ARLINGTON, Texas – The Cowboys' second preseason game featured a lot of the same flaws as their first in a 31-13 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night.
From Joe Milton's roller coaster day to seven penalties against the Cowboys, there wasn't a lot of positive film put on the field in Brian Schottenheimer's first game at AT&T Stadium as a head coach.
Among the many things that Schottenheimer and his staff have to figure out, maybe the most burning question is whether or not the team feels like they can rely on either Milton or Will Grier to be their backup quarterback.
More notes on the Cowboys' backup quarterback battle and other takeaways from Dallas' second preseason outing:
In a 31-13 loss to the Ravens in their second preseason game, the Cowboys still face questions at the backup QB position after a second straight week of offensive struggles. More on that and other notes from Saturday night's preseason home opener in Pic 6.
Strong debut for Booker
Saturday night was Cowboys' first-round pick Tyler Booker's NFL debut, after Brian Schottenheimer decided to rest him last week after playing a good amount in the team's joint practice against the Los Angeles Rams.
On Saturday night, Booker played into the third quarter along with most starters on the offensive line. The team didn't expect him to play that long from the start, but limited reps due to offensive struggles meant Booker had to go that long to hit the desired snap count that Schottenheimer and his staff wanted him to hit, and Booker even went over with 28 offensive snaps. And he made the most of them, holding up in pass protection and paving the way for a few big runs early in the game.
"When you don't get as many opportunities, you're going to have to get the numbers that you want," Schottenheimer said. "I think we had him slated for 20-25 plays, I'm not sure exactly what his numbers were, but again, it's a chance for us to get him some live reps and he needs them."
Booth to the house
Following an up and down training camp in Oxnard, CB Andrew Booth had a big confidence boosting night on Saturday highlighted by a 40-yard pick six in the first half.
Booth added two pass deflections and led the team with eight tackles as well. While it certainly wasn't an overall great performance, it was encouraging to see Booth put some good things on film and his head coach was happy about it as well.
"Booth's interception was awesome," Brian Schottenheimer said. "It was so great to see him do that."
Sanborn, LBs have big day
Brian Schottenheimer has said over and over again that young players need to play. Jack Sanborn is heading into his fourth season in the NFL, but Schottenheimer still categorized him as a young player, and he made his debut with the Cowboys on Saturday night.
Sanborn took 18 snaps on the defensive side of the ball, and still finished with three tackles, tied for seventh on the team. He was one of the many linebackers that had a strong night, including Damone Clark and Shemar James combining for 13 tackles and two tackles for loss. Clearly, Matt Eberflus' golden touch with linebackers is continuing early on in Dallas and the team will have to make some tough decisions in the room when cuts come around.
"We're I think nine to ten deep," Clark said after the game of the linebacker unit. "WE got guys on our team. That's the fun part, we're going to blow it up, keep competing, and let the front office do the front office stuff."
Mingo goes deep
Jonathan Mingo hasn't seen a ton of action yet in Dallas after not being able to play with Dak Prescott last year. He did however put together a strong training camp, and led the team in receiving yards on Sunday night with 49 on just one catch.
Mingo, who has been a deep threat since his days at Ole Miss, caught an over the shoulder ball from Joe Milton, which was his best throw of the day. However, the following play, Milton looked his way again in the end zone but Mingo came up injured. He was examined in the injury tent and was ruled out with a knee injury.
Mingo was seen walking into the Cowboys' locker room under his own power with no noticeable limp. Brian Schottenheimer did not have an update on Mingo's status postgame and said he and some of the other players injured Saturday night would undergo testing.
The two nickels
Nickel cornerback is an important position for the Cowboys defense, who were in that coverage on 45 of their 79 defensive plays Saturday night.
Two names that have been seeing time in the preseason at that spot are Kemon Hall and Zion Childress, two young players with a lot to prove and with flashes at training camp under their belts.
Hall had the benefit of an interception on Cooper Rush Saturday night, adding six tackles to his resume. Childress had two tackles, but was strong in his debut last week against the Rams. Could the final preseason game next week be the deciding factor? Or is the decision already made with DaRon Bland moving inside?
A lot of questions still remain at backup QB
The Cowboys got a look at the past and the present of their backup quarterbacks on Saturday night, with Cooper Rush taking the field for the Baltimore Ravens and Joe Milton started his second preseason game with the Cowboys.
While neither were great showings, Rush threw for 198 yards on 20/30 passing with a touchdown and two interceptions, and Milton completed just 9 of his 18 passes for 122 yards and an interception. Additionally, he took a sack in the end zone for a safety on the first offensive series of the night on a play where Brian Schottenheimer said the second-year QB needed to throw the ball away.
Will Grier got more run today than he did against the Los Angeles Rams, but Schottenheimer reiterated today that he doesn't need to hurry into a decision for who will back up Prescott.
"I feel like I don't have to decide anything today," Schottenheimer said. "We're going to keep letting these guys practice… but it's like all these battles, we don't have to decide anything now."
