- Joined
- Apr 7, 2013
- Messages
- 52,843
If only they were missing both their starting DE's too.
Chargers Stuff...
- Thread starter boozeman
- Start date
Chocolate Lab
Mere Commoner
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2014
- Messages
- 20,193
So Nsekhe cramped up so badly at practice that he's out this week?
I'm sorry, I have zero sympathy for these million dollar athletes getting too hot when thousands of kids, spares like us on this board, had to do two a days in the Texas heat.
Cut this guy yesterday.
I'm sorry, I have zero sympathy for these million dollar athletes getting too hot when thousands of kids, spares like us on this board, had to do two a days in the Texas heat.
Cut this guy yesterday.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2013
- Messages
- 122,743
I bet he retires suddenly. The dude is old.
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2013
- Messages
- 52,843
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2013
- Messages
- 52,843
Goddamn stop slapping your thighs dude.
Genghis Khan
The worst version of myself
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2013
- Messages
- 37,820
I don't think they have a choice at this point.
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2013
- Messages
- 27,180
It's definitely odd. I've never heard of a player suffering severe heat injuries/illnesses during the regular season. During training camp when you're working on getting into football shape.....sure. But once the season starts coaches aren't working their players too hard during the week because they want their guys as fresh as possible for the upcoming game.
Makes me believe this is mainly Nsekhe's fault for not properly taking care of himself. He's been playing professional football in some capacity for over 10 years. So there's no excuse for him to not be properly hydrated and conditioned.
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2013
- Messages
- 122,743
Yeah I get that. It like Jerry Jones tried a smokescreen that came true. Like I said. Weird.
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2013
- Messages
- 122,743
If Jimmy Johnson did this and the guy had a heat stroke, it would be epic.
Fat Mike? Not so much.
Chocolate Lab
Mere Commoner
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2014
- Messages
- 20,193
Like you guys said, that's crazy if Jerry and Mike were in on some coordinated smokescreen.
But now I'm more worried about Steele than I was if he was going to be behind that super spare Nsehke who had looked terrible in the preseason and full body cramped when the humidity and heat index was far better than it was a couple weeks ago.
But now I'm more worried about Steele than I was if he was going to be behind that super spare Nsehke who had looked terrible in the preseason and full body cramped when the humidity and heat index was far better than it was a couple weeks ago.
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2013
- Messages
- 52,843
Heat stroke? The old man had something happen that may be worse than they are saying.
data
Forbes #1
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2013
- Messages
- 50,380
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2013
- Messages
- 122,743
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2013
- Messages
- 122,743
Cowboys’ 20 notes: Plan to replace DeMarcus Lawrence against Chargers and more touches for Ezekiel Elliott?
By Jon Machota 23m ago
FRISCO, Texas — The 0-1 Cowboys travel to Los Angeles this weekend to play the 1-0 Chargers, a team they haven’t faced in the regular season since 2017, a 28-6 Cowboys loss on Thanksgiving Day at AT&T Stadium. To get you ready for Sunday’s game at SoFi Stadium, here are 20 Cowboys’ notes.
1. Replacing DeMarcus Lawrence. The Cowboys’ top defender suffered a broken foot while taking part in a pass-rush drill during Wednesday’s practice. He had surgery Thursday morning. Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said Lawrence will miss “significant” time but he’s expected to return this season.
Dallas already had issues getting to the quarterback and now they’re without their best pass rusher. They will also most likely be without their other starting edge rusher Randy Gregory, who is on the team’s Reserve/COVID-19 list, for Sunday’s game. The expected starting edge rushers against the Chargers are Tarell Basham and Dorance Armstrong. Next up behind them are Bradlee Anae, Azur Kamara and rookie Chauncey Golston. Golston, a third-round pick, missed all of training camp and the preseason with a hamstring injury. He took part in his first practice in pads on Thursday.
“We’re getting really excited about him,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said of Golston on Friday on 105.3 The Fan. “He’s certainly come a long way in a short time. He’s making big strides and we think he’s gonna make some huge contributions for us pretty early.”
2. Add a proven edge rusher? Following the Lawrence news, my first thought was that the Cowboys need to make some type of move to add a veteran edge defender, whether that be via trade or free agency. The most notable free agent edge rushers are Olivier Vernon, Vic Beasley and Adrian Clayborn. The last two played for Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn in Atlanta. But Cowboys owner Jerry Jones shut down the idea of getting outside help during his Friday morning radio appearance. He said the focus is on developing some of the players on the current roster.
“We’ve got some talented players who can do several things,” Jones said on The Fan. “And, so, this will be a challenge for everybody involved, obviously the coaches. And we got players out there that know that those minutes they’re getting out on that field, those repetitions getting out on that field against the Chargers, are priceless. So let’s step up. We won’t have a player out there that we haven’t seen at least make the kind of play that we want him to make on that given play under those circumstances. So we’ll put people out there that are capable of making the plays.”
3. More pass rush for Parsons? Part of the reason the Cowboys drafted rookie linebacker Micah Parsons in the first round was because of his ability to rush the passer. Parsons spent extra time this week during practice working with the defensive ends. Regardless of where Parsons lines up, the Cowboys will likely need to bring more than four to get consistent pressure on Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year last season.
With Lawrence out, does Parsons feel like he needs to lead the way on defense?
“I don’t need to be the guy, but I want to be the guy,” he said. “Even if D-Law was here, I want to be that guy. That only makes it even better. … I want to be the guy from the beginning.”
4. Replacing La’el Collins. With Collins suspended the next five games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, there’s a significant hole at right tackle. Terence Steele and Ty Nsekhe were both expected to get work at the position on Sunday, but Nsekhe spent Thursday night in a local hospital after experiencing a heat-related illness following Thursday’s practice. He has been ruled out for Sunday. Steele will start at right tackle and Brandon Knight is expected to be the team’s swing tackle. Although the Cowboys would prefer to keep Zack Martin at right guard, it’s also possible that he could move to right tackle if Steele struggles.
Martin played two games at right tackle last season as injuries piled up at the position.
“I think that was different circumstances last year,” Martin said. “I play right guard and that’s what I’m going to do. … Listen, I’m open to do whatever they need me to do, but … yeah.”
5. Run the ball more? Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is not going to run the ball just to run the ball. He made that pretty clear Week 1 in Tampa Bay. The Cowboys threw 58 times compared to only 18 runs. The Buccaneers threw 50 times and ran only 14. Moore shared this week that 28 runs were called in the game, but Dak Prescott checked out of 12 of them because of the look the Buccaneers were showing.
“That was a unique game,” Moore said. “If we need to throw it 60 times, if we need to run it 60 times, I really don’t care. That was the No. 1 rushing defense in the NFL. We can bang our head against the wall if we want, but I thought they did a good job stopping the run. … It’s a long season. There are different matchups, different defensive schemes, we’re going to need Zeke to pound it. Could be this week. Could be the following week.”
6. Chargers’ run defense. Los Angeles ranked 18th against the run last season at 120 yards per game. The Chargers allowed Washington to rush for 126 yards on 27 carries in their 20-16 win over WFT in Week 1. So this appears to be a better matchup for Elliott to have a big day on the ground.
“I think Zeke’s a big-picture guy,” Moore said. “He sees it. He did a phenomenal job in pass protection for us. There’s a lot of guys in the box, and we’re going to have other games where people are going to play two-high shell and give us an opportunity to run the football, and Zeke’s going to be ready to rock and roll there. Again, each week’s kind of its own week. We keep them all independent of each other. This one, we threw a whole lot. I get it. Doesn’t mean the next one we’re throwing a whole lot. Doesn’t mean we’re running it a whole lot. We’ll approach it the same way, see what opportunities present themselves and we’ll go from there.”
7. Zeke’s pass protection. Moore mentioned it and several others talked about it this week, including Prescott.
A day after the Cowboys lost in Tampa Bay, Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians mentioned the outstanding job Elliott did blocking linebackers.
“He’s always been a hell of a pass protector, even in college,” Arians said. “He won that battle inside. I thought we had good pressure a number of times, (Prescott) just got the ball out.”
8. More on Zeke. Elliott only ended up with 33 rushing yards (11 carries) against the Buccaneers, the third-lowest total in his 72 career games. The lack of impact on the stat sheet didn’t seem to bother Elliott, though.
“If you know football, you can tell if someone had a solid game without having the best statistics,” Elliott said. “If you don’t understand that, then you probably should study a little more.”
Chargers coach Brandon Staley was asked this week about Elliott’s production not being what it was a few years ago and if Elliott still captures his attention like he did two to three years ago. Staley, who was the Rams’ defensive coordinator last season, looked angry when he started to respond.
“Yes,” he said. “He has my full attention. I have full respect for this back. My eyes tell me that this guy is a top two to five back in this league. Playing against him last year, what was unique is I could hear everything. There was no crowd, so I could hear the sound of every tackle.
“I remember going home and watching the TV copy with my wife. It was late. She stayed up and we watched it, and you could hear it. You could hear the pads popping. He’s a physical guy. I have full respect for him and what he’s accomplished in this league. And I still think he’s a premium back.”
9. Dak running the ball. Prescott ran four times for 13 yards in the season opener. Despite Prescott injuring his ankle last year on a run play, the Cowboys’ plan is to pick their spots wisely. He has averaged 3.7 runs per game during his NFL career. He averaged 12 runs per game during his sophomore and senior seasons at Mississippi State and 16 times per game his junior year.
“We’re just picking and choosing our battles,” Moore said. “We’re not trying to be the Baltimore Ravens or anything like that. We’re not going to run it a whole lot with Dak. But when the opportunity presents itself, we’re going to play ball and we’re going to be smart at the end of the run.”
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has averaged 10.5 runs per game since entering the NFL in 2018.
10. No. 2 cornerback. Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn never considered taking veteran starting cornerback Anthony Brown out of the game against Tampa Bay. Brown ended up playing every defensive snap. Tom Brady was 7 of 8 passing for 121 yards, one touchdown and a 158.3 passer rating when targeting Brown in the season opener. Quinn said he thought Brown did an excellent job tackling in the game and explained how the deep ball touchdown to Antonio Brown wasn’t all on Anthony Brown. He was playing a trail technique and was supposed to have safety help over the top. But when Jourdan Lewis slipped, Damontae Kazee helped on his man, leaving Anthony Brown without any help.
Anthony Brown is expected to continue starting at the outside cornerback spot opposite of Trevon Diggs with Jourdan Lewis continuing to work in the slot. The next man up in the group would be Maurice Canady, who played only two defensive snaps against Tampa Bay. Rookie cornerback Kelvin Joseph, the team’s second-round pick, will be on injured reserve for at least two more games with a groin injury.
11. Diggs’ grade. Quinn said he thought Diggs had an “excellent game” against the Buccaneers. Dallas’ No. 1 cornerback allowed only one catch the entire night as he mostly defended three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans.
“We really put Tre in some tough matchups and he really answered,” Quinn said. “I was really proud of him.”
Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper said Thursday on The Fan that he thinks Diggs, who he faces often in practice, is “two or three times better this year than he was last year.”
Diggs said he’d give himself a B or C-plus grade for the season opener. “I felt like I left some things on the field and I could have done better,” he said.
Like what?
Diggs: “The last drive.”
12. Reduced snaps for Jaylon Smith, Leighton Vander Esch. Smith only played 16 defensive snaps in Week 1. Vander Esch only played 14.
“This is early,” Quinn said. “We’re certainly expecting those guys to play a lot. In some games, they’ll play a ton. In some games, it will be more balanced. I feel like we have four excellent linebackers. It’s up to us to use them as best we can in all the ways that we will. I’d expect games to be different as the season goes on. … I trust in them in all spaces.”
13. Kicker update. Following Greg Zuerlein’s struggles in Tampa Bay, the Cowboys signed kicker Lirim Hajrullahu to their practice squad. Zuerlein missed an extra point and two field goals (31 yards, 60 yards) in the 31-29 loss.
“I mean, I would be surprised if they didn’t,” Zuerlein said of the Cowboys adding a kicker. “That was a bad game. No skirting around that. … I’m going to go out there, practice, get my reps and put my best foot forward.”
Zuerlein later added: “The mental part is probably the harder part. It’s just realizing that the world isn’t ending. I did poorly, I understand that. But I’m still alive. God woke me up in the morning. The sun rose. Life goes on. No one feels worse about missing than me. I have to get that fixed, but just some slight perspective.”
14. Missed block. Both players tried to take the blame for it this week, but the bad play started with Blake Jarwin’s poor block attempt. “That play repeats through my mind quite a bit,” Jarwin said. “I should have attacked the guy more and I should have made my block and Zeke walks into the end zone. It’s as simple as that.”
The play call was excellent. The execution ended up costing the Cowboys four points.
15. Cedrick Wilson stepping up. With Michael Gallup on the injured reserve for at least the next three games, Wilson steps into the No. 3 wide receiver role. Prescott said this week that he doesn’t expect any drop-off in play.
“He’s a great receiver and he’s gonna be a great receiver for a long time,” Prescott said of Wilson. “He’s probably one of our best-prepared receivers. He was once a quarterback so he kinda sees the game from that perspective as well.”
Prescott targeted Wilson seven times last year in Week 3 at Seattle. Wilson caught five of those passes for 107 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a five-catch, 46-yard game in 2019 against the New York Jets.
16. Mental coach. Prescott said this week that he often talks with his mental coach, Chad Bohling. They text every Sunday. Since Prescott injured his ankle, he calculates his weekly wins and losses with Bohling, a sports psychologist who works with the New York Yankees.
“Just from the goals and things I put on myself or I put around me starting on Monday and then he usually asks me on Sunday and I give them a win or a loss,” Prescott said. “That’s something that I’ve been doing. Obviously being in Year 6, that’s what you play this game for, you’ve got to have a short memory and you’ve got to let things go whether it’s a win or a loss. A good performance or a bad performance, you’ve got to move forward and know that you’ve got another opportunity this week and each day to get better and become a better team. That’s our focus, just staying true and sticking to the process.
“Having somebody like that to talk to, just to talk about past experiences and talk about how I’ve gotten better from them personally to small things. We talk about winning the small victories. From waking up in the morning to putting my head down at night, there are so many little victories that I can’t take for granted. That’s something I’m very aware of and I’m thankful for them and I know when they happen. I acknowledge them, but then I move on quick and look for the next small win.”
17. Safety situation. Starting safeties Donovan Wilson (groin) and Kazee (thigh) have both been listed as questionable for Sunday. The Cowboys would be extremely thin at the position if they are without both. Jayron Kearse and Malik Hooker would have to step into starting roles.
Either way, Hooker is expected to make his Cowboys’ regular-season debut Sunday.
“Malik’s had a really good week of practice,” McCarthy said. “I think it really started last week. You could see he’s comfortable with what we’re asking him do. I think he’s clearly back physically.”
18. Chargers talking Cowboys
Herbert on Prescott: “I think he’s really smart. I think he’s able to make all the plays. He’s athletic and his arm strength is obviously off the charts. He’s kinda got all the tools and weapons, especially when you put him together with some pretty good running backs and some receivers he’s going to be able to do some pretty impressive things.”
Chargers Pro Bowl edge rusher Joey Bosa on Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith: “He’s a freak. He’s 6-5, his arms are 35, 36 inches or whatever they are. He’s a vet. He’s a smart player. He’s just a freak athlete that’s a technician at left tackle. You see him get beat and then he comes back with his inside arm and is able to recover. He gets out of some crazy positions. He’s a guy that if you’re hesitant and you don’t bring a plan and good get-off every time, you’re just gonna just get locked down because once he gets those clamps on you it’s game over.”
19. Different season or more of the same? In a recent 11-day period, the Cowboys lost Martin (Reserve/COVID-19) for the season opener, Gallup went on IR with a calf injury, Collins was suspended five games, Gregory was added to the Reserve/COVID-19 list and Lawrence suffered a broken foot. Many are already drawing comparisons to last season when the Cowboys were hit with several significant injuries, including losing their franchise quarterback for the season in Week 5. That team started 1-1 before heading into the bye week at 2-7.
But Prescott doesn’t see it that way.
“Nah, I think guys and everybody knows it’s going to be a different season,” he said. “That’s kind of the expectations that you set at the beginning of the year. Last year was last year, we’re going to be aware of it but it’s not something that we’re going to hold onto, it’s not something we’re always going to be trying to battle against, and we’re going to let that be last year. We got different expectations, goals and perception of how this year is going to play out.”
20. Overcoming red-zone issues. It’s been a problem in previous seasons and Week 1 was more of the same. Dallas entered the red zone four times, but scored only one touchdown. And even on that TD, it was far from smooth as Prescott was forced to pick up a bad snap before finding Cooper for the 5-yard score.
“We’ve just got to be cleaner,” Prescott said. “We’ve got so many weapons. We’ve got a great scheme. Kellen does a good job of putting us all in the best situations. I think last week we just missed some opportunities, whether it was missing a throw here or maybe missing a block or whatever it may be. We had opportunities to cash in and we didn’t. But we’re going to learn from them. Obviously, we’re going to move forward and use that as a way to get better.
“We’ve got so much in the tank, we’ve got so many great red-zone plays. That was something big that we went into this offseason focusing on. So we’re just going to put our hand in the bag and pull out our tricks and everything we’ve got and know a lot of improvement is going to come.”
By Jon Machota 23m ago
FRISCO, Texas — The 0-1 Cowboys travel to Los Angeles this weekend to play the 1-0 Chargers, a team they haven’t faced in the regular season since 2017, a 28-6 Cowboys loss on Thanksgiving Day at AT&T Stadium. To get you ready for Sunday’s game at SoFi Stadium, here are 20 Cowboys’ notes.
1. Replacing DeMarcus Lawrence. The Cowboys’ top defender suffered a broken foot while taking part in a pass-rush drill during Wednesday’s practice. He had surgery Thursday morning. Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said Lawrence will miss “significant” time but he’s expected to return this season.
Dallas already had issues getting to the quarterback and now they’re without their best pass rusher. They will also most likely be without their other starting edge rusher Randy Gregory, who is on the team’s Reserve/COVID-19 list, for Sunday’s game. The expected starting edge rushers against the Chargers are Tarell Basham and Dorance Armstrong. Next up behind them are Bradlee Anae, Azur Kamara and rookie Chauncey Golston. Golston, a third-round pick, missed all of training camp and the preseason with a hamstring injury. He took part in his first practice in pads on Thursday.
“We’re getting really excited about him,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said of Golston on Friday on 105.3 The Fan. “He’s certainly come a long way in a short time. He’s making big strides and we think he’s gonna make some huge contributions for us pretty early.”
2. Add a proven edge rusher? Following the Lawrence news, my first thought was that the Cowboys need to make some type of move to add a veteran edge defender, whether that be via trade or free agency. The most notable free agent edge rushers are Olivier Vernon, Vic Beasley and Adrian Clayborn. The last two played for Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn in Atlanta. But Cowboys owner Jerry Jones shut down the idea of getting outside help during his Friday morning radio appearance. He said the focus is on developing some of the players on the current roster.
“We’ve got some talented players who can do several things,” Jones said on The Fan. “And, so, this will be a challenge for everybody involved, obviously the coaches. And we got players out there that know that those minutes they’re getting out on that field, those repetitions getting out on that field against the Chargers, are priceless. So let’s step up. We won’t have a player out there that we haven’t seen at least make the kind of play that we want him to make on that given play under those circumstances. So we’ll put people out there that are capable of making the plays.”
3. More pass rush for Parsons? Part of the reason the Cowboys drafted rookie linebacker Micah Parsons in the first round was because of his ability to rush the passer. Parsons spent extra time this week during practice working with the defensive ends. Regardless of where Parsons lines up, the Cowboys will likely need to bring more than four to get consistent pressure on Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year last season.
With Lawrence out, does Parsons feel like he needs to lead the way on defense?
“I don’t need to be the guy, but I want to be the guy,” he said. “Even if D-Law was here, I want to be that guy. That only makes it even better. … I want to be the guy from the beginning.”
4. Replacing La’el Collins. With Collins suspended the next five games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, there’s a significant hole at right tackle. Terence Steele and Ty Nsekhe were both expected to get work at the position on Sunday, but Nsekhe spent Thursday night in a local hospital after experiencing a heat-related illness following Thursday’s practice. He has been ruled out for Sunday. Steele will start at right tackle and Brandon Knight is expected to be the team’s swing tackle. Although the Cowboys would prefer to keep Zack Martin at right guard, it’s also possible that he could move to right tackle if Steele struggles.
Martin played two games at right tackle last season as injuries piled up at the position.
“I think that was different circumstances last year,” Martin said. “I play right guard and that’s what I’m going to do. … Listen, I’m open to do whatever they need me to do, but … yeah.”
5. Run the ball more? Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is not going to run the ball just to run the ball. He made that pretty clear Week 1 in Tampa Bay. The Cowboys threw 58 times compared to only 18 runs. The Buccaneers threw 50 times and ran only 14. Moore shared this week that 28 runs were called in the game, but Dak Prescott checked out of 12 of them because of the look the Buccaneers were showing.
“That was a unique game,” Moore said. “If we need to throw it 60 times, if we need to run it 60 times, I really don’t care. That was the No. 1 rushing defense in the NFL. We can bang our head against the wall if we want, but I thought they did a good job stopping the run. … It’s a long season. There are different matchups, different defensive schemes, we’re going to need Zeke to pound it. Could be this week. Could be the following week.”
6. Chargers’ run defense. Los Angeles ranked 18th against the run last season at 120 yards per game. The Chargers allowed Washington to rush for 126 yards on 27 carries in their 20-16 win over WFT in Week 1. So this appears to be a better matchup for Elliott to have a big day on the ground.
“I think Zeke’s a big-picture guy,” Moore said. “He sees it. He did a phenomenal job in pass protection for us. There’s a lot of guys in the box, and we’re going to have other games where people are going to play two-high shell and give us an opportunity to run the football, and Zeke’s going to be ready to rock and roll there. Again, each week’s kind of its own week. We keep them all independent of each other. This one, we threw a whole lot. I get it. Doesn’t mean the next one we’re throwing a whole lot. Doesn’t mean we’re running it a whole lot. We’ll approach it the same way, see what opportunities present themselves and we’ll go from there.”
7. Zeke’s pass protection. Moore mentioned it and several others talked about it this week, including Prescott.
A day after the Cowboys lost in Tampa Bay, Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians mentioned the outstanding job Elliott did blocking linebackers.
“He’s always been a hell of a pass protector, even in college,” Arians said. “He won that battle inside. I thought we had good pressure a number of times, (Prescott) just got the ball out.”
8. More on Zeke. Elliott only ended up with 33 rushing yards (11 carries) against the Buccaneers, the third-lowest total in his 72 career games. The lack of impact on the stat sheet didn’t seem to bother Elliott, though.
“If you know football, you can tell if someone had a solid game without having the best statistics,” Elliott said. “If you don’t understand that, then you probably should study a little more.”
Chargers coach Brandon Staley was asked this week about Elliott’s production not being what it was a few years ago and if Elliott still captures his attention like he did two to three years ago. Staley, who was the Rams’ defensive coordinator last season, looked angry when he started to respond.
“Yes,” he said. “He has my full attention. I have full respect for this back. My eyes tell me that this guy is a top two to five back in this league. Playing against him last year, what was unique is I could hear everything. There was no crowd, so I could hear the sound of every tackle.
“I remember going home and watching the TV copy with my wife. It was late. She stayed up and we watched it, and you could hear it. You could hear the pads popping. He’s a physical guy. I have full respect for him and what he’s accomplished in this league. And I still think he’s a premium back.”
9. Dak running the ball. Prescott ran four times for 13 yards in the season opener. Despite Prescott injuring his ankle last year on a run play, the Cowboys’ plan is to pick their spots wisely. He has averaged 3.7 runs per game during his NFL career. He averaged 12 runs per game during his sophomore and senior seasons at Mississippi State and 16 times per game his junior year.
“We’re just picking and choosing our battles,” Moore said. “We’re not trying to be the Baltimore Ravens or anything like that. We’re not going to run it a whole lot with Dak. But when the opportunity presents itself, we’re going to play ball and we’re going to be smart at the end of the run.”
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has averaged 10.5 runs per game since entering the NFL in 2018.
10. No. 2 cornerback. Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn never considered taking veteran starting cornerback Anthony Brown out of the game against Tampa Bay. Brown ended up playing every defensive snap. Tom Brady was 7 of 8 passing for 121 yards, one touchdown and a 158.3 passer rating when targeting Brown in the season opener. Quinn said he thought Brown did an excellent job tackling in the game and explained how the deep ball touchdown to Antonio Brown wasn’t all on Anthony Brown. He was playing a trail technique and was supposed to have safety help over the top. But when Jourdan Lewis slipped, Damontae Kazee helped on his man, leaving Anthony Brown without any help.
Anthony Brown is expected to continue starting at the outside cornerback spot opposite of Trevon Diggs with Jourdan Lewis continuing to work in the slot. The next man up in the group would be Maurice Canady, who played only two defensive snaps against Tampa Bay. Rookie cornerback Kelvin Joseph, the team’s second-round pick, will be on injured reserve for at least two more games with a groin injury.
11. Diggs’ grade. Quinn said he thought Diggs had an “excellent game” against the Buccaneers. Dallas’ No. 1 cornerback allowed only one catch the entire night as he mostly defended three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans.
“We really put Tre in some tough matchups and he really answered,” Quinn said. “I was really proud of him.”
Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper said Thursday on The Fan that he thinks Diggs, who he faces often in practice, is “two or three times better this year than he was last year.”
Diggs said he’d give himself a B or C-plus grade for the season opener. “I felt like I left some things on the field and I could have done better,” he said.
Like what?
Diggs: “The last drive.”
12. Reduced snaps for Jaylon Smith, Leighton Vander Esch. Smith only played 16 defensive snaps in Week 1. Vander Esch only played 14.
“This is early,” Quinn said. “We’re certainly expecting those guys to play a lot. In some games, they’ll play a ton. In some games, it will be more balanced. I feel like we have four excellent linebackers. It’s up to us to use them as best we can in all the ways that we will. I’d expect games to be different as the season goes on. … I trust in them in all spaces.”
13. Kicker update. Following Greg Zuerlein’s struggles in Tampa Bay, the Cowboys signed kicker Lirim Hajrullahu to their practice squad. Zuerlein missed an extra point and two field goals (31 yards, 60 yards) in the 31-29 loss.
“I mean, I would be surprised if they didn’t,” Zuerlein said of the Cowboys adding a kicker. “That was a bad game. No skirting around that. … I’m going to go out there, practice, get my reps and put my best foot forward.”
Zuerlein later added: “The mental part is probably the harder part. It’s just realizing that the world isn’t ending. I did poorly, I understand that. But I’m still alive. God woke me up in the morning. The sun rose. Life goes on. No one feels worse about missing than me. I have to get that fixed, but just some slight perspective.”
14. Missed block. Both players tried to take the blame for it this week, but the bad play started with Blake Jarwin’s poor block attempt. “That play repeats through my mind quite a bit,” Jarwin said. “I should have attacked the guy more and I should have made my block and Zeke walks into the end zone. It’s as simple as that.”
The play call was excellent. The execution ended up costing the Cowboys four points.
15. Cedrick Wilson stepping up. With Michael Gallup on the injured reserve for at least the next three games, Wilson steps into the No. 3 wide receiver role. Prescott said this week that he doesn’t expect any drop-off in play.
“He’s a great receiver and he’s gonna be a great receiver for a long time,” Prescott said of Wilson. “He’s probably one of our best-prepared receivers. He was once a quarterback so he kinda sees the game from that perspective as well.”
Prescott targeted Wilson seven times last year in Week 3 at Seattle. Wilson caught five of those passes for 107 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a five-catch, 46-yard game in 2019 against the New York Jets.
16. Mental coach. Prescott said this week that he often talks with his mental coach, Chad Bohling. They text every Sunday. Since Prescott injured his ankle, he calculates his weekly wins and losses with Bohling, a sports psychologist who works with the New York Yankees.
“Just from the goals and things I put on myself or I put around me starting on Monday and then he usually asks me on Sunday and I give them a win or a loss,” Prescott said. “That’s something that I’ve been doing. Obviously being in Year 6, that’s what you play this game for, you’ve got to have a short memory and you’ve got to let things go whether it’s a win or a loss. A good performance or a bad performance, you’ve got to move forward and know that you’ve got another opportunity this week and each day to get better and become a better team. That’s our focus, just staying true and sticking to the process.
“Having somebody like that to talk to, just to talk about past experiences and talk about how I’ve gotten better from them personally to small things. We talk about winning the small victories. From waking up in the morning to putting my head down at night, there are so many little victories that I can’t take for granted. That’s something I’m very aware of and I’m thankful for them and I know when they happen. I acknowledge them, but then I move on quick and look for the next small win.”
17. Safety situation. Starting safeties Donovan Wilson (groin) and Kazee (thigh) have both been listed as questionable for Sunday. The Cowboys would be extremely thin at the position if they are without both. Jayron Kearse and Malik Hooker would have to step into starting roles.
Either way, Hooker is expected to make his Cowboys’ regular-season debut Sunday.
“Malik’s had a really good week of practice,” McCarthy said. “I think it really started last week. You could see he’s comfortable with what we’re asking him do. I think he’s clearly back physically.”
18. Chargers talking Cowboys
Herbert on Prescott: “I think he’s really smart. I think he’s able to make all the plays. He’s athletic and his arm strength is obviously off the charts. He’s kinda got all the tools and weapons, especially when you put him together with some pretty good running backs and some receivers he’s going to be able to do some pretty impressive things.”
Chargers Pro Bowl edge rusher Joey Bosa on Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith: “He’s a freak. He’s 6-5, his arms are 35, 36 inches or whatever they are. He’s a vet. He’s a smart player. He’s just a freak athlete that’s a technician at left tackle. You see him get beat and then he comes back with his inside arm and is able to recover. He gets out of some crazy positions. He’s a guy that if you’re hesitant and you don’t bring a plan and good get-off every time, you’re just gonna just get locked down because once he gets those clamps on you it’s game over.”
19. Different season or more of the same? In a recent 11-day period, the Cowboys lost Martin (Reserve/COVID-19) for the season opener, Gallup went on IR with a calf injury, Collins was suspended five games, Gregory was added to the Reserve/COVID-19 list and Lawrence suffered a broken foot. Many are already drawing comparisons to last season when the Cowboys were hit with several significant injuries, including losing their franchise quarterback for the season in Week 5. That team started 1-1 before heading into the bye week at 2-7.
But Prescott doesn’t see it that way.
“Nah, I think guys and everybody knows it’s going to be a different season,” he said. “That’s kind of the expectations that you set at the beginning of the year. Last year was last year, we’re going to be aware of it but it’s not something that we’re going to hold onto, it’s not something we’re always going to be trying to battle against, and we’re going to let that be last year. We got different expectations, goals and perception of how this year is going to play out.”
20. Overcoming red-zone issues. It’s been a problem in previous seasons and Week 1 was more of the same. Dallas entered the red zone four times, but scored only one touchdown. And even on that TD, it was far from smooth as Prescott was forced to pick up a bad snap before finding Cooper for the 5-yard score.
“We’ve just got to be cleaner,” Prescott said. “We’ve got so many weapons. We’ve got a great scheme. Kellen does a good job of putting us all in the best situations. I think last week we just missed some opportunities, whether it was missing a throw here or maybe missing a block or whatever it may be. We had opportunities to cash in and we didn’t. But we’re going to learn from them. Obviously, we’re going to move forward and use that as a way to get better.
“We’ve got so much in the tank, we’ve got so many great red-zone plays. That was something big that we went into this offseason focusing on. So we’re just going to put our hand in the bag and pull out our tricks and everything we’ve got and know a lot of improvement is going to come.”