OXNARD, Calif. — Joe Milton is having the time of his life at the moment. His trade to the Dallas Cowboys has given him the ability to learn behind and from All-Pro quarterback Dak Prescott and in an environment orchestrated by head coach Brian Schottenheimer as one that balances a lot of accountability with a lot of fun.
Some of that fun was had when Milton dropped back and completed a 60-plus yard bomb to wideout Jalen Brooks in the team's joint practice on Tuesday with the Los Angeles Rams.
"Oh, it was great," he said. "Just to have a chance to, you know, just let it rip, but also just having fun out there and enjoying every moment."
He'll get plenty more moments as early as Saturday, when the Cowboys and Rams square off under the lights for the preseason opener against the Rams, or at least that's the plan.
Milton hit his thumb on another player's hand in the aforementioned scrimmage and was removed from practice. He returned to full duty on Thursday, however, a sign he's fine for the trip to Los Angeles — though he'll have to be officially cleared for takeoff before then.
"I feel great," Milton said of his thumb. "I was blessed to be able to wake up this morning, but also just been getting a lot of treatment, and taking care of my responsibilities off the field."
Assuming he takes the field, and potentially starts, Milton is all smiles just thinking about an opportunity to get back under center in a game for the first time since the Week 18 outing, this past January, for the New England Patriots against the Buffalo Bills.
He'd finish that matchup with the 23-16 victory fueled by 241 passing yards, one passing touchdown to zero interceptions, and a rushing touchdown.
His goal is to equal or better than production in his preseason debut for the Cowboys.
"I'm very excited," said Milton. " It's just another opportunity and, also, football season is back around. It's just another opportunity to get out there with a new team, a new bunch of guys that I've been studying and been learning with, been through the ground with, and we're gonna do whatever it takes."
The challenge for Milton in August will be the fact that, as his reps roll along, he'll see a variety of different receivers and offensive linemen rotating in around him, particularly as the Cowboys ramp up evaluations of everyone heading into final roster cuts in about three weeks.
He's focused on the controllables, though.
"Just do what I know how to do best: just play football, get the guys around me happy and excited, and evolve — pretty much. … I'm just trying to impress myself, to be honest, man. It ain't really about nobody else. Obviously, it's about the organization and the guys around me, but I feel like I've been a servant long enough to know how make the guys around me better.
"And that's just keeping those guys up and just staying with it, not a roller coaster, and just have fun playing football. It's a kids' game. We just get paid for it."
And one last thing, for those wondering.
Milton, known for having a cannon … er um… a "rocket" of an arm, says the longest he's ever tossed a football was a mindbending figure.
"Ninety yards," he said. "In the air. That was practice at Tennessee. Ninety yards, yeah."
Bombs away.
