The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.
Cowboys.
This is the Players Lounge, broadcasting live from Dallas Cowboys World headquarters at the Star. Now your hosts Barry Church, Danny McCrae, Heckma Harrison, and Newie Strugs.
Cowboy Nation.
Hello and welcome to the Players Lounge sponsored by Tositos, the official chip in Dip of the Dallas Cowboys, and you are now rocking with the best. I'm Chmaharrison and as always, we can't form votron because one Newie Shrugs is in Oxnar. But this is as close as they get. I got two former Cowboys safeties, Very Church, Danny McCrae is at the desk, and man, we have a great show playing today. The fellas you know what I do. I'm gonna check on it's been alone. It's been a
long time since I seen you there. I mean it's been in a couple of days, by the way, man, it's been about a week.
But to answer your question, heck how you My mentals are great.
Mentals are great, man.
I went to my first Rangers game yesterday for the first time ever.
The indoor.
Man.
It was a lovely experience, something to take the family too. So it was cool. It was cool all the way up there.
I was up there. I think I was like one twenty two or something that game. But it was a good vantage point.
You got to see everything. Knew it. Don't believe that it's okay. Nobody knew.
He gave him the he gave him the tickets.
Danny, how are you, brother? I'm good man, I'm good man. Listen.
I'm having a great time, you know, being a dad life, you know, and I'm and I'm seeing you take care of yourself.
Man, So apple day, keep it, keep it out though way man.
I have my apple, had my yoga, trying to do trying to get like newie man, trying to get like newie newie.
How is ox Star treating you? Brother?
From come on, I'll ask.
You how you do?
Hey? This is loved.
I couldn't hear Frouds for a second.
All these all the all these folks who come around here, these these signals have interrupted me.
I'm fine, guys, I'm fine.
I'm doing better than Tristan Viscay, you know, because I'm here.
Well, this is the players lounge, and we're gonna keep it playing since we know, since we since we checked mentals, and we see that Newie's mentals are right. They need to be. Hey, give us the news and notes. They're an Oxnar Newie.
All right.
So Saturday was an abysmal performance by the kickers. Okay, it was bad between Tristan Viscay you know, and and Brandon Arbors. They ended up cutting this guyino today. So Brandon is now the kicker. He's going to be able to go into the Jacksonville game and handle all the kicking duties. Mike McCarthy, the dead coach, who's asked today the press conference, so why not bringing a veteran And he's like, well, we want to give we want to give Brandon reps and see what he can do. So
this guy is kicking in the USFL. He's from Plano, so he's a local kid. He's gonna Basically what I got from Mike was he deserves the opportunity to fail. So come Jacksonville, we'll see what he does all week long. He's gonna have his opportunity. But when the crowd was out here booing these guys and then when they ended up did make it a kick?
They gave him that that New York.
Yankee side clap, like, okay, but look, you should be worried. Okay, if it's right now going into the Giants game, your biggest concern is who's gonna make the extra points and field goals on Sunday Night football, because.
Right now that answer is not clear at all for the Cowboys.
If you didn't know, Hodge Vis Kuyino was cut today and now we know.
Now you know.
But also newly the position battles that obviously we're hearing about back at home that are playing out down there. Man, talk about what you're seeing because obviously a lot of people are writing about a lot of different positions on both sides of the ball.
All right.
So one of the questions and the only question asked Mike McCarthy about today, is how should we view this offensive line and what we're seeing? And he said, obviously he doesn't have you know his five yet for to just start the season.
He said, that's still developing.
Says, right now the defense is ahead of the offensive line that got a lot of different combinations, and he says that's good for development. So he's looking at getting guys reps and and look at times and reasons I asked the questions. Sometimes it doesn't look real pretty. Sometimes you got some defensive players, you know, like Osa and and you got Micah back here getting after dudes, and so you look at the offensive line and you're like, okay, let's.
See where it goes.
So basically, with a new offensive line coach, let's just give it time. By the way, Michael Parsons did say that that Tyron.
Smith is really still good.
Okay, I mean he's really he's really good because you know, people put that video out there.
You know he kind of kind of kind.
Of got by tire just a little bit, just a little bit out there, but you know, Tyed, he's sitting there.
Tyre's still a monster. Okay.
So for certain people on this show that are always trying to find something negative towards that find usc Trojan, just understand Mike Carson said, he's still really good.
Boy, I'm trying to find did I post the video? Dah, you ain't posted was out there for the rep No, okay, I'm just asking, okay, have I listen. I'm not I'm no longer active in the NFL. Okay, so I don't play any games. I'm real close to top Okay, I mean out to play the left now, I'm kidding.
I'm kidding. Listen.
If Tyron is healthy, as I've always said, he is still a top notch player. When he's on the field and he's healthy, he's still a top notched player. The only issue that I had what iron over the last few years, specifically starting with Adrian Clayborne in the Atlanta Falcons game when Tyron went out and we saw the impact that it had on us, and then continuously year after year after year when Tyron goes out, we have
the same problem. So that's my only issue with with that of like the health factor, not his ability to play yet what mikel did to him. That happens sometimes, especially since you get a little older. You know, somebody get the best of you every once in a while. But I still think he's a good player.
Yeah, I think.
I definitely think you know, Tyren's you know, I'm not gonna call him, you know, a top five tackle in the game right now, but I'll give him top ten, you know, when healthy, I still think he has the capabilities of being a standout player.
Out there, and let's be honest.
You know, Michael Parsons has done that to a lot of offensive tackles International Football League. He's a premier edge rusher and he's just showing how great he is as a talent. So hopefully, you know, Tyron Smith can stay healthy. But the question I want to ask you knew he is. I've heard a lot of reports out of camp about Jalen Tobert and he's actually he been stepping up and playing halfway decent out there in camp, starting to get
a little bit of separation. Can you see from the sidelines where you're at, can you see him taking that next step and maybe even capturing that wide receiver for position out there.
I'm gonna stand on my soapbox just a little bit here, just a little bit when I said earlier this year that if I'm Jalen Tolbert, I stick next to Dak. You know, I'm there by four and I'm trying to be wherever he is. And apparently that is what's happened. He has stuck by Dak Prescott. Brian Schottenheimer. Also head coach Mike McCarthy said there's not a day where that young man has not been there in the building, trying
to work, trying to get better. And one of the things I have an appreciation for is he owned last year. You know, he said I wasn't where I needed to be. So he has made that jump and people talk about it and Danny, you went through it, bar you went through it. That jumped from your first year to your second year. He has a better understanding of what he needs to do. I think maybe some people forgot that he came out of South Alabama and might not have been ready for
what this NFL life entails. So so far, the young man is doing his part. I would tell you I feel better about his future than I do about let's say a Kelvin Joseph number two draft pick they made a couple of years ago. And what I think Jalen Tobert can be special teams. He's gonna have to show
us what he can do. Done a little bit there, some practice, but Saturday night is gonna be huge for a guy like Jalen Tolbert's gonna be huge for a guy like like Kelvin Joseph to show us what you learn is it gonna translate on the football field?
And so so.
Far, they're saying all the right things about about mister Tobert. What you're seeing. I think he has improved where he was from last year.
Is that good enough?
Is that gonna be better than the kids from South Carolina Brooks that they all enjoyed.
I just think Saturday is going to be a big.
Tail for a lot of guys, because I gotta call it all Oxnarch. A lot of dudes will look good out here at ox start on these practice fields, but can you do it when.
The lights are on at at and T Stadium.
That's where you're going to see some guys step up, and you're going to see some guys that trink. Mike McCarthy spoke about how he's not even looking at his FITU. He's like, I don't have the fifty three man roster in my mindset. I don't even go through it, he said, because I know there's gonna be some guys that go out here on Saturday.
Night and make you say WHOA. And I think Mike's one hundred percent right about that.
I got a question for you, Knui, just because I've been I've been reading and hearing that there's been a lot of ones versus ones out there training counts all right, and we all get to see, of course, because the media is gonna blow it out of proportion that Dak is throwing interceptions, whatever whatever is going on. What are you seeing out there when because you get to see it in its entirety?
What are you seeing from Dak?
As far as does he look different based on the changes that are made with Mike McCarthy calling the plays now versus Killen Moore? Is he trying to figure it out? Or is he just really smooth? And the and the internet is just finding those you know, those practice players where the defense gets the best of the offense.
I we all play fantasy football here. I don't know about heck, but you know that we play. Go get him early, Okay, go get him okay because last years, as much as people pointed the finger at him, outside of CD Lamb, it was the Madies.
That's not that case anymore.
Cede Lamb has gotten better, believe it or not, he's gotten better.
Brandon Cooks, he's just good.
I remember talking to uh to Al Harris and we're asking, hey, what is Brandon Cooks bring? He's like happen speed man. He's a really really good football player. And then then you got Michael Gallup, who's comfortable out here making one hand catches. So just the players around Dak at the wide receiver position are better.
Who you know, Gallup could be receiving a lot of one on one coverage.
If Cook stays healthy, and if Lamb is just the guy we've seen out here at camp continuing to get better, you gotta.
Watching Michael Galla. We go watch Jake Ferguson running around.
You know, basically unchecked or just you know, just just having men on man coverage.
So that's why I said, man, go get go, get yourself.
Dak Prescott last year, Jalen Hurts was a guy went and got fantasy. In fact, I got Jalen Hurts the last two years Dak Prescott. That and you know watching Dak even run run some bootlegs here in the k. So I'm just gonna tell you, man, anybody worried, if you if you worried about Dak Prescott, then you probably are watching too much of these these debate shows. This this guy looks good out here, and you need help. Why did Jalen Hurts have the year he had because
they gave him some help. Why is Tua looking good last year because they gave him some dog on help. Dak didn't have it last year. People like, oh, he's not this, he's not that.
I'm sorry. How you supposed to win with James Washington.
Anybody went with James Washington? No, So, so what you're saying is the new play caller. Okay, looks like it's gonna be a positive.
Hey, man, I hate to tell you Barry Church.
Get buried the way the way the way you sit around here and you take this beating from Danny and I about Joe Burrow, about your boy or Justin Herbert, I think you're gonna be taking that same beating. They're gonna take the same beating. Man, gonna be fine. Man, You're gonna be looking up like, Wow, should have done this years ago. Should have listened to Danny years ago.
That's what we're doing. Yeah, he on fire right now.
I haven't even bought my new battery yet, but I'm gonna switch over to the other side man, because I want to talk about this defense, especially say a bad word here. Freeze up safety, No, you didn't freeze up You're good safeties and you know how it has been with safeties around here. But Malik Hooker signed a new contract, which is which in cowboy Land.
That's good news.
You backed the second went out, You backed that position up with Malik Hooker. You get Donovan Wilson in signing his contract as well. What do you guys feel about the safeties in the way they solidified their group.
I'm pleasantly surprised.
I mean, to me, this is the first time and since I can remember that the Cowboys have put this many dollars into the safety unit, and rightfully so. I mean, you got the three headed monster right now. You got Donovan Wilson, who's kind of that tone setter downhill, will hit you in the mouth. You got a curse who's you know, versatile, can play all types of positions. And you got your middle of a field guy who has
unbelievable range. And Malik Hooker, who a lot of people including myself by that man off that for those injuries that he sustained. You know at ACL I think he had an achilles as well. He was like, I don't know if he still got that juice, but you see, the guy can get off the hash, you can make plays in the deep end. And that's what this This Cowboys safety unit has been missing for a long time. So to me, they allocated the dollars into the right people.
Now when you talk about you know that guy Curse, you know, you got Donald getting paid a lot of ducats, you got Hooker getting paid a lot of duckets, and then you see a guy like Curse, who a lot of people's you know, was the defensive captain, was a playmaker out there as far as getting everybody orchestrated. You gotta start thinking in his mind. Man, So what does that leave me? You know, you got guys coming.
Up on a hole.
Okay, I'm just kind of the odd man out. So to me, Kurse got a lot to think about. But where they put those dolls in that Safts unit. They needed to do that because those guys are a great players.
Hey, I got audio back here, Church, that's what piggyback on what you said.
Uh, Stephen Jones wasn't here.
He was at cancer with his dad for DeMarcus whereas enshrine in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And by the way, congratulations, do you wear a beautiful speech? I'm gonna ask him and see if I can get a hold of him after practice, because the thing that I like to know was Curse offered a deal and they couldn't come to numbers, because I know the first thought is like, okay, well what about JK and who dan Quinn is going out of his way to praise, who played like a warrior last year for the guys.
How come he's not getting the bag.
Did they approach him and then him say well, we couldn't agree to numbers or I wanted this, or I wanted that, or the team's you know, there's just other things that go into it that I'd like to see what is happening there, and maybe Steven will give us some insight because I just think at times we just want to assume that maybe the team doesn't like the player, but the player and the team have to come together
and say what do I want. I spoke to Malik Hooker afterwards with other people, and Hooker said he likes living here, didn't want to go to a different system. And I think this also speaks to the fact that what these guys feel about DQ Joett Jr. About what they're running and how comfortable they feel they are. So you take a little bit of less money, you know, I mean understand guys who want to go get in
the bag. But Hooker had an affinity for being here and wanted to be here that much I know, so he probably took less dollars.
Danny.
Let me ask you this, you obviously being a safety in the NFL, if you're a jiron curse, being that leader on this team, being a green dot guy at times on this team, and know the role that you play, are you okay with seeing other guys obviously get paid in front of you, knowing that, hey man, this year could be pretty big for you and you could be a guy that's in line to get paid big dollars next year. Oh yeah, I guess I'll have to put it, uh in terms of how I would feel if if
I wasn't offered a deal. Right, So we're just gonna assume that he wasn't offered the deal he could have been.
But I'm gonna just go from that assumption.
I'm incentivized at this point one to make you pay for not paying me, Right, I'm a ball out this season and then find out who wants to really get me the bag and I'm I'm and I'm chunking deuces on y'all too. I'm hoping DQ get out of here next year, and he takes me with him, and I'm like, Okay,
that's all right with d Q Lee's. I know I'm the guy, I'm not tied to Dallas, but yeah, I might feel a little slighted if I didn't get offered the deal and the other two safeties or offer one of I'm the green dot guy, I'm the leader on the defense, and oh yeah, by the way I've been balling. Yeah, I'm I feel a little way. But us as athletes, that's what happens, man, when they say you have a chip on your shoulder like some like some business decisions
make you. They put that chip on your shoulders or turned it into a boulder, and then maybe you see the guy come out and having even better seasons than he had previously, and he'd be laughing his way to the bank next season. But I know Malie Hooker and then be seeing them no state taxes, man, that's what up.
To get nothing motivation? You like money. But I got to ask you this, Nuie.
If you're Zach Martin and you see the Dallas Cowboys make these signs.
How does that.
Affect you, especially when you holding out for more dollars?
I think you can, okay, if I'm looking at it just kind of putting on a hat of both sides. If I'm looking at the Zach side, you say, hey, man, you've committed dollars and you've paid other people before. Other folks have jumped out of line and you've paid them. I'm a Hall of Fame football player. You can take care of me if you want to. On the flip side, you're the Cowboys, say hey, we've given you your money. We paid you at the top, You're first round draft pick.
You were taking care of there. We have the leverage, we don't have to pay you going And I had a good conversation I'm gonna put up with Todd Archer on the NBCD have to be website light on about how you go into missing games, you know, regular season games.
It's money you will not get back.
It's it's you know, starts messing with your contract and escalators and things within that that you don't want to do.
So I just at this point in time, Todd Archer ESPN has and Todd has a good relationship with Zach but he really does feel you're not going to see Zach Martin miss any regular season games and this will just be a training camp thing that he will be there week number one, and with the kind of Hall of Fame resume that he is putting up, you don't want to miss another opportunity to be an all pro guard World War time, to have more statistics that go your way when they go into the room to vote
on the Hall of Fame and rubber stamp you as a first ballot guy.
So that, to me, I think is your hope.
And I think Jerry has a I think they feel the same way that he's not going to miss regular season games. So you know, Mike McCarthy's come out here and said he's not worried about Zach Martin.
So you don't see this having any type of how m Smith held out back. And I believe it was like ninety five or ninety six where we missed the first couple of games and then Charles Haley went over there and said, hey, y'all gotta pay this man so we can get back on track. You don't see that type of situation happening with Zach Martin.
Okay, I'm gonna put this out here for Emmitt Smith, and please never when you never see him, don't ever say he held out, because he's still sensitive about that.
He's like, I did not hold out.
My contract was expired, So you can't hold out if you have an expired contract. And Jerry was trying to get him on the cheat. Emmitt's like, pay me more than Barry Sanders. I've won a Super Bowl, I've led the league in rushing. Pay me, and Jerry was like no. So they lose the first two games and go back to what this was at the time. This was an offense that was predicated on the run. As great as
quarterback as Troutman was, Jimmy was running the football. There's no doubt he was the most valuable player on that team. And the engine that they had to have two games go, they lose them. At that point in time, no team had ever gone zero to to and won the Super Bowl. So everybody's frustrated, sponsors are mad, and then boom, Jerry goes and makes the deal. Zach Martin, in my opinion, he's not going to be that. I don't see him being that lynchpin that if the Cowboys go oh and two,
I says, Oh, my gosh, you gotta pay Zach. I also don't think that Zach Martin will will miss the first two games, because, as I said, you go back into the kind of money that you will lose and how it affects the rest of your contract.
I just don't see that happen.
He's an eleven time Emmy winner. Knew he shruggs the.
News from Otsnad, California. I heard the horn go off back there, Knewie. We're gonna let you go, and we appreciate you for tuning into your show, the Players Lone. You know you put the p and Players Lounge NEWI we gonna hold it down like you Frother knew it while you're out at covering the Dallas Cowboys. But when we come back, my guys, all right, well then come back, we're gonna talk about the leaders on this team on the Player's Lounge.
Once you use the Cowboys locker rooms favorite products, check out the official men's skincare brand of the Dallas Cowboys, Jack Black.
Right now, you can get the Jack Black.
Playmaker, a curated collection of Cowboys locker room favorites, for just ten Bucks with free shipping. The Playmaker includes four Jack Black skincare favorites plus a full sized intense therapy lip bomb. Go to get Jack Black dot com, slash Cowboys and use the code word Cowboys the Jack Black Playmaker tim Bucks free shipping.
I'm Duk Prescott, quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. Blockchain dot com is one of the most trusted ways to buy, sell, and trade crypto. Whether you're always on the go or stay closer to home, blockchain dot com is just a few taps a weight put the power of crypto in your pocket, so no matter where there you are, you can trade on your terms and build a crypto portfolio to fit your life.
For crypto pros, rookies.
And anyone in between, blockchain dot com makes it easy to own a piece of the future. Blockchain dot Com trusted by millions, trusted by America's Team.
Hi, I'm Danny McCrae, Dallas Cowboys alumni player here with's Smoothie King and Smoothie King wants to ask you, what's that sound? That's the sound of you and everyone else absolutely loving new smoothie bowls from Smoothie King.
And Whoo me too.
These smoothie bowls start with USII and Pataya and are handcrafted with fresh topics like sliced bananas, sweet berries, crunchy Purely Elizabeth Granola and his Savory Peanut butter Drizzle. New Smoothie bowls only at Smoothie King, the official smoothie of the Dallas Cowboys.
Star Sports Tours is the only official fan travel partner of the Dallas Cowboys, offering exclusive game weekend travel packages with pregame, sideline access and photo ops with current players, cheerleaders, and Cowboy legends.
You want to stay at.
A team hotel and the best tail gay party in Texas. Tour the Star and talk x'es and o's with me Everson Wallas. With Star Sports Tours, you can visit Cowboys Travel dot com to book your travel package today.
Back to the Players.
Loud, The official twenty twenty three Dallas Cowboys Star Magazine Training Camp Preview is now available. This year is edition featuring scouting reports, position analysis, a pull out schedule poster, and articles from your favorite Cowboy writer. Get your Training Camp Preview today at Dallascowboys dot com.
Slash Star back in after Teenagers.
It's playing Loude and man, new he gave us some nuggets.
He did. He gave us some nuggets, all right.
A lot of the insight on what's going on with the way that the Cowboys are looking at Zach Martin, the thought process with Malie Hooker and signing that contract, and the guys that are pushing.
The envelope down there in our start.
And man, it's gonna get interesting when these cuts start to happen in the next couple of weeks. Man, it's gonna I believe it's gonna be some names on that that's gonna shock everybody. And I mean, I know, look, it's still got to play out. We still gotta look at the preseason. But you guys know it, there are no shoe ins at certain positions. It doesn't matter even about draft pick where you got drafted. It may be interior line, safety, receiver, things like that.
I mean, it's all starting to play out.
But one of the things I want to talk to y'all specifically about is locker room chemistry, locker room leadership. You guys know how important that is. And guys on this team seem like they like each other, love each other. They kick it with each other outside of the facility. But the bigger thing I think that you guys have talked about I've heard you talk about before. It's just the leadership part on this team. You bring in Stephan Gilmour, you bring in a Brandan Cooks and players like that
that obviously are making an impact on your team. Talk about how important that is and where this could actually be such a positive thing for a team that was already finishing twelve and five last season.
I'll start with you. Yeah, I think it's been instant.
I mean you could just listen to to Treyvon Diggs, who was who was our best corner for the last few years, breaking records, doing everything he can to be better. His brother is Stephan Di's plays in the league, so he already has the idea of how to be a professional. And then you get a guy like Stepan Gilmour to come in, comes in and he's like, oh man, I'm
learning a lot from this dude. Like this dude is showing me how to be a better professional, what he does to be as good as he's been for so long.
And how I can be better.
He said, all right, Stephan dig like he just got paid one hundred million dollars and he still he's still looking at another guy saying I can be better than what I am based off what I'm learning from him. And then the same thing with Ceedee Lamb in the roide receiver room, he's talking to Cooks and he's saying, Hey, well, I'm getting all these little tip bits from him, and I think I can make my game be a little bit better based off of what I've learned from him.
And I think when you're in the locker room, when you have guys in your position, group meeting, who can give you those those nuggets, who can who has the experience for you to say I respect what he's saying, right because most of the time, if it's somebody who's been no shoes in that position, you're gonna listen to them versus somebody who hasn't done it.
The same thing on the coaching side.
So I think when you have guys like that in the locker room, in those positions of meeting rooms.
I think it's just it just helps you.
And that's why I think you see the team being a lot more competitive. They're a lot closer now where they can throw the ball at each other after a play in this and if not a big deal, you know what I'm saying, because it's some locker rooms that'll be a fight, like like what.
You throw the ball at me? For now?
These dudes they close enough for it to say, you know, man, this is all competition and we're good and this is gonna make us better. Yeah, it's huge to have leadership in the locker room. I mean, some of the teams that I have been on, the better teams that I've been on, we were extremely close and extremely tight. You had those veteran leaders to show the youngsters out there how to go about things. I mean, to me, it's important when you talk about leadership. There's two type of leaders.
You know, there's a vocal leader and then you got your lead by example leader. And to me, I think the Cowboys cover both bases. When you look at the defensive side of the football, you look at step On Gilmore, who he's kind of a quiet guy, not a really vocal guy out there. He's kind of just like, this is why I'm gonna do it. If you want to be successful, this is just follow my lead, follow my example.
And Diggs's done it a great job doing that. As well as the other corners.
They've done a great job learning from the lead back example type of guy like Gilmore is. And then when you talk about vocal leadership, a guy that's gonna get the team hype, the guy that's gonna run through a brick wall and have everybody run through with them, you talk about a guy like de Marcus Lawrence. I mean he's always out there hyping this team up, making sure this team is always on their.
P's and q's.
So defensively, you got that understanding that you have that vocal leader, you have that lead back example leader, you know, on you off of the side of the ball.
The same thing.
You look at a guy like Dak Prescott vocal and lead by example. And you got Brandon Cooks out there who's not really the most vocal guy, but he goes out there and he takes the top off of defenses and shows these young receivers how to go about how to be a professional each and every day. And I think that's great for this team and hopefully they can come together as a whole and be that tight unit that we all think they are. Take at the distance, I mean, they know they've got a lot to do.
You know, he's got this on paper right now. But as far as leadership is concerned, I think this team has all the bases checked now. As you went down the line, I thought, I was like, man, okay, all right, I'm thinking about the players and the position groups and who the leaders are. I'm like than you know, as I look at that running back room, who is this void of leadership right now?
Who is it?
Because all I've heard about Tony Poller is he's a quiet guy.
He's one of those lead by example guys.
But who's the guy to get everybody together, get you hanging out, making sure we're staying after the watch film.
Who's ordering the wingstop? Right?
Hey, everybody coming here after practice? I got wingstop for us, and we're gonna look at a few more players to make sure that we're all on the same pace. Who is that guy? It has to be Tony Pollard, right. You think that he's getting outside of his own bubble to be that vocal guy because he's a veteran. Now he's seen it done. So I'll say this. I'll say this from my experience, some guys are are just one type.
Yeah, right, like.
Something guys have a hard time going from I lead by example, watch me play, and then going to the DeMarcus Lawrence role of like, Okay, now I'm speaking on it and now I'm doing both. Like everybody doesn't really have that that characteristic characteristic in them.
That's very true.
And as for me, I mean, I take myself as an example. I'm more of a lead by example, Like I'm not gonna go out there and be this raw, raw leader and.
You got everybody just falling. You got a rucker.
No I'm not.
I've never been the by example.
But I've also had leaders with me that I'm thankful for, like a Sean Lee or or DeMarcus Ware or somebody like that who can take that vocal presence away from because I know I'm not the guy that everybody rally around me. All right, this is how we're gonna break things down. I was never that type of guy. So you got to have two type of leaders on this team, and hopefully for that running back room, somebody can step up.
I want to talk about something that you just mentioned with you said DeMarcus Lawrence, but you also talked about Dak and one of the stories that I got from training camp I got this from Nate talking in the other day was about Dak. It was eleven on eleven, send me for holk ran around. He cut it off short, Dak through the ball. It was one of those ones
that was intercepted. Dak gets Simmy coming back to the huddle and not so much brates him in front of the team or whatever, but you know that there was at one on one time to talk to him about what he did wrong. Because they're obviously learning a new offense the time it may be a little bit off, but still letting him know that, Look, this is where
I need you to be. Dak coming into this season, obviously so much riding on it, so much expectation on his shoulders, because at the end of the day, everybody's going to be talking about him. When you think about him as a leader and at the quarterback position, from all the other thirty one quarterbacks there is in the league, do you think that there's anything maybe lacking in.
His leadership over the years.
It's hard to say about the guy being Walter Payton Man of the Year, but some way that he can step his game up as a leader. I'll be honest with you and in my opinion. I think Dak is probably one of the best leaders I've ever been around in the locker room.
I mean period.
I mean from a young guy, from a rookie until now. I mean, he's grown unbelievably and he understands that you can't talk to each player or motivate each player the same way. You know, he went over to Semi Fooko, as you said, he didn't, you know, berate him and say you got to get that. He kind of just talked to him and say, hey, this is how you need to do this routing. Hopefully you know later on in that practice he was able to do the right thing.
Some guys you can yell at and motivate them and say, hey man, you playing like you know what you need to get your you know, button gear, and some guys you can't. You got to learn how to motivate people. And I think Dak does an amazing job of treating each individual teammate out there different and his leadership style to me is his second to none. It's a fine line between that, right, especially when the end result is
of falling in your lap. Seventeen interceptions last season, and let's say maybe five of those were based off of tip passes.
If you're Dak, aren't.
You like, look, I'm crawling all over you about simple mistakes like that because eminently it falls on me.
Well, I think I.
Think if you look at the trajectory of some of the greatest quarterbacks that we've been able to see, the pay Manning's, the Aaron Rodgers, the Tom Brady's, Right, what do you start to see as as they go deep in their career and they have the young guys who come in and don't know what they're doing or they're dropping passes, you start to see that.
You start to see it go.
From hey man, I'm I'm I'm trying to work with you to like, hey listen, if you ain't gonna do it, we get you out of there. And I think that's the next progression of Dak's leadership, right. I think I think you're gonna get to the point to where it's like, hey man, listen, I love you, okay, but I'm gonna
tell you this. If I know that you ain't been working out during the summer, and I notice you don't know what's going on because you're sleeping in the meetings, and then I get out there and you're not running the right route and you're dropping passes that I used to Hey man, you're gonna be okay, that's gonna change to a co going to the sideline. Though, going to the sideline, we're gonna bring somebody else in who I know has been working hard and I know they want
to maximize the opportunity that I'm gonna give them. I think that's the next progression of it, because if you continue to see stuff like guys dropping pastes and going and it's going for U interceptions or making the wrong reads, you know, based on whatever the coverage you're showing, and they running the wrong route, and that ends up in the exception, I think you're gonna start to see like, hey man, I got guys, I got Cooks, Yeah all right, I got Ceedee Lamb, and I got Michael Gallup and
then the rest of y'all. Y'all just gonna have to figure it out because I'm not taking a chance on y'all because y'all are letting me down. I mean, like, classic example of what you're seeing is that goes to the to the podium after the Jacksonville game, throws the ball to Noah Brown, hits him in the bread basket, goes right to the other player, runs it back for a touchdown. He puts that on himself. Now, if you go to other quarterbacks, I won't call him back. But
come on, man, they will throw you up. Aaron Rodgers will throw you under the bus.
You gotta have guys. He will throw you under the bus. But that is the quarterback that will put it on himself.
And that to me, like, that's a difference in leadership, especially when you talk about a guy someone like Tom Brady that all doll cousin receiver on the sideline. Aaron Rodgers will throw you under the bus at a press conference. Dak will do none of it and take all of the responsibility that comes with it. And some quarterbacks you know that we've played with, they will make you'll make a mistake like that. They won't even say nothing to you.
They'll just go to the coach and you know, man, why am I only playing you know, ten snaps instead of forty snaps. So these guys are lucky that they have a guy like that that cares enough to say, you know, hey, I'm gonna bring you to the sizes. You know, this is what you need to do better, because, like I said, we played with a guy at what you're doing? All right, I'm the coach real quick, and I got to answer, at what point does it change?
Because I was true because I'm not I'm not talking I was.
I wasn't talking about the guys who will go and get you in the in the media right when they come to the podium and they say, well this guy did whatever. I'm talking about the guy who had practiced when you drop a past and you running in he said, no, go back to the sideline. Jason Witten would do a guy like that, Hey man, you don't know what you're doing. Don't get him sideline man going to the same middle of play, Hey, coach, man, this dude, get him about it.
But he had that also helped. God, they respected him when he said go to the sideline. They ain't say well, coach, They be like we said, I got to get out. But I think that is I think that's the progression of the leadership to where you say, hey man, I've been around teams uh in instances where this type of stuff right here has cost us in big moments and I'm not gonna let that continue. To cost us in big moments, So you got to go until you can get it figured out. And like I said, I think
that's the next progression of of that. He's an amazing leader, but it's you know, sometime you be like, hey man, we didnet got so close so many times. And this ain't on me, right, this on guys. This on guys that I see. I'm I'm gonna take it in at the podium, you know.
What I'm saying. But this is on guys who I know, like.
When we're working out, when we go to Miami, all right, you didn't come like that, like that, that is when you say all right, now, I understand that when you when you got to say, man, you you're not the one sad line. So I think it'll get there, you know, especially your start winning some Super Bowl gonna be like, hey man, I know I know the length of an NFL career and uh and we didn't and we didn't
got and we didn't got close enough. But we're not there and I know only have certain amount of years left. Now it's a little bit more serious. Danny McCrae is predicting Super Bowl. I heard it, yes, right, I said, I start winning for some more.
I refuse to believe that you were not a rock rock guy.
I refuse I was not you right right here though, was just like, if you don't want to do it. You played with so yeah, d war you had Jason Hatcher, Okay, you didn't have to James, I mean, and then and then after that.
You had Rob Ryan as your defense coordinator. It was gonna be the.
You know, so you didn't you didn't really like Dware to me, wasn't even really a rock rock. They kind of forced him into that, like, but you could tell it wasn't him. Well, man, we got our final segment coming up, and man, we're gonna talk about my favorite subject.
Y'all know what my favorite subject comes? Right? No, No, it's my favorite. Look, man, I'm not.
I promise you will be tasty cakes being eight this year coming up next on the Players, Now you ain't right? Hi, I'm Danny McCrae, Dallas Cowboys alumni player here with's Smoothie King and Smoothie King wants to ask you, what's that sound? That's the sound of you and everyone else absolutely loving new Smoothie bowls from Smoothie King.
And whoo me too.
These smoothie bowls start with USII and Pataya and are handcrafted with fresh topics like sliced bananas, sweetberries, Crunchy Purely Elizabeth Granola and his Savory Peanut butter Drizzle. New smoothie bowls only at Smoothie King, the official smoothie of the Dallas Cowboys.
Once you use the cowboys locker rooms favorite products, check out the official men's skincare brand of the Dallas Cowboys, Jack Black. Right now you can get the Jack Black Playmaker, a curated collection of Cowboys locker room favorites, for just ten bucks with free shipping.
The Playmaker includes four.
Jack Black skincare favorites plus a full sized intense therapy lip bomb. Go to get Jack Black dot com, slash Cowboys and use the code word Cowboys the Jack Black Playmaker ten bucks free shipping.
I'm Dak Prescott, quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. Blockchain dot com is one of the most trusted ways to buy, sell, and trade crypto. Whether you're always on the go or stay closer to home, blockchain dot com is just a few types away put the power of crypto in your pocket, so no matter where you are, you can trade on your terms and build a crypto portfolio to fit your life for cryptopros, rookies.
And anyone in between.
Blockchain dot Com makes it easy to own a piece of the future. Blockchain dot Com Trust it by Millions, Trust It by America's Team.
Star Sports Tools is the only.
Official fan travel partner of the Dallas Cowboys, offering exclusive game weekend travel packages with pregame, sideline access and photo ops with current players, cheerleaders and Cowboy legends.
You want to stay at.
The Team Hotel, attend the best tail gay party in Texas, tour the Star and talk ex'es and o's with me Everson Walls. With Star Sports Tools, you can visit cowboystravel dot com to book your travel package to.
To the Players Lounge.
The recently crowned twenty twenty three cun Kafka Gold Cup Championship Mexican Men's National Championship team will take on Australia on Saturday, September ninth at at and T Stadium as part of the twentieth anniversary of the Mexican Tour. Don't miss another exciting soccer match in at and T Stadium. Tickets are on sale now at seat geek dot com, the official ticketing provider of AT and T Stadium.
Back in action here for the.
Final segment of the Players Lounge, And as I was alluding to in the little teas that was interrupted by your tasty cake of non sponsorship plug, all right, talk about my guy Michael Parsons. If y'all been noticing Michael is wrecking, let's getting to the point where let's getting to the point where they can't even run plays. He's that disruptive in camp. When do you I mean, come on, man, you guys look played in the league know full well that's how I.
New he does that. You guys sitting over there like.
You guys literally and you have played with some special players like Won DeMarcus, which you want to talk talk about when we get about of here. Uh. When you have a guy like this that's dominating and you know you want his best stuff for the season. If you're the coaches, are you saying, look, let's dial this kid back a little big, you know, send him over there with Britt Brown.
I don't care what you do. We need to save all this for the regular season when.
It comes, you know, full padded practices and all that. You know, he's still young enough for I'm gonna put him out there for the full path. I'm gonna let him do his thing. You know, he's the vocal leader, he's almost, you know, the face of the franchise outside of d So to me, I'm gonna let him do his thing out there. But when it comes to these preseason games, we've seen enough. All right, sit your but over there.
With Britt Brown.
I mean, I wouldn't even let him dress out for the game because you know the type of man he is in the type of guy he is. If he's dressing out there, he's gonna want to get on the field, And to me, it's just it's not worth the risk out there for a preseason game. We've seen it happen time and time again where guys will go out there for their ten snaps and on that nice snap, something crazy happens.
And to me, the big.
Mazukah Aka Parsons, he's a guy that you can't afford to lose, all right, especially for this team. I feel like he's, you know, basically the fire of this team and he gets everything going in the right motion. So for me, preseason now you go ahead and set over there with Brett Brown, get some of the bands done. But I'm not, I'm not messing with in the preseason.
Yeah, I'm not. I'm not. I'm not asking for him to go out there and play.
Now, get he get a couple of snaps like a series, and in the third one if they all played and then then I kind of understand that, But not do we need to.
See anything from him? No? No, we know how good. We know he went and got better.
So all the stories of him going to talk to some of the best offensive lineman there to play the game in our generation and getting tips from them on how to be better, so we know that he's put in the work. I mean, I feel the same way same way about him as I feel about a guy like Ceedee Lamb. I feel about a guy like Brandon Cooks, Like do I need to see him in the preseason?
No?
And I think Mike McCarthy is sending it up perfectly by making sure that there's a lot of ones versus ones in the preseason, right, Because what happens is if you believe that you have a top five defense, okay, you're probably not going to get better competition in the preseason, right, You're probably the best competition that you're going to get before the regular season is probably in practice, right, so
they're getting all the reps they need to get. Michael Parsons is going up against Tyron Smith, who's healthy right now, so he's probably getting the best look that he's gonna get before he gets into the regular season. So I don't expect to see them much should we do maybe a series, But outside of that, nah, I want them to stay healthy because what happens is it doesn't even have to be a major injury at acl Achilles any of that. Just something nagging injury. The first four weeks
of your season. It's like I'm a little slower than I should be because I tweaked something. Yes, that's what I'm That's what I'm talking about. You guys are two KGI veterans, You played a lot of years in the NFL. You have a guy on your team that can make you money, okay, a guy that can make you money, okay. You have a one percenter of all the dogs that are quote unquote dolls in the NFL.
I don't want him to have any of that.
A tweet Cami a tweet, quad or finger or any of that.
He is what he is.
The debate about him being a linebacker versus defensive end, that's over with.
He's a defensive end, okay.
And now, even with the experience that he has, he is one of the best in the NFL. I don't I wouldn't even dare think that he would play a preseason game. But at this point it's making it hard on this offense just to.
Get a look.
Okay, well listen, okay, we noticed s o officive line. All right, So I will always tell this story. I will always tell it.
Man. When I went to Chicago, all.
Right, we was balling in training camp against our offense, killing them. I mean I must have by four picks in a training camp. I got the start job and everything all that. I say, yeah, we're gonna We're gonna be nice when we get into the regular season, because the Bears had beat the brakes off of us when we went up there.
They did, they did. Man.
We got out there only to realize that our offense was absolutely trans We the office was so transhed. We thought we was great. Then we played the offense that was averaged and they read it up on us, Okay, so you never know. Okay, So let's say we know
that the offensive line right now is going through Zach Martin. There, Tyrn Smith is trying to figure it back out again at this point, but he's also probably in his mind, like I still need to stay healthy, trying to make sure that nothing happens, and then you shuffling for the rest of your offensive line. Tylers Smith playing little guard. We know that his natural positions left time, so he's
still figuring that out as a second year player. So that's some of the headaches that you expect to have. And then when you got a guy like Mark Michael Parsons, who's that great. Yeah, he's gonna wreck your practice break. He's not even gonna give you opportunity to really find that shuffle out. They probably got to put him on the sideline so they can see what they can pass off with what they can't, you know, who can really
play the game. Because it's not a fair assessment of a guy that's going against the Michael Parsons every snap to say is he a guy who could play in the league, because he's not even it's not fair.
It's not fair.
He has to get a look against a guy who he may be actually going.
Against that type of tier. He's a Michael Parson's tier one.
Okay, on average, you're probably going against tier two, tier three at the most average. Okay, So puts on them tier three guys and then and then let them go against the office line and see what happens. Well, look, guys, I'm sure you saw over the weekend one of your former teammates getting shrine in too.
I gotta be like that. Go out there and say that.
The marks where your former teammate sung the national anthem and got his gold jacket. But man, a great speech, and I wouldn't give you guys just a minute to talk about a guy that you got an opportunity to play with getting.
His gold jacket.
No, without a doubt, I mean it's much deserved. When you talk about a pros pro, I mean the markers where his picture is gonna be in the dictionary. When you talk about that, I mean, this is a guy that you came to work early each and every day, stayed late. And he wasn't a selfish guy like this guy. He knew all the tricks of the trade, and he
taught the younger guy. No matter if you were undrafted, if you were a sixth seventh round pick, He's gonna teach you the knowledge that he knew going in through this game.
And he helped a lot of young guys out that way.
And when we talk about his on field performance, I mean we came in his rookies.
I mean it was just crazy.
To see a guy his size be able to run as fast, bend the corners that he was able to and impact the game like he's able to so much deserved, I mean Hall of Fame for this guys. It was a deserved opportunity for him, and I'm glad he was able to get there.
But we talked about singing that national anthem. My man was up there, like I love it.
Though I love it. He did a good job. He did a good job. Word is great man. I love d Whir. I see him all the time now. He was my locker mate when I first got into the league. So that's a guy you want to sit next to if you want to try to figure out how to be a professional in the league and try to get some pointers on what you should do as a rookie, you know, trying to get your footing as you get into the league.
I would say this.
I think it may have been our second year where I was like, Okay, d Word's great. We all know he's great, you know, And he played, he balled out, he had the club on.
I think he got an interception with the club on.
But the standout game to me, okay is the Philadelphia Eagles when they were the second coming of the Greatest Show on Turf and Michael Vick and Sean Jackson at all now and d Ware went out there and got full sacks on the guy and Michael Vick could still run, he was still rolling. Yeah, he went out there and got full sacks on the guy. And I'm just watching him.
I'm like, this is this is different, this is this is something totally different than you've ever see because you you already know he's great, and then you still have you still see it, and you say, oh, he's that great, Like there was never a limit to like how much he could do, like he always he could always go out there and surprised, you say, that's actually something I never thought I would see done in my time playing the game. So shout out to him. Super Bowl champion
as well. So ye, great dude. Uh, well deserved man. I tell you what, man, this is one of those moments when you see a good guy get rewarded. And that's the market sware man. It's an awesome dude man all around. I haven't heard one person say anything bad about the Market Square ever, you know, so I'll check them if somebody like it's you, but much deserving into all of the recipients man.
Reeves Island got in.
It was some real dogs, man, some guys that played in this league and well deserved man to all of them in the weekend. Uh and can But that's a wrap for us here on the players lines.
We came in, We did what we did.
We'll be back on on Wednesday. Wednesday at one o'clock. I still got this in my pocket for you. If you want to die, I can't.
It's the player aloud man. We'll be back on Wednesday. We'll see yuh.
This has been a production of Dallascowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.