Talkin' Cowboys: A Huge Week Ahead

which will actually start next week. Is this is our final show, guys, booing weekly next week. It's a daily occurrence starting, So let's celebrate a little bit because it's time to talk football in a real since we've been talking football all offseason if we're being real here, but it's time to talk football on a daily occurrence. So if you're sick of us, too bad. You're getting us every day starting next Tuesday. But so glad you're with us.

Kyle Yeoman's heck Ma Harrison, Isaiah stanback or residence, super Bowl champion, and the Great Rob Phillips here from Dallas Cowboys dot Com. And guys, it's it's getting closer. We're under two weeks until kickoff in September thirteenth on the road against the ram its officially Football month. The fact that September's finally hear us, heck, well, what's that feeling like? As you kind of get that Christmas type of feel where you can anticipate it coming, but it's just not

there yet, Kylis. It almost feels as though we are getting back to normal. We were right there. I mean, we were right there, and I felt like last week, last well Sunday, that you know, my life was returning. I was getting Cowboy football back on television. And I need to talk to you and Rob because I thought

we were boys. I thought we were cool. But I have found out otherwise through this whole process that y'all didn't call me and let me know not to go through my ritual because we were not going to be able to watch football on Sunday. Thank you, Kyle, Thank you Rob. Here's the thing, and I'll go ahead and say this. The Cowboys still won on Sunday because there's thirty one other teams and there's an entire fan base and an entire nation that has zero idea what the

Cowboys are doing based off of the television scrimmage. So the Cowboys had a w on Sunday. Can we not celebrate that? I mean, can we not celebrate the fact that they won that? Rob? I mean, we'll back me up here, because we weren't necessarily sure exactly what we were going to be able to show. Honestly, Yeah, I didn't have one hundred percent idea until we got in the building. Heck, just to just to back up Kyle on that one, I will say this, there were fans

that didn't love it. You know. I think a fan tweeted to me and said, what's with the area fifty one practice we got going on right now? Nobody can see anything that's going on, but Kyle's right. I mean, I guess from the standpoint of they've had at that point eleven practices to look at their own team think about that, and so they don't want to show anything to anybody else, and they try to give some Citan

sounds and they did that. But yeah, it's definitely playing close to the chess right now with final cuts coming up on Saturday. Mike McCarthy being secret Mike might be my favorite Mike Isaiah, But whenever you're talking about secrecy and kind of playing that next level chess game when everybody else is playing checkers. You played for a guy who played chess in Bill Belichick. But he pulled a total Bill Belichick move with no numbers, no name on

Cowboys Night. That's the scrimmage quote unquote scrimmage we're talking about. It was more like a practice, but he kept it close to the chest as ever before. Did you expect coming from Mike McCarthy, Isaiah, Uh, you know what. I can't say that I expected it, but he definitely went blake Man on us man. We didn't know what the heck was going on out there. I probably would have

been exposed because my dreads. But that's about it. But I mean, I think it's I know, from the fan perspective, I know, everybody wanted to see the guys, right they wanted to see this team that has been that's been talked about so diligently over this entire offseason. They wanted to see the rookies that we've been talking about for the last few months and all this talent and the coaches and how these guys are gonna be work into the schemes and and then we just saw you know, zoom,

you know zoom, zoom and no numbers. And that's fine because as a fan, you want to set your team up for the best opportunity possible to go out there and win games, right starting nating what in another week and a half right where over there? Um so um he did that right. He protected the team, as you always say, protect the team. Um. And he did that, even though it wasn't at the pleasure of the of the of the fans. I think they'll they'll they'll appreciate

it later on. And it seemed like there was frustration from a fan standpoint, But and I understand both sides. As a football fan, you've been itching for that moment. We would already have had four preseason games by the absolute and so you're wanting that contact, You're wanting that competition. You want to see some of these young guys you've been waiting so anxiously to finally lay your eyes on. But I also get it from a winning standpoint, you

want to take every single advantage. In a league that's so parody ridden like the NFL, you want to take every advantage you have to make it necessary and make it possible for your team to come out on top when the game's count and that's what we saw, I think on Sunday, and that's what the decision was made, and I can't disagree with it. I think I like the decision because it shows that winning is coming first.

Heckma yeah. I mean, look, I feel as though the you know, the no numbers on the jerseys, that's you know, a Chuck No, that's an old Pittsburgh thing, and Chud Nole did that so that, you know, coaches would coach up their guys and not be looking at the numbers. So when it came on the television and I saw that guys who were not wearing numbers, I'm like, oh, okay, this is a new wrinkle, new fold. But that's clearly Tyrn Smith, that's clearly Ezekiel Elliott Elliott. So I mean,

I get it. I understand the whole you know, mystery of it. And I'm sure once every all thirty one teams found out that we were televising a game, especially NFC East teams, they wanted to comb through everything they possibly could just to get a hit or a clue about what the Cowboys were doing. Well, none of us know what the cow. No one knows because we didn't get an opportunity to see anything. And so I see the genius in it, and I understand why it was done,

but I'm pouting. I'm in my feelings that. I mean, come on, I'll get over it. I don't know. I don't blame you at all. Heck, and uh, you know, I kind of had a flashback to Bill Parcels days from like the early two thousands when I think we took a picture of a player writing an exercise bike on the track out at Valley Ranch, and boy, he got so pissed off at us for doing that, like just he he wanted and there were no numberless practices, but there were some some days where he wanted things.

As you know, kept as close to the chest as possible. That's what Mike McCarthy's going for. And like what Isaiah said, actually Jerry said it on the broadcast there. You know, there's sixteen practice squad spots this year and they're still evaluating their team. And you know, if you can get a guy to the practice squad that might not make the fifty three, that winds up being a Miles Austin type prospect. A guy that can develop into a special player,

then then it's a win. If the rest of the world doesn't get to see that guy on Sunday night, Mayor Rob, let me let me add to that point, man, just in case for the football road out there that's listening right now. And I don't know, may Or may

not get in trouble for this. But when you're when you're going through camp and you're going through the preseason games, typically there's always a handful of guys that are really talented that that just don't make them mark, right, They just they just won't make the team, whether you're stacked at that position, whether you have veterans at that position, but you want to keep them close to your program, right, You want to keep those guys close to that for

the whole purpose of a practice squad team is so that if something happens to your primary guys, you can go down and pull them up. Right. But in typical preseason for them, if those guys are out there playing and getting a lot of reps and they're not gonna make your team, guess what, You're not gonna be able to keep them close because somebody else is going to pick them up and put them on their team. So

we used to see it all the time. Were guys that should have been playing in the preseason, should have been getting more reps. We're not getting reps, right, They just wouldn't get reps because they were being hidden, right. They were literally the gyms that were being hidden underneath the rock because the scouting department wanted to keep the

guys close. So to the point, you know, continuing that conversation, now, of course you don't want to show some of the guys that you have on your ruster right now because they're gonna get plucked. And by the way, this is going on kind of around the league. I mean I saw something Mike Zimmer in Minnesota, the great Mike Zimmer saying talking about injured player and he sets up in like, yeah, he's got he's got a thing. You know, he's got something,

And everybody is being very secretive. And it's got to do with the circumstances this year. For sure, there's just no time for teams to really evaluate their teams the way they want to, and so this is just kind of a natural course of things. Well, in kind of going off of what Isaiah was just talking about about those young guys not necessarily getting those reps. One thing that I noticed starting on Sunday is we've seen a lot of those younger guys starting to get more reps

with the starters. You see Dak Prescott out there throwing to some of these bubble guys, some of these guys that may or may not make the roster, and if they will make the roster, they're an undrafted free agent or there's something like that thrown into the mix, maybe a second year guy something like that. Now, whenever you keep that in mind, you also have these practices that are indoors and they're closed, and Rob, you were a

part of these practices, you've been around it. Has there been anything over the less last two days that has really kind of stuck out to you, kind of in that same sense of some of these other guys who weren't necessarily in the mix early on finally getting those reps. Well, I think you said it about rotating guys, but really I think Mike has done that for the last couple of weeks. He really has cycled a lot of different players in to give guys opportunities, and I think that's

been beneficial. I think Dak and the offense have really had some success the last two three days of practice, two minute situations, situational team drills, moving the ball down the field, some more competitive stuff now that they've gotten through the installations. I think it helps to have Lyle Collins and Tyran Smith back protecting the edges. I think that's a big plus for him. He had I think he led him on a seventy five yard touchdown drive

yesterday against the defense. So he's been productive and had a really nice camp. And you said it, Kyle, guys getting more opportunities in part because of some injuries and knocking on wood. I'm gonna knock on wood here. The Cowboys haven't had a ton of injuries anything really serious besides Jerald McCoy, but you know, with some DB's been sitting out lately, Cheeto, Jordan Lewis, Xavier Woods with a

little bit of a groin injury. Treyvon Diggs has gotten more reps and has been really productive, and you're seeing some other wide receivers step up, with Amari Cooper getting some some limited work that's not apparently due to an injury. They're just kind of monitoring right now. Yeah, I don't think. I think these unusual circumstances with COVID is what you're seeing in practice with guys getting those first teams first team reps because they would have been able to get

that in the preseason. Without it, you don't know, So how else do you evaluate these guys, right? And so it's it's almost like seem like war military war games, right, and you want to be able to get them to the point that you understand that a guy is game ready ready, But without any preseason how do you know? So I don't take any weight. Well, I know what the injuries. Guys are getting those opportunities, but I think the rotation is what it is because you want to

get a look and see what a guy can do. Yeah, even to that point, heck, I think while you're trying to get eyes on players and you're getting them more reps in practice, you still don't get a full evaluation whether these guys are game ready. The reason being because there's a whole lot of guys we call them, we call them a scout team, Scout team warriors or seven or seven champs. You know, guys can fly around the

field and even thud up a little bit right. And when I say thud up, I mean just you know, hit with the shoulder pass or your helmet and not fully tackle somebody to the ground. Well, thudding up and tackling or two different things, right, And some guys, there's a lot of guys after that would thud up, But a lot of guys aren't able to wrap up and finish the tackle. And the unfortunately unfortunate part about a lot of these young guys is you don't get a chance to see how they would do in a real

game setting. And as a coach, obviously this year with covid Um, there's no preseason. Typically you would have the reps to see whether these guys are finishing off tackles and making plays and finishing through reps. But now you don't want to do that in a scrimmage either, because you know you don't want to risk guys getting hurt. Right, So you don't have a preseason, and you don't want to do it in and get in practice because you don't want guys to get hurt. So when do you

actually get a full evaluation, you don't. I was go ahead, Kyle, No, I was gonna leave it up to view Rob go for Well. I was gonna ask Isaiah on that subject just because Michael Irvin mentioned it on the broadcast the

other night. The importance of having for a rookie, for a veteran, just having a preseason game to get that hit, to get that tackle, and they just haven't had it now, Kyle, I think the first time we saw it yesterday was uh some form tackling bringing guys to the ground and kind of a half speed deal just to kind of get the form down. Landing on a pad helps guys with ball security too. But Isaiah, I mean, it's just not it's just not the same. You don't have the

live elements until until September thirteenth. That's just the way it is. And even some of these older guys, right, even the veterans out there, I mean, until you get hit, Like that's the whole purpose of camp in preseason. The reason why you have with your veterans played the last you know, game and a half of the preseason I guess a game and a half and totally out of the four games of preseason typically is because you need

them to get those hits. You need their body to get to get accustomed to it because think about whence the last time they've gotten tackled? Yep, when the last time these guys have been taken to the ground. Eight months of them, some of them twelve months. Yeah, you know what I'm saying. So so, I mean, your body's not used to it. So I think, you know, going looking towards this for this week one, I think there's

probably gonna be a lot of turnovers. Hopefully not by the Cowboys, but I feel there's gonna be a lot of turnovers all across the league just because ball security. You can't. You can't. You can't replicate that scenario. Right. I can run them through drills all day long and act like I'm stripping the ball and I know you're stripping the ball, but until I know there's somebody coming at me full speed ahead from this direction. Meanwhile, there's somebody jumping on my back right here. So I got

worried about getting knocked out and hopefully not getting knocked unconscious. Meanwhile, this guy's jumping on my back and I know I'm going to the ground or I might get knocked out. That's that's that's real life, this whole that's that's real. These drills. These drills aren't real because guess what, I know, as hard as I run at this guy and I'm running at these two linemen on kickoff, I know they're

going to stop right. But in the real game, I got six hundred pounds of a grown man have to try to run into and they're not going to stop, right. Do I do I get up from that? I don't know.

You won't know. Two week one, Well, that will not be any tackling pads on the ground on against lat we gotta get rid of and well, the thing is back to that form tackling drill and Isaiah you mentioned it, even some of those veterans trying to get those first hits in the most notably that the loudest pop that I heard was late in Van Deresh and that's a guy who really needs those hits. We talked about how he hit Tony Pollard last week. That's why he's one

hit and that's why he did it exactly. You're trying to get that collision, trying to test out exactly how the neck feels, and some of the positives of coming back from an injury is you do get to kind of have a little bit more leeway. They know, that's why you're hitting. They're young and up and coming running back pretty hard the scrimmage. So there is that back and forth. But now that things are changing from a media perspective, we're not going to be in practice the

entire time. Of course, we saw what happens Sunday where they're kind of closing thing off. The players though, kind of keep that same schedule Isaiah, But what are the next coming practices in the next couple of weeks bring from a player's standpoint, to get prepped for that week one kickoff. Yeah, so I think it's two parts. So I think you have the veterans or the guys that the highly drafted guys that kind of know that they're

going to be around. They have one mindset, right, They're in preparation for Week one, Right, They're getting in that mindset. They're getting prepared, they're getting used to their rotations, they're getting used to the calls, and they're ready. They're really looking towards the first week. And then you got the guys that are on the bubble, you know what I'm saying, that are fringe guys or the guys that are not so confident that they're going to make the roster. I

was that guy a lot. I was in that position dating there every year. Right, it's not only because of my injuries, but because of the the situations I found myself and I had to fight my way out of it. But you're you're nervous, you know, and you're not able to play free. Right, And now I can't even imagine to stress these guys have in practice, but can now they don't get enough reps in practice. But now every

practice rep you get counts. Right. It was before you can have okay, you know, okay practices and um and then when you get to the game you can ball out, you know, and and they're like, oh, okay, well this dud's a player. Well guess what. Now you better practice like a dog on an All Star because that's all

they have to go off of it. If you have one bad rep at practice, or if you if you miss a you know, if you if you have a brain farting, you have a have a mental error, guys are gonna be stressing over it because it's like, crap is at the play that just gotta be cut. Crap. Then I missed that as sigment. Now, man, now songs goes in there and makes a great play, They're gonna put him out there. And you start having these internal

mind games and it stresses you out, man. And when you start stressing like that, you are unable to play free. And as we know, in this league, you have to be confident and you have to play free, otherwise you're not gonna You're not gonna do what you need to do. Yeah, guys know that the eye and the sky don't lie, so they want to put that tape out there. They want to be sure because guys are fighting for livelihoods. Today's Tuesday cuts come down on Saturday. So like like

Isaiah said, every single rep is important. And without the preseason, man, it's almost impossible to try and simulate that real game time experience. So look, it's going to be really tough to make these cuts for the coaching staff. And maybe they let go of a guy that's a quality guy that if you've got in the chance to see him in real action, he would have been the stuff that

you need. So again, guys are putting that film out there because they understand that they are fighting for their livelihood. So you ask how important are these next couple of days? Yeah, man, it's it's the difference between going to work at a car lot and making you know, six figures sold. To that point, Hey, I just want to add on to that. To that point, think about it from the coacher's perspective, right, what's your goal? Your goals all get ready for the

next week? Right, you were in your head, you already have probably ninety percent of your roster set. I know guys don't want to hear that, but you have y percent of your Yeah, you got ninety percent of your roster set. So there's there's maybe three guys that you're looking at that you know may go one way or another. Right, So as a coach, you want to make sure that your guys are healthy going into the first week of

the season. Right from the players standpoint, I need to ball out in practice, right, So I need to ball out. So from the coaches perspective, I'm trying to get ninety percent of my team ready to play this game, right, and get them healthy enough and get them confident enough. So I'm gonna pull back on the intensity or practice. Why because I don't want to risk injury. Right. But on the other side. You got a handful of guys who are actually more than a handful of guys that

are going out there trying to give it. They're all so do injuries happen? Do guys go a little bit too hard when you go one hundred percent when other guys are going seventy percent? Right? What happens over these next couple of days? Right? And it's really a battle between the two because you're gonna have these guys are trying to make plays and trying to make the roster. As Hex said, they're not trying to go bust, no dishes,

you know. But at the same time, you got the coaches over there, they're like, hey, don't touch my guys, right, don't touch my guys. I can have these dudes. That's an interesting point, a really good point, because you know, Marii Cooper is for the last three days, he really hasn't done much in team drills. He's been limited to individual and Jerry spoke to it on the fan this

morning that it doesn't sound like it's an injury. It's just they they're monitoring him and they don't want to put him in a situation where he's gonna pull something ten days before the opener, two weeks before the opener, whatever it is. I just as a young player, if it's an undrafted guy or a guy that's on the bubble, I don't know how you don't try to press in these practice situations absolutely and overthink it because you really do.

Like Isaiah said, you've got to make an impression. And you know, we talked to Treyvon Diggs yesterday on a call, and obviously he's gaining confidence and he's he's been able to kind of settle in. There's more patience with a second round draft pick though, than there is somebody that wasn't drafting coming in and trying to make this roster. And I think that's a fantastic point. Go for it, I said, And I was gonna say for everybody to understand how how much of a mind game this is.

To this day, to this day, I ended up getting cut by Seattle after I came back from my my achilles injury, right going into my fifth year, I got cut by Seattle, which in turn led me to go in the next year and win the Super Bowl. So it was all right, but I remember, I remember, I remember one particular practice I was doing really well in practice, and I was I was one of those guys that

was kind of fringe, right. We had some really good receivers out there, and I remember running around and there was this play that the coaches were excited about all week, and they put me in for the play. Right, So they put me in for the play, so I know, all eyes, we've been waiting all week to run this play. And I go out there and there was a play action thing and I ran a little inside scene, got inside the corner and I stemmed up the safety and I ran a post route deep over over everybody. And

I don't remember who it was. I want to say it was Charlie Whitehurst through a dime, right, nice pretty ball, right, looked like something off the dog on the little Giants. And I'm running and little toilet paper rolls coming and the thing comes down and it goes right through my arms. A man, I know, and listen the disappointment in myself and the disappointment that I could see on all the coaches faces in my head, that's what got me cut

to this day. Had I made that catch, I would have made the team, right, And I don't know if I would have want to ring, but I would have made the team. I would have I would have made the team in my head, seriously, and I harped on that day after day, play after play. I can't get that back, And to this day right now, I know, had I made that catch, I would have made the team. So that's what these guys are thinking about every single rep that they take. You talk about the mental side

of the game. There's always a physical side of the game when it comes to football, but the mental side is just as important. And like you said, it's mind games with coaches and players, and a lot of the time the minds are already made up. And that's what we're kind of seeing and we might see throughout the rest of the week as players and cuts are coming.

Before we take a break, I wanted to reminds you if you're looking for something to change up your dinner routine, support local Frisco businesses by choosing one of the Star District restaurants. Some great options around there for delivery, takeout, herbside, pickup, and dine in. Visit the Star dot com. So there's a ton of great places to go across the street.

But when we come back here on talking Cowboys. Is there a veteran that could be on the shopping block whenever cuts come around this week, we'll talk about it next. I'm talking Cowboys. Since eighteen sixty five. Stetson hats are American maid with pride right here in Texas, and Stetson is proud to be on the field with America's team. Want to show your Texas and Team pride two You can by purchasing your own Stetson. You can look just like how the flag guys do on field at every

home game. Stetson hats the official crown of all self respecting Cowboys and your favorite football team. Get yours today at Shop Dallas Cowboys dot com or at Stetson dot com. Want to use what the pros use? How about the official men's skincare brand of the Dallas Cowboys, Jack Black. Right now you can get the Jack Black Starter, a curated collection of Cowboys locker room favorites, for just ten

bucks with free shipping. The Star includes four Jack Clack skincare favorite plus a full sized and tense therapy lip bomb. Go to get Jack Black dot com, slash Cowboys and use the code word team JB. That's get Jack Black dot com, Slash Cowboys, the Jack Black Starter ten bucks free shipping. Esselura is a proud sponsor of the Dallas Cowboys, helping fans seemore and do more with our best vision solutions. Our lens technologies reveal a world more beautiful than you

can imagine. For a limited time, get the slur next Gen offer for you by the latest generation of transitions lenses. With select Slur lenses, you can choose a second pair of clear lenses for free with qualifying frame purchases. Restrictions apply. Find a participating eyecare professional by visiting Slur usa dot com. See more, Do More. We're back in a tasty treat that's sweeping airwaves and taste buds. It's new Doctor Pepper and Cream Soda. Let's take a listen, Doctor Baba cream Soda.

Is he a Newcombonlet's music to my ears? Okay, Doctor the Times, Music to my ears and mouth, New Doctor Pepper and Cream Soda a delas just du Bay to Talking Cowboys. Well. Training camp is starting to come to a close, But get your training camp coverage with the twenty twenty Dallas Cowboys Star Magazine Training Camp Guy, The preview includes an inside look on scouting reports, position battles,

final roster projections, and so much more. Get your copy today for only four ninety five on Dallas cowboys dot Com slash Star. Back here for the second segment of Talking Cowboys. Kyle Yeoman's alongside Rob Phillips, heck My Harrison and Isaiah stand back and Rob, You're you're one of the few, the proud that have been at every practice so far. To ask you this question, I'm not trying to rub it in, Guys. I'm not trying to rub it in. I'm not rubbing think it kind of is.

You're you're one of the You're one of the few that have been in practices really the entirety of training camp. But this is gonna be a completely unfair question to you, and I'm going to ask you this. Thanks. How grade Mike McCarthy's first training camp, even though we're still kind of in the middle of it. I'd give him an A plus. I have to given the circumstances that this team is in. Um I mentioned the fact that they've been knocked on wood relatively healthy so far, guys have

been locked in, They've clearly been in condition. Uh, there's been a good focus about camp and he seems that basically talking to him after practice, it sounded on Sunday, he sounds like they're very close to where they want to be in terms of starting the season. I just think having to navigate everything off the field with the COVID nineteen pandemic and trying to get guys ready and just the logistics of it all. And it's not just him, it's the support staff at the Star too. That's been

a huge part of this. But I think it's been an a plus job so far. There's just a long way to go, and is Jerry said on the fan this morning, this doesn't end. I mean, this is a daily thing. It's for us too. We have to be flexible. I think Jerry called it, we got its option quarterback time right now. You know, nobody knows what's going to happen day to day with this virus and how everybody's got to handle it. But I think Mike's done a

great job. What would you say, heck, Mom, Well, you know the thing is, I can't base it off of anything that I've seen, but I can base it off of what the players are saying and I love it, and it sounds to me like everyone has bought in. One of the things that I hear constantly being stated about coach Mike McCarthy is the fact that he's a player's coach and that he has this open door policy. But I feel like the open door policy works both ways, right.

I feel like it's just knowing Mike McCarthy and the kind of fiery guy that he is. I'm really wanting to see what it's gonna be like once he puts these guys under the test, or give them that scrutiny, or tear them. Manu win on the side on the sidelines, But I love what I'm hearing from the team and just his championship pedigree and his attention to detail. So all things being considered, it sounds like everyone in this group has bought in. Yeah, I mean it sounds like

you guys may have acquired of championship coach. I don't. I don't know. Maybe along the way, maybe he's somewhere along the way he's done pretty well for himself. But it just sounds to me like a veteran coaches came in here, knows exactly what the winning formula is um knows exactly who he is as a coach and knows exactly the type of team that he wants. He's came in regardless of the circumstances that he's instilled his will. He's imposed his will here, and that's that's all you

really expect from somebody like this. I don't there's you know, I don't know what else we can really add to aside from the fact that you know, he has a heck of a heck of a support system. He has some great bosses, He has a heck of a coaching staff right in place. He has veteran coaches, he has coaches who have been head coaches underneath him. So I think this is I mean, it's about a greater situation

as he could have possibly hoped for. I'm in terms of support from the Joneses, in terms of the scouting department, in terms of his coaching staff. This is easy peasy for him. I mean, he has the ultimate bubble over there obviously at the Star. So I think he did a great job well. And I would probably have to say somewhere sort of the same thing, Like I said earlier, it's a little unfair to kind of grade Mike McCarthy at this point, because we don't know what the season

is going to hold. We don't know exactly what success is going to pop up out of training camp, but it's something at least to look at now. At least to this point, things have gone to plan, and I think that's really what you're really hoping for now. There are some very tough decisions coming up over the next week and coming up this Saturday at three p Central time.

That's the cutoff to have your roster down to fifty three, have your practice squad set, and there's cuts to be had as soon as really what today, maybe tomorrow rob that we could start seeing maybe some of these cuts start coming down. Well, I don't know cowboys. Cowboys usually like to wait to do all that. They usually take their time on that. But you never know. It's it's a new regime, right it's a new era with Mike McCarthy, So I would imagine usually that fifty three cut comes

all in one big clump on the day of. But like Isaiah said, I mean, they're making these discussions right now as we speak. It's a daily thing, and you know, they've probably got a pretty good idea what they want to do, even with the compressed camp. I mean, I think you know it's it's largely a veteran team. When you think about the guys that they've brought in to help on defense, I mean, they've got some veteran additions that are going to help navigate this thing. But they

do have some decisions to make on young players. There's no question about that. Well in a house or go for it head mone No, I was just gonna say that. I feel as though there when you start to build the roster and you look at are just the possibilities of what the Cowboys could intel on offense and defense, you start asking these questions about like are we going to have a fullback a true fullback on the roster.

Are we gonna keep an additional tight end because we're going to have the flex or hybrid tight end fullbacks scenario, and so all of those are hanging in the balance as to how this team is going to be built. I think from a special team's standpoint, even with your wide receivers on the defensive, then if you're going to play that three four four three defense, are you going to keep more cornerbacks and linebackers because you're gonna need

that in order to play that three four systems. So look, it's so much that goes into this that's going to be a deciding factor on who's gonna actually make the roster, h who's going to the practice squad. I can tell you guys this right now. The offensive side of the ball, they know who as players. The players know who's made the team offense. It's no question from a receiver standpoint, even from a receiver standpoint, Even from a receiver standpoint,

you know who's made the team. You know you're gonna keep. You know you're gonna keep three tight ends, right, you know you're gonna keep you know you're gonna keep three, you know, two running backs in a fullback. You know you're gonna keep two quarterbacks, maybe even three. Ay, I guess you gotta keep three quarterbacks, right, I think we get two more Rouster spots. So it's fifty five this year. Right,

it's a fluction. Got you, Okay? Got you? So, so three quarterbacks, two running backs in a fullback, three quarterback, you know what I mean. So you got five receivers that you're gonna keep. So it's really easy to do the math on the offensive side of the ball, the question defensive side of the ball. These guys are stressed right now. It's a lot easier to know where you fall in the line when you say, okay, we're running a four three defense, right, we're gonna keep We're gonna

keep eight D linemen. We're gonna keep you know, if five linebackers, we're gonna keep six secondary guys. They don't know. They don't know. So you talk about the secondary and how many guys you start counting positions, right, Okay, if the offense has this mini players, we have this many specialists. These are these are the conversations that you have with yourself. Now, just don't in this case, y'all don't know these a conversation.

She's like, okay, so there's all right, So there's a there's twenty there's twenty spots left on the on the roster, right, and uh, but then but coach coach Ryan, you know, he wants to he wants to run this type of defense, so he needs at least a mini linebackers, and we need at least this mini D lineman. So that means that there's only this mini These are the mental mental battles that these guys are going through right now. And I can't remember distinctively when I was playing for the Cowboys.

This is a dude names Bruce Mays, Bruce Mays, and we called him the grin Reaper. Oh yeah, oh yeah. You don't want to see Bruce around this time, right, do not want to see Bruce around this time. I was always taught as a young man growing up, you look a man in his eyes when he's talking to you when you walk, Do you see Bruce May's you get cataracts? You start looking around. You don't want that head down. You don't want to make any any conte with Bruce because Bruce and he was looking at you.

Bruce was gonna do this one thing. Come here, no crap, so I mean you so Bruce will tell you to come, you know, bring your playbook, you know, get your stuff. And you already knew what that was. And you know, I have my day with the Cowboys where I walked in and they had a they had a desk or the table right there at the front. Hey, little eight foot table at the front, and he was getting guys ass. They came into building. And I used to always say

Hi to Bruce. Hey Fruce, are you doing man? Hey Bruce? And for this this one time, I was like, hey Bruce, Bruce love me. And Bruce was like, Isaiah, I got you. I'm like got men. That's what goes on. That's what goes on this week. Man. So you literally go from you know, four to six weeks of giving it your absolute alle and it possibly being gone in a moment. And I feel for these guys. This is a very stressful week for the guys that don't know if they're on the roster or not. Um, I wish them all

good luck. But yeah, there's there's some tough decisions to be made. And as we're talking about decisions, don't be surprised. This is coming from my feelings that I have inside here in my heart. In my heart, I think there's gonna be a big name on defense that gets cut that people aren't talking about right now. Okay, so too, okay, Well what are one of those names? What do you think? Oh, we don't. It's a big game. Yeah, I want you to throw it out. I want to know who you got.

All right, let's look at this scenario. This is a gentleman about the name of haha. Clinton Dix, Okay, he's a veteran, he's a proven veteran. He's playing for his old coach. The reports have been what I've been reading, the reports of being that he hasn't been what they expected him to come in and bid to be. Why pay somebody now, no disrespect to hah. So if I see you on the streets, man, we're good. Okay, it's just my opinion. But logically, why pay somebody the money

that he's probably that he's receiving right now? If you're if he's not going to live up to the expectations that you have for him. Going to our conversations last week, I think that you I think that you can get Earl Thomas for the same amount that you're paying for a haha. Now take this, If Earl Thomas was on the field right now, would you ever question whether or not he was gonna be at your roster? No? No, no, And I think that you can get him for the

same price that you're paying haha. So that's my two cents. I'm out. That's it. Okay. Interesting. I like the call, and it does make sense. I see where you're coming from, because it looks like, system wise, it doesn't necessarily make a ton of sense. For you've got another Let me hit this stat really quickly, he Jasper Brinkley. You guys remember that name. A couple of years ago. Ye, he was cut for a very similar thing where he just wasn't only fitting into a system, he was owed two

million dollars. Haha. Clinton Dix is guaranteed two point two five. So the money has been cut before ultimately, is what I'm kind of throwing out there. There has been instances where players that are guaranteed a couple million dollars, who are veteran contracts or veteran additions that haven't necessarily made a roster and haven't met made it through those cuts. Now the heck, moone, who you got? Now? I mean a lot of this, My feeling is it just feels sacrilegious. Man.

But when I when I think about the linebacker group and you know, with LV and Jalen and just the backup the guys that we see emerging, and I know we can't talk about everybody, so I won't Sean Lee where does he fit into that? Get? Where does he fit into that rotation? He's a guy that has dealt with injuries and where he is right now, we don't know. When I'm looking at the defensive line, there's so man, the defensive line room is crowded and we have a

bunch of studs there. I love Antoine Woods, I mean because I can't talk about anybody else, but I just feel like Antoine Woods is one of those guys that maybe and he's had a pretty solid training camp from what I've interpret what I've heard, I just feel like you have a youth movement there with Gallamore and Hill and all. As far as the way the rotation is gonna go, so all things being considered, I'm with you, Isaiah.

I just feel like it's gonna be a name that no one was accounting for as far as the veterans, but when it comes down in the haha, I just feel like with and I know we're gonna talk about this in another segment, but I just feel as though safety is a position where we have to have some veteran experience, haha. Didn't get an opportunity to compete in live in live action. I realize it. And you even said, you know, guys are all world, are all practice squad.

I don't know how much of that is happening right now, but I just feel as though with the better experience that Haha has, that it would be hard to cut a guy like that. Now, if we're talking et on the other side of that, then yeah, let me let me, let me throw this curveball at you. Okay, this is a little insight for all of our viewers right now. Things get a little things get a little tricky when it comes down to the front office of pro sports,

especially the NFL. And there's this thing called a guaranteed contracts. So as a veteran, once you've hit veteran status, if you're on the roster the first game, they are guaranty, your salary is guaranteed. So what you what you tend to see here, and you guys may see this, okay,

musical chairs going on. Coaches don't know, especially right now, they don't know who's gonna get cut from other teams, right, So if you release a veteran, if you cut a veteran to prior to your first game, right, and you get through your first week and you go out there and you you scout the market and see what else is out there, you can now bring other players onto your roster, or even the same players that you cut

back onto your roster without guaranteam their entire salary. Sault point. No, that you might see a little music of chairs going on UM as this season approaches, especially with the fact that nobody's been able to see anybody play well. Yeah, Jerry was asked about Earl again on the fan today and he the same thing. He didn't he didn't close the door. He really didn't want to talk about it because he's the competitive situation. He doesn't want to tip

his hand either way. Obviously, there have not been any discussions there with Earl to this point. No, that's true, that's been put out there. Absolutely. Yeah, But I think I think with Xavier Woods is growing injury or whatever he's dealing with right now, I think numbers at safety are important. I mean, I I think Haha's probably here at this point at the end of at the end of cutdown day, and you know Sean Lee. I think they're trying to just get him ready for the season

like they always do. I think they need numbers at linebacker too, and he's very important. I think he's still very important to what they do, especially you know late in coming off the injury. I think you're right. Heck, I think Antoine Woods has had a nice camp and I think they've got plans for him in a rotation too. So I don't know. I don't see a lot of veterans getting surprise cuts, but I guess we never know, but injuries. Injuries always factor in, right, and hopefully they

get through this. These last few days of practice proport to cut down in good shape. I I didn't expect to see Leonard poor Nick get cut either. That's fair. That's fair. I tend to lean with Rob as well, where I don't necessarily think any of those veterans are going to be cut whenever the time comes. I just think there's a possibility, and there's conversations that are being had.

Like Isaiah said, it's a nervous week for anybody who's even in those conversations because of when you walk in the building, you don't know what that time is going to come. Now, before we take the next break, I wanted to ask one more question. We've talked about the secondary and will continue to do so, and yes, Earl Thomas his name will come up in the next segment, but I wanted to ask one more thing about this

defensive line. A rich leave. Mike McCarthy said he would like to keep six edge rushers and four interior defensive linemen. Is that something that you say still see even with maybe some of the question marks in the secondary what we've seen back there, or is that just kind of a testament to the amount of talent that they have them a defensive line and the kind of rotations that they're wanting to have guys. Well, I think you know that'd be ten defensive lineman doing Texas A and m

Aggie math That's ten defensive lineman. That's not too many, that's not excessive. And I was just kind of going through little roster exercise during practice with Dave Hellman and looking at the secondary guys. We talked about the versatility you might be able to if everybody's healthy, that's that's the key. But maybe go lighter in the secondary just because they have so many guys that can play different spots.

I mean. Maurice Linguists, the new DB's coach along with Al Harris, talked to the media over the weekend and said basically told all our guys, you played deep, you don't play safety or corner exclusively. Now. I think there's probably some exceptions there, but the point is they want to cross train their guys there, so that impacts maybe what they do at the end of the day in the secondary with the fifty three well, and I think

there's still plenty of tough decisions to be made. But Todd Archer and talking with him this week, and I think he actually tweeted this out, he said he could really cut the roster down to forty nine if he really wanted to. It's the next four that's really confusing because you don't know if it's going to be what

position here or that position there. It's going to be very tedious back and forth of figuring out who those next four guys could be, just based off of what is the need for the Cowboys heading into the twenty twenty season. But when we come back, is Earl Thomas a legitimate thought process because of the secondary question March, we'll talk about that and debate it. We bring back the debate next here. I'm talking cowboy. I'm Jay Nobachik, former tight end for the Dallas Cowboys back in the day.

I was the guy who always got the tough yards and that's why I run with John Deer today. In fact, I have a John Deer three zero twenty five E tractor that can handle any yard work I need to do, even the tough yards way out back. So if you have one acre or a thousand, John Deer has the equipment that's just right for you. Visit a John Deer dealer today and run with us. We are the official

tractor provider of your Dallas Cowboys. Selor is a proud sponsor of the Dallas Cowboys, helping fans see more and do more with our best vision solutions. Our lens technologies reveal a world more beautiful than you can imagine. For a limited time, get the slur next Gen offer, where you buy the latest generation of Transitions lenses with select SLOR lenses, you can choose a second pair of clear

lenses for free with qualifying frame purchases. Restrictions apply. Find a participating eyecare professional by visiting slor usa dot com. See more, Do more. We're back in a tasty treat that's sweeping air waves and taste buds. It's new doctor pepper and cream soda. Let's take a listen, Doctor Baba cream soda. Is he a Newcombonut's music to My Ears? Okay, Doctor baer time Glass Music to my Ears and mouth? New doctor pepper and cream soda? What delas? Just do

ba want to use? What the pros use? How about the official men's skincare brand of the Dallas Cowboys, Jack Black. Right now you can get the Jack Black Starter, a curated collection of Cowboys locker room favorites, for just ten bucks with free shipping. The starter includes four Jack Clack skincare favorites, plus a full sized and tense therapy lip bomb. Go to get Jack Black dot com slash Cowboys and use the code word team JB. That's get Jack Black

dot com slash Cowboys. The Jack Black Starter ten bucks, free shipping to Talking Cowboys. Back here on Talking Cowboys, the final weekly show of Talking Cowboys here of the offseason, as we moved back to daily starting next Tuesday. Now we'll be at a different time next Tuesday. Just wanted to let you guys know. Starting next Tuesday, it'll be nine thirty Talking Cowboys Live. So hey, wake up, get

your coffee, get your breakfast, eat a donut. You know, read the newspaper and listen to talking Cowboys apart, we'll be a part of your morning routine throughout the twenty twenty season. So it's gonna be a taboys super excited for everybody and really the entire season that's coming up. But guys, I was reading an article yesterday and you, guys, I don't know if you knew I could read, but I can so Bill Awesome, Bill Barnwell, Thanks ECMA, Bill

Barnwell ESPN dot com. He does great work over there. He wrote a twenty Contenders article and there Achilles heel for each of the twenty contenders, and the Cowboys were a part of the twenty contenders, and he put the Cowboys Achilles heel as cornerback and he said the expected starter was Jordan Lewis at the cornerback spot. Now, of course he could have named a couple of guys there, but he said Jordan Lewis is the top cornerback at the moment and that that spot is the Achilles heel.

And I kind of looked at it and I thought about it, and I was like, you know, sure it's a question mark spot, but is it really the number one Achilles heel for the Dallas Cowboys, and heck will start with you, do you agree or do you disagree? And if you disagree, who what is that Achilles heel? Well, one of the things I have to say is that way to go out on a Lambarnwell and point out

that our Achilles hill is the cornerback position cloud. He had to do some extensive research to put that article together, right, I find I sense some sarcasm and you're being facetious a twinge, Um, but I don't. But but Kyle, I disagree. And the reason why I disagree with that is because of the way that we have showed up our defensive line. I think it's safety. I really do. I believe that safety has been our Achilles hill for a very long time, and it has plagued us in some really big games.

If you go back to Minnesota, if you go back to the Green Bay game, heck, if you go back to the Rams playoff loss from two three years ago, it was our safeties that I mean, it got us burning,

and it was through the middle of the field. And so now I feel like, with you know, our defensive tackles, our linebackers, and hopefully bringing those safeties on a one safety in particular, I feel like that's gonna solve your issue at the cornerback position, because look, there are okay cornerbacks that are supported by great safeties that end up looking good. And I just feel as though if you have a guy like Digs, you know he's young, he's

gonna give up some some some plays early on. But I think that having that safety help behind him is going to help that maturation process. Isah, I would have to tell that gentleman, not so fast, my friend, Uh, get get the corner that pencil exactly. Yeah, we're good at corner. We're young at corner, but we do have some some vets sprinkled in there, and we have two great defensive back coaches um as well to teach them there. That's not our Achilles Hill by any means. As HECKMA

just alluded to. Our front seven is nasty and make nasty, as I would like to say. Um. And you know, it's a lot easier to cover somebody for two and a half seconds than it is to have to cover them for four seconds. So I can tell you there's a lot of corners who may not be cover corners that all of a sudden become really good in this league when that front seven is nasty like we have so, Um,

that is definitely not Achilles Hill. They kills Hill, as he said, is the safety position, Rob Go ahead and give your agreed disagree, But then I've got to I've got a rebuttal for mister Isaiah standback. What I would say, Well, go ahead and do that. Actually, I'm okay, let me ask. I wanted to ask the question back, are we really sure this front seven is going to be nasty? Because there's a lot of questions. Alden Smith hasn't played in five years, Everson Griffin's in a new system. Who's in

the middle of this defensive line? Is it? Neville Gallimore is at Tristan Hill is a Tyrone Crawford. All three of those guys are question marks to me. Sure Tim Bords is a solid, solid choice. But is nasty the right word for this front seven? Yes, yes, it is that. Nasty is not the right word. Nasty? Okay, Nick nasty upfront? Okay, our line is stupid. Okay, it's it's it's ridiculous. Okay, it's absolutely stupid is a good word in this Contextum?

So they are absolutely insane our linebackers are there's no weeks spite out our linebackers. Only thing you can say about our linebackers or if they get hurt, well, I mean that's the only that's all you can say, right, while yeah, yeah, but while they're healthy. There's some goons, right, We got three goons behind a whole slew of other goons right there. We don't even know who's gonna be in there at any point a time, any given time,

this guy's gonna be rotating left and right. Guys are gonna be fresh, Guys are vets, Guys got moves that we haven't even seen since Michael Jackson bad and they're still gonna be pulling those things out because they're not going to be out there every play. So our front seven is nice and shirt up our safety positions where we're weak. Right, we're talking about how how Xavier was twe tweaked this growing right and in the Blue and White Knight the other day, Right, that's been reported, So

how fast does he come back from that? Who's behind him? Right, who's the sure fit after him? Right? So there's a lot of questions there. You don't have that problem. We just law ever sing Griffin ever sing Griffin, we just lost and and we talked about it for a day, right why because our depth is so is so we have everything Griffin. What did I say? I'm so sorry problemize.

Uh yeah, Jerry McCoy. We just lost McCoy and we're not even talking about it because we have guys like that, right that can step in and take his position and take his place. Um So, d line, we're good. For our linebackers, we need some more depth, but our starters are good. It's the safety position, all right, rab I would throw out first of all, I don't think corner is a weakness. I think the numbers are really good there.

And treyvon Digs if he can make this much improvement in two weeks after no spring, if he continues this trajectory, then he's gonna play a lot and he's going to be successful as a rookie. I you know, I had reservations about a lot of rookies just not having the time they need, but he just continues to get more more confident. I mean, you can see it out there, and so that's really encouraging. I'll just throw out one name to help at the safety position. Potentially how about

Daryl Worley? How about number two? Because I mentioned last segment how they feel like different guys can help at different spots in the secondary corner safety cross train, and Worley is. The more I watch him, he's played, he plays a lot of different spots if needed. He played safety last year late in the season for the Raiders. I think after they release Swearinger, I just the more I watch him. I mentioned the numbers at corner and it's hard to get, you know, a rotation in my

mind if everybody's healthy. But he's a guy more I watched like, you got to find a spot for him. So I wonder if he's part of that that thinking of, you know, if we do have an injury at safety or just part of the overall rotation, maybe he gets some work there. Who knows, But I just really I think that's a really underrated signing that they've made well. And that's also kind of that's what we kind of talked about in the offseason. It's that there are a

couple of those cornerback spots. And this is why I thought this article was specifically intriguing to me because I agree with you guys, I do think the safety spot as the achilles heel of this defense and of the team in general. And it's because I think the corner spot has enough depth to where you can throw guys back as silence and we let me, let me, let me get in. I want to I want to bring this up for I forget this point. Man. When you

talk about the safety's position. Also look at the NFC East, right, because that's what we want to do. We want to win the NFC East. And the NFC East is full of some really quality tight ends. Right when you look at Philadelphia and what they have would arguably two of the best in the league aside from the guy San Francisco and Kansas City, but also in New York with Ingram,

that's tight end. Those guys are attacking the seam on everything that they an old joke and the way that offenses that have evolved, you depend a lot on your safeties. And so it's horton that the Cowboys get that position shored up so that we know going into those division games that we have quality behind the linebackers to go man to man if we have to go to our nicol Lar don packages to trust one of our safeties and there's a really good cover corner out there on

the street. I don't have to say his name again, but another man's trash is another man's treasure. Come on, be our treasure. I'm just saying, come on, guys, let's make it make sense sense. And here's where the debate comes back, because we're talking about moving corners back and we're depleting the depth that we have at that position, especially after a couple of guys have been banged up throughout training him Jordan Lewis, Xavier Woods. You also have

Cheeto Lousier. All three of those guys have been banged up in the secondary, and you're moving guys back there. It's been reported about Reggie Robbinson moving back there. There's always the possibility of moving around Daryl Worley in that defense.

I think with the injury to Xavier Woods, and I know the conversations we had last week about Earl Thomas and the free agent market and exactly where that stands now with the severity of Xavier Woods kind of being unknown, his injury being unknown at the point, I'm not there yet, but if it comes out where he's missing a couple of weeks and there's a lag in the safety position. I wouldn't be against I wouldn't be against going and trying to find a guy on the open market, most notably,

his name might be Earl and end with Tom. I knew he was gonna come around. Yeah, I still have my reservations because I still want to know what happened in Baltimore. That's a top notch organization. It's a it's a benchmark organization that knows exactly how to have those players and personnel decisions. They make great decisions in the draft, they do it in free agency all the time. They've built from the ground up as a personnel department in Baltimore.

Why was it the decision made to not only by them, but by their players as well, to say we need to get this guy out of here. I have my reservations. But now let's getting to the point where and I'll ask you guys this question too, are the Cowboys getting desperate at safety? Because I feel like that might be the case. I say, it gets what d Xavier Woods is gonna be fine, right, I think he'll be fine, right, Yeah, I think And soft tissue injuries we've talked about those

those happened, Those are gonna happen. They're gonna first week of the season, you guys are gonna see a ton of them. Um. But listen, Earl is the sure thing I'm telling you guys from the standpoint. I don't know what the heck he's been going through here recently. I hope that he gets you know, that he that he's okay mentally, and all the other chances, whatever personal issues he has going on as affecting him in that regard, because the Earl that I know doesn't represent anything that

we've heard here as of late. So if that, if that earl is somewhere in him somewhere, then he is worth every risk that you can possibly take, because guess what, you can always cut him, right, You can always cut him. And that's why there's a reason why I don't want to throw too much speculation, but I'm gonna ahead and sprinkle it out there anyway. How many times does an all pro safety sit on the market this long? They don't.

So when I talk about the fact that veterans, if there is any speculation in terms of his character right now, nobody wants to guarantee him a whole year. So what happens They wait till after the first week, get a season, and then what happens get him. Yeah, that's a that's a different it's not a difficult thing. And when I think about old tom So, I think about any quality safety, I always think about a guy that played for the Cowboys,

Larry Brown. It's the Larry Brown, Larry Brown, m MVP and Super Bowl in EP But in part because of what he had sitting behind him, Woodson, Washington, Everett, those safeties made it possible for a guy like Larry Brown to make a name in the NFL. And I think you get the same with a veteran with veteran with veteran leadership. And so that's when I think in my imagination that if we could possibly pull this off, that's the kind of effect that I feel like him as

an acquisition would bring to our cornerback room. And also and also call let's not forget about the fact that when players are unhappy, they would do whatever they know is required to get out of a situation. Not saying that that's what he did. I'm not saying that that's what he did. I think he required. That's another story that we don't need to talk about anyways, Rob, what's your what's your feel on that? I'm just listening to the man, Jerry Jones. If he doesn't close the door,

that I'm not going to close the door. So we'll see what happens. And again, injuries happened. So the look of your position might be good one day and it can vastly change the next day. So uh, but you know, there's not a I can't think of a more accomplished player in the last few years. It's just sitting out there.

So it is unusual. And I would just say TVD. Yeah. Well, and Jerry said TVD this morning on one or five point three the fan, he said, it's misleading to say that we have had those conversations, But it's also misleading to say that we have not, which is about as riding the fence as you can potentially get on a certain situation. But that's where they stand right now as it comes to Earl Thomas. So guys, we've got to get out of here. Our time is up, which is

crazy because I could have talked. I could have talked like this like every day this week throughout how about let's how about let's do that next week. Let's talk about this every day nine thirty starting on Tuesday. How's that sound to you. So we'll be back here on

Talking Cowboys next Tuesday, nine thirty am. Be sure to press that subscribe button and follow all of us on the social media sites because until then, this is Kyle Yeoman's Rob Phillips, heck Ma Harrison, and Isaiah's standback saying so long for Talking Cowboys. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.