Cowboys’ joint practices offer grim glimpse at WR Depth

By David Helman
FOX Sports Dallas Cowboys Writer

COSTA MESA, Calif. — Call this a glance at what the longer term may appear to be for Dak Prescott if the breaks do not go his means.

With CeeDee Lamb lacking one other day of apply with a minimize on his foot and Noah Brown added to the damage report with a toe drawback, Prescott’s receiver corps in Thursday’s joint apply in opposition to the L.A. Chargers seemed primarily like a apply squad. 

That’s not meant as a knock on the personnel, it is only a assertion of the very fact. Simi Fehoko, who performed seven offensive snaps as a rookie final season, is presently essentially the most skilled wholesome receiver on the Cowboys’ roster. Behind him comes KaVaontae Turpin, who spent the spring taking part in within the USFL however is getting his first NFL snaps this month. 

Everyone else on the depth chart is both a rookie or has by no means performed an everyday season recreation, and it seemed prefer it.

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Across the afternoon, the Cowboys appeared to lack consistency of their passing recreation. Dalton Schultz continued his reference to Prescott, catching one of many few landing passes of the day. But for essentially the most half it was laborious to not discover drops from the likes of Turpin, Jalen Tolbert and Tony Pollard. 

The greatest exception to that was undrafted rookie Dennis Houston, who continued what has been a powerful coaching camp. 

The Western Illinois standout caught two contested passes from Prescott, together with a powerful submit route over the center of the sphere. And that was earlier than the apply finale, when Prescott tried a Hail Mary from midfield at the tip of the offense’s two-minute drill and located Houston in a scrum of our bodies for a “game-winning” landing. 

“I talked about it Monday, simply these guys with the ability to step into a possibility and make some performs, do one thing perhaps that they have not completed,” Prescott stated. 

It’s past truthful to say guys have grabbed the chance. It’s only a matter of whether or not that is adequate. Going again to the unique level, even Houston handled a drop within the essential pink zone interval of apply. 

Asked about it, although, Prescott balked by the concept that he can be pissed off by his supporting forged. 

“That’s what that is about,” he stated. “This is strictly about that point to work and make different guys step up and benefit from their alternative. Who is aware of? Hopefully not, however there could also be instances that these guys aren’t out there, and we’ve got to know what we’re working with.

“Those guys have gotten to know what I anticipate from them and the way they anticipate me to throw the ball.”

To be abundantly truthful, it is also true that the common season continues to be three lengthy weeks away. Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy informed reporters Thursday morning that Lamb would doubtless return to apply, when the workforce resumes apply in Frisco, Texas.  

Michael Gallup additionally raised some eyebrows after apply when he ran a handful of routes and caught some passes from Prescott — an apparent signal that he is making good progress in his restoration from a torn ACL final January. 

Lamb ought to be positive, and reinforcements are ultimately on the way in which. It’s simply that Thursday supplied a sobering reminder of how skinny the depth chart seems at receiver. Hopefully for the Cowboys, Houston and others can proceed to run with this chance into the common season. 

For the time being, Prescott will maintain attempting to deliver the offense alongside, no matter who’s out there. 

“I do what I’m requested to do,” he stated. “Being the quarterback of this workforce, and any time you are taking part in this place, you understand your accountability is to get different guys to return with you, to get different guys to be locked in and be disciplined. It’s no completely different whether or not the receiver corps is previous or younger. They look to me for solutions, I search for them to speak and be on the identical web page. We’ll proceed to do this and proceed to develop.” 

Thursday marked the Cowboys’ remaining apply on the West Coast. Here are some further notes from the apply fields at the Jack R. Hammett Sports Complex. 

Top decide 

It’s time so that you can know the title DaRon Bland, in case you do not already. The fifth-round select of Fresno State raised some eyebrows in Denver with a strong outing within the preseason opener. He constructed on that Thursday together with his greatest apply to this point.

With Jourdan Lewis sitting out with an injured hamstring, Bland received an opportunity to begin at nickel again and made essentially the most of it. He dropped a decide on the primary snap of the workforce interval, however he managed two different move breakups and did come away with an finish zone interception on the ultimate snap of apply.

McCarthy stated Thursday that the Cowboys’ purpose is to have Lewis wholesome in time for Week 1, which suggests we would not see a lot of him for the remainder of coaching camp. If that is the case, what a possibility for a Day 3 draft decide. Anthony Brown has loads of expertise within the slot and will transfer inside if want be. But if Bland continues to excel, the coaches may choose to depart the veteran in his common position on the left aspect and the let the rookie deal with the nickel position. 

Second-year corners Kelvin Joseph and Nahshon Wright get essentially the most publicity, given their draft inventory. But Bland is making a powerful case as the perfect younger nook at this camp. 

Eyes on LBs 

Wednesday was the Micah Parsons Show, however the different members of the Cowboys’ linebacker corps received concerned on Thursday. On the primary play of two-minute drill, Leighton Vander Esch dropped out of the flat into Justin Herbert’s throwing lane, making a diving interception to kill a possible scoring drive. Luke Gifford additionally had a near-interception, which he dropped. 

It’s additionally attention-grabbing to notice that Anthony Barr received concerned in some workforce reps on Thursday. The Cowboys are working the veteran linebacker in progressively, however they did present some base seems with the trio of Barr, Parsons and Vander Esch all on the sphere at the identical time.  

Rush job

Both of those groups have some juice amongst their move rushers, if that wasn’t apparent. The Cowboys loved one other productive day hassling Chargers’ quarterbacks, as Dante Fowler Jr. and Quinton Bohanna each completed with sacks.

The Chargers occur to make use of Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack, nonetheless, and it reveals. For starters, the Chargers’ protection utterly shut down the Dallas working recreation on Thursday, after giving up a number of performs Wednesday. On high of that, there have been at least three or 4 events the place L.A. rushers received to Prescott within the backfield.

David Helman covers the Dallas Cowboys for FOX Sports, offering perception and evaluation on the NFL’s most seen franchise. Prior to becoming a member of FOX, David spent 9 seasons overlaying the Cowboys for the workforce’s official web site, DallasCowboys.com. In 2018, he received a regional Emmy for his position in producing “Dak Prescott: A Family Reunion” concerning the quarterback’s time at Mississippi State.