FRISCO, Texas – Here is what struck me most out here Wednesday afternoon watching the Cowboys’ first practice session preparing for Monday night’s game against the Arizona Cardinals during our media open session.
So at the point the different positions moved into their individual drills inside the Ford Center, thanks to gusting 24 mph winds outdoors, there were the Cowboys’ safeties over by the far sideline.
There were just five players there. Three of those were on the practice squad: Corey Ballentine and Julius Woods, both signed this season as free agents, along with Zion Childress, the rookie cornerback. Childress initially made the Cowboys’ practice squad and was elevated in Games 2 and 3 before being released. He then signed with Houston, and once eventually released by the Texans, the Cowboys then re-signed him to their practice squad last week.
The only two guys in that five-man group practicing from the 53-man roster were Markquese Bell and Juanyeh Thomas. Bell made his first two starts of the season the past two games. Thomas, who had two starts earlier in the season, missed the last two games as well asthose two weeks of practice after experiencing migraine headaches that were affecting his eyesight.
That means starters Malik Hooker and Donovan Wilson were not participating in practiceWednesday. Hooker, placed on injured reserve in the first week of October (knee), has missed the past four games but is eligible when ready to return from IR, likely soon to start his 21-day practice window. Wilson missed this past Sunday’s Denver game (elbow/shoulder) and did not practice last week and was not seen on the practice field Wednesday, though with the Monday night game the Cowboys’ Wednesday practice was like an extra one.
At least Thomas was able to practice on Wednesday, and as head coach Brian Schottenheimer said, “Thomas and Wilson are trending (upward).”
On top of all that, Alijah Clark, the rookie safety who spent the first four weeks on the practice squad while being elevated twice before then being signed to the 53, playing as a rotational safety and on special teams, made his first NFL start against the Broncos Sunday. But Clark left the game with a rib injury and was not practicing either on Wednesday.
• Digging In: The Cowboys, the end of last week, placed starting cornerback Trevon Diggs on injured reserve after the sixth-year veteran was unable to clear concussion protocol for the past two games, having suffered a home-accident head injury. And now that Diggs is on IR, the Cowboys aren’t required to post an update on the weekly injury report. Owner Jerry Jones pointed out following the Denver loss that Diggs has to “get in better shape to be able play,” and that his IR stay is not season ending. The reference, though suggesting he was not in good condition, had nothing to do with the left knee he’s had surgically repaired in each of the past two years. On Tuesday, Jones pointed out Diggs is having problems with his “other knee.” Hemeant his right knee, saying “Diggs’ biggest problem is he is injured, and it’s not the same knee that he’s been doing his rehab with, so that’s his No. 1 challenge.” The problem Diggs is having with his right knee is similar to the degenerative correction he underwent back at the start of the year. Sources told me this is not season ending, and that he might need surgery eventually but not immediately, that he just needs to do his rehab work. Also, let’s clear up this notion that buddy Dr. Micah Parsons has been quoted as saying the Cowboys rushed Diggs back too soon after his offseason surgery. Truth be told, Diggs delayed his potential return by failing to do his rehab under the Cowboys’ training staff jurisdiction, which cost him the $500,000 reduction on his $9 million base salary because of a clause in his contract. Now, because of an active per game roster-bonus clause in his contract, he will at least forfeit $55,000 for every game he is not active. And he must miss at least four games on IR, meaning Diggs is out another $220,000. If the safety position is not a big enough headache, now cornerback is too.
• Home Away From Home: Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray might never have experienced AT&T Stadium as his home stadium, but he sure has played there as if it’s home sweet home. And he now returns Monday night to face the Cowboys. Why, the QB who played his high school ball at nearby Allen High School and won three consecutive Texas state high school 6A championships owns a 9-0 record at AT&T, eight of those starts. He went 5-0 in high school, 2-0 in college at Texas A&M and Oklahoma and then has beaten the Cowboys with the Cardinals, 38-10, in 2020 and 25-22 during the 2021 season. In those two games, Murray completed 35 of 62 passes for 451 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions and a 100.9 QB rating. Even worse, he’s rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries, all causing Schottenheimer, tongue in cheek, to say, “Hopefully, it means he’s due to lose one. Kyler, you know, want to help.”
• Too Many Explosives: You know, it’s not always about the number of yards given up in a game, and certainly the Cowboys did give up 426 in the 44-24 loss to the Broncos on Sunday, the third most this season, but the irony to that is this: The Giants totaled the most yards so far this year against the Cowboys with the help of overtime, 506, but the Cowboys won the game. Green Bay produced the second highest, 489, that in overtime, too, but the game ended in a tie. It’s those explosive plays that hurt most. Take the first half Sunday in Denver. The Broncos needed just 22 plays to produce four touchdowns, and had six plays of at least 24 yards, the top two 40 and 39 yards. Makes drives too easy. The Broncos produced four touchdown drives needing just five plays, four, six and seven.
• Little Treats: Snap counts might be most revealing of what’s taking place at defensive end, rookie Donovan Ezeiruaku leading the way with 32 of 63 against Denver, next Jadeveon Clowney with 25 and no one else with more than 20, suggesting the Cowboys can’t seem to sink their teeth into two productive starters … Home cooking for sure, the Cowboys scoring at least 40 points in their first three home games of the season, though two of those reaching 40 in overtime, going 2-0-1, suggesting that just might be a key to victory Monday night … A couple of schedule almost-nevers, as in the Cowboys have never played consecutive Monday night games – this year, Monday nights against Arizona and at Las Vegas separated by a bye – and then for the fifth time having to play on Thanksgiving and Christmas in the same season, as will this year Kansas City and Detroit, but most by any NFL team.
And let’s go with Schotty once again for this week’s final word when asked if his defensive players have not played to the potential they were counting on when trading away Parsons.
“None of us have done good enough, coaches, players, head coach, none of us have done good enough,” Schottenheimer said, warming up to the question. “That’s real, our scorecard is what it is. And that’s not just defensively, that’s offensively, you know. We’re a football team that’s 3-4-1.
“You can take the stats on offense and stick it up your (where the sun don’t shine) as far as I’m concerned. It is what it is, we want to win. People talk about MVP, this and that. Dak Prescott doesn’t want to win MVP. He wants to win a Super Bowl, and that’s what we want to win.”
Maybe needing to rename this section Mick Schottys.
