good practice quarterback, but one that steps up noticeably during games.
What was impressive about the drive was Gallup developing chemistry with Prescott on the touchdown throw. Faced with a second-and-seven from the 49ers 30, Gallup noticed he had single coverage on the outside. The safety, Jaquiski Tartt, was in the middle of the field, and Gallup is supposed to know he’ll get the ball.
“I had a go route,” Gallup said. “Not sure what the coverage was, (but the) safety was in the middle of the field and I assume the ball was going to go to my side and I made a play on the ball.”
One of the main reasons the Cowboys drafted Gallup in the third round is his smarts. A good football IQ is what the Cowboys need. Sure, the wide receivers will win some physical battles and improvise from time-to-time, but WR Coach Sanjay Lal wants the quarterback to be able to throw blind. That means if the wide receivers are where they’re supposed to be, everything goes smoothly.
That was the case with Gallup in catching this touchdown pass.
And while Elliott was the only offensive starter who sat Thursday night, Terrance Williams started with the first team at wide receiver. Williams spent a majority of training camp getting practice reps with the second team as the Cowboys bring him along slowly due to his recovery from foot surgery. Williams didn’t catch a pass from Prescott, but he did have two catches for seven yards in the loss and it seems he’s running well despite dealing with pain in his foot.
If there were any questions about Elliott’s backup, Rod Smith continues to cement himself as the No. 2 man. Smith rushed for 32 yards on eight carries, including two particularly tough yards on a third-and-1 from the 49ers 35. On the first run of the game, Smith ran off right tackle for 15 yards then went up the middle for six. There’s a chance Elliott would have taken one of these two plays to the house, but Smith isn’t expected to be Elliott. The Cowboys got positive plays from them regardless.
It was a strong first night for the first-team offense and outside of rookie left guard Connor Williams missing a block on a Prescott sack, everything was nearly perfect.
“It comes down to routine plays,” Hurns said. “What we preach as an offense is ‘do your job,’ so once you see all 11 on the same page, I made a third-down catch, Mike made his touchdown, those are routine plays. We do that each and every day in practice, the main thing is once you come into the game and it’s not letting the game speed slow you up and play the same the way you practice.”
2. DeMarcus Lawrence kept it real when it came to the pass-rush. The Cowboys had zero sacks but three quarterback hits and numerous pressures on 49ers starter Jimmy Garoppolo and backup C.J. Beathard. It didn’t impress Lawrence, who led the Cowboys in sacks last year with 14.5.
“We can’t count pressures over here,” said Lawrence, who was credited with a quarterback hit. “That quarterback need to be on the ground. I felt like we had zero sacks and that’s not the ‘Hot Boys’ way. We got to be hot and we got to be blowing they ass up. Blowing them off the ball. They should want to get this game over and we didn’t do that today.”
3. The Cowboys defensive line started Antwaun Woods and Datone Jones at defensive tackle with Lawrence at left defensive end and Tyrone Crawford as the right defensive end. Woods starting over Jihad Ward continues a trend that came into full view in the last week and half of camp. Ward was getting first-team snaps in practices at the start of camp, but Woods passed him on the depth chart. On Thursday night, the line was the strong part of the unit. Ward and Jones got an early tackle for loss on running back Jerick McKinnon. The two biggest surprises were the strong play of backup ends Dorance Armstrong and Taco Charlton, who each wound up with a pair of quarterback pressures. Charles Tapper and Kony Ealy, two other ends, are fighting for roster spots right now. Tapper was flagged for an offside penalty whe Jason Garrett had a chat with him between plays in the third quarter. Tapper made up for the miscue by forcing and recovering a fumble with 1:29 to play. What should be noted about the defensive line is Ealy got snaps before Armstrong, but we didn’t see him too much after that.
4. It’s story time with DeMarcus Lawrence: “I’m in the game, right, and I beat the tackle (Mike McGlinchey) and I’m coming and the only thing I hear is, “Jimmy!” And he throws it. So I go to him after the game and I’m like, ‘Bro why was the right tackle calling your name?’ ‘I had to tell him that because I knew you was coming.’ Y’all crazy, every time I went (to pass rush) he call Jimmy name.”
Lawrence who played nine snaps, was asked how many times Garoppolo’s name was called. “Twice. Yeah.”
22% is a pretty good ratio.
5. Tweet of the Night from an amateur scout on Leighton Vander Esch
6. We decided to pay particular attention to a few players, so here’s a five-snap recap of what we saw from swing tackle Cameron Fleming and linebacker Leighton Vander Esch
With Cooper Rush in the game, the second-team offensive line took the field with the exception of Connor Williams, who remained at left guard. Fleming replaced Tyron Smith at left tackle and did his thing. On the first snap we checked out, he faced left defensive end Solomon Thomas. In a three-receiver set, tight end Geoff Swaim lined up next to Fleming. But he didn’t need to stay and chip Thomas, as Fleming blocked him cleanly on a pass play.
The second snap we watched, Fleming let Thomas go on an inside rush, as he himself went to the second level and blocked Reuben Foster. Smith ran up the middle for no gain.
Fleming’s third snap was on a third-and-nine with Thomas flying off the snap. Fleming handled himself well, getting both hands on Thomas, who tried to go toward the center. Rush’s pass went toward the right side and in a gaggle of bodies, Thomas dove after him and got kicked in the head. Thomas left the game with an apparent head injury and was diagnosed with a concussion.
On the fourth snap we watched Fleming, he took on Sheldon Day, Thomas’ replacement. Smith ran up the middle for no gain but Day was slowed down on a good block.
Our final look at Fleming came on a second-and-10. The Cowboys were in a shotgun formation and Fleming’s viewpoint was of Cassius Marsh, who was lined up wide at an angle. It was clear Marsh anticipated a pass play here because he wanted to get Fleming wide, far from the line of scrimmage, leading to a lane between him and Williams. Marsh looked a little slow off the ball and Fleming handled him while Rush completed a six-yard pass to Williams.
We viewed the Vander Esch’s first five snaps. He entered with 22 seconds to play in the first quarter and was on the strong side, where the tight end lines up pre-snap. Raheem Mostert gets the run for the 49ers and runs off right end — and here is where the speed of Vander Esch comes in. Mostert got downfield and Vander Esch chased him down, getting an assist from Chidobe Awuzie. It was a 19-yard gain as the first quarter ended.
On Vander Esch’s second snap he lined up again on the tight end side and with motion, he adjusted by moving toward the center of the line of scrimmage. On a play action, Beathard’s pass was incomplete as Charlton got some pressure on him. The ball wasn’t near Vander Esch, who did move a step toward the quarterback on the play action, but moved back once he realized it was a pass play.
The Cowboys believe Vander Esch is good in coverage and his third NFL snap of the preseason proved that when he backed up in zone. Beathard’s pass on this second down play is behind Vander Esch but falls incomplete. It appears Vander Esch covered his area well.
The fourth snap for Vander Esch was another pass play and he was once again backed up in zone coverage. Beathard completed a high throw Kendrick Bourne for 18 yards.
Our final look at Vander Esch, as brief as it was for this little exercise, came on a first-and-10 at the 49ers 49. Vander Esch was on the tight end side again and this time we saw a tackle for loss, as linebacker Joe Thomas stopped Mostert one yard short of the line. Vander Esch moved well to the ball but didn’t have anything to do with the play. You want players moving to the ball at all times, especially on run plays.
7. If you thought Smith had a strong game running the ball, check out Bo Scarbrough, the Cowboys’ seventh-round pick. Scarbrough finished his night leading the team with 33 rushing yards on nine carries. Scarbrough’s one-yard touchdown run gave the Cowboys a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. The score wasn’t easy. Faced with a second-and-goal from the 2, the Cowboys had three tight ends in the game: Rico Gathers, Dalton Schultz, and Blake Jarwin. Scarbrough got the ball and couldn’t find any room up the middle. It was a decoy of sorts, because you believe Scarbrough might go toward the strong side of the line; instead, he tried to get behind backup center Joe Looney and Williams, following them into the end zone. Scarbrough got zero yards. Third down almost didn’t end well either for Scarbrough. It was a play designed for him to jump over the pile, but Schultz was blocked into him. Scarbrough couldn’t jump like Superman, so he stayed low and snuck into the end zone for the score. At first glance it appeared Scarbrough didn’t get across the goal line, but he stretched the ball across.
“I’m very comfortable (near the goal line), it’s something that we did back at Alabama,” he said. “And I’m sure you know any goal line situation I was in, you got bigger and stronger guys in front of you and you got to push the pile.”
8. Here’s the deal with the secondary: we have questions and not many answers. The Cowboys’ defense forced three turnovers, two picks and a forced fumble. In the second quarter, linebacker Joe Thomas picked off a pass from Beathard and it was set up when safety Kavon Frazier tipped the ball while in coverage. The other interception, in the fourth quarter, was the easiest takeaway of the night. Fourth-string cornerback Duke Thomas basically played receiver. 49ers No. 3 quarterback Nick Mullens either made a bad throw or the receiver ran an incorrect route. Mullens’ throw went directly to Thomas for the pick. Those were the highlights.
Starting slot cornerback Anthony Brown, who has dazzled at camp, took a step back with two penalties in the loss. He was called for a holding, and on another play, pass interference with a face guard. The second penalty was part of a scoring drive for the 49ers which cut their 14-0 deficit to seven with 10 seconds left in the half. Jourdan Lewis, who lost the slot corner spot to Brown, will have an opportunity to get it back. However, Lewis didn’t look good — allowing rookie receiver Dante Pettis to get wide open early in the third quarter for a 53-yard reception. It’s not clear if Lewis was supposed to have deep help as safety Marqueston Huff got over late. Charvarius Ward, a young corner who played well with a pair of interceptions in the last week of practices, missed a tackle on a run play but made up for it with a good stop on the same series and finished with four total tackles.
Despite Frazier’s tip of a pass, he took a bad angle as he tried to tackle receiver Richie James Jr., who ran down the field for a 21-yard gain near the end of the first half.
If backup corner Donovan Olumba is going to make this team he has to be consistent. He broke up a pass with 18 seconds left on a quick slant to Victor Bolden Jr. But he was called for face-guarding on a two-point conversion try, giving the 49ers another chance to convert it. They did.
The secondary was inconsistent, from backups to some starters – starting corner Byron Jones missed a tackle. It’s early, but one wonders whether that might escalate the Earl Thomas trade talks. At some point, the Cowboys have to decide whether they’re sufficiently interested.
9. Backup quarterback Cooper Rush had six possessions and had two touchdown drives with 10 first downs gained. Rush got off to a slow start as the second-team offense punted on its first three possessions.
“A lot of clean up, protection-wise,” said Rush who completed 15 of 23 passes for 145 yards with one touchdown. “I wasn’t as clean as I wanted to be, watch the film and there were some throws I left out there — but overall I felt pretty good.”
10. The Cowboys left a couple of people in Oxnard for the first preseason game due to health reasons. Wide receivers Cole Beasley (slight groin), Deonte Thompson (Achilles), Noah Brown (hamstring), linebacker Chris Covington (illness) and defensive tackle Maliek Collins (foot rehab) stayed in Southern California. However, defensive end Randy Gregory and lineback Sean Lee made the trip, dressed and did pregame warmups. Lee most likely won’t play in the preseason. Elliott didn’t play either, and he’s probably in the same situation as Lee. Gregory is being brought along slowly but there’s a chance he could practice fully this weekend. Kicker Dan Bailey and No. 4 quarterback Dalton Sturm also didn’t play.
Final thoughts
Cowboys running back Darius Jackson could have been flagged for leading with his helmet on consecutive runs. Jackson did have a nice game, rushing for 21 yards on six carries, but unless Scarbrough struggles the next three weeks, he might not make the 53.
49ers linebacker Elijah Lee was flagged for that very same penalty as he hit Scarbrough up high with 4:37 left in the third.
Prescott had a quarterback rating of 158.3. Pretty good. How much will we see him the rest of the preseason?
Rico Gathers is a fan favorite but might not make this roster.
