Cowboys Camp: 5 Thursday Injury Concerns On Offense And Defense
FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys first game is a little more than a week away. Before attention shifts to the upcoming showdown vs. the Los Angeles Rams, let's looking into what the Cowboys' competitive training camp has revealed. ... featuring a Thursday workout in which one starter returned but four key contributors pop up as at least minor concerns ...
OFFENSE
The pool of talented players on the Cowboys offense is an on-paper nightmare for opposing defenses. In training camp, those talented players are working together and living up to the hype.
Wide receivers Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup are each looking to repeat 1000-yard receiving seasons in 2020. The addition of the 17th overall selection of the NFL Draft, CeeDee, Lamb should make the NFL’s No. 1-ranked offense even better in 2020.
But on Thursday, Cooper remained a part-time participant at best ... Which is why, cynics aside, we wrote this story ....
READ MORE:Cowboys 'Camp Cover-Up': Is Something Wrong With Amari?
Coach Mike McCarthy this week said, “It’s training camp, everybody has a little something. ... I feel very good about where Amari is at.”
OK. But here's betting coach would feel even better if Amari was practicing.
Meanwhile, right tackle La'el Collins also did not practice on Thursday.
DEFENSE
The Cowboys have been using a four-man front since 2013 and first-year defensive coordinator Mike Nolan plans to transition Dallas into a hybrid defense that can run a 4-3 and a 3-4 defensive front.
With some new faces on the roster, the goal is to improve on their 11th ranked rushing and 10th-ranked pass defense from 2019. The Cowboys beefed up with the additions of Everson Griffen, Aldon Smith and Dontari Poe.
So far so good. The 2020 defensive line appears "unblockable" in training camp while rookie cornerback Trevon Diggs is making a name for himself.
Good thing, in regard to the D-line and the coming-on work of Diggs, because the secondary continues to have issues. Cornerback Chidobe Awuzie (knee) participated in some drills for the first time in a week But safety Xavier Woods (groin) and cornerback Jourdan Lewis (ankle) are not practicing, and linebacker Sean Lee continues to simply do work on the cords with the training staff.
The Cowboys insist there are no major concerns here, and the Rams are still a bit away. Hopefully that is so, because Cooper, Woods and Collins in particular are difference-makers on the field ... and today, on the field they are not.
