Mick Shots: Finally, Football

he was sort of. He had. In fact, Mickey had a bird's eye view of it, better view than anybody around Ford Center at the Star in Frisco. Bill Jones, Everson Walls, Mickey Spagnola and Mickey. It's supposed to be a high of one hundred five degrees today here in Dallas Fort Worth. I think it was around eighty two degrees when the Cowboys took the practice field at eight o'clock this morning. So, and it was outdoors at Ford

Center at the Star in Frisco. But wouldn't it be COVID nineteen And it is the hottest day in at least two years in Dallas Fort Worth when the Cowboys have their first training camp practice. How about that? And Bill and Everson. That's a very good reason why Mike McCarthy started this practice at eight o'clock in the morning,

because my thermometer here in Frisco said eighty three. I think when they finished it was about eighty five, and they had a two hour window, but they finished in an hour and a half, so it wasn't that bad. And one thing to remember, they've got four tents out here, and judging from these big piping things from behind them, they must be refrigerated, so there's some air conditioning in there. And when they took a break at nine o'clock, everybody went into the tents, so that's why I assume they

were cooling off. So they're trying to combat the heat. And when you said I had a bird's eye view, bird's eye is right because we're one level up and I'm watching out the window from my desk because we can only have one person out on the field and Rob Phillips took that honor today, so the rest of us watched from high above. But you know it's a little different, and you guys are gonna laugh at this.

I used to judge my eyesight during these ota practices where where you know, could be a hundred yards away from the other end of the field where guys are working, and I can see my eyes fading. So I said, okay, now I need glasses, right, well, now I need binoculars. So I got to alternate between my glasses and my binoculars just to watch practice. So a little bit challenging.

But guess what, We're here at the start and there was football on the field, and this is your first time back at the Star, and I mean this week is the first time back since the pandemic began. Right, well,

think about this. So I came back yesterday just to see the protocol of how to get in, what I had to do, get my temperature taken, answer a few questions, make sure my mask is on, and I went and sat at my desk, right and I kind of looked around Bill and Everson, and you know, there was a little clutter there and no one cleaned it up right

all this time. And then I looked at the calendar and the calendar was still turned to March when time stood still, and I could see my TS bags and I saw the notes on my calendar, and the last one I had there was Wednesday. I think it was March twenty fourth, so that would have been the last day I was here. I counted it up and it was one hundred and forty days since I had been

here at the start. So yeah, it's been a while. Well, I flew for the first time this past weekend and Brave Soul that was a herowing experience, I must say, uh, And it was a little bit crowded as well. So yeah, it's this is a different thing that we're dealing with, guys. And that's one I think A factor that we really

didn't figure into. I don't think is you know when you look at the NBA and you look at how some teams are adjusting better to the new schedule, to the new venue than others, and then you've got the Phoenix songs and breaking out there undefeated, and you've got some tea that are just really not adapting well at all. You have Baseball having to deal with fragmented scheduling and

things of that nature. I wonder, with the short practices, no preseason, if I'm not mistaken, just not getting into pads, how the team that adapts the best and the quickest it may surprise you on the ones that are able to do that, because when you look at this season and you know, I guess they're going for a full season, but the preparation for it, the time leading up to it,

I think it's extremely fragmented as well. And i'd be interesting to see how many injuries you're gonna look at, how many people are gonna look like they're a little rusty, so I'm out of shape even so, I'd be very interested to see how that's going to work out. So it's pretty important guys to point out that while there was football practice, it was basically a mini camp practice. Helmets, shorts, jerseys, so uh, they don't put the pads on, or they

can put the pads on on Monday. So whatever they did today and whatever they do Sunday, uh it'll be uh in as a mini camp ota type practice, so they won't be hitting and they don't have to put the pads on Monday. They get fourteen padded practices over uh twenty days once the Monday arrives, so uh, they're gonna try to ease into this, and they've been doing conditioning out on the field but not going up against anybody today was the first time. The different thing to

try to get that timing down. You know, when you try to get that timing down, it's it's totally different. I don't care if you're a veteran of your rookie. You know, you gotta you gotta get some LIXI in first, and you gotta have to get a lot of them in and we probably need to and we probably need to qualify things because they were kind of going three quarters speed maybe and there was hardly any There wasn't

really contact. It's like the offense and defensive lineman would come up and just kind of hit, but not anything physical. There wasn't really anything physical in the secondary of their linebackers. It was touching up. So you're going to hear different things about what took place and an interception that was thrown. But let's let's qualify this, Okay, Let's not get too excited.

You know. I think the interesting thing about it from an injury standpoint, you know, we see a lot of injuries in normal years when training camp gets started, muscle pulls, that sort of thing. And with the way things worked out this offseason where they had no offseason except on

their own working out and really the veterans. Now the rookies got in a week earlier than the veterans, but the veterans that have been there since August first, basically at the facility doing strength and conditioning and walk through and so forth. And the fact that they don't have preseason games that they have to prepare for initially, they can afford. Actually, even it sounds strange, they can afford

to ease them in a little bit more. And they need to ease him in a little bit more just to make sure that the Bill doesn't have those injuries. A few connection problems right now. But yeah, and when you mentioned injuries and stuff, I guess I should probably give you guys an update. They did take Tyrone Crawford off of physically unable to perform, so he's off of POP and he was able to practice today. This was his first day. Don Terry Poe is still on it.

He was working with Britt Brown on the resistant chords, so they're taking his a little bit slow. He had a I believe it was a hamstring injury to end the season, so they're bringing him back. So Brandon Knight was over there working with Britt along with Lale College, and so from an offensive line stamp point, it was basically what you would have thought, Uh, with the exception of Collins not being at right tackle. Uh it was Wyatt some guy I never some guy had never heard

of before. Okay, it was Wyatt Miller. Wyatt Miller. See Miller working at right tack. Yes, yes, So from an injury standpoint, though they were in they were in pretty good shape because everybody else was out there. So I guess I since I brought up the offensive line Tyrone Crawford, uh, Connor Williams, Connor McGovern kind of rotating there, Joe Looney at center, uh Martin at right guard, and then Wyatt

Miller at right tackle. Yea, all right, Uh, okay, let's talk about who's not there yet, because that was the breaking news on Wednesday night. We got so much of Mickey's observations about what he did see from his bird's eye perched there at board center. But let's talk about the name the guy that's named after Everson Everson Griffin.

As of course, Jerry has his State of the Team address earlier in the day on Wednesday, and then on Wednesday night the breaking news the Cowboys sign the pass rusher that they needed to sign one year up to six million dollar deal, three million dollar base reportedly, and Everson Griffin is a Dallas Cowboy. Now he has to go through his COVID testing. I believe a couple of negative COVID tests and he could be out on the

field as early as Tuesday, I believe. Is that right, Mickey, Yes, absolutely, He's got to have the basically probably tested today, will test tomorrow, and then test again on Monday, and then if he gets the three negatives, he's allowed to be back on the field on Tuesday. So you know what, And I'm going to cut right to the chase. They signed a bunch of guys this offseason that have been

former Pro Bowlers. This guy was a Pro Bowler last year, and I think this might be their biggest offseason veteran pick up of everybody they signed. I know, Gerald McCoy, Don Terry po Haha, Clinton Dix, but this guy was productive, had eight sacks last year. And this is the key thing for me. And you guys know Mike Zimmer. Mike Zimmer doesn't mince words and he doesn't just say stuff

to say stuff to be politically correct. So when he came out several weeks ago and said, we want Everson Griffin back on this team, we want him here, then to me, that kind of qualified that this guy still got something ten years in the league, thirty two years old, be really interested to see what he's able to do once he gets here. How did you find that out? Oh,

apparently we lost Everson. Apparently we lost Everson. So just one that was important because I wanted to find out Jill how he how he knew he was named after Everson Walls. Now we'll get Everson back here, Shorty got you and h But I agree Mickey though that that Everson Griffin is the key signing of this offseason defensively. And you know, one of the things about the Vikings, uh my guy in the draft a few years ago.

Daniel Hunter plays on the other side for the Vikings as about fifty sacks early in his career, and probably one of the big reasons that Daniel Hunter has as many sacks as he has is because Everson Griffin has been on the other side and he's averaged. Griffin has averaged ten sacks a season over the last six years. But Everson Walls back with us now, and you know he was Everson Griffin was a fourth round pick out of USC and has had some issues along the way.

But as long as he is on board and and help, he sounds just like his namesakes. I had a few He sounds just like his namesake. I had a few issues along the way as well, So that was part of the course. But but I can't say that early on. You're right, Bill, he did have some issues. He had to grow up a little bit, had some issues off the field as well, and then all of a sudden he got it. And I really think that had a lot to do with Mike Zimmer. I think spacts you

mentioned them earlier. I think that that defense, we saw it, how well they played against the Cowboys last year, how they they had these great athletes on the defensive line and they were a catalyst, uh for that success on

that defense. One thing I like about him coming from Minneapolis, from Minnesota here to here is I like how uh with with the new defensive coordinator Nolan, that we're going to have I think the similar style, very unpredictable blitzes, which will allow things so open up for your defensive lineman as well. More aggressiveness. Of course, you know I was always complaining about the Cowboys defense previous years. I think we're going to get back to the aggressiveness that

we need, and that's that really posed as well for Everson. So, Everson, two questions for you. One, how did you find out he was named after you? And two? How many other Eversons have you run into in your life? Well, my old agent, Steve Weinberg, you know, he was a pest to Gil Brand and his text ram for quite some time. As my representative, he was still out there, you know, trying to make make make his name, get his name

out there and get some clients. And he was the one that approached Everson Griffin and asked him a question. And his parents just happened to be major Cowboy fans. And I don't know maybe the uniqueness of my name, but the parents themselves, they settled on calling him Everson a lot, being a Cowboys fan, but of course being an Everson Walls fan as well. So I knew about him as he was coming out of USC and it

was pretty cool. So of course, you know me, I have to do a search on how many Eversons are out there, you know, so I looked it up a little bit and went on Facebook, of course, and there's a few. One guy, I know, it's one Everson. I had a picture sent to me back in nineteen eighty two and a young kid named Everson Eiders Marsh he was. It was mailed to my home and he was also named after me. And I've also been named as a one of two twins just recently was born right before

this whole COVID thing with. So what's the story behind your parents naming you Everson? We lost Everson again? You know. One of the things, Uh, Mickey, you may recall this early in Everson's career, TV broadcasters oftentimes mistook his name and would call him Emerson Walls inside, Everson Walls. You remember Emerson Boozer. Yeah, Everson Boozer. That's exactly what I

was thinking of. But Everson Griffin is a great pickup I think for this team, and really, Mickey, when you look at what this team has done, let's let's go this route on this. Think about Dak Prescott's contract and the thirty one point four million dollars because he is franchise tag, I think he give a lot of credit to the way Stephen Jones and think Will McClay the Cowboys.

They have worked this roster this offseason where they even though they knew there was a possibility that Dak was going to count that much against the cap, they have managed this roster and the salaries on the roster to the point that here as training camp starts, they're able to bring on a big time veteran talent at a position of need and sign him and have that kind of money available because there's not a lot of teams

that could that could do that. And when you're you know, you're thinking that, Okay, you might be able, you know this contract that you're trying to negotiate with your quarterback, you might be able to free up some space. But for them to have the foresight that, hey, if we don't get a deal done, we still need money to add to this team. I give them a lot of

credit to be able to do that. Yeah, and we have to remember it's kind of a one year, proven deal, sort of what they did with Robert Quinn last year, and it's it's will count three million for sure, it's guaranteed, and then he has a per game bonus that can count another three million if he gets all the games.

So basically, for potentially six million dollars, they got a replacement for at least a replacement that played last year in the league at a high level for Robert Quinn, who was counting a bill if I remember, it was like seven and a half million maybe last year or something like that. So yeah, it's it's kind of a sweetheart deal. And obviously, you know, he opted out of his contract that he had going in Minnesota to allow him to become a free agent, and he took that

deal and played for less last year. So yeah, and look at it this way. Coming into today, that right defensive end spot had a big question mark up there, right, And I'll tell you how they lined up today. Over there, Alden Smith lined up with the first team at right defensive end. And he hadn't played any football since twenty fifteen. And by the way, he's wearing fifty eight and they've got him listed at two eighty. He doesn't look, from my bird's eye view more than two hundred sixty pounds.

He looks just the way you're supposed to look at defensive end. And then, because I'm guessing them signing Everson Griffin and counting on Alden Smith. Tyrone Crawford, who I mentioned came off of PUP today. He was the other first team defensive tackle with Gerald McCoy since done. Terry Poe is still on PUP. So that shows you the versatility of Crawford, But what they think of Alden Smith and after that, then it's guys that you know, didn't

do much at all last year. So to bring this guy in and have a proven talent and put a rotation there, I thought it was huge. You know, to hear what you say that he looks more like he's two sixty than two eighty, I think that is really encouraging, because you know, there were the reports after the Cowboys signed him that he was like two hundred and eighty five pounds or something. I said, if he's two hundred eighty five pounds, then he is he's more of a

five technique than he is and edge rusher. And to hear but to hear that he looks like to Mickey's bird's eye view, closer to two sixty. And I haven't seen the official weight that he added at his physical, but I think that is really really great news to hear that he's in that kind of condition. Yeah, yeah, I think not with him anyway, He's got that great athletic ability, so he could probably just make make two eighty five look like two sixty because he's just been

that exceptional. But what I like about what the coach McCarthy's doing is he's bringing in the veterans. And the thing about bringing in veterans, you have guys you can trust, you understand. You want to make sure that you have guys that you can trust. And they may not always, you know, play consistently necessarily every game because some of them are a little bit older, uh in in in their careers, but what you can look at is they

will know the gravity of the moment. And that's one thing that Parcells has always done, one thing that Belichick has always done. They brought in veterans who understand the gravity of the moment and you can trust them to be in position every time that you need a play done. And also these guys can bring along the young kids in there and make sure that they understand, you know, what it is to be a professional. So I think

what coach McCarthy's doing, it's a great game plan. Working with Will, working with McLay and how he's bringing these these quality veterans in and able to fit them under the cap. This is this is looking pretty good, guys. When you when you look at the entire architectural piece of it's coming together very well. Okay, if if if these a thirty something guys can stay healthy. Did the

math on it. There's fifteen Pro bowls on this defensive line. Now, the Marcus Lawrence with a couple, Gerald McCoy with six, Dantee Jerry Poe with a couple, Everson Griffin with four Pro bowls, Alden Smith one Pro Bowl in his career. I total it up, there are fifteen of Pro Bowl accolades on that defensive line. That's a lot of playmakers. That's a lot of playmate. Yes, now we'll see, we'll see if they'll play at that Pro Bowl level. As we get going here, all right, time to take a

break here on Mick Shots. We come back with much more of Mickey's observations from his bird's eye view at Ford Center at the Star in Frisco. When we come back, I'm Jay Novachek, former tight end for the Dallas Cowboys back in the day. I was a guy who always got the tough yards, and that's why I run with John Deer today. In fact, I have a John Dear three zero twenty five E tractor that can handle any yard work I need to do, even the tough yards

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What better time to go to Dallas Cowboys dot com slash Star to get your Star Magazine Training Camp preview. You can download it on the website for four dollars and ninety nine cents. You can get scouting reports on almost every player out here, every position and of my long takeout story on Mike McCartney on how he started as a volunteer assistant at the University of Pittsburgh and now is the Dallas Cowboys head coach. Go to Dallas Cowboys dot com slash Star. All right, there is so

much to get to. We're going to take you all the way up to noon. And all right, we talked a lot about the defensive line and the signing of Everson Griffin. How about we switched to the offensive side. And if you're following Cowboys Twitter, by the way, rules against for the media. There are rules against being able to a shoot video off their camera their phone during practice,

and they can't tweet during practice. And so you can always tell when practice is over because the Todd Archers, Jade Slatter's, David Moore's of the Clarence Hills of the world, they're all immediately John Mutchiel, They're they're all tweeting as soon as so about ten twenty this morning, all of a sudden, you start seeing all these tweets from practice. He's like they had these notes or they got the tweets looted, ready to go, and then they can release

them right with practice is over. It was funny, but one of the number one things did Mickey, did you see ced Lamb with a one hitted catch on the sideline? All I know, Bill and I remember when they drafted

Cede Lamb. My column right after that basically said, I can't wait to the first time the Cowboys line up on September thirteenth and Dak Prescott, you know whatever the call is at the line of scrimmage three eighty one, three eighty one, I said, I'm gonna see Michael Gallop to one side, a Marie Coop to the left side, and Cede Lamb in the slot. Well, when they first lined up for the first kind of skeleton drill, that's

exactly how they lined up. They're not messing around. Number eighty eight was out on the field with the first team offense, and not only did he catch a one handed pass, but he was catching everything thrown his way. And you know the thing that impressed me most about it, guys, and you know, when you hear about a guy that has talent like that, you kind of think of a

guy that's five eleven, one seventy. This guy's big, he's tall, he doesn't look like your average slot receiver, the little munchkin guy that can go in and out and real shifty. This guy's got some size to him. So yes, right away he was right there with the first team offense. Hey, Everson, I love it when Mickey starts talking about little munchkin guys. I would have been a slot receiver if I had some speed. You would have been a slot receiver. Maybe

if you were born as another person. Yeah, that's probably what would happen now. But but one thing I can say about Ceedee Lamb. You talk about the style that he has, why he's so well fit for the slot. You know, when you think about a guy like Michael Johnson, the way he ran track and the way his stride was so unique. It allowed him to have an advantage because he kept his feet on the ground. When you look at Ceedee Lamb and you look at the score the plays that he made in college, one thing that

you could see was he was deceptively elusive. It didn't look like he was running as fast as he was running, just like Michael Johnson. But when you keep your feet on the ground, you have more power with each stride. So that's why he was able to play so many tackles along with of course his size that you just spoke of. So you know, this guy's gonna just fit

right in with the Cowboys offensive scheme. And once again, I don't know how many games the Cowboys are gonna win, but once again, they're gonna be excit offensively and it's going to be a lot of balls going up in the end. So you can expect that to increase with the kind of talent that we just attained. And let me add one more thing about CD Lamb. When they were doing special teams guests, who was back there catching

tun puns? Yep, yeah, absolutely, and that's what he did at Oklahoma too, And me being an ou alum, I watched every one of his games in college. You know, when everyone's making a big deal about Marquise Hollywood Brown with the Ravens, who is a first round draft pick the year before, and what a terrific talent he is, and take nothing away from him, he is a terrific talent,

especially as a deep threat. And Tony O'brown's cousin, I said, well, just wait until CD comes out because I thought, you know, CD the first time I saw him at OU as a true freshman. I went, Wow, who's that guy? And really, when you go back and look at what he did in high school at Houston in Houston, unbelievable, the numbers that he put up in high school. And so he just continued that, uh into college, and I expect him to continue that. Now there's only one football to go around.

But I think, assuming that that he stays healthy, even without this offseason, I think he can be a guy who can make an immediate impact of first game when the Cowboys open the season in LA against the Rams

now less than a month from now. Mickey, Well, absolutely, and uh, you know he's going to be a guy that and and how about this, We've gone this far and I haven't said the quarterback's name yet, but I was gonna say Dak Prescott pointed out when he when he was asked during his UH conference call on Wednesday with Ceedee, Lamb and Gallup and Cooper and Zeke, uh do you have enough footballs to go around? That he said, I only need one football. And these guys, Uh, they're

they're not greedy. Uh, they're not egotistical. They're team players. And that's the great thing about the group they have because the flexibility they're going to have on offense, uh is going to be something we haven't seen in quite some time. All right, do we have Everson back there? I think he's working on it, right, he's working on it.

Ever he's off right now, all you, Micky. There's been a lot of talk about the chances that the Cowboys could have a trio of one thousand yard receivers um and actually they came very close to it last year, even with Randall Cobb. You know, if Randall Cobb, if he hadn't had those uh those big plays that were called back by penalty, the Cowboys would have had a

trio of a thousand yard receivers last year. Right. That's why I I didn't understand why everybody was astounded, uh that that that was said by by Maury Cooper, because you're exactly right, the Onlie came up like one hundred and seventy yards short of having three guys last year. And then the other point was, well, if you have three one thousand yard receivers, are you not giving the

ball to Zeke? Well, Zeke gained thirteen almost fourteen hundred yards last year and they almost had three one thousand yard receivers. And you're right, Bill, he had so many passes called back by penalty that were not on him that I guarantee you it was at least one hundred and seventy yards worth and probably a couple more touchdowns. So I think that, uh, you know, as Cooper said, you know, those are the expectations, and why not. You know. Another thing as far as the receiving corps goes, is

Blake Jarwin. And I think I think if Jarwin stays healthy, he's for sure doubling his receptions from last year. When you when you factor in that Jason Witton always had at least sixty catches and jars was in the low thirties last year. He's going to double that. But how about this, mickey, when you look at the contracts being signed by tight ends, these receiving tight ends around the league. This week, George Kittle gets a se reset the market

fifteen million dollars a year. Travis Kelsey on the heels of that, gets an extension. He's now averaging fourteen million a year. And one of the things the Cowboys did early this offseason before pre agency hit, of course, Blake Jarwin was a restricted free agent, they signed into a three year, twenty four million dollar deal, and that was a very shrewd move. Oh absolutely, you know. And if you think about the plays he made last year, and he wasn't the primary tight end target with Jason Witten

taking the majority of the snaps. There their ability to stretch the field with the tight end. And again, you know, you go three wide and I'll guarantee you that's going to be their base offense for the majority of it. You got to take a linebacker off the field. So do you have a line backer that can cover Jarwin? Do you have a safety big enough to cover Jarwin?

And oh, by the way, what happens if they hand the ball to Zeke and you got a linebacker out of there trying to cover the tight end and you got one linebacker trying to take care of the running game. So yeah, I just I'm expecting big things from this offense and I'd be disappointed if that didn't happen. That's why I think the key to this entire season, as I've been saying, is how well this defense place and if they can up their game and actually get some takeaways.

And if you remember when Layton vander esh was talking about, you know, the defensive plays. He said, with this offense that we have, we've got to get the ball back to them, and imagine if they can get some takeaways and if they can get some interceptions, right, can say and I get a cornerback to get half as many as Everson Walls had his rookie season. Of course, I said that all last years, as great as that offense was, we still needed your Your offense is still gonna need

a defense. I mean, Joe Montana still needed Ronnie Lott and and and Dean and Fred Dean. You know, he still needed a great defenses to set him up for the plays. Even Tom Brady there were times when he actually needed some help from his defense, especially last year. This offense. Even though our defense had great numbers for some reason we always rank highly, it was when we needed to make those plays. I think that's the difference. We have a defense now, I think is set up

to help these guys win plays. And when you start talking about our tight end, and I've always liked him and how well he played, h I think when you compare him to those other tight ends, he still needs to have a little bit more a little bit more bulk because he needs to be a better If he becomes a better blocker, then you can put him up there in the category with those guys that just sign those big contracts, because Jarwin, to me, one of the

more athletic, especially down the field tight ends that you ever want to see. So now you've got a chance to be a double threat like Jason Witten, like Kittle, like Gronkowski. Those are the kind of guys you want to live up to. So he's got to improve that part of them to be the complete player that I think he can be. That that's exactly right, and let me clarify my point assuming because there's risk involved in that end signing Jarwin to that contract, but they are

betting on his potential. They see that he's got that potential and if they hit on him over the next three years, he's making a half the amount of money that the top tight ends in the league are making, and they're betting on him having that production. It's also going to be interesting, ever send to see how much McCarthy in this offense with Kelly Moore as the offensive coordinator, are going to use the two tight end formation twelve personnel.

Of course, they without witting they signed Blake Bell, who was Travis Kelsey's back up at Kansas City, and they also have Dalton Schultz at tight end, so it's going to be interesting. Also a very decent athletic receiver as well. I like Sheeltz as well. Very good, Mickey. Any other observations that you saw, Yes, absolutely, Since we started talking about takeaways and interceptions, we're gonna go right off Everson Walls Alley here and talk about the cornerbacks and the secondary.

How they lined up. So the first skeleton drill basically was the same as when they went somewhat eleven on eleven. Shitab E Woozier was the first cornerback on the left side. On the right side, the first cornerback up was Anthony

Brown with Jordan Lewis in the slot. But as they moved along, Bo Whorley, the free agent corner the Cowboys signed who started for the Raiders last year, rotated in with the first team at cornerback on the left side, and then the rookie Trayvon Diggs rotated in with Anthony Brown.

On the right side, it was Haja Clinton Dix along with Xavier Woods at safety, and then Thompson and Donovan Wilson came in with the second group, which, by the way, Donovan Wilson picked up where he left off in training camp last year and picked off a pass and I believe it was on dec if my bird's eye view was accurate. So that's kind of how they lined up

at cornerback. And you know, Everson, I think that position there might be the most competitive position for playing time, for starting jobs that the Cowboys might have because Daryl Whorley is a good corner should have be a wooz. I keep hearing this about how they're going to move him to safety. Well, if they move them to safety, he's not starting. So you got a guy that can start at corner and you're gonna move them to another

position and then the right side. You know, I love Digs When he had his first press conference and he comes out and says, when they ask him, what's your goal, he goes, my goal is to come here and compete and compete hard. He goes, I want a starting job. I love that in my corner. There you go, I want you to be rash, I don't want you to be me right, And then Anthony Brown. Remember they resigned him to a three year, fifteen million dollar deal, so

they like him. And then everybody loves Jordan Lewis. Well, we'll see where he fits in. So I think there's five or six corners right now that are battling not only for starting jobs, but for playing time. You know, I like the thing I like about the Cowboys as much as I complain about the secondary. I always like the size that we had. You you had Vilan Jones, and now we still have a Woozier. You've got Diggs

coming in, who's a very good sized cornerback. But when you start talking about making turnovers, it really, as far as the athletic ability is concerned, that's always going to be there. What you must have in the secondary is someone back there that can help you understand what's coming your way. The anticipation factor in the secondary has to be high. You have to expect certain routes to show

at certain times of the game. Because you study, you have to expect that when your defense is dialed up and when that blitz is coming, that you can maybe jump arount. You understand what your limitations are, you understand what your strengths are. So when you talk about making turnovers, you can be as physical as you want, but you still have to know what the heck that wide receiver is trying to do. So in order to make your plays, you must study first of all, and you have to

anticipate making a play. I think with Diggs the way I play him play at Alabama, he was able to decipher certain plays that the offense was bringing towards him, and he made the play. He saw what was coming, he sniffed it out, and he used his brain as much as he used his body. That's where we have to look at how how Clinton Dix same thing. A veteran that knows how to make plays. He could possibly

help our strong safety. He could possibly help our cornerbacks understand the best way to play that particular wide receiver because he's gonna be where he needs to be in that secondary in order if they need help. So there has to be a cohesiveness in regards to getting interceptions. It has to become from an entire team standpoint, is not from an individual standpoint, a team standpoint. But I think the important thing to remember about Treyvon Diggs, He's

got all this potential. He doesn't have much experience. He started for a full season last year at Alabama. He was the starter the year before Alabama, but suffered a broken foot and only was in six games the year before and without an offseason. I think I think the Cowboys this offseason by signing Whorley and getting another veteran

guy in there, it buys some time for Digs. But if dig shows here, you tell me ever since over the course of the next month, even though he doesn't have games to play in, if he shows in practice that he can handle it, He's got the talent it looks like to be able to handle it. It's just from a mental standpoint, right, well, he's got to show him something special. I mean, once again, you've got the

athletes out there. All of them are great athletes. Brown is one of the quickest guys I think I've ever seen at the cornerback position in a long time. But if he's able to show that he can make plays in a special way, in a unique way that the other guys can't do, yeah, throw him in there. Come on, man, it took me. I'm still mad. It took me five games to start back in nineteen eighty one. I was leading. I was leading the league interceptions. Before I was they

was to start, I was still on the bench. Come on, man, ever, so what was your attitude? What was your attitude? You're an undrafted free agent out of Grambling, your rookie year, You're playing with your hometown team, trying to make the team. Did you have that same attitude that I'm gonna start my rookie year? You damn right, Bill, Okay, let's be real about it. I was upset. I led the nation and interceptions. I go for a free agent. I was out for blood. Okay. I want to make sure you

embarrass any wide receiver I came up against. Now, when I go up against Drew and Tony Hill, I was the one that got embarrassed. But they also knew I was gonna be there. I was going. I knew that I could do something that the others could not do. They I saw I was second. All right, all right? We continue with more mix shots in just a moment, observations from Cowboys training camp, the first practice of the

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a participating eye care professional by visiting Slur USA dot com. Seymore, Do More. Back back to mixed shots. It's the first day of Cowboys training camp officially, because the Cowboys were on the practice field at Ford Center eight am. According to the tweets that I saw from the Beat reporters that were there, Mike McCarthy first emerged on the practice field at precisely eight nineteen am. Is that what you

had on your clock, Mickey. I don't know that I was clock and Mike McCarthy, but I do know that when they when they started the stretching team stretch and everything, the quarterbacks and the offense and I think most of the defensive linemen were still in side, so I'm assuming they were doing that in the Ford center and then he came out with that part the offensive lineman and the quarterbacks, who, by the way, Billy asked me for observations,

the quarterbacks all had on red jerseys. Jerseys. Oh, that was another thing that was trending on Twitter. The Cowboys quarterbacks have red jerseys on at practice. What a novel concept that a football team has quarterbacks in red jerseys during practice? Would somebody asked me? I said, does the red jersey protect them from COVID nineteen two? Because that's going to be most important. So I had to I had to text Everson to find out because I can't

you know, we did other than training camp. We didn't get to watch the Cowboys practice back in the eighties, as I remember, and so I needed to ask Everson if Tom put the quarterbacks in red jerseys, and Everson, you said, I said yes, but but as I recall, and I talked to Chris about this before you guys even came on, I recall maybe red vests. I don't know about red jerseys, but I think they had red vests. Yeah,

I think you're right. I think there you go. Yes, yes, because they didn't have a number on it, just had a vest, right, Yeah, they just put that. And I don't remember the last time the Cowboys did that. I can't remember. I don't recall Parcels doing it because he always wanted everybody to be tough, So I don't know that he did it. And I couldn't remember if Jimmy

put him on there or not. You know, maybe when Troy came back in ninety three after his uh June surgery back surgery, I believe it was, you know, maybe they protected him and they basically and here here's how well Troy Aikman listened. So it's a preseason game and they basically said, you know, don't on data, DA, And it's a preseason game. And he takes out of the pocket around the ten yard line because he's gonna score a touchdown, by God in a preseason game, and he

dives for the end zone. It was his last play of that preseason where you got here after that? Didn't he later in the season. Yeah? Absolutely, I think Start did the same thing. A Mickey wants some other observations you had out there? Well, here here what happened at practice today? Tell us here, here's what's Here's what's weird about watching practice from where we did at my desk inside the Start. There's no noise. It's quiet. Well that'll be just like the games this year then, right, it

was just quiet the Red Jerseys. I also noticed, you know, normally they had one judge machine to throw passes to the receivers or the dbs. They had eight of them out there. Now I didn't know if that was a protection thing, so everybody wasn't touching the same footballs or what, But there were eight jug machines out there. And I mentioned Alden Smith. He's got some length, you guys, because he batted a pass at the line of scrimmage and he didn't really have to jump. He just got his

hands up and knocked a pass down. So I did. I did notice that for sure. You know, I mentioned the cooling tents already, the fact that they took a break and they're kind of monitoring it, and there wasn't loud music. I don't think was playing at least I couldn't hear it so so that that was noticeable. And I heard the music at the break, but that was really it. So I give you how guys lined up

the linebackers obviously Layton, vander Esh Jalen Smith. And when they're playing Nickel like that, it's kind of hard to tell who's in the middle and who's not. But Layton said he would be in the middle. Jalen was going to be on the on the weak side. And one of the things I noticed quite a bit with Alden Smith, so he's playing that right defensive end spot. A lot

of times they just had him standing up. They didn't have his hand on the ground, So I don't know if that gives him a head start or what, but I thought that of a hybrid defense. If it was, then they were off centered because they had two defensive tackles. Uh and then DeMarcus Lawrence had his hand on the ground on the other side. I don't recall if Alden Smith was was you know, either did he favor either way? Standing up? I would call him always with his hands down. Yeah.

I don't know if you guys remember, but the the thing is when even even with three four teams, when they're in the nickel, they're in a four man front and Russian uh just like what you would see a fourth in a fourth three defense. So um so most of what we saw, Bill, they were in nickel defense. Yeah, all right, So what do you make of Layton and the base defense moving to middle linebacker? I thought it

was going to be a natural progression for him. His command of the scheme, his recognition, uh, and his ability if you want your middle linebacker dropping into coverage. I think was better than Jalen Smith. You know, I know Jalen ended up going to the Pro Bowl, but I don't think that was his best year. Uh So uh, you know what. I what I liked the fact that day one, Layton Vanderish was on the field. And remember we found that out when we interviewed as agent Ron Slaven. Gosh,

that was a couple of months ago, wasn't it, Bill? Uh? He told and he told us that, uh that that Layton Vandersch was ready to go, and and yeah, there was no limitations for him out there, uh either, you know, the other guy that that that kind of showed up, and two other guys. Tristan Hill looked like he kind of reshaped his body a little bit in the offseason and he seemed a little bit more active. And the one corner that we haven't talked about. I was talking

with Will McClay the other day. He said, don't go to sleep on Chris Westrey. Remember he was a rookie free agent last year, like six three sixty four, and they loved they still love his size even though he was on the practice squad. And then I think he did he ended up on ir I'm trying to remember, but they still like position quarterback at that size. Yes, yes, oh interesting. So those were the things that probably, uh most stood out to me. But yeah, the quietness of

watching practice was is a little different. You know. The other thing that people would be talking about on the offensive line, Connor Williams was out there with the first team at left guard right. Yeah, absolutely, And Mike McCarthy did say in the kickoff press conference that you know, it's Connor Williams, but we kind of got him ease him in there. We can't, you know, he's still not Gosh's he nine months removed from probably into nine or

ten months, yeah, from the ACL surgery. So uh so that he took you know, he was out there first and then they rotated, Uh, Connor McGovern in there. I didn't see be a dish taking any first team snaps at center, But I'm going to keep an eye on that one because, as I keep saying, he's the only guy on this team that took considerable snaps at center last year on a football field, and that was at University of Wisconsin. I get it, but Joe Looney played

guard last year. He really didn't get into the game much other than cleanup time at center. So he hadn't played center since twenty eighteen. Everybody keeps talking about Connor McGovern had played center in college. Well, he hadn't played center at Penn State since twenty seventeen. Sou and Adam Redman, who they thought was going to be the backup center last year or at least compete for it, ended up

on injury reserve. He never played in a game, So to be interesting to see how quickly the rookie adapts at the center position. You know, when you one thing about this though, when you look at the injuries. Some that are completely healed, like tyl On Crawford coming off the pup list, which is man, God blessing. I feel so good for him. You look at Layton Vanderish who has completely healed with his NECKT surgery. I think the quick well really no preseason, but the quick training camp

and early started the season. I think that would bold better for those two. They won't have to get bogged down with a lot of practice. They don't have to worry about getting, you know, having to recover too much from those injuries because they're going to be into the season so quickly. But when when you look at someone like like Connor, he's not completely healed yet, so it would be the opposite for him. It's gonna take him a while, I think, before he's able to get back

into full strength. So it works both ways depending on where you are in your rehab. But vander Esh and Crawford, I think it worked better for them than it did for Connor. Another veteran guy the Cowboys signed this offseason, Andy Dalton. How strange was at seeing Andy Dalton in a Cowboys uniform. It was it was very nice to see him, and the thing that stood out to me about him is how accurate he is. He passes are

right on the button. He does not miss guys, and and and he's splitting numbers, so he throws a very catchable ball. He's still moving well. Uh and and again, you know, we talked about the best free agent signings on defense. What what he brings to this offense? A veteran presence h and a guy that probably makes you sleep a lot better at night if you're the head coach, knowing and I've got a guy that's played in this

league as my backup quarterback just in case. I think that was a huge uh get for the Cowboys, you know. And that's another one of those things, you guys that just kind of falls in their lap, right, you know, Everson Griffin who thought the Cowboys could sign him right, kind of falls in his lap after making the Pro Bowl the previous season. That's even better. And who thought that CD Lamb was gonna fall in their lap at

seventeen or digs in the second round. And then Dalton because of his ties here living here and Cincinnati was ready to move on, he falls in their lap and he signs a one year prove it deal. How much more good fortune can you have. Yeah, when you're talking about when you're talking about veterans, they can take that one year and you expect them to do something with it. It's not like they need to well, let me get

the system down or whatever. You're talking about guys that are used to making plays, big plays in playoff games and championship games, so now you expect them to do

the same thing for you. You know, with the signing of a three time Pro Bowl backup quarterback in Andy Dalton with Everson Griffin, you can understand, and other signings from Gerald McCoy to done Terry Poe, all these veteran guys, you can understand where Stephen Jones is coming from when he said on Wednesday that he feels like this roster and in this situation they have right now is as good to contend as they've had in five or two in years here. Yeah. Absolutely, And I don't know if

that caught everybody by surprise, but he's right. If you just look at the veteran presence they brought in along with the youth that they have and the guys they've been developing for the last three or four years. Uh. Yeah, it's a it's a heck of a mix. And you know, I would have to go back and look player by player by player, But Dalton might be the best backup quarterback they've had. How far back you want to go?

Since they had Dak Prescott as the backup coming in, that doesn't count, Okay, since Tony Romo, Since Tony Romo was the backup today we have did we have Burline? At one point was going to go back to Burline. That's where I was going. That's why Burl Romo when he was the backup, wasn't even proven right In the first year he was the backup, he never played, ye and he didn't really play until he took over the starting job in uh two thousand and six or yeah,

two thousand and six. I was gonna say, I gotta go back to Burline or Rodney Pete or our guess, Wade Wilson, probably with experience that he had in the success he had a couple of years he was here as the backup quarterback. Don't forget you had Vinnie in there too, and you had bled so and I don't know, only I believe only Burline was the one that helped him keep that Super Bowl pace up as they went

into the playoffs. I think they won the Super Bowl that year, correct, Well, yeah, he came, he came in and when that was the year, the year before ninety one, they won five in a row and then they lost to the Lions in the playoffs in the second round. They beat you and the wow it got round we could and was terrible. All right, we'll talk at you again next week. In the meantime, Thursday, Bill, I believe we're going to be back in our Thursday eleven am.

All right, dame, we'll see you next week here on mix Shots. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.