FRISCO, Texas – Joe Milton's first training camp with the Cowboys wrapped up in an appropriate way on Wednesday day: A 60-yard bomb to Jalen Brooks for a touchdown that Milton sent downfield with just a flick of his wrist.
It's a throw that all quarterbacks, regardless of the level they play at, strive to make look that easy. And yet somehow for Milton, he thinks he didn't put enough on it.
"It was smooth," Milton said. "I babied it a little bit."
If that throw was an example of Milton "babying" it, the Cowboys will take it all day. His ability to make those kinds of throws was a big reason why the Cowboys traded for him earlier this offseason. Now, Milton and the team want to round out the rest of his game, with footwork being an important starting point.
"I think it's very important, especially for this offense," Milton said of his footwork. "It helps you get through concepts smoothly. I feel like your feet tell you what your eyes are seeing, so I clean up my feet, I think my eyes will be better and I'll put myself in better situations."
Another aspect of his game that Brian Schottenheimer wants to see is Milton putting more touch on some of his passes. He's got a capable fastball, but sometimes it's too much and the ball sails high or doesn't get there on time.
From Milton's perspective though, he doesn't think he's really throwing the ball that hard.
"I don't understand why people say I throw the ball so hard. I'm literally not throwing the ball hard. It just comes off my hand like that, I was born and blessed that way. If you think I'm throwing the ball hard, you shouldn't be in the NFL getting paid." Milton said.
"There are some times where it'll be like 'Oh, it's not necessary.' There's like one or two a game. Other than that, I'm not throwing the ball hard. It just comes off my hand like that."
His record-setting 62 miles per hour velocity on throws at the NFL combine in 2023 would say otherwise, but nonetheless Milton feels like he's showing the team what he's capable of every day with another big test coming up in his final preseason game.
"I show up and be the same person every day, I come out with the same energy," Milton said. "Going into this game, nothing is going to change about my mindset. Nothing is going to change about the way that I'm approaching the game, everything's going to be the same."
Milton will start for the third and final preseason game on Friday against the Atlanta Falcons and is tweaking his game-week preparation to mirror what it would look like during the regular season.
"I'm treating it like a real season game," Milton said. "As far as from the other two preseason games, it wasn't too much into it, it was kind of just treating it like a preseason, but kind of treat this one like a real game."
That's not to say Milton hasn't been preparing and studying accordingly the last two weeks, but he's bumped up film study, preparation and conversations with his private quarterback coach heading into Friday night.
Against the Rams and Ravens, Milton has given himself a D and D-minus grade on his performance. What does he need to do to convince him to bump his own grade up?
"Same thing you do in school. Keep working hard, keep studying, keep approaching the day the same way," Milton said. "Rome wasn't built in one day, so I feel like no matter what I do, no matter what anybody can do, just keep chipping away and be the best person you can be day in and day out."
