Mick Shots: Getting You Ready

is opening day in the National Football League. We've got football tonight at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City as the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs take on the Houston Texans. But of course we're more interested in Sunday night football at SO five Stadium in Los Angeles. Mickey Spagnola. It's the Cowboys and the Rams and a padded practice outdoors today, the Cowboys getting geared up for some football. As you sit there in the you're in the SWBC Mortgage studios.

Everson Walls should be joining us shortly. That sound like a lead in from Joe Buck and along shortly will be Everson Walls. Yes, I am in in the studio. Always aspired to be Joe Buck right. Well, I think you played it well. Yeah, And I can hear you perfectly. I don't think we're in delay this time. I've got my own headset on, so we should be good to go. And we're working through our kinks like the cowboys working through their kinks, getting ready. And think about this bill.

Do we have all four sports going at once tonight? We got hockey, baseball, and basketball. That's that's exactly right. That's right. The local baseball team, the Rangers actually playing this afternoon. Stars are playing tonight, the NFL game that's going to sweep the ratings, you know that, and Rockets playing the Lakers tonight and earlier start at six o'clock.

And I think that they did that purposely knowing that the NFL was going to be reigning supreme starting at seven twenty or a little bit earlier than seven twenty with all the pregame stuff. But it's here final, Yes, you know, it's interesting, Mickey. I've charted it from the beginning of this pandemic, just counting down the days, praying that this thing will get over in time for football season. For sure. Here we are today, this very day, I'm going to write this down. We are at the six

month mark on this pandemic. Rudy Gobert couldn't take the court was diagnosed with COVID nineteen on March eleventh, which was a Wednesday night. That's when our sports world shut down. NCAA tournament was called out or the conference tournaments, and then the NCAA tournament shut down the next day, which was a Thursday. We are precisely at the sixth month mark right now as we kick off this NFL season, and it seems like a year. Actually those a long

six months, right, yeah, long six months. But yeah, we're not totally out of it yet, no, but at least it starts like yeah, yeah, And it seems like the NFL has the protocols in place that they knock on wood will be able to get this thing going without a hitch. And they certainly have done their homework and they follow the lead of some other sports. Of course, baseball has been doing it in home ballparks. But you know they're going to go to a bubble once they

get to the postseason. In fact, one of those bubbles is going to be how about that year in the Metroplex. Yeah, the Rangers are actually going to host the World Series as well as the National League Championship Series and a National League Division Series and that's the closest the Rangers will get to the World Series this year, you think. But but you know, we got we got so much to talk about about this matchup, and uh, and Everson rejoins us here in just a little bit. I gave

him the assignment at the start of the week. I wanted in to study up on this Van Jefferson, the rookie receiver for the Rams. But they've got a potent offense over there, and we've all talked about how potent this Cowboys offense is. I think it's it's gonna make for some kind of Sunday night. Yeah, I think you're

exactly right. And you know, while there's so much unknown for us following the team, uh, you know, listening to Mike McCarthy, it sounds like there's a good bit of unknown for the coaching staff going forward, not about his own team and maybe a little bit, but about what

the Rams are going to do. And you know, they've got a new defensive coordinator, they got some new coaches on the staff, and you know, he keeps pointing out, he goes, you know, there'll be thirty percent of the stuff that the other teams doing that you're going to have to adjust to that you really don't know what's

going on, and maybe even with themselves. So to me, these coaching staffs are going to have to be nimble on their feet making adjustments and not waiting a halftime, by the way, doing it in game when they start seeing what the other team's going to do, because no one really has an idea of what's going to go on, and without a preseason game, you know, you may think your team's ready and the execution is great, but gosh,

until it's for real, you really just can't know. And you know, as hard as it is for us, imagine if you were a coach, my stomach would be a knots kind of just thinking I know about my team but not really knowing. And they've had so much extra time throughout the pandemic to study all the tape that they can get their hands on, and so it's it's almost like you have to guard against having too much information, probably as far as a coach goes going into this thing.

But you know, one of the main concerns I would have is, yeah, I mean, the starters don't play that much in the preseason. But yeah, and you can try to simulate game speed out on the practice field game hits on the practice field, but you really don't know until you start playing. And then again, the tackling. I mean, we've seen issues with Cowboys teams in the past, even when they've had preseason games where it takes a while to get up to speed as far as the tackling

is concerned. So it's it's gonna be very interesting to see its starting tonight with this Chief Sexans game. Just what brand of football we're gonna be watching here? You know, everybody asks when you look at it, oh, we got evert he just jumps in without introducing himself. You know, everybody knows who I'm trying to be as seamless as possible.

You just ruined that from fact. But now, as I as I was listening to Bill, we're talked about this earlier about how the timing is extremely important, not just when it comes to covering man to man or things of that nature, but when it comes to contact. You know, you have to have a I mean, you have an instinct for it, of course, because you've been hitting people

all your lives since you're in peewee league. But at the same time you have to worry about not just injuring yourself, but you have these these still people trying to get accustomed to not hitting someone in the head instinctively. Those kind of things. I think you're gonna see a lot of penalties where players are going to be leading

with their heads unintentionally. Well, it's going to be intentional, but it's because that's been your instinct for all these years, and now all of a sudden, we have to adhere to these still relatively new rules in regards to contact with the crown of the helmet. You see, those things have to be they have to be nourished a little bit.

They have You have to have your timing together in that regard, so that not just you don't injure your player and getting penalty, but you don't injure yourself either as an attacker. You know what occurred to me today. You know, the Cowboys have this drill where they kind of practice tackling and everybody lands on a pad on the ground. You know, we always talk about well what

about tackling, Well what about getting tackled? You know, how long does it take to get used to somebody laying you out, knocking the daylights out of you, but still holding on to the football, you know. And funny story from way back when EMMT Smith got to the point where in training camp he basically didn't take any snaps during preseason, and I remember one time I went up to him and I said, well, don't you need to take a couple snaps to kind of get used to

getting hit? And he looked at me like I was cross eyed, and he goes, are you crazy? He goes, I don't need to be reminded what it feels like to get hit. But I'm thinking you got to be able to remember to hold out of the football when you're getting blasted like that. So there's another element. I just go ahead. It's not it's not just you know, being hit, but how you get hit. You see runners who will have an amazing ability to take the blow on a certain part of their body and keep on

keep the legs churning. There are times when two defenders might come at a runner and instinctively he will know how to make those two defenders negate their power by you know, sliding in there just at the right time,

the timing has to be impeccable. Best things that dore Set and Emma Smith and all the great runners they do instinctively, but they do them after they've gone through training camp and after they've gone through some preseason games to where that timing really does have to be impeccable.

And I gotta tell you, we're gonna see some moments to where running backs are gonna look a little bit awkward, and even the defenders are going to look a little bit elementary because they haven't really had a chance to go at it in preseason and now here it is, it's game time. It's game time. You're gonna be geeked up. You're gonna be ready to go out there and play. And you gotta be careful because these are some unusual

moments with no preparation, a very little preparation. And ever since, it doesn't matter that there are no fans in the stands. From a player's perspective, when you say that, I mean you you get motivated to play regardless of what's in the stands. You're focused on what's happening on that field, right I was always motivated the spring practice. It didn't really matter, you know, when it comes down to playing ball. You line up against that guy, you got to make

sure you do your job. So as much as you want to get in there and and hear the fans and have them geek you up, so to speak, that's after the play is made. So you still have to concentrate on making the play first, and that's one of what's gonna get you geeked up. And your teammates are gonna be supporting you from the sidelines as well. So those are the guys that you really need from a priority standpoint, you know. And as we've been watching these NBA games, I think that's what the guys on the

court here, they hear the benches. They hear the guys on the benches, right, and there's more talking now, you know. I've always heard professional athletes say, you know, I really don't hear the crowd when you're playing. You're concentrating, but you can hear the noise, I would imagine, And you know there's gonna be pipe there's gonna be piped in noise, and there's a decibel maximum that they're allowed to do. I want to know who the decibel officiator is that

you know, Oh wait a minute, it's too loud. You got to turn that down. But I like they have a governor on the dial, so this is okay. I probably have a governor. And I like what Mike when Mike McCarthy was answering the question today about the noise and you have to get used to it, and he said, I'm a big believer you've got to make your own noise when you're on the road. And there's some sense to that too, because you know, you play well, you

quiet that crowd down. And what few fans you have there. Remember when the Cowboys have been going to LA they've had a lot of Cowboy fans in the stadium too, so especially for the playoff game that year. So yeah, that'll be something they got an adjust to. You is when you think about when you think about tennis. You know, when you think about tennis, you don't have any teammates right all you have a coach in the stands. So

you see the tennis players they really need that. As we we sometimes look at the throwback pictures, the crowd is geeking up that tennis player after he's made a great shot. Well before he makes that great shot, he's honed in on his opponent only Now. Of course, once the play is made, then the crowd gets them geeked up. But what's really important is you're honed in on making that play first. So even in tennis, they still need the crowd much more than we do as team players

because we have teammates, but the same town. The element is still there. You have to make the play first. And I would imagine you remember for your high school then your high school basketball days when you were on a fast break and you could hear the crowd getting excited. Man, you were getting ready to hit a layup, right or maybe a dunk. I don't know, you don't know, Ali you yeah, Allie, you for Bill. I'm sure that's exactly. No. I do remember that that JV game, that JV game

my sophomore year against Arlington Sam Houston. I got fouled with no time left on the clock. We're down by two. I need to make two free throws in order to force overtime, and the varsity crowd was roaring okay, and I sit calmly, I stand calmly at the line, sink both free throws, force overtime, and then we lose it overtime exactly what you're talking about. In fact, I probably I got the trophy on the wall behind me from the r OLD Turner All Tournament Team. N Right, you

remember Rid right, Mike Battle, those guys at Roosevelt. Yeah, ever, soon I can hang with those guys. That's right, Baby Ring right right was a bad boy man. It was that just right. His brother Carl right too, right too, Yes, sir, yes, right story, right story, yeah, try quick story. The RLD Turner Tournament. We played Roosevelt on a Saturday morning at nine am. We show up, We're irving MacArthur. Okay, we're nothing. Okay,

We're playing Dallas Roosevelt. And it's eight fifty. We're looking at the clock, eight fifty nine, and Roosevelt hasn't walked into the um yet, and so and so the clock strikes nine o'clock and here they come strolling in. Ran right, Mike Battle, who played at Baylor. Right, Queint Andrews is a great point guard for him. Anyway, they didn't warm up, they didn't do nothing. They took their sweats off, walked out the court, and they beat us eighty five to forty.

Oh my god, I made the All Tournament team. Way to go bill Way. Yeah all right, huh think I think we digressed a little bit, Yeah we did. Yeah, well, Mickey, I want to hear what happened on the practice field today. But how about we take a break first and we hone in on what you saw on the practice field as the cowboys were in pads today getting ready for these Los Angeles rams back at a moment, Hey, they're cowboys fans with Type Cleaners at home pickup and delivery,

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the post is Spagnola. Sounds like a kind of like my silky smooth jump shot tournament in the RLD Turner tournament back in the day. All right, h Mickey has been on that practice field today? Who was out there? Well, it was good news for the cowboys because dressed and practicing once again Xavier Woods, chit Beowoozier and Amari Cooper. So if those were the three guys everybody was worried about, uh,

they were in full practice today. As a matter of fact, I believe when the injury report came out yesterday, Woods wasn't even on it, so he should be good to go. And really the only guy other than the guys on injured reserve that aren't practicing can't practice with the team that was had been missing was Jordan Lewis and he was back on at least out on the field today, so he was, you know, dressed out like he was going to practice and then he got on the resistant chord.

So that was a step in the right direction. And really us the first time we've seen him practice in or at least out there in like two weeks when he turned his ankle in practice when they were inside the Ford Center. So that was good news. And you know, the only you know, the only I still and we talked about it yesterday, that big question, and by away, Brandon Carr no worse from the where he was back

out there again today. Mike McCarthy said, you know, we'll just have to see going along, you know, Jerry said early in the week, you know, he didn't think it was you know, reasonable to put him out there having not gone through any training camp practices, but two practices in the row for him. So really, you know, the big question mark for the Cowboys I think is the fact that, you know, Lale Collins is on ir and

they've got a compensate for his absence. And we talked about it yesterday and you know, first guy up looks like it's Cam Irving, but we'll see. Terrence Steele is a possibility because those are really the only other two tackles on the fifty three man roster. Now. Brandon Knight has played some tackle, he played tackle last year, he's played some guard. So between those guys, that looks like what they're going to have to try to do without Lale Collins on the field. Wow, So how do you

feel about that? You know, you look at Cam Irving last year and going into the season opener for the Kansas City Chiefs, he did not know he was going to be playing a lot in that game. Eric Fisher there left tackle, got hurt in that season opener. I believe in the first half of the game he got put in and he wound up starting eight games at left tackle for the Chiefs and season turned out pretty well for Kansas City last year, now we'll see him at right tackle, which I would assume would be better

for him. The one thing about the Rams, they don't have the what appears to be the elite pass rusher that some other teams in the league have. So maybe he catches a break there against the Rams. But as soon as I say that someone will have a career day or they'll move, they'll move Aaron Dial from the middle to the outside. Yeah. Ever since they'll I guarantee you, they will look for the soft spot and say, okay,

that's where you play. Because I don't think there's any any doubt that he'll either be up on Joe Looney or in between Looney and Connor Williams. And if that doesn't work out as well and they're having some luck on the outside, he can rush as a defensive end. And you know, maybe the good thing for the Cowboys is you know, who knows how much they'll be in nickel.

But when they go to the nickel offense, then the Rams go four down and maybe the guy the nose tackles no longer head up on Looney where he can help out one side or the other wherever Donald is, if he's in the middle at defensive tackle, I'll tell

you what you have to be beware of. Where that what they're gonna do with Aaron Donald, you know, with lack of preparation, things of that nature, it could be an opportunity for the Rams to take advantage of what they might perceive to be Cowboys not really being prepared on that offense of line, especially even with the injury

two columns. That kind of concerns me just a little bit because you know, of course you can start moving him around and see how confusing things can be for the Cowboys offensive line, because even though we're one of the best in the league, you know which, we still depend on what we know and right now it is all part of the unknown coming into the game on Sunday. The other thing with Jordan Lewis, I'm a bit concerned about that spacts. We need that experienced a third dbat.

They're gonna come out in that slot. They're gonna have mister cupp Is gonna be coming in there trying to light things up as as well as he did last year, you're talking about hot sauce with a little Hobbaniera added to it. That's how good this guy was, because he really had a great season last year and he had a lot of it from the slot position. So let's see how we are gonna do on third downs or when they start opening things up, because let's face it,

their running game is going to be suspect. The Rams running game, I think is going to be suspect because they lost the running backs. But now here you are, you have two really good wide receivers, at least two good wide receivers and the heck of a tight end. So their their game plan might go from the conservative running game plan to really opening it up right away and trying to test our secondary. So Jordan Lewis will be a guy that we need to have in there.

If not, we're gonna go with some guys with a little bit less experience at playing the Cowboys slot. Well. One saving Grace and while they've worked him at both corner and safety, Darryl Worley is a guy that can probably step into the slot. And you know he started games. He was a starter for the Raiders, So from an experienced standpoint, You're right about the rest of him, Everson, but this guy gives them some experience and they can play with it. You know, Anthony Brown has played in

the slot. They've they've put Cheeto you know, at times in the slot. So and the fact that we'll see how much confidence they have in in Trey Vun Diggs, because if if they trust him outside, then you can do stuff with the other guys inside and you have the ability to play about three different guys inside with Jordan Lewis uh not there. And really, I mean it seems like almost the majority of training camp that Jordan Lewis hasn't been here, so it's not like they were

counting on him at any point during this. So, uh, they'll have a pretty good rotation, I would think. And you know, and they should cause And here's where those saving grace is. If there's a saving grace, they better cause problems upfront with that pass rush. You know, they've got some guys that can go right, and they need to create problems. You know, you mentioned the running game, and I referred back to how the Cowboys got beat

in the playoff game against the Rams. But last year when they beat them forty four twenty one, the Rams ran for twenty two yards. I had forgotten that. I had also forgotten that after the game was seven to seven, the Cowboys scored thirty straight points on the Rams, and they were beating them thirty seven seven before they scored

two late touchdowns. So I don't know if the Rams go look at that film and get pissed off, or are they looking and go, gosh, we weren't really that good last time we played this team, or maybe they just burned it. Yeah, what I would do, right, no sense, look at it this right like that. We don't want to see that anymore. You know. That was when, Yeah, after Sean McVay was just really throwing out there as like one of the smartest coaches in the NFL, all

of a sudden they have this injury to Girly. Girly had this weird and they had this weird relationship to where all of a sudden, I don't know if if he was really as injured as coach McVay said he was, or if Girly was as healthy as Girly kept saying he was, But that became a clash within that entire organization based on that deteriorating relationship that that kind of led to a lot of downfall in regards to the Rams and a lot of unmet expectations. I would imagine

that as smart as McVeigh is, I'm hoping well. I'm sure the Rams fans are hoping that he has remedied that whole situation. But I still believe they don't have a proven running back right now. I don't think for the start of the game, and I would dare believe that they're going to see if Jared Golf is the quarterback that they paid all this money too. Everybody's got a new contract with Dak Prescott, so let's see if Jared Goff can really come through and show that he's

worth all the money that they just paid him. And they're gonna put the ball, I think, in his hands. Okay, when we come back here on mix Shots, I'm gonna open up my big green NFL Draft scouting notebook and we're gonna take a look at a couple of rookies that might impact this game for the Los Angeles Rams and Everson, I want to get your scouting report on your homework assignment for this week. That would be one of those rookies taking late in the second round. Van Jefferson,

the receiver from Florida. That's when mix shots continues at a moment. Hey, they're Cowboys fans with type Cleaners at home pickup and delivery. Cleaning your clothes has never been more convenient. Simply sign up at your local store, set out your dirty clothes, and one of our tight Cleaners professionals will come directly to your home for a totally contactless experience. Your clean garments will be returned promptly the next scheduled delivery day, So skip the errand and enjoy

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inspires other others through the love of the game. Visit NFL dot com slash Fan of the Year now to learn more and nominate yourself or can nominate Everson Walls for a chance to be named NFL Fan of the Year. That wasn't bass bags. You've actually improved on that one. I like that. I got to take reading lessons better.

Bet those reading glasses have really helped out absolute. He got him out of his ass, nicky before we jump in more on the rams on that right tackle position and Mike McCarthy the press conference today when he was asked about right tackle, Uh, share your little pot on that. Basically, I think he pulled a Bill Parcels on because, uh,

he knew that question was coming. So when he when he got the question about update on the right tackle and he basically said, I got nothing and then he and then he went on to expand and said, uh, he goes, why do you think I've been answering those other questions so long? I thought we'd run out of time before you asked me about it. So that he basically said, hey, we'll have eight linemen up. So if you have eight linemen up, by the way, uh, you can expand the game day roster from forty six to

forty eight. Uh. So uh, he'll have you know, somebody's got to be the backup center, somebody's got to be the backup guard. Uh. And you need a backup tackle since the tackle backup tackle is starting. So he said there'll be a combination of things. So he was very very vague. And you know, sometimes, and I keep saying this, he becomes more vague than Jason Garrett was. And Jason Garrett was putting vanilla when answering some of those positions questions.

He was down right bage forgive vanilla, das get was this bage? He was bad? He was, And a good thing for Mike McCarthy right now is he hasn't lost any games yet, hadn't want any yet either, But uh, and so it's a very good thing before you've played a game, because all of it looks like, wow, he really looks like he's you know, he's he's making sure he's dotting all the eyes, crossing all the teas. He's not gonna give away any trade secrets. And so he's

getting credit for all of that evasiveness right now. But if the team starts losing games, then it turns on a coach. But it is interesting that is a ploy that a lot of coaches using a press conference that if you just talk long enough, then you eat up all the time and they don't have as many questions to ask you because we're out of time. Bill Bill

Parcels was the professor at that. He would tell all these interesting stories and then he'd look at the clock and it's like, oh my twenty minutes are up, gotta go. He didn't get a chance to ask him what you really wanted to ask him. He was great. All right, I've got my big green NFL draft scouting notebook out let me show it off here. Okay, there's a reason in the springtime I do all this work on these

draft prospects. And I'm telling you I don't know that it's I agree with you, Everson that there is not a proven established running back for the Rams to replace Todd Gurley right now. But the guy they want to eventually be that guy is Cam Akers, who they drafted in the second round out of Florida State. And he's one of my He's one of the guys that I've looked at in the draft and thought, you know, this guy's got a shot at really being something on a

bad Florida State team. Last year he had eighteen touchdowns and you know, and he I mean, it's a phenomenal his what he was coming out of high school in Clinton, Mississippi. You remember Marcus Duprie. He was compared to Marcus Dupree, who is the greatest player ever to come out of Mississippi, greatest running back out of there. And so anyway, he's a young guy, just turned twenty one, but he's got I think he's got it all and it just remains

to be seen how quickly can he transition. I think the Cowboys might be catching a break playing the Rams in the first game of the year, where he hasn't been able to get his legs so to speak, in the league and not having the off season as well. All right, but let me tell me about Van Jefferson. What have you figured out on Van Jefferson, who's at other the third receiver behind Cooper Cup and Robert Woods. And of course you got Josh Reynolds in the mix as well for the Rams. Yes, you know you have

Josh me Reynolds in the mix. And U was that he's an A and M guy, right, Yes, yes, I believe he's an A and M guy. Been pretty uneventful of him because to Josh Reynolds. But that's why they signed Van. They were hoping that they can get some size in here. The guys about almost he's almost six two, he's about two hundred plus pounds. One of those big, strong receivers that you saw in the SEC. I talked about the studs that are coming out of college these days.

He would be considered one of those studs. When he came into camp. All the Rams Brass talked about was just his amazing hands, his patience as a route runner, and his ability to make plays. So when you look at him, he reminds you of the old Henry Eller type of players, guys who were very disciplined in their route running. I saw some videos of him coming off the line of scrimmage. If you allow him to sit there and make his moves off the line, he will

cross you up and probably break your ankles. He is that kind of a receiver, but I have never seen him handle the press well from an aggressive defensive back. What I saw with the videos leading up to looking him up, I saw a bunch of small dbs. We don't deal in really small dbs. Here in Dallas. We've got some big guys that are pretty physical, and he's gonna be a real test to see how well he plays and if he does play a sum in the slot, but his main thing is being out wide and being isolated.

I have never seen him play in the slot. I have never seen him go in motion either. Bill, So he looks like one of those guys that they depend on, such as a Dad's Bryant. He's gonna be designated to be that physical receiver to make the tough catch. He made it throughout his entire career at Florida after tram from Georgia, and UH, they're waiting on him to just

live up to his potential. Our goal here, of course, in Dallas, is to make sure that he does not, and again being his first NFL game too, and uh yeah, yeah, he started his career at Old Miss and then transferred to Florida. Yeah. By the way, you know he's well coached. You know, he's well coached. His dad, Sean Jefferson, played in the league for many years and he's I believe he's still with the Jets receivers coach with the Jets. Yes.

And by the way, Bill on cam Acres, I just got a call down from Walter Payton and said, well, let's ease up on him being the best running back to come out of the state of Mississippi. Okayed down the Mississippi maybe the best. Let me let me rephrase that he was the most accomplished high school Okay, yeah, because no no one, no one knew that Walter Payton was in Colem, mississip said there's gonna be somebody for Mississippion.

You know, there's gonna somebody, sure enough, Walter Payton. Okay, and you know maybe and Walter's brother probably would would maybe disagree with you. Also, that's true, very true. Oh, Eddie Eddie Peyton, Eddie Peyton. And by the way, when he was talking about when Everson was talking about small receivers, I mean small cornerbacks that the Cowboys don't have any. I said, all I can think of, And I learned my lesson on small corners was Ron Francis, a teammate

of years ever singing guy can cover. He was always there, but he can never get to the football. And you know what else, uh you want to you want to chastise, you know, for giving up the plays. But he was such a humble, quiet young man. Yeah. That is almost as if you if you were to engage him negative, he would just go into a shell. He was one of the more quiet teammates I've ever had. And I hope he's doing well. I hope he's doing well in life. He was a really good day. Yeah, he wanted to

do all right. I'm now researching Walter Payton's real late for that. Now, Bill you already put Yeah, But when you talk, when you talk about Jefferson, he is a guy with a great potential. I would be extremely surprised if he was significant in this ball game. You're talking about Cup who was an extreme and a very established player. Everyone else is going to be window dressing for he and Bigsby uh, to make it, make it very to try and make it an easier day for Jerry Garf.

You know the guy in the Cowboys, and he's gonna need that slot. Yeah. You know the Cowboys that had trouble with it in the game last year that they wiped him out was Tyler Higbee getting up catching twelve passes for one hundred and eleven yards. Now, they pretty much shut down that they're wide receivers, but they did not control Higbee at all well his entire the last half of his season last year. Big plays, big game after big games, so we have problems with tight ends

in the past. We had Spagnola out there operating with off of one leg and he kicked out butts last year. So tight ends should be a priority for us to shut down. When you talk about the slot position, you're talking about the tight end position. Those are friendly confines for quarterbacks. If you want to make a living and play it safe, and when you're in trouble, you look for the tight end. You look for the slot man. That's just offense one oh one. Got to watch out

for those tight ends named Spagnola, right, I hate them. Micky, What do you make of the coaches workout regimen his weekly in season practice schedule where on Friday is the walkthrough day and Saturday is more of a workout. You know. I knew that they did that in Green Bay where they moved the practice that you would normally have on Friday to Saturday, and it used to upset US reporters because the last injury update you would get would be

from the Friday practice. Well, when they practiced on Saturday, they didn't have to change their injury update, so you didn't know if significant guys were practice. That's why I thought they did it. But Mike explained that it was something he learned from track coaches on given the guys on Friday kind of a regeneration day. All you do is the walkthrough, kind of game like walkthrough, and then go ahead and have a light one hour practice on Saturday.

He said it kind of nights your neurological clock that you get yourself in kind of game mentality instead of having a day off before you actually go out there and play. So he said he learned that from track and field coaches and he'd been doing it the last several years at Green Bay and he thought it helped cut down decrease the amount of soft tissue injuries on

game day and especially later in the season. So it's kind of a strategy he's used now in Green Bay for the latter part of his coaching career there that is the opposite of what every other coach has been doing and is doing in the NFL. There's something very interesting those bags, because you know, when you think about it, that gap you have between Friday's practice and Sunday, you know, you might your body might become a little bit too relaxed. And you know, I think what he's trying to do

is really Keaton. Not just the soft tissue thing, okay, but mentally everything seems to be fresher. I would imagine going over on Saturday as opposed to going over things on Friday. You know, think about this out of time. I know, we're out of time. We're real quick, Bill, Even for myself. You work real hard Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday getting ready for a game, and then Saturday you

lay off. You don't have to do anything. And I find myself on Sunday going, oh wait, I gotta go back over this stuff to remember what I was supposed to remember. On game day, so there might be something to it, all right, Bill, go ahead, Okay, So Mickey you need to you need to start implementing that in your preparation for the game too. Absolutely, So take Friday off. Nope, no, take Friday. We're gonna work Friday, all right, We're not

working Saturday. And we've got our first prediction tonight, the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Houston Texans. Right, are we in agreement? I'm with you, I do agree. Yeah. Right, So we'll see if we are one to oh on our predictions for this season. We a Cowboys Rams tomorrow on the next episode of mix Shots. So long, everybody. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.