Dallas Cowboys 2022 NFL preseason round-up: Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, NFC East odds…
The Cowboys signed Anthony Barr to join Micah Parsons on defense, but he will wait to join practices. Meanwhile, nothing to worry about on the WR front?
Anthony Barr joins Cowboys
Newly signed linebacker Anthony Barr started his time with the Cowboys on the Physically Unable to Perform list, but not to fear. That is just to give him time to acclimate before practicing with the team. Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy thinks he will complement All-Pro Micah Parsons. Barr is a four-time Pro Bowler and played with the Minnesota Vikings for eight seasons, and showed he has the same abilities as a pass rusher that Parsons has displayed.
“I think when you look at packages and how we feature Micah, I think it gives you another weapon, another excellent player on and off the ball,” McCarthy said. “I think we all understand it’s a long year. There’s a lot of different packages. We want to be multiple in our defensive packages and we want to continue to develop different rush plans. He’s a great fit for us.”
Barr had three interceptions last season, a career-high, plus 2.5 sacks and 72 tackles. He is still going through medical checks and it’s to be determined when he will practice. Jabril Cox also didn’t practice Thursday but is expected to play some on Saturday.
Dak isn’t worried about the wide receivers
It seems like the whole Cowboys team is just chill about the wide receiver situation, while we’re all over here freaking out. Jerry Jones said there was no urgency to sign a veteran receiver after James Washington was ruled out with a fractured foot. Now quarterback Dak Prescott, too, is insisting there’s really nothing to worry about.
“I just know, the young guys that we’ve got, the guys that we already have are going to step in and take on bigger roles,” said Prescott. “I continue to say exciting, but that’s what it is. And the reason is, is because I feel like a lot of you, and people don’t know necessarily, what these guys are, what these guys can do.”
Rookies Jalen Tolbert and Dennis Houston are among the young guys Prescott is referring to, and he mentioned both as receivers who have stood out in camp so far. Prescott was hesitant to single out any player, but mentioned that those two were working hard to give everything they can.
He also took the time to remind us that No. 1 receiver CeeDee Lamb shouldn’t be underestimated.
“CeeDee is a guy that wants the ball, expects the ball,” Prescott said. “When one guy is on him he’s not covered in his head. And I appreciate that and like that. So I think in that sense yeah, as Kellen said, we’ll feature him. Some plays will be designed to get it to him but in a case where everybody is one on one across the board, yeah, he’s our guy to go to. We’re just going to continue to try to build our trust in each other and just all the routes and it’s been growing fast honestly since the spring, into training camp. It’s exciting.”
Exciting is not the word I would use after losing Amari Cooper in the offseason, waiting on No. 2 receiver Michael Gallup to recover his ACL, then losing veteran James Washington in training camp to an injury too, and now having to rely on inexperienced rookies. But Prescott seems to think they are just fine with what they have.
“CeeDee is that dude,” said Prescott.
Jimmy Johnson responds to Jerry Jones’ Ring of Honor comments
A few days ago, we talked about how the beef between Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and former coach Jimmy Johnson has apparently not completely subsided. Johnson was a two-time Super Bowl champ with the Cowboys and Jones said at last years’ Hall of Fame game that he would be added to the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor. As it had yet to happen, Johnson made a comment about it on Twitter, to which Jones replied that Johnson’s “snivelling” would not help to speed up the process.
In response, Johnson said he had to look up the word “snivel” in the dictionary. In case you don’t know, it’s defined as a verb, “to cry and sniff in a feeble or fretful way” or to “complain in a whining or tearful way”. What Johnson said on Twitter was “haven’t heard a word!” In response to someone asking why he hadn’t yet been added to the ROH.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever snivelled,” said Johnson.
Can the Cowboys win the NFC East again?
History tells us it’s not likely, but it’s not impossible either. No team in the NFC East has won the division two years in a row since 2004, when the Philadelphia Eagles were on a four-year win streak. Since that year, the Cowboys have won the division six times, the Eagles five, Giants four, and Commanders three. The lack of back-to-back divisional winners is a drought that’s been ongoing for 17 years, the longest among the NFL division and in NFL history. Could the Cowboys end that drought by winning the NFC East again this year? The Eagles had a great draft and made a lot of improvements, so they’ll provide some actual competition this year for Dallas, who won the division by three games last year. But even though the Cowboys lost some significant players this offseason (Amari Cooper, Cedric Wilson, Randy Gregory…), they still have three very key players that could help them win it - Dak Prescott, Trevon Diggs, and Micah Parsons.