Dallas Cowboys 2022 NFL preseason round-up: Chargers preview, Anthony Barr, Dak Prescott…
The Cowboys are looking ahead to their second preseason game against the Chargers and there’s a lot of work to do, but McCarthy is looking at the positives.
Mike McCarthy’s plan vs Chargers
After that embarrassing display against the Denver Broncos in the Cowboys’ preseason opener, there are some things to be addressed before heading into Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers. As it was last week, the starters will practice in the joint practices with the Chargers today and Thursday, but they will not play in the game at SoFi Stadium. Obviously, the Cowboys will need to prove they can play a game without racking up the penalties, so that will be something they’re working on. But in addition to that, coach McCarthy wants to focus on keeping the positive things going. He emphasised that the Cowboys only missed two tackles on defense and special teams and was proud of how physical they played.
“I thought our guys did a nice job, especially for the first time as a football team. I don’t think I have ever had just two missed tackles in the first preseason game,” McCarthy said.
OT Tyron Smith and backup QB Will Grier both suffered minor injuries last week, but are expected to play on Saturday. We can also look forward to seeing the newly-signed LB Anthony Barr finally get a chance to play.
The Cowboys’ first roster cuts
As we reported yesterday, the Cowboys have made their first roster cuts to get them down to 80. There are still two weeks left before they have to make their final cuts to 53. The first five to go were CB Kyron Brown, TE Ian Bunting, WR Ty Flyfogle, and DL Austin Faouliu with veteran FB Ryan Nall on put on IR. The only one of these five players that isn’t a completely predictable cut (considering the lack of impact they’ve had) is Ryan Nall. He played four years with the Chicago Bears and it looked like he would be Dallas’ full-time fullback. A shoulder injury hindered that opportunity, though and now that he’s on Injured Reserve, things aren’t looking good for Nall’s season in general. It also means the Cowboys might be starting their season without a fullback. They managed it last year, with Connor McGovern taking over duties, and it now looks very likely we will see him line up there again this year.
Too much weighing on Prescott?
Earlier this week, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones talked about how unconcerned he was about the wide receiver issues. The reason for that was that he believes Dak Prescott can help elevate the group they do have. Many fans did not love that response.
Who can blame them? Prescott is talented and motivational and his teammates seem to respect him and learn from him. But is that enough? Any quarterback will do better with weapons surrounding him than having to teach and build up a mediocre group mostly by himself.