Talkin' Cowboys: Front Office View

the Hall of Fame game. Because we have got football on the horizon and a busy week ahead here for the Dallas Cowboys. As of course, I'm always joined by Rob Phillips, Mickey's Bag Nola, I'm Kyle Yeoman's and busy weekend to head for the Cowboys. No such thing as a true off day until Monday. We had a regeneration day yesterday, at least the players did. Still got to hear from a couple of coordinators in some of the front office as well throughout the latter part of this

past week. But hey, it's starting to get ato exciting times, Rob about this Dallas Cowboys team and finally getting back into action. How many practice. We got until the Hall of Fame game three, three and a day off in between, so you know, it's it's the last little hurdle for the offense and defense to get their installs in before that game. And you know, the last chance for not the last chance in camp, but the last chance for

guys to kind of show out. And as dan Quinn said, see what guys can do, See what guys have earned in terms of snaps and roles early on here. And you know, we expect a lot of young guys to play in that game, but but every single rep counts, so we'll see who steps forward today. Yeah, they should be a good crowd. By the ways, gonna be a lot of people out. Let me tell you how good it is, because I rode down Ventura going north and at seven o'clock in the morning, there were forty six

cars lined up to come in. Oh right, they were. They block off a lane over there, and then they let them go into the into the shoulder, and then yeah, they took up my bike lane right. And then on the way on the way back, when it was probably five minutes to eight, there were one hundred and twelve cars already lined up to come in. People were like almost tailgating for breakfast on the side of the road, right, they're taking pictures looking at the river bottoms, you know,

doing whatever. But it was so I don't think they let them in till like ten ten thirty, So it was two and a half hours, two hours before they can get in. But boy, they were gonna get in. They weren't gonna get left out. So and by the way, if anybody's coming and just happens to have a VIP pass, oh yeah, you don't have to get in the one hundred and twelve car line. You can get in the five car line. How about that. Wow, that'll be the best tip you get in this next forty five minutes.

I didn't realize it was Saturday until you said that, Kuy. Yeah, I didn't and doesn't feel like it, No, But when we see the crowd out there, you're gonna know what's Saturday? How every day here is Tuesday? Right, pretty much pretty much every days day or whatever. But you know what I could tell it was Saturday because there was less traffic on the roads. Uh. And they were setting up you know where larcenses in that little uh the collection collection. Uh.

They were setting up a farmer's market. Oh okay, yeah, it looks like they had some pretty good produce getting ready to Okay, I'm be bought. I'm sure they did. I'm sure they did that. I wonder how many of these about the fall out. I wonder how many of the two hundred cars are listening to talking cowboys and are like, oh, what about that produce stand back there? Yeah all right? Or the VIP tip that make just of them. But I probably just caused a bunch of

people to try. Let's get into that VIP later. Hopefully two hundred of those cars are listening to talking cowboys.

I don't know, we'll see. Um let's go ahead and talk about what we heard from some of the coordinators yesterday and keeping it on the track of the Hall of Fame game, and of course, like Rob said, it's gonna be an opportunity for some of these younger players, these guys fighting for roster spots, fighting for spots on the depth chart, to uh, to really show out and to to show what they have for this coaching staff more so than than any other time. And Dan Quinn

talked to it yesterday. He said, anytime you get the chance to compete. It's a big thing, and a lot of people will like to ride off the Hall of Fame game and say, man, it's it's not gonna be the starters, it's not going to be the stars on display in Canton. However, there is a lot that's gonna

come out of what's happening on Thursday. You know, if you if you listen to what some of the people are saying, Um, there's a fifty three man roster, and I know you you mentioned the coordinators, but you know they're I bet they're looking at seventy guys have a legitimate chance to make that fifty three. So yeah, you better not have a bad day, right And like we said the other day, you know, Jordan Lewis has been out rehabbing. I think he had a a little bit of a I don't know if it was a knee

or a growing something like that. And Maurice Kennedy stepped up and has like caught the attention of the coaching staff. So yeah, I think today and tomorrow will be really significant practices in pads because that Tuesday before they leave on Wednesday for Cleveland to go to the Hall of Fame game. It's probably going to be somewhat of a let's get the guys some looks at what we think Pittsburgh's gonna do. Right, So Cards, Yeah, have the bonnet a little bit. The bonnets might come out maybe a

little bit. Cards. So yeah, these two practices are are are really significant. And as we've seen, there's upgraded competition at the cornerback spot, the safety spot, linebacker, and well name it, name the position and I'll give you some competition. It kind of goes to what we talked about I think in our first show Rob when we got here to Oxnard Us. There is not a spot on this defense maybe outside of DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory that

can't be up for competition. There's there's really no spot on that defense that's safe more or less. Yeah, I mean, I mean, I think there's certain positions I would expect Layton vander esh okay, whether Micah Parsons is a starter or not, he's gonna play a ton. But but there's competition, there is there's competition. Stephen Jones actually met with the media a couple of days ago and said, fifty three man roster like mix said. He actually said sixty five guys.

Sixty five that was trying to remember that number. Yeah, there's there's sixty five guys that can make the you know, play for anybody. You know. Now, that doesn't mean twelve of the cuts they have to make eventually will all get claimed, but that's how they feel about the competition, and I think, you guys good problem. It's a good problem to have if that's you know, in their mind,

that's what they feel like. I think a couple of spots in particular, you guys mentioned corner safety, the DBS figuring that out because you know, sometimes there's some overlap with guys who could do both figuring that out and then d line because tackle in particular figuring out that that group, because it's a pretty solid group in terms of depth, And that's not even counting Tristan Hill, who's on PUP and who knows may start the season on PUP as well. Yeah, they may put him in the

back pocket. Yeah and say, look, we we've got all these guys and all want to cut somebody that I really like, But we can save a spot with Tristan Hill on PUP and let him go six weeks and then see what happens. And if you listen to Mike McCarthy when he's talking about the roster, and he doesn't look at it in terms of fifty three. He looks at it in terms of sixty eight, meaning there's fifteen guys you're gonna go on the practice squad. And so he's looking at sixty eight and you know, you only

got nineties, so you're not eliminating that many guys. And unlike last year, they're gonna have to start cuts along the way. It's not gonna be ninety to fifty three or whatever they did last year. I can't remember, but there's going to be cut to eighty five and eighty and you know, going along. So yeah, five on August seventeenth. Okay, so right before the second preseason game. I'm sorry, it's

in between the second and the third. So yeah, you all, And and look the three positions that I identified on on offense that need to be solidified, the backup spots, none of that that's settled yet. We don't we think we know who might be the backup quarterbacks since Garrett Gilbert's going second, and they kind of said he's number two because he's taken Dak's snaps. But there's still competition there, and there's still competition with whoever might get released maybe

at the end of a training camp. There's competition at the left tackle position. I don't think anybody has stood out there to take that swing tackle spot. So in my mind still Zach Martin's the swing tackle, with Connor McGovern going to play guard. And then the backup center. Who's the backup center. I don't know that anybody said, Okay, I can do this in an NFL game, right And we heard Kellen Moore say something about, well, Joan Looney's not here yet or not here now here right now?

Is not here right now? Yeah, And so that tells me that, Okay, you guys that are trying to be the backup center better go Jumbo on speed dial. Would yes, I would. They may even have a plane ticket for him right just whenever, you know. So, yeah, I think the competition there is we hasn't not been settled yet,

and to me, those are three very important positions. Going back to Stephen talking with the media a couple days ago, one quote he had about the quarterback spot backup quarterback, he said, we liked them all, but it's it's the same line of thinking that we've heard throughout the offseason. He said, we feel good about it. As I said, if we see something that makes us better, then we're always open to it. They're they're going to keep their

eyes open also depending on how guys perform. Now, we don't know how much time more time Deck's gonna miss in practice throwing. For now, the reps are wide open, and they might be wide open for a couple preseason games, we don't know at this point. Definitely for this first game, I would think so it's an opportunity for all three backups. But look, they've added guys the first week or two of the regular season for changed their quarterback dynamics, So

I would not rule out anything at that position going forward. Well, even look at the guy that's currently the backup quarterback or currently QB two, what where? When? When was he signed last year week eight of the season going into Week nine, and then he started Weak ten against Pittsburgh. So I mean, there is that possibility that your backup quarterback is not on this roster right now, kind of

like how Mick alluded to a little bit earlier. And I think that's that's comforting in the fact that, hey, those backup quarterback spots have not looked impressive during their time out in Knoxnard. There's still a long way to go until you really need them in terms of week one or week two of the regular season, but they're gonna get a lot of raps coming up now. Well.

And the other thing when you were talking about those guys, so yesterday was the first full practice they got right without withoutout Dak there, and the ball wasn't going down the field. Not a lot of tight end checkdowns running backs. And I don't know if that was kind of in the game plan to practice that type of stuff, But I can only think of two or three four passes that wentn't down the field. The one to m cd lamb, he made the diving reception at the goal line, the

lack I think, yeah. Then the one at the end to McKean for a touchdown, made a nice catch the back of the end zone. But a lot of stuff they were practicing it was, you know, red zone twenty five yard in and it was a lot of checkdown. So I'm going to see if these guys now. The other thing is, you know, the defensive front has done a really good job putting pressure on the quarterbacks. And it doesn't matter seemingly if it's the first team or

the second team. Especially the second team. Uh yeah, those guys have got to step up on And that's why I'm somewhat concerned about the backup tackle spot, because I don't know that anybody has got their hand up in the air and said this is my spot. And that includes tied n Secki, the veteran, Josh Ball, their fourth round draft choice, and even Terrence Steele, who got a ton of reps last year or snaps because he ended up starting I think nine or ten games. I don't

think anybody has stepped up yet. No, I don't think so at all. Now, I kind of want to go back to what Stephen Jones was talking about, and he said a couple of different things when he met with the media the other day, but he also talked about guys who stuck out to him, and the first name off his tongue was Kelvin Joseph. No, it was Fat exactly. He called him fat boss Man Fat. As of course, as his music name goes, he goes by. But what

have you seen from Calvin Joseph. He was limited in the last practice, so it's been a couple of days. Maybe we'll see him back out here today because he was on the bands with Britt Brown on Friday, but or excuse me on Thursday. But what have you guys seen from Kelvin Joseph and how has he stepped up in the regard of maybe challenging a guy like Anthony Brown for that cornerback two spot. I think that we finally saw him and he's been playing left corner behind

Anthony Brown. We saw him make a couple plays on the ball, and the thing that I've noticed with him is he has catchup speed. Cornerbacks are gonna get beat, that's just what's gonna happen. But can you catch up when the ball's in the air. And he did it twice the last couple of practices before he uh sat out the last practice or two and deflect deflected passes. So I thought that was encouraging because Rob, well, we

didn't really see him in the offseason right now. He missed like ten days because of COVID quarantine, right and so yeah, he got back out there for Mini camp, but it was like two quick practices So he's got swagger. Man, he's got he's got swag. He's he talks about it. You see him talking on the field. That's that's important. I mean, you don't want to be reckless out there as a rookie cornerback, but he's you gotta have a short memory, and I think he has that. So yeah,

you see his talent out there, his physical ability. If you see him stand next to some of the other corners that they've acquired drafted, he's different looking because he's five ten as opposed to six four or sixty three. He's not every guy that they bring in is gonna be, you know, basketball player. But he does have speed, he

does have ball skills. And but I will say this, name a cornerback on this roster, and they've probably made a play on the football, including Anthony Brown with interception. It's gonna say, Anthony Brown's looks to me like he's off to a really nice start. So I don't know if that job is going to be taken from him

very easily. Is that encouraging to you? Not only the fact that, hey, Anthony Brown is being challenged, but Anthony Brown is stepping up to the table because I feel like that's something that we haven't had from him from the expectations. He's been a solid corner. He hasn't been a bad corner, but he hasn't necessarily taken that next step that you would anticipate from a guy like that. And now is a veteran with guys behind him clamoring for his arting job. He seems to be, like you said,

off to a great start. He's got to stay healthy. Last year he was. He was injured during training camp. He played a couple of games, started, then he got injured again, miss games. He's just got to stay healthy because he is. He's the most veteran corner right yep. Off those ten my head. And you know, they signed him to a three year deal for like fifteen million dollars, so they saw something in him that they wanted to keep.

So if he keeps playing the way he is right now, you know, maybe Kelvin Joseph they got to look at him, is maybe a slot guy. See what he can do there. You don't want to overload a rookie right away and give him too many things to do. But I've always thought he's been a very good steady player. Has he been flashy, No, not really. But you know what, last year, towards the end of the year, you saw him come up with an interception. I don't remember his interception or two.

But he's he's got some skills and they've got to use him somehow, some way on that field. He could play inside, you know, so you can move him around. I don't think I've seen Kelvin Joseph really inside. Yeah, they've kept him on the outside. We talk about Laydon vander Esh's number of games missed the last couple of years, thirteen games. I think Anthony Brown's missed thirteen games the past two seasons, so I mean injuries have kept him back.

But yeah, they like him. He is a veteran guy and can and look, they can put him in different positions. So um, I don't know that that's that's one to watch. I still think week one I would expect him to be the starter. But that's it's still very very early. Whenever Mick gets out the media guy, that's when you know he's digging deep for this next stat now. But while he was on Anthony Brown, so in twenty nineteen

he started four of nine games he played. Remember he suffered the season ending injury was a tricep or bicep something like that. And then last year he play started eight of ten games, so he missed six. So six and seven is look at that job. Thank you all done? Everybody? All right? Rob? What did you What else did you hear from Steven Jones when he spoke to the media on Thursday, Oh, man, I have to go. So he mentioned Layton Vanderish I believe, who I think has played

awfully well so far. And uh, he mentioned two of the defensive tackles, Neville Gallimore and Quentin Bohannah. Uh, talking about those two guys, how they've kind of caught his eye also, so yeah, um, and and those were just kind of quick off the top of his head. After he mentioned Kelvin Joseph, if I remember correctly, Yeah. Um. He talked about Dak I know we've touched on on that a little bit. With the strange shoulder muscle. They still are optimistic he can play in preseason. Now when

that will be, we don't know. It's a day to day thing right now. Mike McCarthy said they'll kind of reevaluate him Monday, go through the weekend and see where he's at in terms of ny can he get back to throwing. But they still think he can do something in preseason, so that would be encouraging it. So let's do this with Dak. So he's not going to practice today and he's not going to practice tomorrow because he

said Monday, I'll tell us what we can do. Right, So does he get out there on Tuesday because wednesday's travel day, Thursday's the game. He's absolutely not playing, right, So Friday is an off day, Saturday you're going against the Rams, and then Sunday Monday are days off, so there's not a lot of chances to throw. So Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday of the following week our practices and then they leave Thursday late for a Friday preseason game. Am I right? Yes?

And then you're off when you get back. So I figured out that they could They could actually easily give him twelve days if they wanted to to not throw. But can you tie him down for twelve days because you know he's already out there doing everything but throwing, and as Mike said, when they do the mock game in the afternoon, he's out there, he's just not throwing. The ball, he's doing the walkthroughs, he's in all the meetings. We saw him in the drills, not throwing, but he was.

He was out there playing wide receiver for the quarterbacks catching balls. So to me, that sort of suggests that it may be just tightness, that he really didn't you do some damage in there. And according to him, yesterday or yesterday, number one, he said, if he was playing in a game and that happened, he wouldn't have come out. And number two, if that happened the week leading up to a game, he said he would have been able to play the game. He would do every here's how

he put it. I would do everything I could to be able to be ready to play the game. He said that most likely sounded like he didn't warm up well enough and then he tried a deep throw and that's probably what caused at least some of it. Don't know for sure. He also said, you know, throughout his rehab process, he was throwing football sitting down, you know, just trying to get back into it a little bit, and maybe that could have caused some stress. That's a

little unusual on the body. You know you're going if you go back all the way through a year, he hasn't thrown as much as he normally would, so you know, now he's really ramping up, and it's just hard to know for sure. But yeah, I mean, every every indication you get is this is not a serious thing. Kellen Moore of the offensive coordinator, I thought summed it up best yesterday when he said, when it's still July and we play our first game in September, we're gonna be

smart about it. I mean, when you think about an entire month gap there. Plus, they're not going to push him. There's no reason too, because the season depends on him. The season depends on him being healthy and playing at a high level. Yeah. One, I think cautiousness is definitely the number one key right now. I mean I asked you, guys, I think both during one of our other shows, what was your number one priority going into training camp? Stay healthy?

That's always the priority whenever training camp comes around. So if he has to sit out twelve days and it has to time down like you said, Mick for twelve days, I think that's something that the Cowboys should certainly consider. Now, should the Cowboys consider maybe hiring an MLB pitching coach. We're gonna answer that question and a couple other ones that are a little more relevant when we return with fans on the fifty with more talking cowboys right after this, Honey,

big news, Gary, Are you okay? Oh? I'm not Gary anymore. I'm Jackie Flash. What see? I want the latest smartphone, but the best deals are only for new customers. So to get a new customer deal, I changed my name to it Jackie Flash. Okay, but the best smartphone deals at AT and T are for everyone, new and existing customers. That's huge. Then guess who's getting the deal? Is it Jackie Flash, Jackie Flash? It's not complicated, att our best

smartphone deals are for everyone. Restrictions apply. Is it att dot com for details? New Doctor Peppers zero sugar, You deserve it. I do deserve that. You deserve decadent flavor without sugar, and a day at the beach without sand getting everywhere, and a relaxing bath that your children don't interrupt. I deserve all that. It's it's a visual metaphor for doctor Pepper zero sugar. Everything you want, nothing you don't,

a visual metaphor on the radio. I do deserve that, Doctor pepper zero sugar, the zero you deserve is finally here. Before there was a draft, you could size up a cowboy by three simple factors, the crease in his hat, the bend of his brim, and his unbending attitude a man. Stetson didn't just protect him from what life through at him, It projected a rugged, unstoppable spirit. Stetson hats are still

American made with pride right here in Texas. There's still the unofficial crown of all self respecting cowboys, and Stetson is proud to be on the field with America's team. Find a retailer nearest you at Stetson dot com slash Cowboys. There's nothing as unique as our eyes, which is why Selor pioneers ways to make lenses as unique as you. Very Lux for super sharp vision, Essential Blue for protection, and Crisolve for freedom from glare. Three cutting ex solutions

and a single unique lens. So whatever your needs, insist on Selor visit your local slor experts and find a

perfect lens for you. Seemore do Moore Slor to talk in Cowboys back here with more talking cowboys here from the camp grounds in Oxnard, California, Training Camp twenty twenty one, presented by America and Airlines continues, and whether you're watching from home or you're cheering in those ox Nard stands with l lenses, you can see every exciting play booking appointment at your local or experts and see what esselor

can do for you. See more, Do more or Mickey's Bagnola, Rob Phillips, Kyle Yeoman's with you in time now to answer some fan questions with some fans on the fifty, we don't have the sounder because Chris Beam is not running the show today. Williams doing a good job. Oh maybe there is the sounder. I don't know. He just pointed at me. We can't hear program in these heapsets, so maybe we maybe we did have it all right.

The first one comes from Bluff City Cowboys. He said, which undrafted free agents if any have stood out to you guys in practices. And I'm even gonna throw this back to last year because of the undrafted free agents not actually having a full offseason. I want to throw last year's undrafted free agents in this year's anybody stick out to you? Mickey? You know pause one guy that I was some interested in Okay. Um I forgot his

first name, Tyler Coyle safety. Unfortunately for him, the safety position just got a little bit more crowded when they brought in Malie Cooker just tad and I was thinking, that's probably the guy that might pay the price if they keep all those veterans safeties. He would at least be I think a practice squad guy. Uh. And then uh rico'dowell the the running back from last year from last year who made the team. You but you said,

go back to last year. I think he's uh. McCarthy talked about it that he seems more, Uh, he seems quicker, he's in better shape. Uh. And um, you know he's got a chance to make it as a as a third running back. Uh. And then also going back to uh Suo is that how you say it? Su the fullback. Um, I'll tell you what if they want shay Wu not su Wu, well, it's kind of spelled dead way. Um. Uh he if they need a big block back, you know, maybe one back sometimes. You know, he's kind of getting

some reps this time. So we'll he ended up on the practice squad last year. We'll see where that one goes. He borderlined being active at one point whenever Zeke was heard and he missed the game. Sha Wu was one of the guys that they were going to bring up and bring onto the squad, and they protected him a couple different times too, So I think they do feel very highly about what Alana Lua does bring to the table. It's gonna be hard for I'm sorry, it's gonna be

hard for an undrafted guy to make this team. Yes, I mean when you have eleven draft picks, not all you know, not every draft pick will make this team pop possibly so um, you know, Mickey mentioned the full back position and Mike kind of reference maybe more two back sets. We'll see, um Nick Ralston's a full back in there that you know, maybe he has an opportunity to show something in preseason because parents were here the other day, were they wow, Bill, you'll leave it to

Bill Jones, right, that's the building him. I saw an interview in these People and I'm going, who's that? And then I saw the back of the Ladies the Ladies jersey and It's had Ralston's number and his name back there. I'm thinking in the pro shop, there's probably not a lot of Ralston jerseys being sold. Probably said it's probably his parents. Brandon Smith kind of jumps out of you just just his natural ability. Um, And I know they like him coming out. They thought he was a draftable

type of prospect. But I just don't know how you crack this receiver corps. Yeah, think about this the way they're talking about Noah Brown. Yeah, and Cedric Wilson. So there's five right there. Mike McCarthy said, I love Noah one spot pretty much. Yeah, yeah there. Maybe if you keep six. Maybe if you keep six. So the the undrafted guy that stood out to me the most is the guy that made the team last year, and that's Sean mccun at tight end. And it's not it's not

just the one handed catch that he made. He had a good year last year for them. In limited snaps, I thought he was solid. So he might be able to take a jump and be the be the third tight end this year. We'll see. Well, no Blake Bell this year. And McKuen kind of filled in that role last year as the blocking said, almost that h back look in the backfield, and he was used in a lot of run packages. And like you said, even though his limited snaps. He did a really nice job and

he stood up well. Plus he's bigger this year than he was last year. So I think McKuen does does make sense in that regard, and he makes it hard for either the other rookie free agents you Banks are Land to try to even sprinkle that. Honestly, I think the team I think McKuen does have an advantage over sprinkle to make the team so far. If they're gonna take three, I mean, you've got Shultz and you got he kind of gotta keep three tight end. You gotta

have three right to rotate in. Even if you've kept a fullback, you gotta keep three tight ends. Yeah, I think you're looking at the same three as last year. Okay, this question comes from Brennan says, how should Zeke Empollard snaps be split up this season? I know it's early, but he said eighty twenty Zeke or more like fifty fifty. What do you think, Mickey, not fifty fifty, oh, closer to No. Eighty twenty. Eighty twenty would give Zeke twenty

snaps a game and Pollard maybe ten. That's sixty six percent. What which is sixty six twenty and ten. Yeah, but I'm saying, okay, whatever the percentages, it ain't gonna be fifty fifty. Zeke is still Zeke, right, and Pollard has look one of these the you know what makes me think of it? You know it's not the same. I won't do that, get into it, say it with your chest because because because because you know who else showed

up on Thursday for practice, Kevin Sweeney. So he was the star of the replacement games in eighty seven, right, he was the quarterback and ten x Shram was just enamored with him, and they kept him on the roster. They kept him the next year and finally Tom gave him a start and I think he threw like five interceptions and that was the end of that. So sometimes what my point is, you don't Pollard's good in his role?

Now do you want to over expose him? And as ze capable of twenty twenty five snaps a game, because if you if you look at when he got more opportunities save a long run or so, he was not even that one game they had a long run and he was averaging two yards a carry. And again, which

my point is going back to the offensive line. You know, they weren't very good, and Zeke was managing four yards a carry without a long run because he had to plow in there every time, and Pollard until that long run that one game, was averaging two yards a carry. So just be careful you use him in spots because I think the change of pace really messes with a defense.

They're used to the rhythm of Zeke running the balls, Zeke running the ball, and then all of a sudden, you put this guy out there and you get him outside and the speed surprises him. So I think the role he has if it was twenty ten, I think that'd be really good. When Zach Martin, I keep saying this, when he went out on Thanksgiving, they had found something in their run game, even with the other injuries on the old line. When he went out, it really affected them.

And Mickey's not wrong here. I mean the Cincinnati game eleven carries for thirty nine yards long of seventeen. San Francisco game, twelve carries for sixty nine yards long of forty, so eleven for twenty some rights for more than enough of his carries nine for twelve against Philly, So I'm not saying he's a bad He is explosive, and he was more explosive in a change of pace role than

Zeke was last year. Zeke all with stuff. You got to find a place for him, and I think you could maybe find a place for him as a pass catcher out of the backfield, more so than they've used him in the past, because that's what he did in college. Somewhat um but yeah, it's gonna it's gonna be hard to really make it a fifty fifty split. I think Zeke is still the guy now. Mike did say he doesn't z he doesn't have to be twenty five thirty.

A game carries a game. They want to get him ready for December and hopefully January and February and maybe February and the fourth quarter. That's good, that's a good point. I keep him fresh. Uh. Sticking with the offensive side, Jay asks some conflicting reports on Terrence Steel. Has he been good enough to challenge for the backup tackle spot or not? Yeah, based on this group, I think they're all I think they're all in the same mode right now.

So yeah, because they've they've basically moved Brandon Knight into guard, although he's been playing susively, right, but he yeah, exclusively, but he's gone some tackle. But yeah, right now, the three guys we mentioned earlier on the show, I think it's a dead heat. And it's not a dead heat because they're fighting for first place in the finish line

like a swimming meat. It's about got Katie Ledecki. How about her eight hundred meters eight hundred meters and she's pulling away at the end and everybody's touch She's like a machine, right. Everybody's talking about, well, this could be her last race. And they asked her and they go she goes no, she goes twenty four. It's in my sights, she's only twenty four. It's like she's not washed up. Yeah,

but she's been around for so long. Pretty impressive. I don't know how to transition, but I don't know how I got to it either, But glad you're with us here. On this edition of Talking Olympics, um Our, Buddy Kofax said, which position group do you think the team goes heavy on twelve dbs eleven offensive linemen or more defensive linemen? And I know this is a tough question because, like Stephen Joe's there's sixty five names out there that could

make this roster. They're gonna have twelve decisions to be made pretty quickly in the next couple of weeks. If you were in his shoes, what would you choose and what would you go heavy on? I this is just me from what I've seen so far. Say it with your chest. I think there's more talent in depth on the defensive line than the offensive line or even the secondary.

In the secondary, too, you can kind of you can kind of flex there a little bit with a couple of spots because you got guys who could, you know, play safety in a pinch like corner, so you can potentially go lighter in the secondary. They kept ten dbs last year. I could see eleven, Okay, I think somebody mentioned eleven. Yes, was it McCarthy did? He said eleven? He said, I could. I've seen it as high as twelve or thirteen. Yeah, I could see eleven. Defensive line.

They kept ten last year. They've got sixteen on the roster right now. I mean, you can see if I can cut six even a Justin Hamilton, who you don't think of right off the bat. Reference him yesterday, you know, and he played quite a bit last year. At times, I make he's counting, and I'm also counting looking at this roster. I mean I can probably easily cut four six, four and then five borderline. Yeah okay. And then and then it comes down to do you want to keep Gholston?

Do you want to keep an eye up? Well, he's got to get himself on the field. He's a third round pick. Yeah, I know, but still, uh, he better start getting on the field. And but the rest of the guys, I mean, when you look at it, you know, and and you know they can still do like I said, put Chris pup. So that saves a spot. From what I've been told, Doriance Armstrong is really playing well. And that didn't come from Jerry. Wow, Okay, because last year

from j Jerry wanted to talk about was Door and Armstrong. Right, Uh, Bashams looked good. Uh, you know the new guys Urban look good. Watkins is playing with the first um so yeah, I think it's a crowded group and uh, and you know that's a good thing. And look, we got a long ways to go before fifty three, right, A lot of practices and a lot of preseason games. So uh, I'll let them start knocking on wood co GMS Mickey's Bagnolan, Rob Phillips keeping defensive lineman and there's something to be

said for that too. No, it is. It's a good problem to have now, com okay, oh, okay, a raise then? Yeah? Right? Um John asked this question and I tease to going into the break, and I believe there's a little tongue in cheek here, but it's actually kind of an intriguing question. But should Dak hire an MLB pitching coach or I guess trainer to help him key up his arm fresh during the off season after the problems he's had hit the start of camp, it was probably as fresh as

it could be this laughs offseason, right, I think so. Well, he wasn't throwing that much from October till he was throw February. February, he probably didn't do a lot of throwing when when he couldn't even stand up on his own, he wasn't throwing nine routes or go routes. Maybe he should have gone to spring training bring Tom Housing right, Yeah, no, yes, no, I'd say no. I think he said he's never really experienced this before. Yeah, that that was you know that.

That's why it's it surprised him a little bit. Man. Don't don't talk about baseball round Bradsham right now. Oh my gosh, that poor guy. He's a Cups fan for Chris Bryan Gone. Actually he said he woke up this morning the TV was still on. He woke up at four am and Olympic baseball? Was that poor guy? All right, let's take our second break when we come back linebacker rankings. We gave you a home work assignment on Thursday. Let's see how both of these guys did. I'll join in

as well. We're gonna rank the four linebackers as they stand right now from what we've seen out in OSNAR. When we return to Oxnard. Here I'm talking Cowboys. Hi, I'm Clid Tillison with United Aggin Turf. Before you can park yourself in front of the game, park yourself in a John Dear and power through your chores. Our land Run package is a ten twenty five R twenty five horsepower tractor with a loader, rotary cutter and a box blade for two twenty nine a month. And the price

you see is the price you'll pay. No surprises, so don't miss another kickoff. Visit United Agginturf dot com. Offer ins February first, twenty twenty one. Restrictions applying he see dealer for details. Now let's get to work the Cowboys Way. We're sixteen Hall of Famers and five championships, shows us what success looks like. Where turkey is always the second best part of Thanksgiving Day, Where we are all defined by one single thing, the star, where we as fans

know it's our job to keep the tradition. Bank of America is proud to be the official bank of the Dallas Cowboys and to support the quest of living life The Cowboys Way. Copyright twenty twenty. Bank of America Corporation. 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, Honey, big news scary? Are you? Okay? Oh? I'm not Gary anymore. I'm Jackie Flash. What see? I want the latest smartphone, but the best deals are only for new customers. So to get a new customer deal,

I changed my name to Jackie Flash. Okay, but the best smartphone deals at AT and TA for everyone, new and existing customers. That's huge. Then guess who's getting the deal? Is it Jackie Flash, Jackie Flash? It's not complicated at AT and t Our best smartphone deals are for everyone. Restrictions apply. Is it atd dot com for details to Talking Cowboys Stadium this season, a limited number of single games standing room only tickets are on sale now. Get

yours today at Dallas Cowboys dot Com Slash Tickets. Rob Phillips, Mickey's Bagnola. Kyle Yeoman's the only live radio slash podcast going on on Radio Row in Oxtart right now. But I scared the competition away monopolized day couldn't keep up with us seven days a week, I couldn't do so now they have to go every day during the week, and then we've got a day off in between, which, by the way, reminds me join us on Monday will wrap up a busy weekend of practices, both Saturday and

Sunday practices here from Oxtarn. We'll talk about it on Monday at eleven am Central time. Okay. Homework assignment on Thursday was to watch the linebackers and see exactly how they looked. How did they look on Thursday's practice in what you've seen throughout camp, Mackey, I might have to have a four and four A how are you going to judge Keane O'Neill because he's a linebacker, but he's

not an every down linebacker. He's a change up kind of matchup linebacker, right, Okay, Um, Layton Vandersh, Michael Parsons, h Jalen Smith, and then Keane O'Neill with with Jabril Cox coming, Okay, I'm cool with five here. Then I'm cool with that, so five Okay, I'll go Uh Layton Vanderesh, Michael Parsons, Ganneil, Jalen Smith, Luke Gifford. Wow, he's getting opportunities. Okay. As a matter of fact, there was a couple of the drills they were doing that he went out their

second with Michael Parsons. Yeah. I was about to say he ran with the twos a little bit. The other day they had Yeah, they had a surprise period down on this end here where offense was backed up against their own one had to get two straight first downs to win the drill, and he ran with the second and third teams and had it. I think at least two would be stops to force the offense off the field. Con jumped out. He's got to stay healthy. Sure, he's

had problems with his health. I'm not saying Jalen's off to a bad start. It can't buy any means, But I just I think Layton, just Layton jumps out at you. Just how he's moving. He just looks great. He seems like he's in the right spot with his keys. Mike has made the most splash plays, and he's more versatile, more versatile that jumps out at you. Two. He's everywhere. I mean, he's dropping, he's rushing, he's playing inside outside slot. And I think I think Neils made some plays on

the ball. Has he little bits made at least one that I can remember, Okay a little bit, I mean not not just in team that's as much as I remember Jalen Smith making two, though not just in team. I mean I've seen him, you know, cover Zeke in a one on one drill and you're thinking, Okay, you know he's he's that's the safety in him coming out. But it's it's and we're talking about plays on the ball,

meaning pass plays. Yes, this team's got to stop the run. Great, So when we see more uh you know, drills against the run, they're not putting guys on the ground. Uh, maybe we're not going to see that until we see preseason games, right, But again, it's not judged the linebackers just on pass plays. They got to be able to stop the run. That was the biggest problem last year. They could not stop the run. Agree five yards a

carry they were giving up. My math tells me in two carries that's a first down, no doubt, no doubt. And look, we are not experts at this watching practice, knowing everybody's assignments. Knowing I mean, Micah Parsons could be having a bust here and there that we don't see, but we see him pick off a pass and we're thinking he's having a great practice. You see these flash plays and it kind of deters your thoughts away from from a good practice to a bad practice pretty quickly.

But he you see him penetrating against the run, and you see him getting in the right spot, like picking the right gap to hit against the run. It's remarkable for a guy that didn't play football last year. Well, and a lot of what dan Quinn was talking about yesterday was about the linebackers and in these plays and in these these scenarios where there's a lot of run defense and you're trying to get the run established, and

that's really what they did on Thursday. You're looking for leverage, You're looking for positioning leverage and where you're hitting a guy because you're not gonna put Tony Pollard, Ezekiel Elia, whoever's running the football on the ground. You're not gonna put him on the ground. So you're looking to be where you're going to hit him from where that leverage is.

And I think that's why I would probably still put Jalen Smith third, because he has had a couple of those looks and Keane O'Neil he hasn't had the flash plays he's had, Like you said, he's gotten his hand on a couple of balls, but he hasn't made the flash plays and it's harder to see what he's doing. However, I do like Keyan O'Neil better in coverage than what I've seen from Jalen Smith in coverage, and that's pretty over. That's a pretty easy, uh thing to look that look at.

But I'm just trying to change it up a little bit. No, I agree change and I agree when I think the seat when the season starts, I think Jalen Smith will have more snaps than Neil. That's that's that's my guess. But I feel like you would be bold going the other way. Yeah, so I would say, by the way, Layton Vandersch, Michael Parson, Wait, so who's Neil Smith? Who's

Neil replacing? When he's on the field, he would just rotate in at the SEC probably with late A team, right, Okay, I'm just I mean, I wouldn't take my best linebacker off the field, not a lot, a lot, but not taking Parsons off the field. He would replace Jalen Yeah, in change up right, Yeah, I feel like that was the original plan. Yeah, because if if if you look at what they've done when it's been three linebackers on the first team, it's been Jalen, Layton and Parsons. Well,

what is Jalen Smith's best attribute? It's running downhill? Right, Yeah, middle linebacker. What is Keona'neil's best attribute playing on the edge being in coverage? Yeah, there's your changeup. But you got to take somebody off the field. So you're taking Jalen and Layton off, maybe putting Michael Parsons out there. We've seen a lot of a lot of sets with eleven and forty two. I know, I know, I know.

But if they're lining The encouraging thing to me is if teams are lining up in base offense or two tight ends, they're going out there with three linebackers, none of this nickel stuff and bringing us skinny bone safety to play linebacker. They're not the run. No, they better not. I think they will. That's why they got in trouble. Last year's Mickey's biggest pet peeve of the season. Not having a strong side linebacker on the field against two

tight ends. I think you're gonna be out of luck again. I think they're gonna do a lot of that. Well, then why are they practicing three linebackers out there. They are with the first team and then well, I don't why when they go nickel. I don't want three linebackers out there. I'm talking about bass, gotcha. They better have three of them out there and stop the run. Twenty five hundred yards they gave up running the ball. That just doesn't compute and against the run. I wouldn't qualify

Neil as a skinny bone safety. No, no, I mean taking a phrase two years ago, but they would put they would put Xavier Woods in a linebacker. I agree with you, but I'm just saying, like, like Dan Quinn told us yesterday, he tricked Neil into thinking he was a safety, but he was as fine and played around the box. His whole career is two twenty something. He's heavier than that, right, Yeah, he's definitely beat there. He looks than that. He looks like a linebacker. See what

he weighed in a two twenty five. I don't know how many snaps he's gonna play. I just know that the ten or fifteen, the decordinator likes him, knows him, trusts him. Yeah, he understands the defense. Yeah, I mean I think he's gonna be out there so I think it's gonna be a matchup thing. How they have guys that can match up even in nickel, how they can match up with who the other team has on the field.

Which I love that because they've had they've had defenses out there when Parsons has been out there and they've lined him up on in the slot, like if the running back goes out into the slot or he they put Parsons out there on him. And he's been on wide receivers too, and because they don't know if he's covering or if the Cowboys are in own and he's blitzing from out there, and I think that that's boy,

He's He's really important in that type of scheme. One of the first practices of the of the camp, Michael Parsons was about thirty yards downfield having to cover Cede Lamb over the middle because they were playing zone and he was not blitzing off the edge, but he was covered outside in the slot and he had to rotate

as assignment. He kept up pretty well I think with Ceedee Lamb and that was a scrambled play, yes, and he ended up on the goal line with CD and CD did not come down with the football, which is saying something because he's been fantastic throughout this camp really quickly before we wrap things up as the helicopter final. If that's like a third one that's come back, they're loaded day. Yeah, they are. Thoughts on dan Quinn calling

the defense from the press box level. My friend Rob I was a little surprised just because not knowing that he's done that in the past, just because he's so hands on. Yeah, you know you kind of he reminds you of Rod Marinelli a little bit, who was on the field that you know, when he coached all the defense. But I get it. I think probably that would be the most logical thing. I would think, if you want a bird's eye view and you don't have all this noise down there, you get a better view up top

than you do down on the field. So I would understand why he would want to do that. So it helps out that George Edwards is on the sideline, and so you've got with You've got you've got a defensive coordinator, a guy that's been the defensive coordinator in multiple spots on the sideline with you, So that that I think helps out with the communication. He said there'd be a couple of guys up in the booth with him. He didn't say who, but yeah, that would make sense to

have George down on the field. I would imagine one of the dB coaches would be up there. They would probably keep is a dirty the kind of assistant on the field along with Leon thinking Al Harris would probably be on the field because he's a pretty hands on guy too. That both of those dB coaches are on the field, Yeah, they'll have uh, the other linebacker coach McCurley up I bet Um and if there's any other defensive assistant that they can they can put up two.

Hey how about how about Hunter the punter two field goals? Kick two field goals. They were like thirty five yarders, twenty four and thirty five. Had a donk from forty seven forty seven. He hit the left upright and they were keeping score. So if you if you tried to field goal and you missed, it was the other team got eight points and they were sitting there going this is to win it. This is to win it that

it hit the upright from forty seven. Goodness, Hunter the punter handling the punting and kicks and you know what next show we need to talk about that. Okay, I think we're out of time. We are, uh Williams shaking his head, he was like, yes, talk about that. We have not we have not seen the kicker kick anything yet and until that, no, I mean the kicker. Oh, Greg's are line, Yes, Greg leg and you know that

back surgery should have been cleared up. I don't know if he's got something else, but he has not kicked one that we've seen in practice, and I don't know if that's a concern or not. When you're backup, kicker is your punter? Well, tune in on Monday Must see television. It's the kicker punter battle here on Talking Cowboys. We will hit it and we will talk about it. But we've got plenty more that we're gonna hit from this

busy weekend of practices. But until next time. From Oxnard for Rob Phillips, I'm making or excuse me, he's Mickey's bagnar I am always I got a little ahead of myself there, he's Mickey's Bagnola. I'm Kyle Yeomen. So long from Oxnard here on Talking Cowboys. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club