OXNARD, Calif. – On Tuesday, the Cowboys held their second joint practice of training camp with the Saints.
After a joint practice last week with the Rams in which Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer saw his team get "really good work," the tone against after practice with New Orleans was different, with multiple skirmishes between both teams taking place.
"A little chippy," Schottenheimer said. "Not the way we like to do business. Got to be better, but I've got to look at the film. We're certainly not going to take s--- from anybody, but again, it was chippy on both sides. Like I've said, I want our guys to play on the edge without going over the edge. One guy sounds like he might've thrown a punch, and that's why he left practice early."
That player was Donovan Ezeiruaku, who has now been ejected twice during the Cowboys' time in Oxnard this year for throwing a punch.
"We'll have a long conversation," Schottenheimer said when asked about Ezeiruaku. "Donovan is a very bright young man. He understands that he can't hurt the football team. Unfortunately for him, there's two officiating crews that know he lost his composure. But it's part of a growth mindset for him, we've got to get him better, and we've got the right type of leaders on this football team, myself included, Christian Parker, Quinnen Williams, guys like that, that will help him do that."
One of the more disappointing parts of all the dust ups at practice was the fact that the Cowboys couldn't get in "really good work" like they did against Los Angeles a week ago. That's not ideal, especially with joint practices serving as the "preseason" for Dallas' starters, who likely will not see any preseason game action over the next two weeks.
"Nobody wants this," Schottenheimer said. "We want to get the work in. I thought it settled down, but it was very chippy early on, and it's unfortunate…"
"I've got to go look at the film because I was playing referee the whole time. The one thing I've learned is I don't get in the fights, I stay back. Our football team needs this work. Overall, I was disappointed in the work today because I didn't think we got enough good work. I thought there were too many bodies on the ground. It just felt sloppy to me. It is what it is."
At one point, Schottenheimer and Saints head coach Kellen Moore had a discussion about calling the practice off early.
"Kellen and I talked about a couple different things," Schottenheimer said. "We decided once it settled down, we kind of had agreed that if a couple other things happened we would cancel it. But they worked through it, they settled into it, but again, there's a discipline element to playing this football game. And unfortunately, we didn't handle that very well today. But again, I don't think we were the only culprits."
After practice concluded, the Cowboys did their usual post-practice conditioning before Schottenheimer brought the entire team together for a lengthy discussion. When describing it afterwards, he once again made clear his team wasn't backing down from anyone as well.
"It was more about mindset, mentality, ability to refocus when bad stuff happens," Schottenheimer said of the conversation with his team. "Again, we're going to play on the edge. And we're not going to take, I'll say the word again, s--- from anybody…It was a sloppy practice all in all, and it's got to be better."
The Cowboys have one more padded practice remaining on Oxnard on Thursday before the team travels to Arizona for their second preseason game against the Cardinals on Saturday.
