Cowboys Minicamp Notes: McCarthy Raves About 'The Real Dak'
FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys on Wednesday got another stellar performance from their quarterback, got a contract with their linebacker and found out who isn't going to be their kicker.
A big, fat minicamp notebook from here inside The Star ...
ITEM: At the risk of being redundant: Dak Prescott did it again, demonstrating glitch-free mastery of what the Cowboys are trying to accomplish on offense. Especially significant: Prescott, in the "scramble drill'' - designed to force participants to recalibrate themselves from the original plan - can scramble.
Maybe, to be picky, we could point out some end-zone overthrows. Or we could chalk that up to timing that will be fixed.
And he can do other things for this organization as well. Said coach Mike McCarthy: “He’s as real a person as I’ve been able to work with. He definitely reflects what the Dallas Cowboys are looking for. In my view, this is his team. He’s the face of the locker room and he’s the guy I’m gonna lean on the most.”
Meanwhile, Dak is fine "leaning'' on that surgically-repaired ankle.
READ MORE: QB Ankle Concerns? 'Dancing' Dak 'Buries' 'Em
Said Prescott to the media: “I’ve buried the injury. Honestly, guys, from the point of practice, from the point of just moving forward and going about my life. I’ve buried it mentally.
"I think you guys and a lot of people around have to help me and bury it as well as we move forward.”
That's not really the media's job. What is "burying'' the issue is Prescott's outstanding work.
ITEM: The Cowboys worked through an assortment of red-zone situations and then two-minute drills. and two-minute situations. Michael Gallup, CeeDee Lamb and long-shot Johnnie Dixon all found themselves in the end zone, and Noah Brown - being pushed for a job - connected with Dak deep down the left sideline for a long gain.
Gallup has suggested that the Cowboys offense will be "unstoppable.'' Days like this are why he says so.
ITEM: By the way, Amari Cooper “is still working through” his ankle surgery rehab, McCarthy said, adding that the club is “hopeful” Cooper will be ready for start of training camp.
READ MORE: Amari Injury Update: Could WR Miss Start of Camp?
Is there reason to panic here? Read above ...
ITEM: Coach McCarthy was at his loosest and most jovial. This year's Cowboys workouts, I can tell you, have a different tempo and temperament than last year's sessions.
ITEM: We have been telling you for months that Tyler Biadasz is the center. And we wrote this week that we're not sure there has even been any real competition there. Once again on Wednesday, the Wisconsin heir to the throne of the retired Travis Frederick was the center of record.
What Biadasz is not is a kicker. Read on ...
ITEM: Rookie Micah Parsons has had an active week of practice, interrupted only by signing a $17 million contract. Oh, and he did a lot of first-team stuff, part of a day-by-day rotation that still, to my knowledge, leaves Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch atop the depth chart.
READ MORE: Micah Parsons Signs 4-Year Guaranteed $17 Million Contract With Cowboys
For now, anyway.
ITEM: Anthony Brown has done little wrong in his bid to start at corner opposite Trevon Diggs. Maybe once rookie Kelvin Joseph gets fully healthy after 10-day COVID quarantine, that'll change. But not yet.
ITEM: Tackle Tyron Smith, who is obviously relieved - emotionally and physically - following next surgery, is on schedule to be fully ready for training camp in Oxnard in late-July. La'el Collins and Zack Martin, same thing.
Additionally, Tyron has a take on the springy Ezekiel Elliott, who once again showed elusiveness as a ball-carrier on Wednesday. He said Zeke's gotten better progressively every year.
That might not be quite true. But now compared to a year ago? True.
And why?
READ MORE: Can Running Back Ezekiel Elliott Bounce Back?
“Zeke is in the best shape of his life,'' Prescott said of his buddy. "When Zeke’s healthy and doing his thing, he’s the best back in this league.”
ITEM: Backup DB Reggie Robinson, now a cornerback (again), keeps making plays. He doesn't get mentioned much as a candidate for real playing time at corner ... but that's not for a lack of production from the second-year Tulsa product.
ITEM: Blake Jarwin is recovering nicely from his knee surgery. He vows to be back on "Day 1'' of camp. On Wednesday, he was in uniform and doing one-on-one pass-catching drills.
ITEM: One DB you've heard of, free-agent vet Jayron Kearse, and another you haven't, undrafted rookie Tyler Coyle, got their hands on the ball. Coyle broke up a TD pass and Kearse - trying to steal some strong safety snaps from Donovan Wilson (who is not working this week) - got a pick-six off of a floater from QB Garrett Gilbert.
ITEM: Biadasz was given the opportunity to make a couple of late-practice uncontested field goals.
Again, Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy, was, as I said, in a jovial mood. (Maybe it's because his family is finally ready to soon move here from Green Bay; “June 30 is a big day for us as a family,'' he said.)
So Biadasz made one from short range. But them, from 40 yards out? Defensive end Tarell Basham broke the rules by pretending to try to block the kick ... and the center shanked it badly.
ITEM: McCarthy on the team’s training camp plan: “I’m planning for Oxnard. That’s what the plan is. Everything is lined up. We’re definitely planning to go to California.”
