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This He's Talking Cowboys Training live from Dallas Cowboys Training Camp in Oxnard, Cali.
Straight Chat set, Kitty textdown, and now your hosts Isaiah Standback, Nick Harris, John Mashoda, and Kyle Yeomans.
It's time for a Tuesday edition of Talking Cowboys, presented by Black Rifle Coffee Company, live from Oxnard, California, in the site of training Camp twenty twenty three.
We've got half the.
Crew here this week after having everybody here last week, which is uh, it's it's unfortunate, but it's exciting. What's up, Nick Harris, I'm doing good.
It's so lonely over here. It's over our people are gone, but no, I'm excited.
It feels like the last week of camp there's not a single radio road ten All of the cushy radio stations have gone back to hide in their studios and they've kind of just been just missing for the last week and a half two weeks. And then you've got the media. There's just select media that are kind of hanging around. These are the real Cowboys. Reporters, right, this is for the real grinders.
This is for the real grinders.
That's what it is. Speaking of a real grinder, Nate Newton. I called him a couple of minutes ago and I said, hey, we only have two on the show today. Is there any way you can make it. He's on his way. So we've got reinforcements coming, just like the Dallas Cowboys. They do have a reinforcement coming. And that's probably the top story about training camp. But we'll get to the
preseason game. We'll get to how I kind of let Cowboys Nation talking Cowboys Nation down by not saying Zebras or no cap or whatever it was on the broadcast. That's all on me. I didn't say any of them. I let Beam down, as he's letting me know back behind. Yeah, I let everybody down in that regard. But I had a lot of fun calling the game. We'll talk about that in a moment. Talk about that in the second segment.
But first, Zach Martin is back on campus and it feels like there should be a parade for the guys. He walks us in or bikes in or whatever ends up happening. Yeah, Captain is here.
I think it comes at a really a really important time. I know we talked about it on the Camping Out podcast last night, but you had said early on in this whole ordeal that I think he'll be back right after the first preseason game, And sure enough, you were right. He came in that news broke yesterday afternoon, and he came in yesterday evening. It was funny because me and Patrick No Si Walker, a former you know, trader of the show.
By the way, he's.
Gonna be back on Thursday, so he will.
That's baking news for the entire world to know.
But we were we were out sticking out front just kind of waiting on him to walk in, you know, just so just so we know when he walks in, and Haley Sutton and our team photographer Kleena Williams, they walk up to us.
They had been, you know, somewhere else the whole day.
They're like, hey, did you'll see Zach And we were we were like, no, he hasn't walked in yet, and it's like he's right over there, like how did we miss him walking in?
So it was kind of a funny moment yesterday. But yeah, he was. He was all smiles yesterday.
He got the RAIS that he wanted, and it works for both sides financially, because I think the problem that the front office was running into was, Yeah, we really want to give Zach what he wants and what he's earned, but at the same time, we have to give extensions to these guys like Michael Parson's, Ceedee Lamb, potentially Tony Pollard down the line, Terrence Steele.
I mean, the list goes on.
So you had to if you gave money to Zach and an extension, then it had to take sacrifice to those guys. But they were able to restructure it to where it's not an extension. He just gets an eight million dollar RAIS over the next two years. That doesn't really affect those extension talks. Those guys still have the same amount of money on the table, So it works
for both sides financially. But I think more important than anything, it gets Zach Martin back on the field at a really important time here at training camp and before week one, because you know, in an offense where the running game still needs to be established on behind Tony Pollard, you need a guy like Zach Martin to help us. I let's hate that run game at right guard. And it gives you your best player on the offensive line, So that's gonna help with a new offense overall.
It gives you a leader, it gives you a presence, and it gives you just some added stability, which I think all three things are something that Dallas needed up front. I mean it's no secret. I mean this is a young offensive line. This is an offensive line that needs a guy like Zach Martin in the fold. And it's been unfortunate to not see him out on the field. We haven't really had the chance to talk about it a lot, just because I mean, it is what it is.
He's holding out and he's not here, and nothing really changed. It didn't look like it was going to change. I'm happy that it did, though, because now you've got a chance to move forward. It feels like this team was doing everything they could up to a certain point, because up to that certain point, you don't have Zach Martin, and if you don't have Zack Martin, it's hard to really further your ball club. Now they can continue to
push forward together, and that's what I'm excited about. He'll probably see the limited reps he's been working out, he's been working with coach Merriweather back at a I'm back in Dallas, and he's been active all the way through. But then now he's got a chance to get these live reps in practice and he's going to continue to push forward. So what do you expect from Zach Martin this week? Whenever you get a chance to sit down and finally watch him on the field, how do you feel like he'll fair?
Yeah, it's probably going to be a ramp up, just knowing how Mike McCarthy operates. And I don't want to neglect the walk up right now with the great news, So welcome to Nate Newton to the show.
Everybody.
Glad you guys invited me.
Man, Wow, well we're talking about the guy who has started training camp for you, right.
Yes, sir begins a training camp has officially started today. Zach Martin is back and uh man, I am excited. I am overjoyed.
The question that Kyle had for me that I think it would be a good question for you as well, is what do you think he brings week one? Is it more of a ramp up stage and getting him into that mode, But also I think leadership off the field is going to be a big part of this week.
Correct.
He's a glue. He's he's the glue.
He's the glue to our center Beyondish, he's the glue to Terrence Steele of making our offensive line solid. What he does and I'm gonna go a little bit deeper if you'll give me a chance. What he does is last week, me and you were talking about how the young kid awesome gave up a sack where if Zack Martin would have been in there, our quarterback could have stepped up into the pocket. Because what it is, we have a soft middle now and everybody's getting pushed back three to five yards.
That leaves our.
Quarterback not a lot of room to step up and to maneuver inside the parket Zack Martin will cut half of that down. He will allow our tackles to be better so they can just run guys around the edge and stay with them where it's not having.
A two way go. That is what he does.
He gives Beyondish a sense of confidence, you know, to know that he'll step down there, secure that block while he's looking out taking care of still on that right side.
This guy is the ultimate team player.
He's an ultimate team leader, and we need this guy if we're going to be successful this year.
Yeah, what do you think?
Yeah, it just allows more depth in that pocket.
When you can have a guy that'll keep his guy on the line of scrimmage, that just kind of opens up the whole thing for whoever's that quarterback, whether it be Will Greer, Dak Prescott.
Cooper Rush, or so on and so forth.
We probably won't see Zach Martin during the preseason, but it's great that we have in week one.
Again, I'll mention it on the podcast last night.
It's so nice that this happened before week one rather than week eight, just because they can get this new offense going with everyone up front. They can get this new running game going with everybody up upfront. So I think this happened at the perfect time for everybody involved. Maybe you know, maybe right at the buzzer for everybody involved, But nevertheless, I think it works for both sides financially, and it works for both sides on the field.
Well, I mean, for as much as it does feel like it was right at the buzzer. I mean, look at the dates. I mean, it's Tuesday, August fifteenth. The first game is September tenth. I mean it's still almost an entire month, five days short of a month of getting Zack Martin back into the fold before that Week one matchup.
The reason I say the reason I say at the buzzer is just because if this spent, if this time that was spent without Zach Martin was spent evaluating a a potential replacement at right guard or be somebody that's reliable to rotate in it right guard, I don't believe either of those tasks were accomplished, and I think Zach Martin needs to be here to help lead that room a little bit, to find it at the answer to either of those questions, or to just be that buffer until they can find that guy and.
Bring him in.
More more important, he needs to be on the field. Yeah, because now we can start practice. And I'll give you example. We have not had a pressure drill, and the pressure can drill consists of blitzes by linebackers. It's a passing situation. It is about twelve plays and every start of every pressure drill, it starts out four blad plays for the sack sack, sack, and that is because our offensive line
has no continuity. What this guy, Zach Martin brings brings continuity number one by stopping his man up on the offensive line, like you talked about earlier, giving our tackles a sense of confidence to run these guys around. By giving a hand to our center so he can stabilize hisself. And now our left new left guard, which is our old left guard Smith can do his job.
So now it just stabilizes everything.
We need.
Consistency. You talked about that last night Kyle a lot on Camping Out podcast.
The consistency that he brings of being a guy that plays up on the line of scrimmage or be able to move people off the ball when it's a run situation.
It gives us creases.
Now our running backs will be better and we'll see a better team. He brings physical as well as mental consistency.
Do you think the reps without him in training camp have being I think good, just good, just good, sir. That's now that he's back in the fold. Do you think this is where we can see the benefit of those reps.
Oh?
Yes, of not having him there, not being able to rely on a guy like Zach Martin around you, and then you take the step up and you're like, oh, now seventy is in there, and now I can rely on a guy like that.
You know what's so funny? And now I'm not He is not Magic Johnson the Lakers. The Lakers were a good team without magic, and they probably could have went into the playoffs without magic.
With magic, now you see a world championship team.
And I'm not saying this guy's gonna make us a world championship team, but now I believe more than ever that we have a shot at the NFC Championship. I believe that because what he does, and I'll say it a thousand times, is he just gives us consistency. He gives us a solid wall up front. So when we called him three step drops and five step drops, we
know it's gonna gonna happen. And more important than when we call that ultimate seven step drop to sit back and let Cooks get behind somebody, we know he can stand tall, step up in the pocket and throw off of that and you know, throw it how you do the le jerk, So you know what I'm saying, and he can really release.
We practice that every morning, don't.
Getting after it? Yeah, he's thirty two, and I believe he turns thirty three at some point this next or I guess this season, at some point along the way it is twenty five days or however long it is until week one? Is that enough to ramp this guy up and get him ready to go slot? I know, I mean he's Zach Martin, and he is. He is shown to this point that it feels like he's almost indestructible. Yes, to a certain extent. But I mean, at some point
age does come into play for everybody. I mean, father times undefeated in the world of sports. The I'm not even saying it's a worry. I don't think it is for me. I think he's gonna be fan past it. But is there any sort of concern on just how quickly he's gonna have to ramp up without those first teams.
There was a question that Mike McCarthy got in a press conference I believe it was last week, and it was asked, whenever Zach gets here, you know, with this new offensive system, is there gonna be a little bit of a learning phase for him? Do we You're gonna have to get him up to speed? And Mike was very quick. He's like, no, everything we're doing he already has in his bag. So I think, if anything, it
just brings another teacher into that room. I mean, you have a guy who's been absorbing this information during many camp and OTAs the hole that only started about a month ago. So it's and it's not that like Zach Martin hasn't been deep in that playbook since then. So I think it helps across the board for just him being here. I don't think there's gonna be any sort of laps there.
It is always a connect.
Whenever a guy was holding out with us, either either a player or coach system, it's always called, hey, this is where we at. This is where we know you're holding out, but hey, look at your playbook. This is what we changed, this is this is effects you don't worry about that, you know we can get past. It's always a connect. So he's not he's not behind He's not behind it. And the thing that we need to understand is there's there wasn't anyone on the street, there
wasn't anybody in the camp that was close. Because some things you can wait on, and I'll give you example, we can wait to see who can be the number two running back, but you can't wait to see who's gonna be your first team start at offensive guard, because it's just it's too big of an impact.
It's a big impact, and you can feel the impact from his return. I mean, I was talking to coach Linda Wells the other day and he said, he said, man, the big story is that big Man's back on campus. He said, let's throw a parade, like let's let's make
sure he's he's welcome out here. And I'm sure Cowboys fans will be very excited to see him back out on the field as the Cowboys do hit a full padded practice today and tomorrow here in Oxnar before or really ramping up and then traveling to Seattle on Friday. But when we come back here on Talking Cowboys, we can maybe continue the Zach Martin conversation how it affects the offensive line. But I also want to take a look back at preseason week number one in the matchup
against Jacksonville. Some good, some bad, some to work on for the Cowboys after the first preseason game. We'll talk about it next on More Talking Cowboys.
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Welcome back to Talking Cowboys, presented by Black Rifle Coffee Company, the official coffee of the Dallas Cowboys. This portion is brought to you by Quaker Oats, a super trusted superfood. Quaker Oats, the official oatmeal sponsor of your Dallas Cowboys. We have some text on the text line Cowboys Podcast text line eight one seven two nine zero three two nine eight. Send us your text messages, your questions. We're talking. First game of the preseason, Cowboys fall to Jacksonville twenty eight,
twenty three at AT and T Stadium. It was a great atmosphere, great crowd. H Ultimately, the Cowboys just fell short and it comes from behind effort. They took the lead in the third quarter, everything was working in their direction, and then a guy named Nathan Rourke had made a couple extra plays, a couple of big plays on Dallas. So definitely some room to grow a ton of positives
to take out of that first game. And I want to get y'all y'all's impact on that, but yeah, give us a text eight one seven two nine zero three two nine to eight I see Bruno here from Staten Island, New York, says, great show, guys, longtime Cowboys fan, and he enjoys listening to us. And since I'm married a girl from Staten Island, I'll have to uh, I have to shout out Bruno. So that's a pretty sick name.
Sick name for Staten Island.
All right, let's uh, let's take a look at the Jacksonville matchup. What were your thoughts on on what you saw in Arlington on Saturday.
I want to start defensively, just because this defensive unit that trotted out there to start the game got reps against the first team and they got reps.
Against the second team.
Most of those guys and two guys specifically really shined and DeMont Clark and to Marvion Overshown. I think there's a lot of concern about the linebacker depth on this team. I think the more these guys get on the field, and the more that these guys get reps, I think the more that those concerns should be quieted a little bit, just because these guys not only have youth with experience, but they also have athleticism that flies them across the
field from sideline to sideline. We saw that on Saturday afternoon. De Moon Clark specifically was all over the place. De Marvion Overshown had a huge stop on third and one where he just filled a gap and stood tall like a brick wall. So I really liked what I saw from both of those guys. You know, Mazzie Smith, he had some ups, he had his downs. I think it was what you could expect from a rookie. You could say that for the rookies across the board, aside from
Overshow who had a great day. You know, it's those bright lights and that's gonna be tough to overcome for your very first game. But I think there's going to be a lot of things to work on for Mazzie. But at the same time, he's on his track. He's on the track for high potential.
I agree with you, man, But my offensively, man, I was just Jake Ferguson just to see him step been and make the blocks that he made and to catch the passes that he called. That that was That was awesome. And last night we did the Camping Out show, and uh, I just can't speak enough defensively about thirty three and thirty five Overshown and the other kid. It just was that was a marvel to see because I've been concentrating most of him running bags and tight ends and lineman
and just word myself to death. So when I look at the defense, because you know, all you see is number eleven, but a lot of people telling me about Overshowing and the other kid thirty three from l s U.
His name Clark, the Mount Clark. I don't know why I can't grab his name. This guy remember it.
But you know I'm Landry too. You know, call him by the numbers. It's more simple. But these two guys open my eyes and made me realize these kids can actually be well, one of them already is. But Overshown can play day one. Yeah, when if the season was open tomorrow and coach say, hey, over shown is our will slash Nickel Nickel, Mike Backer, I would not have a problem with it.
They just make plays.
They come downhill, and when they don't make their play, they're still in the right gap. They're in the right place. And that forces you to other guys, and so I'm with you. The defense to me has no has no no holes.
Offense.
That's just you know, it's a it's a different story, which we talked about in the first segment, you know.
So yeah, and I think the I think the stronger point with the defense that we've we've come to get accustomed with over the course of the last I guess ten to twelve games that they've played is the fact that all eleven guys do their job.
And that was evident in a preseason game.
So I think that's that's huge towards the potential of this defense this year because when everybody's on the same page, everybody's doing their job, then whenever that second level has to fill gaps, that's all they gotta do.
They just got to do their job.
They don't have to step back and coverage because a nickel missed their assignment. They don't have to, you know, fill a gap that they're not supposed to because a defensive lineman's in the wrong play.
So it's gonna be fun.
This defense is gonna be great, and I think we could see that even in the preseason with a lot of the starters that were already out.
I asked Dan Quinn on Thursday last week, got a chance to sit down with him and kind of prepare some content for the Seattle game that's coming up. And I asked him the question. I was like, who who has been the biggest not surprised, but who's been the best rookie who's been one of the rookie standouts on your unit? And it hit the first name and it was no hesitation. He said, de over shown. He really likes what he've seen from De Marvian Overshown, And I
said rookie specifically, so keep that in mind. I mean, there's a couple guys there. He also brought up Eric Scott Junior a couple seconds later, just talking about what he's done and the defense and knowing his assignments, but the fact that Overshown is doing what he can. When he was drafted, everybody looked at each other and said, that's a dan Quinn guy. That was a long rangeye, has some safety background, has some position versatility. That's a
dan Quinn guy. And he can put him anywhere and play him anywhere and just hope that an offense doesn't know what he's doing. And that's a pretty good hope. So based off of what you've seen from these linebackers, it's almost the opposite of what happened with the offensive line. You came into camp saying offensive line depth and linebacker death, you need some young guys to step up in both regards.
I could argue right now that offensive line hasn't had a step up, hasn't had a show out in terms of the depth, but the linebackers certainly have with both them on Clark, Tomarvin, Overshrow, and I thought Malik Jefferson prior to the injury on Saturday, was having a fantastic camp too. So I think the linebacker depth has stepped up in a way that the offensive line depth hasn't.
I'll say this about the offensive line depth. There are some guys that have a surprised me during camp and be have taken the next step and I but I just don't feel like anybody is really taking that step to be the sixth guy, to be that guy who can be relied upon the great ways down. You know, you mentioned TJ. Bass, You mentioned Austin Richards. I think
he had a really strong outing on Saturday afternoon. Brock Hoffman is another guy that had a really strong outing on Saturday afternoon as the center got a lot of reps at center which was interesting to see as a you know, a potential interior depth guy. But I just need to see one or even two of those guys take that next step and be the sixth to sixth or seventh guy.
So I just feel like we haven't seen that.
And what we mean by that is be consistent. See, you're not gonna as obvious a linement. Your hands are not gonna always be perfect inside, You're not gonna always have.
A perfect deuce box, but you split it right down the middle.
But guys that fruise to give up, Guys that are willing to fight, you know, to take a stance, you know, And this is what we're talking about. If we just need for a guy to say, hey, I'm the man. You know, you may run over me, but you know what, it's gonna be.
A trench just wide in the ground with me hankering down to fight you every step of the way. That's what we need.
And that comes with reps for Hoffing and all these guys and Awesome and these guys they need reps. And and sometime I think you have to move on from other guys to give these guys the rep. So I want to watch practices day to see who's the starting who's the backup left guard, who's the swing tackle? Because now with coaches watching film, they should be narrowing it down and by but by the end of this game that's coming up, we will see see it even more.
Who is the backup guys?
Who do you feel like right now? Is that guy the guy that's most likely to step up and fill that role that you're alluding to, the one that you're saying, Hey.
Swing tackle is I think is awesome.
I mean, it could be different for him, but I think I would get seventy sixth opportunity, okay, to be the swing be the swing tackle, and I would work him there exclusively.
You know.
And I'm I'm not one of these guys that believe that if one guy go down and we all talking about Tyrone Smith, if he goes down, now you slide this guy out, you put this guy. You got to make eight.
Moves for one guy.
I'm just praying that if something happened to Tyrone, we leave Tyler Smith at the guard and we have awesome or we have idoga.
You know, he's stiff.
I don't like him, not as a human but as a player. He's stiffen iron board man. I see boards have more flex, but uh, that.
That isn't my guy.
Maybe he's a gamer like the guy we brought in last year, the big kid All Pro Hall of Famer last year, Peter. Yeah, you know, he could give us thirty forty plays, you know, and that's what we would need from these guys.
I think with his body type is more of a guard, it's more of an interior guy, and that's that's where he's gotten a lot of his reps during a career too. So you know, before he went down injury last week, I wanted to see a lot more reps at interior. But to that same point, I was talking with Nick Eatman yesterday and he brought up a really good point.
The fact that Austin Richards started at left tackle was really interesting, and I think we've been thinking about that over of course in the last few days, and Nick was like, yeah, it was probably set for Tuma to get that start at left tackle, but then once he went down, Austome had to step in and take those reps. And that's a really good point and a I think
Austome did really well with that challenge. I'm excited to talk to Awesome today because I just want to talk to him about that game planning and having to kind of, you know, some cram.
For that test.
But he did well at left tackle and when he slide slid into left guard, I think he did even better.
So I want to see more reps at both of those spots for him.
The two one to zero sending us a text saying, good morning, guys, what have you seen from TJ Bass? And do you think he could step in if something is needed from him?
His strength is in his legs and he had to play through that. He's got to get a better strike and he's got to always play from a leverage position. He's always got to play with his knees bent, in his hips bent, and his head up in his chest back. So he's gonna have to be a technician. But I think coach Clari likes him. He's gonna give him, give him opportunity. But with all preseason games, the first one, the guys that have already been established, gets the first run.
After the preseason game, then it's every man for himself. Now coaches say, you know what, let's put seventy six there, which is awesome. Let's put TJ. Bassard I think it's sixty six. Let's put him at this right guard, and let's give him a first run with the first team. You know, they'll mix a match.
And the thing with TJ.
Bass I know, I've talked about it on the show a couple of times. I think it's it's what he comes from. His offensive line coach at Oregon that went out of his way to go recruit him whenever he was coming out of the JUCO ranks, Alex Mirrable, who I in my opinion, is the best offensive line coach in the country. It's hilarious because he's like five ft four, He's this tall, but he's.
Tony wise like yeah, my old coach.
Yeah, but man, he that technique is what is so strong with him and right, guys that come out of that system at Oregon.
Mirball is now at Miami.
But guys that were coming out of that system at Oregon come out with so much technique and just pristine movement.
And I see that from TJ.
Bass He has those strong legs, like you said, he has that lower half that drives forward. He's got the great hands. So it's just about putting it together and like you said, stay and consistent. That's gonna be the biggest thing for him.
And while Saturday was also our first opportunity to see the offensive line, it could also be our first opportunity to see Mike McCarthy as a play caller as well, and how this West Coast scheme could work out and how it could continue to build as well. I mean, it's a very thin margin of the playbook. But we got a question from the eight one seven Billy. He says, was the play calling just held back? Was he rusty? Was it vanilla? What did you guys see from the
way that Mike McCarthy called the game. I didn't have any problem with it. It's the first preseason game. It's probably going to be a little bit vanilla because you don't want to show anything on offense. But what did you guys think?
Yeah, and you also have to think, Ky, you know your personnel and the personnel that was on the field, it doesn't necessarily reflect what will be out there in Week one, especially from a skill perspective. I mean, you didn't have CD Lamb, you didn't have Brandon Cooks, you didn't have Tony Pollard, you didn't have Dak Prescott, so I get as far as play calling specifically, you have
to keep it kind of quote unquote dry. I don't want to call it dry, but I guess that's the best way to put it, just because.
You, Yeah, I know a little part of the sponsored thing.
You shit well on this show.
Isaiah would love you. But shoot, I lost my trade of thought.
But it's all good.
The play calling, I think it was drive to a certain extent, but you don't want to open up everything in the preseason. I think what we could take away from a play calling perspective is that he's going to put the guys on the field. He's going to play to their strengths. And one specific moment stood out to me. It wasn't executed, but they were put in the right
spot to uh to execute. The Cowboys were in plus territory I believe it was late in the second quarter early in the third and had about a second and eight situation and they went back to back slants to Jalen Brooks and Will Greer couldnt connect with him on either of those attempts. It was kind of a rough for Jalen Brooks to get either of those attempts. But what we've seen through camp is Jalen Brooks taking those slants, being physical, creating that early separation and getting that ball
and driving up field to get that first down. That's that's exactly what this offense is. It's putting those guys in the best positions to succeed. It just wasn't really executed at that point. But going forward to Seattle, you're going to see a slant to Jalen Brooks in a second and you know, long situation or so just to pick up that first down, because that's what he's best at, and that's what we see from this offen.
We'll just added just on top of that. I mean, Brooks was a little bit banged up in the game too. He had had ankle tape and wrapped up. He said it was on one of the first passing plays of the game. He just kind of put a foot in the ground and it slipped a little bit and it just kind of He's fine. He's not on the injury reporter and a last he might be on the injury report if it showed up, but he would be a full participant. He's not missing time. But he just said,
man I wasn't one hundred percent. I wasn't able to run the routes the way that I wanted to. I wasn't able to play with that ferocity that I've been showing in camp. I mean, there's a couple things there to think about. With Jaylen Brooks. I'm excited for him to be fully healthy and get a chance at it and to continue to roll.
The one thing that Nick said over and over and I just it is so true. He was calling nice plays. It's just lack of execution.
You know.
Will Grill wasn't on target for most of the first when he first got in it, maybe his first ten or twelve plays, he wasn't on target. The guys wasn't blocking the way by time Dukes got in the game, because you saw him calling those plays. But all of a sudden they were working. So it was about execution with me. And when I watch, when I'm watching early in the year, he's still playing to these guys' strength. If you're this type of guy, if you are runner, Donald,
you are runner, I'm gonna run you. I'm gonna throw you the ball.
I'm gonna do that.
And he and he's looking, but he's also trying to figure out what he can and cannot do with you, So it still comes down to execution.
Don't worry about to play. Call him coaches. That's why he was brought here.
And I didn't speak to the coach for the first year because I was mad because I want him to call plays.
Oh you're doing, coach, Hey, how you doing? Nate? I just look at it, you know. But now, I mean every day I see Him'm hugging me. This guy he's weird. Now I'm not weird, just saut it. Love for you, coach, I want you to call plays.
I think something else that was interesting. You brought it up.
As far as the running backs is it was kind of chucked down central. Yes, yes, he talked about in the press conference yesterday. They got ten receptions to running backs, thirty one total touches to running backs. So it's it's tough to bring out your entire offense when you're trying to figure out who is RB.
Two and you have to distribute those touches accordingly.
So you're not going to see this full product honestly until like week three, because there's still gonna be something through in the first couple of weeks.
The preseason for you guys, scrimmish to me. The first four games of the year is preseason to me. So you hear me talk scrimmage to preseason. Then about the fifth game, everybody should be in place, you know normally the major injuries done happened, and everybody the wound. And while how you doing, coach Harris, Good to see you, man, You're great.
Yeah.
Now we haven't.
Run into We're gonna be there in a minute.
We've got an extra mic over here. All if you've got time. I love you, man, But.
Nick man, I'm gonna do this openly, and because I like you, I appreciate it. We're gonna get y'all, Jesse Holly, and we're gonna take Nick.
No, please, don't. I love Jesse. I I love Jesse too. He's very informative. But Nick is an old iron man.
This is yeah, that's exactly what this is. He's about to get fine tampering.
Let's switch it.
Since he's an offensive line man, let's switch it to the defense. Get him off of his heyday three six zero says Curious on jan Yer Thomas's play the interception to start the game. He said, what better way to start on defense. That's Marco fan from Vancouver.
Let me say this right here.
I'm gonna have to defer to Nick and you because I'm telling you I was not looking at secondary, I was not looking at in line, but even linebackers.
I admitted it. So what do you guys think about these guys?
I will say about Wan Dyer right off the bat. There's, first off, there's no better way to start a game than to pick off Trevor Lawrence on his very first passing attempts. But I really like what I've seen from Wandier throughout training camp. He's been extremely physical, He's been in the right places, He's done his job, and I think that's what's so important to put him in that position to succeed. And there's more to that play than just getting the interception. It's being in that right place.
But talking about his overall game performance, I liked what I saw from him. I think there were things that he has done out here that wasn't quite translated to the game field, but I have overall, man, you have to like what Wan Ye's done. I think we talked
about it. I think last night a little bit that safety conversation is getting a little interesting in the depth of that room because of the guys that are stepping up and you know, showing their presence with Donovan Wilson being out with injury.
What do you think about the defensive front because you might not have been watching the secondary, but I know you're watching the defense.
I think the defensive front played well. Osa, he's ready, Yeah, you know he's ready.
So I would take the paths off. I think I would.
And I'll keep saying this same thing. Uh for for Mazie. You know, sir, you're You're not the strongest man in the NFL. This is some office a lineman that can they they And when we were talking to camping camping out last night and uh Patrick c was saying, hey, his strength, this is strength that and I wanted to debate him, but I'm not going to debate him.
Because smart smart. Yeah.
Well the thing is because I'm not you never hear me say you around to hear me say I played. No, I'm not going that route. But I wanted to tell him if I was playing against Mazie, I would punch Mozzie rapped in his chest and for the next sixty snaps. I know he gonna try to man handle me, but guess who. He won't touch my running back or my quarterback. Eat me alive, baby, That's what I'm here for. You get what I'm saying, and that's why, and that is my problem.
That is my deal. You can't just sink into everybody on every play. You just can't throw it. Even if you take me and throw me, as long as you don't throw me back into the quarterback, who cares. So that's what I'm trying to say.
He has to learn to not only use that power, but take a step to the right, take a step to the left, close down because if he closed on the running game the way these linebackers run, oh Man, Layton overshown and clock.
But these dudes gonna kill some folks.
And if they missed him, then number forty one, my homeboy gonna get them.
Yep.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Markey's bail is who I'm talking about coming to get you.
Donovan. You gotta sew your game, baby. Yeah.
I'll say this about the defensive front.
I think a guy that I really wanted to see more from and I didn't with Sam Williams. I expected him being the guy that was in the quote unquote Micah Role on Saturday. You know, they had him coming off both edges. They had him even dropp him back at a couple of times. I wanted to see more from Sam Williams. I would like to see more from him in Seattle. So as far as you know, also a DIGGI Zua having a great a great out and go ahead, take the pads off him, put on the
bubble wrap. Not quite with Sam Williams. I wanted him to get some more reps. I think he needs it going into the season because I think he's gonna have.
A huge year. Two.
The thing is, and I don't notice, but he walked out of practice a couple of times early.
Is he Is he okay physically?
It's a shoulder.
He's battling a shoulder problem, but it's not it's not serious enough where they would keep himut in the preseason. So I think he had separated it maybe at one point popped it back in and he's just kind of dealing with that, you know football.
Yes, Yeah, that's just a football injury, all right. When we come back speaking of a guy that's that's played through some injury before he now has a new home, Ezekill. Elliott is now in New England. I want to talk about the running back position and we'll wrap things up when we come back with more talking cowboys.
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Welcome back into Dear Doctor, the show where I answer life's questions with an ice cold can of doctor pepper. Sheila, let's hear from my next caller, would you there, doctor?
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To Talking Cowboys.
Final segment of Talking Cowboys is brought to you by Invisiline, the official smile of the Dallas Cowboys, of course, presented by Black Rifle Coffee Company, the official coffee of America's team. Alongside Nick Harris, formerly Nate Newton. Nate had some other duties. He's got to go as a busy man. He's got to go host the fans. This is the Cowboys Nation.
Gets ready to file in the gates here and get ready for practice on Tuesday, have one more padded practice tomorrow, and then it's off to Seattle on Friday to really get ready for that second preseason game. One other news and note that we've got to hit. Ezekiel Elliott has signed a one year deal six million dollars in New New England. He is now officially a part of the
New England Patriots. It's it's a bittersweet day, I think for those that cover the team and that those that cheered for the Cowboys really since twenty sixteen, but and.
Those on the team as well.
Yeah, no doubt the fact that he is officially no longer going to wear the star on the side of his helmet, but also the fact that he has a chance to go and show out in New England. I put out a tweet yesterday, I'm super happy for Zeke. I really am. I'm pumped that he got a spot. He's in a good situation with a great coaching staff, and outside of Week four, I hope he puts up great numbers.
Yeah, I think.
I hope he has a great year. What are your thoughts on on his signing and also how that could affect really the long term visibility of this running back.
I'll even say him scoring in week four, there'll be some cheers in the crowd effect, There'll be a couple, but there'll be a couple booze but the absolutely absolutely. But you know, I'm super excited for Ezekiel Elliott, not only getting an opportunity like he's going to have in New England to you know, take on a bigger role than he even had last year. You know, he's gonna
be alongside Andre Stevenson. I think that's a really fun running back duo, and you know he's gonna be able to make some things happen in that running back room and on that offense.
But not only the fact that he's on.
A team, but also he's going back to fifteen, he's going back to the old hair style. He's tapping into you know who he was whenever he came into this league. So you know, I'm excited for his new opportunity. I think he's gonna flourish in it. I think he's gonna have a really big year. I would I would have him as my flex on my fantasy team, Okay, just to you know, keep him around.
Just as a possibility there. I like that idea. Now, would you keep any of the guys that showed out as RB two or three, or four or five on Saturday? Would you keep them as your flex on your fantasy team if they've played for the Dallas.
Coup Man, that's a that's a good one, Kyle, that's I like how you put that one.
Right now.
No, just because I we've talked about it, I don't think there's a cemented guy that's that's number two right now. You can make a case for any four or five of those guys, and I'd be like, Okay, that makes sense. You know, I think there's a logistical debate for every guy that's vying for that spot. Let's run him down really quick. Rigo Dubdell, you know, he shows that burst. He's got kind of that big body set. He's going to be probably one of your better pass protectors in
that room. Duce Vaughan kind of speaks for itself, but he's gonna have that big playability. He's going to be the fan favorite. He's going to be huge out of the receiving game and on special teams. You got Malik Davis similar to both of those guys.
He's got that burst.
Maybe needs a little bit more improvement in pass pro. He had a really bad moment in the game on Saturday, and it was kind of being thrown into the fire right in those first couple of drives from Elik Davis. I'd like to see him get some more valuable reps on Saturday in Seattle. But then Ronald Jones, obviously he's dealing with that two game suspension to start the season and with the groin injury out here, still trying to
work him back into the rotation. You know, if he does get back in, he's gonna have to make a splash immediately, just because he's having less opportunity as each day goes by. And then Hunter Lopke really quick, great in pass protection, probably the best one of that group, and he's gonna get you those hard fought you know.
Short yard of the yards.
You think that gives a better shot for a guy like Hunter Lipke to make the roster than even Ronald Jones. And that's not necessarily knocking Ronald Jones. He's just got an uphill battle knowing that his contract's more expensive. Yeah, he's dealing with a suspension and right now he's dealing with an injury.
Yeah, I would think so for a couple of reasons.
A Lipkey is a lot younger, you know, coming in as a rookie, and be I think he's a lot more versatile. You know, he's he's shown at North Dakota State and he's shown even out here that he can do a little bit more things. He can be that pass protector, he can take a couple of receptions out of the backfield if he needs to. He can you know, get those harder and short yarded yards. You know, his
very first carry came in plus territory. It was around the thirty yard line I think on Saturday, and he just bulldozed a couple of guys to get five six yards and I was like, Yeah, that's that Bison there. So you know, I would love to see Lipkey get some more reps. I don't I don't think he's gonna be RB two here by any stretch of the imagination, but I think he'd be a really fun guy to keep around.
I can't wait to see how this running back room unfolds, and we'll have another chance at it on Saturday to see them against Seattle. Seattle's got a pretty deep front seven too. I mean, the more that you look at their defense, they have some names that are on both the first and second teams, depending on even if they play the starters. I think you'll see a good amount of talent from a running back standpoint. So it's gonna
be a good test for this offensive line. Again, it'll be a great test for the running backs and to see their explosiveness, their ball security if you're talking about Rico Dowdell. So for the most part, I think Saturday will possibly provide some clearance. I don't think this past Saturday did, if anything, has just showed Duson can play, which we kind of expected and we were excited to see. But now you've got a chance to see it flourish
a little bit more. You can say, Okay, Duvon can really play, or maybe Rico Dowdell is your number two back. But it gives you some clarity as opposed to maybe looking outside and potentially finding another one of those veteran running backs that around the market.
Yeah, and we talked about it with Nate.
As far as the offensive line, that trickles down to all of these possession groups. Just consistency, And I think that's all they're trying to look for in our to a guy that they can bring in whenever Tony Poler needs to step off the field and they know what they're gonna get out of him. That could be three yards, that could be seven yards. It's just let's let's see consistency there. So uh, I think that's probably the biggest thing that we're looking for in these next two weeks
in the preseason. I think that's why the spotlight is so bright, because fans just want to see why fans just want to see that guy that is consistently showing up every week.
Right now, it's Deuce one.
I just can't believe we got forty five minutes into the show before we had our first Duce Vaughan mentioned after on Saturday. So we apologize, Duce, but hey, we got you in there and we'll talk plenty More'll be all right, Uh Thursday, we'll be back with another Talking Cowboys nine to am on the Pacific Coast eleven am Central time. Patrick no Cy Walker will make his triumphant return on Thursday.
Steal him back.
We're taking him back. We may even try and take Nate back. Who knows, Oh the way, Nate's leaving on Wednesday, So we'll have Patrick for sure on Thursday, with more of the show for Chris being behind the camera, for Nick Harris, Nate Newton. I'm KYLEI Yomen saying so long. We'll see you next time on Talking Cowboys. Presented by Black Rifle Coffee Company.
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