FRISCO, Texas — There will either be a lot of burst pipes or diamonds in North Texas by the time next February rolls around, and nothing in-between. That's because the amount of pressure that currently exists for this version of the Dallas Cowboys to finally end the organization's decades-long Super Bowl drought is enough to create one or the other.
It's apparent all involved understand the reality of the situation, particularly on the heels of an embarrassing playoff loss at AT&T Stadium in January at the hands of a less experienced Jordan Love — who torched Dallas' vaunted defense.
And it feels as if it's already beginning to manifest itself in the early intensity felt throughout mandatory minicamp, by way of a training camp-like intensity displayed in each practice.
"I love it," said All-Pro quarterback Dak Prescott.
There were several big plays made in minicamp, by both the offense and the defense, and each made sure the other side suffered celebration and raucous trash talk every single time.
One example being when newly-added linebacker Eric Kendricks showed he can still potentially perform at an All-Pro level by fully extending to create a tip drill on a pass to the middle flat by Prescott, one that was intercepted by a diving Donovan Wilson in traffic in the back of the end zone on 7-on-7 drills.
The defense went crazy with the sideline clearing as they ran past Prescott in defiance.
On the very next play, however, Prescott threw a frozen rope through a keyhole to find a streaking Brandin Cooks in the back of the end zone through several defenders for a touchdown — the offense repaying the celebratory favors as Prescott threw both arms in the air and looked at the defensive sideline asking, "What now?!".
It was giving very real Oxnard vibes … but nearly seven weeks ahead of schedule.
"We all know I love to compete and talk trash," Prescott said of the early intensity. "That's the base of it. You have to have fun doing this. We all know, each and every day, we're gonna come in and we're gonna compete against each other.
"We're trying to [make] each other better, and there's no better way to do it than to compete — talking, making sure the energy is high and celebrating after big plays. It just makes it fun. It makes the whole 'iron sharpens iron' fun. Understand that you're dealing with heat and dealing with all this other stuff but, at the end of the day, we're just trying to get better.
"Let's have fun doing it."
There is plenty on the line for the Cowboys in 2024, and much of it doesn't need to be constantly restated due to just how obvious it is — including the contractual situation for several key figures, both on the coaching staff and the roster.
So it's good to see they didn't wait until late July to begin turning the fire up.
Because from what I can tell, winning a Super Bowl is fun as well.
