The first Saturday of training camp 2025 saw the biggest crowd by far at the Oxnard River Ridge complex. Dak Prescott and the offense made a few big plays, as did the defense, giving plenty for the raucous crowd to get excited about.

Parris Campbell had to be helped off the field during the middle of Saturday's practice. Campbell, one of the fastest players on the team, suffered what appeared to be a lower-leg injury. He went to the medical tent and didn't return to practice.

Filling the Gaps

With all the talk about turnovers being forced by the Cowboys' defense, the linebacker unit has quietly held their grown filling running lanes in the first four practices of camp. Namely, Damone Clark has popped up in the middle of plays a number of times, with his biggest play coming earlier in the week when he punched a ball free from Luke Schoonmaker. With Kenneth Murray missing practices for the birth of his child, Clark has taken advantage of his opportunities. - Tommy Yarrish

Who Nose?

With so much discussion circling the weight and utilization of Mazi Smith, it's rookie defensive tackle Jay Toia hoping to make a mark in the run defense, and more. Nobody's wondering if Toia has slimmed down, because he still looks every bit the 342 pounds he weighed entering the 2025 NFL Draft.

Furthermore, he's using it to his advantage in his first-ever training camp. When he's not being double teamed, a rarity, it seems, he's been seen bull rushing a lineman or two all the way back into the lap of the quarterback; and that's a great sign for what Matt Eberflus has planned for his defense. - Patrik Walker

Corner Store

With Trevon Diggs on the PUP list to start training camp and DaRon Bland away for the moment as he expects to welcome a newborn in his family, it's Kaiir Elam making waves at a cornerback position that is in desperate need of answers going into the 2025 season. On Saturday, Elam grabbed yet another interception at the expense of Schottenheimer's offense — marking his third of camp.

He then celebrated by hoisting up a young Cowboys fan from behind the barrier, one of the best moments you'll see in any NFL training camp, and it also shows Elam is truly enjoying his fresh start in Dallas. - Patrik Walker

Marist Liufau flies around

After Brian Schottenheimer mentioned Marist Liufau as a player he likes watching get after the passer, Liufau did just that on a rep that likely would've been a sack during team periods in practice. He also flashed his ability in coverage, breaking up a pass over the middle that was in Brevyn Spann-Ford's hands. - Tommy Yarrish

Looking for Depth

The Cowboys announced their four players on the injured lists to start camp, and three of them were cornerbacks. So with Trevon Diggs and Josh Butler on PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) and Shavon Revel on NFI (Non-Football Injury) all out for a while, it's not only putting pressure on the remaining top-line corners to perform, but giving the rest of the corners more looks on the field.

DaRon Bland is obviously manning one spot, but Kaiir Elam had a solid start to his first training camp with the Cowboys. Elam, who was acquired via trade with the Bills this offseason, looked more than comfortable in his first day practicing at camp. He had two plays where he was stride for stride down the field with both George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb and broke up a pass over the middle intended for Jalen Tolbert.

Elam, a former first-round pick of the Bills in 2022, had two interceptions in Buffalo as a rookie but has yet to pick off a pass in the last two years. The Cowboys are counting on him to be on of their starters, while a host of other youngsters are getting reps including Israel Mukuamu, Caelen Carson, Andrew Booth, Kemon Hall and Troy Pride all took their share of reps on Tuesday. - Nick Eatman

The Lay of the 'Land

It took all of one practice for Kneeland to show that my faith in him as my dark horse is well-placed, considering it was he, not a cornerback or linebacker, who grabbed the first interception of 2025 training camp — when Dak Prescott's only mistake of the day was to try and check down a pass to a defender being covered by the young pass rusher.

It ended in the former second-round pick taking away the ball, shedding a would-be tackler or two and rattling off several yards for Matt Eberflus' defense, and to a raucous applause and celebration by Kneeland's defensive compatriots. I'll say it again: keep your eyes on him. - Patrik Walker

Dante's Inferno

Back like he never left, only seemingly better and/or more motivated to prove he's one of the best pass rushers in the league when given the reps, Dante Fowler left his imprint all over the first practice. His most notable contribution was on an attempted handoff from Dak Prescott to JaVonte Williams. Fowler teleported to the backfield and nearly got to the ball before Williams did, on a play that would've been destroyed if the players were in a padded practice.

His first step and football IQ are a dangerous combination that makes Fowler, who is also coming off of a career season for the Commanders, an impact player off of the edge that looks to raise hell for the Cowboys in 2025. - Patrik Walker

Backup Plan

While the Cowboys have said Joe Milton and Will Grier would potentially compete for the backup reps, it was mostly Milton on the first day of practice. In fact, Milton got nearly as many as Dak Prescott as the Cowboys worked the No. 2 and No. 3 units often.

Milton, whom the Cowboys traded for this offseason from the Patriots, had a few nice throws down the field, but he was off-target a few times as well. Milton also fumbled twice, including once while running down the field. It was one of several fumbles by the offense as the Cowboys defense was aggressively poking the ball out to go along with a couple of interceptions in team drills.

For now, Milton is getting plenty of reps and looks to be in the lead for any competition to be Dak Prescott's backup. - Nick Eatman

Early George Pickens flashes

There were a few plays where new Cowboys WR George Pickens and Dak Prescott weren't on the same page, which is to be expected early on in their time together issues that should be fixed now at training camp. There were also plays where they did connect, and you got to see flashes of what could be, including Prescott finding Pickens over the middle on a rollout, and a throw to the far sideline where Pickens found another gear and took off. - Tommy Yarrish

Showing leadership

Growth as a leader is something that Cowboys owner/GM Jerry Jones has been very adamant that he wants to see from Micah Parsons before giving him a large contract extension. So, with Parsons potentially holding in at camp and not participating on the field, what does that look like?

"I want him popping those young guys on the butt, and rah-rahing and moving around out there, and showing good body language and just involved because he can be, and he is a leader," Jones said. "And those guys, he's going to have to count on them to get to the Super Bowl."

Parsons showed some of that presence during minicamp and OTAs, where he joined his teammates on the practice field and even participated in a couple drills. Now, the question is if he'll do the same thing in Oxnard.

Turning the corner?

It's justified to say that, at least at the beginning of training camp, that the Cowboys are in dire straits at the position. That's because Trevon Diggs and Josh Butler will both start out on the PUP list, while rookie third-round pick Shavon Revel goes to NFI at the moment; and then there's the reality that Caelon Carson is working his way back from a season-ending shoulder injury; but Brian Schottenheimer sees a silver lining there.

"I see it as a positive," the head coach said. "I can see where there are issues, but it gives you a chance to look at the younger players. Our objective to come out of these first two weeks, before we get into the joint practice with the Rams, is to see all these compete. We wanna see who is developing and who took the things we taught in the spring and will carry over.

"… You can look at it like, 'Oh, it's a negative for continuity.' We'll get that figured out. We need to figure out and make the right evaluation of these guys so that when it comes time to trim the roster, that we're keeping the guys that fit our football team — not just as a player, but as a person."

Frontrunner at RB, or nah?

Dating back nearly 15 years, you'd be hard-pressed to find many, if any, situations wherein the Cowboys entered training camp without at least an inkling of who their lead running back will be, but that is indeed the situation going in the 2025 version, and with four new faces in the group, no less.

JaVonte Williams and Miles Sanders are the longest-tenured NFL veterans of the bunch, true enough, but is there a glimmer of a frontrunner right now?

"They'll all get fair shots. The problem with OTAs, for a running back, is that the game is meant to be played very physically. The way you run through the holes differently when you're in pads is different than when you're running in shorts and t-shirts. They'll all get [first-team] reps."

He's the (Land) Man

The middle of Monday's opening press conference took an unusual turn, thanks mainly to a statement regarding Jerry Jones' cameo scene in the TV series "Landman," starring Billy Bob Thornton, Demi Moore and Jon Hamm on Paramount+. Just a simple mentioning, led to a few follow-up questions about Jones' Season 1 appearance in an emotional scene in which he plays himself, and tells a true-life story to Hamm's character, who is in the hospital.

Jones was asked directly if he felt he should've won an award for his performance, and after a playful back-and-forth, he discussed the show, which was ranked as the No. 1 series on Paramount+ last year.

"I will say this, it was a great pleasure to work with those guys that were there," Jones said, mentioning that Billy Bob Thornton grew up about 30 miles from Jones' household in Arkansas. "I spent about six or seven hours doing (the shoot). It was a really, really good experience."

It's not the first popular series Jones has been on. Back in 2010, Jones also played himself in the later seasons of Entourage on HBO.

Addressing Turpin's Situation

For the first time since his arrest on July 5, the Cowboys spoke publicly on KaVontae Turpin's situation and status with the team.

Head coach Brian Schottenheimer was asked to address Turpin, who was arrested in Allen, Texas on charges of unlawfully carrying a weapon and marijuana possession. He was jailed and released on the two misdemeanor charges.

"I spoke to Turp," Schottenheimer said. "He talked through a lot of things. He understands that there is a standard with how we conduct ourselves. He knows that he needs to be better, but we won't get into all of the specifics."

Schottenheimer wouldn't get into detail on a possible fine or if the NFL would be involved with any disciplinary action.

Turpin has made the last two Pro Bowls as a return specialist and signed a three-year, $18 million extension this offseason.

Eager to win

It's finally time for Brian Schottenheimer to get his first shot at an NFL head coaching job after nearly three decades of coaching experience. Inspired by his past and especially his father, legendary coach Marty Schottenheimer, he's more motivated than ever to bring a championship back to Dallas.

"The hunger I have now is for the young men in that locker room, its for the Joneses," Schottenheimer said. "When we win a Super bowl, my dad will get a ring. I can promise you that. But this is something where I grew up with a father that there was one goal, and he was very open talking about Super Bowls and winning the world's championship and he never did it…" Schottenheimer said.

"These guys over here [the Joneses] have Super Bowls. They've won rings. I don't have one, and I want one in the worst way."

That work begins on Tuesday with the first official practice at training camp, where Schottenheimer gets Dak Prescott back under center as the Cowboys begin installing their gameplans for 2025.