FRISCO, Texas – Impressions from witnessing Tuesday's second of nine planned Organized Team Activities (OTAs) and listening to the first Cowboys player interviews since the end of last season, including with a whole bunch of newcomers.
And let's preface all this by pointing out these OTA practices are in helmets, jerseys and shorts, so from a physical standpoint, not quite as physical as the 18-Under Girls Flag Football championship caught while channel surfacing with no playoff games to watch Monday night.
Or as Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer classified, "We want competitive practices, not combative practices. We aren't allowed to have combative practices."
And to emphasize "not combative," at one point during the first OTA open to media members, on a pass play down the field, the receiver and defensive back in these non-contact workouts collided and went to the ground. Schottenheimer immediately blew the whistle and called the entire team up for a quick reminder. While corners are allowed to cover defensive backs, no bumping at the line of scrimmage is allowed and certainly there should be no contesting the pass. Sort of like practicing against the scout team. Just let 'em catch the ball.
So with that in mind, here we go.
There was a lot of excitable energy even during the individual drills.
The pace was fast, not even walking while moving from drill to drill. Intentional movement.
The assistant coaches were setting the quick pace.
There were some 11-on-11 sessions. But again, no more than brother-in-lawing at the line of scrimmage.
Good to see Dak Prescott doing everything.
Didn't see Micah Parsons doing anything, establishing his contract hold-in, sort of what took place with Zack Martin when trolling for a pay raise two years ago, since Schottenheimer said he's been in the building the previous couple of days.
Well, George Pickens didn't waste any time getting here, but don't read too much into him actually wearing the No. 13 the fourth-year receiver had on. Got to imagine Markquese Bell's 14 is in his sights.
No sight of cornerback Trevon Diggs, though, who has chosen to rehab his surgically repaired knee away from the facility.
Did see third-round draft choice Shavon Revel doing some limited individual drills, then continuing to rehab his surgically repaired ACL during the other portions of practice on the resistance cords. Along with linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, who is doing his level best on a daily basis to recover from his second ACL repair in two seasons.
A linebacker observation during a nickel defense alignment had the newly acquired 'backers Jack Sanborn and Kenneth Murray on the field. Also, there was DaRon Bland playing a little nickel and cornerback Kaiir Elam, son of former Cowboys safety Abram Elam, lined up outside.
Though, as Schottenheimer cautioned, there would be a ton of positional movement taking place in these OTAs, meaning giving different guys opportunities to work with the first teams.
But there is no slow-playing this, like giving deference to the more veteran players going out first and the rookies waiting their turn. Can, uh, Book-er this: First round draft choice Tyler Booker immediately jumped in with the first-team offensive line, from left to right, Tyler Guyton, Tyler Smith, Cooper Beebe, Booker and Terence Steele. No sense playing games there. Health willing, that's what it's going to be. Booker starting from Day Zero, the moment he walked into the building on April 25.
Saw linebackers Buddy Johnson and fifth-round pick Shemar James each pick a pass off in team drills, while witnessing the advertised "big arm" of quarterback Joe Milton, who indeed has a gun. Now, we must find out if he shoots straight.
And while the Cowboys will hold their third of the three OTA sessions Thursday, as CeeDee Lamb appropriately stated, "This is where everything starts."
Indeed.
- GP: Already a new nickname has been added into the Cowboys lexicon, and the guy has only been here, what, two weeks? Get used to it, GP ... as in George Pickens. Heard CeeDee say it. Dak for sure. Schottenheimer, too. Just trying to help you guys out when hearing "GP" and wondering, Who?
- Portending Glimpse: When first hearing the Cowboys were trading for Pickens and sensing his immediate impact, said to self, "Self, just think about a Cowboys offense lining up CeeDee to one side, GP to the other and inserting the likes of KaVontae Turpin in the slot and maybe even rookie Jaydon Blue's 4.38 speed at running back." Well, during one three-receiver set out here, there was the triumvirate of Lamb, Pickens and Turpin on the field at the same time, and darn if Dak didn't hit Turpin on a deep crossing pattern wide open for a woulda-been touchdown.
- Brown Alert: And this isn't just me on the GP effect. Saw where Eagles veteran wide receiver A.J. Brown sanctioned the Cowboys' acquisition of Pickens, saying, "I like that, ain't going to lie," while interacting with fans on his YouTube channel. "We're going to have to worry about (Dallas), for sure. We're going to have to worry about them. No, I like the trade. I do like the trade. I like the competition. I like George Pickens, I like CeeDee Lamb. And they collab. It's going to be exciting to watch. Because all that does is bring the best out of us. So if we know how they are coming, we are going to have to step it up."
- Paying Attention: While the Cowboys have designated Zack Martin a June 1 release to lessen the effect of his retirement, they now must pay the piper for his 2023 pay raise, along with all the times they restructured his base salaries to create cap space. This means while they will get a rebate on his $1.255 million base salary for this year come June 2, that only reduces his dead cap hit to $8.802 million. Then the big hit comes in 2026 when they must account for another $15.268 million of dead money.
- Push On: The Eagles popularized "Tush-Push," and any other pushing or lifting of a ball carrier anywhere else on the field that resembles a rugby player prevailed at Wednesday's NFL Meetings by a narrow two-vote margin, 22-10, where 24 votes were needed to ban this unfootball-like play that had been illegal through 2005. Green Bay had amended its proposal to include any "pushing or pulling a runner in any direction at any time, or while lifting the player to his feet." So count on the Luvu Move, named for Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu, who famously in the NFC title game tried three times from the 1-yard line to anticipate the snap count by leaping over the Eagles' offensive line to stop Jalen Hurts from being shoved into the end zone, only to be called for three successive encroachment penalties. Could become a popular tactic. The Commanders were warned if a fourth occurred the Eagles would be awarded an automatic touchdown. Big deal, what do defenses have to lose from the 1 with the ball's nose nudging the goal line while trying to time-up the leap.
- Divisions Matter: Realizing there was little support for their playoff re-seeding proposal, the Detroit Lions withdrew their idea of the NFL seeding the playoffs based on the teams with the best records in each conference, one through eight. See, that works in the NBA since teams play everyone in the league. But in the NFL, with only 17 games, playing each division opponent twice and then rotating playing one NFC division and one AFC division each year, that wouldn't be equitable with one division possibly producing a better record based on playing weaker divisions. Take this past season where the NFC East played the NFC South, which produced only one playoff team. Or how about Buffalo getting to play six games against the other three AFC East opponents who all finished with losing records. Seeding should not be based on the luck of the draw. Division winners should prevail, no matter the record.
- Schedule Inequity: Last week after the 2025 schedule release, the NFL schedule computer, which spit out that Cowboys' six-game stretch from the Sunday before Thanksgiving through Christmas Day, had to be giggling a gotcha. Seriously, pitting the Cowboys against six consecutive 2024 playoff games? Philadelphia, Kansas City, Detroit, Minnesota, Chargers, Washington. While emphasizing this NFL Burma Road stretch, those six teams combined 2024 overall record came to 81-21, which was a gaudy .794 winning percentage. But take the Eagles. After scheduled to open the season against the Cowboys, the defending Super Bowl champs toughest stretch comes in the next four games, facing four 2024 playoff teams: Chiefs, Rams, Buccaneers and Broncos, a combined 45-23 record from last year, just a .661 winning percentage. Come on, and the Eagles have the first-place schedule.
- This and That: While Dak has become the longest tenured Cowboys player entering his 10th season, at 31 he is now also the third-oldest player on the team, behind 36-year-old punter Bryan Anger and 35-year-old special teams ace C.J. Goodwin … Those three are among just eight 30-plus players on the team, along with Dante Fowler, Donovan Wilson, Brandon Aubrey, Will Grier and Dakoda Shepley, all 30 … And let's hear it for the ping-pong table being moved from the players lounge into the locker room, surely taking the place of a rubber basketball-sized ball being thrown into the dirty clothes hamper to promote inner-team competition … Dak says "Banger," also known as Anger, and also having won consecutive Home Run Derby charity fundraisers, is the best ping-pong player on the team. The quarterback also said he finally beat safety Juanyeh Thomas for the first time in 10 tries.
And for this week's final word, we go to Lamb, who played through a shoulder injury for several games before finally relenting the final two games of the season and then rehabbing for the past five months, saying now, "I'm grateful to have two arms, I can tell you that." He had this to say when asked if he knew of the preconceived Pickens narratives having emerged from his three years in Pittsburgh before being traded this month to the Cowboys.
"I already knew what it was," CeeDee began. "Got the warning. I mean, I knew who he was as a player. Obviously, just watching him with the Steelers and how passionate he is about the game, I think they kind of get it confused once you're so passionate about something you're willing to do anything for, right?
"So as far as winning goes, and I mean just being happy in an organization, not saying he wasn't, not saying that he was, but I mean you never know. He hasn't stopped smiling since he got here, so I'll start with that."
And we'll end, too, with that OTA impression.
