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No Cowboys, This is the Players Lounge, broadcasting live from Dallas Cowboys World headquarters at the Star. Now your hosts, Barry Church, Hecma Harrison, and Newie Scruggs.
All right, everybody, here we go. It is the Players Lounge.
No players today, It's just me Scrugs in heck Maharson, It's just us.
It's just him.
It's just us today. So will we will power through? Bear Church off today former Cowboys safety. Lots of topics to get to as the Cowboys are now back here full time in North Texas. Had another open practice yesterday at Ford Center for fans to come in and check out for free as they get ready for all efforts towards the Cleveland Browns to start the twenty twenty.
Four in FL season.
So, Heckma, they've added two more names to the practice squad today. But the other name that was added yesterday of big importance was Dalvin Cook. We'll get into Dalvin Cook, but I want to start with to me, the most important, which is the quarterback. Jerry Jones met with the media yesterday Jerry has the smoothest press conferences that I've ever covered. From this standpoint, nobody knows how to put the sponsor a sponsor in front of him a massive group of
media before the press cars. So if he just says, hey, look, you know we're gonna have a lottery, a Texas Lottery press conference. That's the Cowboys to scratch off, and you know, just like, hey, we're gonna have it a ten o'clock on a Wednesday. Nobody shows but to have a presser in which Jerry's gonna talk.
We're all showing up for that. But beforehand, here.
Come the cheerleaders, and here comes the little scratch off thing, and the guy comes over and then we talked to him. You know what, I learned more about the scratch off than a whole bunch of stuff tests.
I was like, you know, this is smart.
I remember the time he had Papa John coming when they started their sponsorship with Papa John's pizza first off as a trend and get he brought a whole bunch of pizzas.
So you're happy about that. Happy about that? All right?
So so Papa John talks and Jerry goes through that and then then after Jerry talks in here comes the head coach everything. I was like, you know what, that's a smart way to do it if you want to get coverage for the sponsor in the media, to talk about it and get out there. So I was like, you know, this is Jerry. Jerry still on top of his game. But then he went into the questions and it became about Dak Prescott, and one of the questions I asked him is what's Plan B.
What's the strategy here?
You do not have another quarterback under contract next year? Because Jerry basically came out and told everyone and Clarence Hill wrote about it, He's not signing Dak before the season. So the deal for CD Lamb, that was for CD Lamb.
There's no deal coming for Dak Prescott. Heck man, how do you feel about that and no Plan B?
Well, look, I think this is Jerry being the ring leader basically in this circus and calling you all in and making you hang on every word that he says. And the media is going to do that because it's Jerry and he knows how to play you guys. He really does us guys. I'm sorry, I'm a part of that well, but you know, when it comes to the road mapping, you ask the biggest question, well, what do you do if you don't sign Dak? And no one has even gotten to that part of what does Plan
B look like? And to America's team, plan B does not look good at all. Plan B does not get butts into the seats. Plan B does not get more memorabilia purchase. So you know, whatever Plan B is, if it's not Dak, it's going to have to be something else, because right now you don't have I don't believe you have a quarterback on your roster that you're confident with
going forward in the future. You're not saying, hey, we're just going to develop this guy some more and he's going to be the one to take us to the Promised lad. The future without Dak doesn't look like twelve wins seasons. The future without Dak looks much more abysmal. And people can talk about what they think about this season all they want to. The previous seasons when they went twelve and five, people were not predicting them to go twelve and five, and they had talented rosters, and
so here you go. Here is and if you're just asking me to dissect and interpret what Jerry is saying. I just I don't have a I don't have enough. I don't know I have enough skins on the wall one to be able to do that. But number two, when I think when it comes down to what's going on with Dak, I'm not saying that this is a ploy in him negotiating through the media, but I am.
If I was a.
Betting man, I'd be betting that there's a deal already on the table for Dak and Dak has yet to sign that deal.
You're, like all of us were yesterday. We don't know what's going on. You're just asking the question, trying to figure it out about why this doesn't make sense. So Jerry tells me, you know what, they could all be under contract. It wouldn't matter. They may not be here. So he went to this whole rigamarole of Okay, it doesn't matter if they're under contract, because they basically I could fire them, I could get rid of It doesn't matter just because there are the contracts.
Mean nothing, like Jerry, they mean nothing.
They do and we haven't got to that point yet, which exactly make it. You know what makes this and does it right? Come on, now, you know food, So.
He gave us that whole rigamarole and did Jeff Cole the Fox four asked Jerry a very legitimate question, what else does Zach Prescott have to prove to you that he's.
Worthy of contract? Yea?
And Jerry said nothing, And then he goes into the whole economics of this is so Jerry just runs around his whole thing there there like, Jerry, make it make sense?
Yeah, any day now the math is gone, math right, make it make sense.
And when you say you think that there's a contract there back to sign, I don't.
Here's why I would be skeptical on just me.
Okay, considering you already hurt your leg before you know, would you want to risk that?
And you say you want to be here, and if there's a deal here that you're that's ready to go that you like, why would you not take It's it? Okay?
So let's just be clear on this that right now at the headquarters in Frisco, this is a pressure cooker situation going into this season. Everybody is basically performing for their job in the future if everybody beside CD lamb right. And so with that being said, there are a lot of people here that need for this team to be successful. One of them, one of them right now, Dak Prescott.
I feel like he's not a part of that pressure cooker situation because let me tell you something, Dak's gonna get paid sixty million.
Dollars regardless, guardless, regardless, yes, regardless, he.
Should be playing free. I'm getting paid you want, I mean, think about it.
I mean, if we could just really add up who the pressure is on this season to succeed and fail, and what this the representation of what this team is gonna look like when we get to January, Dak is gonna get paid, regardless if he's.
Hurt or not.
Some team is going to play pay more than market value for him. I would I mean, I would beg to say that Mike McCarthy right now is the one who's sweating the most as we're talking about Dak.
Dak's gonna land on his feet.
I'll tell you this, and this is my opinion, just my opinion. I think McCarthy's fine too. If Mike McCarthy is on the street after this year, I truly believe that he'll get a head coaching job.
Of course, of.
Course, Mike McCarthy's not going to go somewhere and be an assistant.
That's never gonna happen to Mike.
Well, come on, and I would say, from this standpoint, if we're asking ourselves right now, have they done everything to help Mike McCarthy or they made a little bit harder on Mike McCarthy, I'd say it's been made a little bit.
It's been made a little bit harder on Mike McCarthy to hear.
And if Mike McCarthy can figure out how just a winning season, right, just winning a winning seat. You go nine and eight here, considering what all In was said and what all In showed us, this guy has another winning season your first year calling plays again Dak Prescott, who led the league and picks the year before. As you said, we gotta getri his offics a coordinator, you take over. He leads the league and touchdown passes. Cede Lamb is what one vote away from being unanimous All Pro.
This man has shown in my mind he can coach. And you start going down to the winslows we talked about here, he's top twenty all the time. This man is this man is a really good coach in this league, in a league, but.
It ain't a lot of good coach, right.
I mean, you know we're talking to a man in LA Brandon Staley was out there charges me.
So we're seeing guys get jobs that can't perform.
So to me, Dak Prescott and Mike McCarthy should just do what they do and if they're not wanted here, I do believe they'll.
Be wanting somewhere.
Question is on that it comes down to who do we lose when we start talking about this team and when we start talking about talent on this team, You know, who do we lose? Of substance that we're saying our team is much worse because we lost this person we had nine. You had nine All Pros on last year's team, all right, If you take away the specialty guys. You lost Tyron Smith, an aging veteran still top of his
game at left tackle. That still leaves you with six All Pros on this team that you have under contract this year. There aren't a lot of teams with six All Pros on them. And I'm taking away the other the other specialty guys that you have that are definitely viable for you.
I'll hit you back with this.
You now have two rookies that are going to start for you on the offense at I would say the two most critical positions on the offensive line left tackle and center. So that to worry your running back room is question mark field. That's one reason why you got Dalvin cooking here. I had to fill out a sheet the other day that said, Okay, how many yards will Ezekiel Elliott game?
And they're assuming it was numbers? What's your number? What's your number? Can I guess? Can I guess? Go ahead? Okay, go ahead, go ahead?
Newie shrugs went between six point fifty and in eight hundred. No lower than that? Yes, really, yes, wow, I am wow? Really what four four hundred to four hundred and six hundred? It was in the four hundred ange wow under five hundred. Okay, And I say that to you from the standpoint right now.
We don't know exactly what it is they're going to do. You've brought in Dalvin Cook. Rico Dawdles listened to Brian on the break. If you don't listen to the break here, make sure you go over to the Das Cowboys dot Com and check out all the great podcasts. But the break because is when I was just checking out on
my way over here today. He thinks at some point time they're gonna look at Rico Daddle and saying, you know what, hey young man, we want to see more from You can't forget about my guy, ol boogie.
This is a this is a smorgas board of running backs here.
This don't look at twenty sixteen Z or twenty seventeen or twenty eighteen Z.
It's not that player anymore. I don't know.
Exactly what they're going to do because what do I always say here? Man, listen to what they don't say. Nobody's come out here and said Ezekiel El, it's our workhorse. Ezekiel's number one, number one guy. Even what they talked about last year with Tony Polar, you're not hearing anybody tell you that about this running back room. So until I I'm not convinced. So that's what I'm saying. This thing is going to be spread out, it's gonna be where do they want to go with this hot hand injuries,
this whole thing. So offensive line running back rooms a question the defensive line at their defensive tackle spots or issues outside of your darters at the defensive end spots you confident about the backups. I mean there's questions so when you say, hey, look you've got six all pros. Having all pros helps, what are your all pros? Is down Deron Bland for at least a month. We'll see
when he comes back. So there's there's there's question marks there that I would say, but I understand your premise of hey, look is this a talented roster. Yes, this is a talented roster. How it fits in jails together, we'll see.
This is where I.
Come back into you where I think Mike McCarthy has shown you since he's been here, especially after that first year. He knows how to work with young players and knows how to make make the jigsaw puzzle work. We'll see, Yeah, we'll do we'll do wins later on how many wins we think they'll get. But I just think there's some unsolved question marks here about where this team goes. And you, I just I believe offensive defensive lines are where you win these football games.
I believe.
I believe it's also where the Cowboys lost their playoff game last year because they weren't strong on either one.
Okay, So in this case, like I, I agree with half of your premise.
When when.
Please, the thing is when I when I think about Mike McCarthy, and since he's been hired here, the one thing that he hasn't been that he has been willing to do is change if something needs to be changed. And I'm talking about this goes from his defensive coordinator, his offensive line coach positions that were not working out. Mike McCarthy has not stayed the course in situations. He's made those changes. He understands exactly what's going on with
his front line. And I think you point out something that's very important. Dealing with a few rookies, not one, but two rookies on your offensive line. I don't think that that's advantageous. But look at the draft order of those two players that we're talking about, Okay, I think that guyton comes in here, uh with with the hell of a recipe of a guy that you know that
you can take and make into a left tackle. Now, going to your running back position, I'm sorry you were in the same position last year with Tony Poler coming off of a snapped ankle. All right, So the expectation there wasn't that high, but Tony Poler still finished with what one thousand yards? And I'm not saying, and I'm not saying, I am not sitting here saying that Zeke
is going to be a thousand yard rusher. Okay, But I do believe that when you incorporate a guy like Dalvin Cook that's coming in and his whole thing has been can he stay healthy? And what version are you going to get of Dalvin Cook? But there are definitely packages that I believe that coach McCarthy can use to his advantage. The L but we call it the L
Boogie package. All right, I formation with Dalvin Cook. What are some of the things that you've seen Dalvin Cook do in the past, being in a pistol, the way that he lines up off the formation, things like that that I think can help you as a team because it's going to be a running back by committee approach and Dalvin Cook doesn't hurt that. So I don't think that you are You are as bad off as we're trying to make this sound going into your first game in Cleveland.
Guy, it was the right tackle Oklahoma. Now he's going over the left.
So there's a change.
And this is the National Football League, the toughest levels there is, and you're starting off with the defensive player of the year.
It's going to be an adjustment.
The first six games are pretty he's they're throwing the kitchen sink at him right away. Of course I have a concern. And then how do you help him? That's been my concern as well. Is it schoonmaker? What do you do to just to just throw him on out there and just say go handle it? I think that I think that would be unfair.
Why do you take a guy in the first round then to be your left tackle and you know that that's what his position is going to be. So I mean, you're setting him up for failure.
I'm not saying you're setting up for failure. But at the same time, I am I'm allowing an adjustment. I'm allowing a rookie to be a rookie that there's going to be It's going to be a it's gonna take it's gonna take some time.
It didn't do that with Tyler Smith. He was a left tackle moved into the left guard. I mean, look, I'm not trying to say that the adjustment is easy. I know that the speed of the game is completely different. I'm not naive to that, but just to say that, okay, this could be this is the weakest part of your team because your first round draft pick, you know, isn't any good. I think you've already talked about things that you could do to cover up some of those warts. Just starting off in Cleveland.
But remember Tyler had to go play left tackle.
Okay, remember that the injuries in case.
So he had to get it. I mean they had to throw him out there, and look at the guy did a fantastic job he did. I just think that it's a lot to put out there for a guy to go from right to left and not think that, hey man, there's gonna be some tough nights out here. Start your first game off with Miles Garrett. I just think that's a challenge. I'm not saying that the guys go fall on. I'm not saying this is gonna be another Mozzie Smith type situation where your first round pick
is gonna let you down. Because Mozzi let everyone down. He was not what they thought he was gonna be. I'm not saying that. What I'm just saying is you look at this skin sedle. Here he's facing some heavy hitters and along this thing. If I'm the coach, I got to sit there here room. He's a rookie player. It takes everybody in a little minute to get here. And then how do we help the player? Once again, I talk about warts. How do you cover a warts?
If you're the defensive coordinator for Cleveland, you're, hey, let's figure out the left tackles nor center's new. Let's test them. Let's test them. And so the tests are going to come. So Lari's a good offensive line coach. We've seen his track record. The Cowboys is an organization. You are correct, They've done a very good job of developing people. But at the same time, I just know it takes people
a minute. We can talk all day about how long, how great CD Lamb was last year leading the league in receptions, make it all pro.
Remember the first four games it was not pretty absolutely, and.
We're talking about a veteran player who they had to figure it out a little bit. That's kind of my thing that I'm saying, we we we look at we just want to hit the presto button.
Say it's automatically gonna happen.
This league is a challenge, and it's going He's coming out facing one of the biggest challenges. And you know you've got jj Lott, you got eight Hutchinson on the list, you got tip Oft on me, and there's gonna be some tests right here.
We'll see how he works with it. But it's going to be a challenge, and I am going to be on the cautious side.
Maybe that's where I'm at. I'm on the cautious side of things to say, hey, look, let's be ready because it's going to be a challenge.
He may he.
May exceed everything he could. That could happen. We have seen it happen with their first round picks. The offensive line, Tyron Smith excel have a history tign proof of consistency, Yes, Travis Travis, Travis for exceled. So if he excels, then hey man, you follow it. But at the same time, I'm one of those guys and I'm gonna sit up here and just say, man, look, let's let's be let's be At the same time, Zach and Tyron were.
Number one at their positions pretty much coming out, and that.
You know where they were ranked Actually Tying was number two, but they were ranked pretty. They're ranked high. He wasn't one of your top two offensive tackles off the board. He was drafted later. Travis Frederick was number two in his class at the center position. So there's a little bit of a difference. Tyler Smith was not. Tyler Smith was a guy people like, who's this guy is at Tulsa.
So we'll see.
But I'm just one of those I just said, hey, look, let's just be cautious here. It's gonna be tough. And my gosh, Miles Gearhead can play from Arland, tex the heck of a player here. So we'll see where it goes. Your confidence level is higher than mine if we got if we got if we got a glass. So this is this is probly the best way I actually put this before we go to break. If this is a glass hecklers looking at I say it's half full. You just said it's half empty. I'm saying, we gotta check
that water. I don't know you mean what Refield the refiel comingsbody. If I drink this right now, I'm gonna have a quarter left. I need to refiel to come around here. So let's get our first breaking here. This show is brought to you by Aristocrat Gaming. The name of it is players Nunti's heck Maharrison, I'm new, he scrugs. Dalvin Cook is back here on the practice squad. On the practice squad, I think I might be higher on
Dalvin than you. Let's dive into that next on the playoff hunch, And this is Dallas Cowboys talking Rady.
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I am new he Scruggs.
We're rolling along here. So Dalvin Cook added to the practice squad something I wanted to bring up here. Jerry Jones was asked yesterday, what did Zimmer tell you about Dalvin Cook? And then what did it mean coming from him? And Jerry basically said, you know, there's recommendations and then there's recommendations from somebody that knows, and then the way he said it, so basically Zimmer put it on Jerry, Yeah, this guy, you want this guy. I leaned on this guy.
This is this is a good move for you. And so they did it. They brought him in. We talked about Dalvin Cook last year on this show here it was coming off injury, didn't really jive with the Jets, ended up with Baltimore, and of course they got put out of the playoffs. He potentially is fully healed, now be interested and we would get a chance to talk to Dalvin Cook. But I just think that mixed. Once again, what are they not telling us? You know, Mike out
here praised the Elik Davis. Malik is cut. So now you've got Ezekiel Elliott not hearing anybody say he's going to be the bell Cow guy. He's going to be our I'm not hearing that. So she got Rico o'dowdell, you got Hunter Limpke, and now you to add Dalvin Cook in the room. There's just a lot a lot of gumbo. Ain't no one chili. It's a lot of gumbo. Now, got a lot of gumbo in here. So that means a lot of guys can potentially get the football here. So I'll be interested to see exactly what they.
Do at this point in the season.
You know that the moves that they're making our telltale signs of where they feel like their weaknesses are. I mean, we bought in a cornerback, we bought in another defensive tackle. So you can tell me what you think all you want to. I'm looking at your moves and this isn't one of those in season you know, gamesmanship type of moves. No, they're trying to strengthen this fifty three and they're going
to continue to turn as they see need. And so you bring in a guy, You bring in a guy like Dalvin Cook, and that says to me that, look, if we go to game day, we've got to have two guys in his backfield that we can bet on, and right now I don't feel like we have that. And so what does Dalvin Cook bring that the rest of those guys don't. And look, as you just just narrated that, look Dalvin Cook last season, he was hurt.
I mean, nobody would touch him besides the Jets. Who did the Jets half the Jets had a guy by the name of Breece Hall that was coming off of a knee injury. But oh, by the way, he legit all right, he was fine, he was he was hell, he was here, and the situation was nothing like Dalvin Cook originally thought he went into New York because look, man, this this young guy is for real in New York. But you know, I look at the way that he ended last season, only had five carries in those last
two games. Then he goes on to Baltimore, and I think those are forgettable reps.
Right, Yeah, I'm laughing because I'm just thinking about you know, Dalvin is probably looking just man, priest is hurt, he's hurt, and you know he look out that you see the guy running and then somebody.
Just like.
Not as hurt as we thought, not as hurt as we thought. And that's uh.
Bill walshton that to Steve Young, Yeah, because Steve Young saw he was with that forty. Yes, you said Joe's you said Joe's hurt like the back you said he was hurting.
Bill wats kind of game looked.
Like yeah, yeah, oh oh well not as hurt as we thought.
But I mean when you look at when you look at Dalvin.
Cook again, and I just said it, man, it's it's all about him staying healthy.
If they if he can stay healthy.
And we've seen when he was, you know, running on the Kevin Stefanski, which I think the Kevin Stefanski Mike Zimmer we're gonna talk about this next week. The the parallel between those two. I think it's gonna be interesting going into Cleveland. But the best years that you got out of Dalvin Cook, not only was he a runner, He's also a guy that can receive out of the backfield. So he is multi dimensional in that way. And the biggest question that you ask yourself is is he healthy?
If you're saying zeke, I'm just gonna push it to five hundred.
Uh.
If he's gonna get you five Hunter Lifkey, whatever those numbers are gonna be, We're gonna like, there's your gumbo, there's your gumbo. This is how we're mixing it up because there are a lot of packages that I believe that Mike McCarthy is gonna experiment with the over these first quarter of games just to figure out what that running back room is gonna look like.
Here's the most important package and they failed at this last year, the red zone package, of course too many times, especially inside the five yard learning they had problems. To me when I look at the move for Dalvin Cook, Okay, here's Dalvin Cook, here's Ezekiel Elliott. We're trying to figure out who can get this ball into the end zone here, and uh, I know Link had the.
Funled inside the one again.
So he's got he's got work he's got to do to gain confidence back. You got Rico Daddle. They are looking at we're going to try to fix with these four players. We're going to try to fix how we can punch this thing in inside the red zone, especially inside the five because that was a critical area which I think they lost at least two football games last year by not being able to have it, possibly possibly three.
Game imagine that, I mean, and in those situations which are documented and you saw it, and just going back to the Miami game, losing Zeke in that situation I think was big because you lose your biggest red zone threat and having that back, how does this mix because we still haven't yet, even through the preseason, we haven't seen that change that back that is okay, he could take this sixty yards. We haven't even seen any of those types of runs.
So now you got it? All right, great, I'm glad you brought it up. Guess what, you don't have it? Yeah, boom, there you go. So there's no TP. Tony Polk ain't walking through that door. Tony door Set, ain't walking through that You don't have it. Old Zeke twenty sixteen, Z he's not walking through that door. That's not going to be your game.
And I think that's why you and that's why you bet on Tony Parlard last year, was because you were saying he's that game breaker, he's that game changer, and you never saw that, even when you tagged him for all that money, you never saw him be that guy because he only gave you one one hundred yard game last season and you said he was top ten. And I'm saying this, I'm misused him.
What So skip Pete form a running back coach.
Skip set.
When you had a guy like Pollard, you just don't make him your one guy and try to He's a part of a tandem. And the best usage you can go out of him was that kind of thunder lightning thing between Zeke and Pollard. The problem was they probably needed to change around the dynamic in making Tony maybe the starter more and getting him more playing time before they actually made him the starter. But he said, don't just put him back there and just say go be
the one guy, Go be the workhorse. That's not the best use of his talent, I mean, And to me, I think he was correct.
So I'm gonna just say this.
I thought that last year Tony poly Rico dalore like kind of like one and the same. You didn't get as much of the change of pace that you needed from those two guys as running backs in that backfield.
That's all.
That's really all I can point to because really newly, fundamentally, I believe that a good running back and a good defense can win your championship.
That's just what I believe.
But that's to me, I found now that a lot of people view that as being a dated, dated train of thought when it comes down to football, because this is a past centric league. You need a guy in those moments where you're just talking about two to three games that would have been decided if you could score down in the red zone.
That's big.
That's the difference between being a one seed are playing in the wildcard. You feel what I'm saying, So I just look where. That's where I really feel like. Look, you are hanging on to everything you hear coming off of these boards of who's being cut, because you're still trying to find that guy. I don't think they're done. I don't think they're done looking for running backs because you can't. You can't bet the house that Dalvin Cook can be an eight hundred yard rusher for the season.
I'm not looking for eight hundred from him. I'm looking for you.
Just say Smorgas, board of these guys together, Okay, that's why I got Zeke under five hundred. I think this is going to be a true committee of guys. We'll ride who's hot, we'll ride the situation. We'll see where guys are going.
At the end of the season. If it's fifteen yard, it's a success. If you have three guys or two guys with five hundred yards rushing, this is sea you would call it a successful experiment if you get that right.
I'm not looking so much at the numbers to say, hey man, five five for Cook and and five for Zeke.
Give me the are you converting in the red zone and scoring. Okay, good deal. You know, are you are you able?
Are you able to complement your quarterback Dak Prescott and your defense? That's more I'm more concerned about that than I am necessarily yards, because we've seen we've seen people get that. You know, these diet coke empty calorie yards a lot. You know, you get down, you know you can get down in a game. The next thing you know, you're filling the stat sheet up. You look at the numbers in the Packer game. Okay, that adds some numbers,
but the competitive phase was over. So I'm more concerned about, you know, how are you winning games than the numbers, because you could you could have Ezekiel Elliott have a forty nine yard rushing day, but he could have some really critical plays where he's moving the ball on third and two or he's scoring inside that red zone, and
then that's more of an effectiveness there. So I don't think necessarily looking at numbers are going to tell me what I needed to get out of these guys as much as hey, what.
Are the wins looking like? How are we able to keep our defense fresh here?
How are we able to keep moving the ball and allow Dak because if we're if it's me, what is Mike. Mike's a passing guy, always been a passing guy. Can you run the ball effectively enough that Dak doesn't have to throw the ball forty to fifty times a game.
That's what I would not want, And I.
Guess and the only reason why I was questioning that because the one thing is I'm assuming that everybody feels like the running game is and is going to be a compliment to your quarterback. It's going to help him in those situations where he doesn't have to sustain drives by throwing the ball. If you could turn around and hand it off to a guy like Ezekiel Elite, if you could score down in the red zone, I just
think that one. Even going back to those those those five losses, these are five games that you had where again, if you're able to convert, convert, you're able to win those games, as you pointed out.
But then going back to the.
Green Bay playoff game, if early that first quarter, if you're able to run the ball, that changes the dynamic of being down fourteen to oh quickly stop it.
Or stop it.
But I'm saying if you can run the ball, convert, pick up a first down, and still keep that offense on the sideline. Sometimes the best offense is the best defense, and that comes with the running game.
Let's get our second break in here. Who is the biggest threat to the Cowboys in the East. We will dive into that next on the player's lunchboty by Aristocrat Gaming right here on Dallas Cowboys dot com.
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To the Players Lounge.
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starting at fifteen dollars. How many games have you called it, Fristco. It's unfortunate, man, probably one hundred. I'm calling that game.
Okay, I'm calling that game. Well tell you about that.
That's what I'm about to It's gonna be a child twenty one and the NFL network.
So yeah, ain't.
That some first time on NFL network. First time on the NFL network. Got your suit picked out? You know, I got my suit picked up on the You know color schemes.
Yeah, it's gonna be blue. You know I'm going blue. It's Cowboys baby.
Okay, all right, and congratulations. That's big time right there, man, that is that is big time. So uh I I've never been in a high school game there.
Yeah, Kyle Yeomans and myself will be on the call. So Emmy winning, Kyle, how about that? About that back to back years? Man, My man is on a run, so we'll congratulations. We had triplets, he has Emmy's here. Come on, now, you got a lot.
Of a God is blessed him those times just got you got a favor, man, Kyle has favors. So all right, good luck to you guys as you get ready to do that here back here on the players lounge. Who's the biggest threat to the Cowboys in the East. The first thought is Philadelphia. But as I was trying to pick playoff teams, we know every year there's shuffles. It shuffles around. And Dan Quinn is in Washington. Now trader trade, Yeah, trader man.
Trader.
He left us not the first.
Do attorney did it.
Once went from being a coordinator here to coordinate a head coach of Washington and Bryan Day balls back with the New York Giants. I don't have a lot of faith in the g Men, But is it Philadelphia who got two different coordinators? Vic Fangi takes over the defense and Vic Fangjo was once the guy when he was coached. Denver came and came over to Jered World said here's the blueprint how to beat the Cowboys. And then they have Kellen Moore, former Cowboy quarterback and coordinator. He's now
the offensive coordinator for the philip Eagles. So in your mind, heck Maherrison, who of the three is the biggest threat to the Cowboys to knock them off from being nfcas champion.
That's but look, let me just say this, man, it is every time I see a news flash about the dysfunction in Philadelphia, I smile because for so many years they've just gotten that. Everybody's so kudos and high on their general manager and the signings that they're making, and guys are not very far removed from going to a
super Bowl, super Bowl. But yet here are questions between Sirianni and Jalen Hurts, which to me is absurd between a guy that you paid a substantial amount of money to to lead your team.
You bring in Saquon Barkley.
Obviously your defense doesn't look the way that it used to now that Fletcher Cox has retired. But I think Philadelphia still is Philadelphia. I mean hasn't been a repeat NFC East champion since two thousand and four, and for good reason, because bad teams all of a sudden become good.
And I think dan Quinn, because I loved him so much as a coach when he was here, realized that he is a real, true culture builder and he's going to do exactly that down in Washington, DC that I think with that rookie quarterback man, they have an opportunity
to surprise a lot of people. I do know that there is going to be struggle anytime that you have a rookie quarterback, but defensively, I think with the guys that they've brought in and with the mind of Dan Quinn, it's going to be a problem for a lot of teams. And I don't want to just discount the New York Giants, but right now the Giants don't look like they're putting any effort into getting Daniel Jones any you know, supporting casts other than the god neighbors that they got from Lsha.
Look all we had to do is watch the heart knocks and then tell y'all do they know what they're doing amongst each other? I mean that was there watching that heart knocks, and just I didn't understand the strategy. I go back into the strategy. I'm with you in terms of looking at Washington because he has meaning, dan Quinn, He's got institutional knowledge of what's here.
He knows it.
I was so right about Kellen Moore with the Chargers. Remember Church was fighting me on it fighting.
I'm like that, ain't it? Man?
And I was also right in terms of Mike McCarthy needed to be the guy they needed to move on from Kelly Moore. So Kellen Moore goes out to the Chargers.
Kellen went to a seat. Let's be fair, though, Kellen was he went to a sinking ship, all right. So Kellen got on a sinking ship. That thing was already going down.
What was what were we told about what Justin Herbert was going to do? Oh oh, he goes from Dack to Justin Hurry. He's with a better quarterback. Okay, Justin herb about to blow m v ple that that was what was put out there. Meanwhile, oh, you know, like, hey, you know he putting in out there though Dak limited him and Dak had all these picks last year, that Dak was the problem. You're working with an inferior, right, Dak goes to Mike McCarthy and leads the league in
touchdown pass It happened to Justin Herbert. Well, Justin Herbert got paid, but they didn't make the playoffs. Head coaches fired, Kellen Wore's out of a job. So we saw how that thing just imploded. So now you're gonna go work with Jalen Hurts, who was having a couple questionable issues last year. People started, you know, chirping about him despite you know, being the super Bowl the year before. Jalen Hurts is not the same kind of quarterback with Dak Prescott.
They're different quarterbacks. Okay, Okay, they're different. Their strengths are different.
Because of his legs.
Okay, and I think Dak is I think Dak has a better arm. So good players, but different. You know, so many times people are thinking, yo, black quarterbacks. You know, they're not. They're not. They're just not so that's why I would just say I think I'm just not sold on Calimore. And also knowing that the general manager, Howie Roseman, likes to be involved, Yeah, well they want to collaborations. I don't know how to go other And.
That's what I'm saying for so many times you hear how Howie Roseman's name comes come up as the genius that gets these guys signed. And you know it made it to Philadelphia Bulldogs with all the Georgia acquisitions that they made out there. But I mean, look, I think no matter what, you could, possibly the Cowboys could could repeat as NFC He's champions. It'd be a twenty years since it's been done, but they are going to have
the number one stop the run that happens. If the Cowboys do that, then I'm looking at a team that obviously offensively. If Dak Prescott and Ceedee Lamb they have a connection coming into this season, that doesn't take them five games to get started.
Correct. Yeah, Hey, look, you know so on my head said off the run and also be able to run the ball in the red zone.
Half full sure, I hope you have full so on the record.
Biggest threat in the NFC East of the Cowboys is.
For Heck Mahers. I'm going to Philadelphia, go Washington, Okay, I am going to go Washington.
The institutional knowledge of Dan Quinn and his belief of being able to get because people up there and players up there, they're starving for something different what he brought here and how that defense was changed around here. I believe he can do some of those same things for
them as well. Not saying it's going to necessarily result in them winning the East or making the play, but I do think we're going to see some you know, they're They're not going to be They're not going to be an easy game on Sunday.
What are your thoughts on rookie quarterbacks, because most people believe the same thing about rookie quarterbacks. So you think, you know that Daniels, obviously in his first year at Washington, can have a substantial amount of success to lead them to a championship or just NFC East championship.
Honestly, I have not seen enough of the young man to make a determination here in the preseason, but I'm a fan of Cliff Kingsbury. I think he's I think he understands offenses, very well. You just kind of look at his track record there and I just the biggest thing is just keep him in games and if you can get this thing to the fourth quarter. And we know they have defensive especially the D line, They've got talent there. It's just been a matter of unlocking it.
And I think that Dan Quinn will be able to unlock some things that Ron Rivera was not able to do.
In Washington.
I also think Ron had too much on his plate in Washington as well. Dan's gonna be able to coach the team. They've got people in front office to run it. They have Ron doing a lot of stuff here, so I think they can be improved approved overall organization from that. Heck, this was fun, man, Will Yeah, we'll get after it on Monday.
Didn't take us long to disagree. Or Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Labor Day, Labor day, labor Day. I'm not going to make you labor on Labor Day. Yes, yes, yes, Chris is gonna be working on Labor Day for sure. All right, that's players, Lou goodbye.
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