Dallas Cowboys 2022 NFL preseason round-up: Jerry Jones, Prescott, Gallup…
Jerry Jones says the darnedest things sometimes. Could Gallup really play this Sunday? We’d say that’s as true as 1+1 equaling 3.
NFL season officially starts tomorrow when the Bills and Rams battle it out in Inglewood. The Cowboys will get their start this Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. All this excitement must be getting to Jerry Jones’ head, because we’ve got two updates with his rather bonkers blathering.
Jerry Jones has “to believe that 1 and 1 is 3″
Much has been said about the Cowboys owner’s blind optimism. For a team that hasn’t won a championship in over two decades under his leadership, one has to wonder how even he can keep up that charade. And yet, despite trading away their best receiver, losing their only hope at tackle, and watching their o-line deteriorate all offseason, Jones still finds a way to smile through it and say, we’ll be fine!
On Tuesday, Jones explained his optimism on his radio show on 105.3 The Fan:
“I have to believe 1 and 1 is 3. You have to have optimism and look for the best outcome. Three is where you have to go,” Jones said. “You have to have optimism to operate out in that world and commit and do things when you got to count on 1 and 1 being 3. And I’m not trying to play games, but that’s where the biggest payoffs are out there.”
Basically, Jones is saying you have to believe in the impossible, think outside the box, if you want to achieve anything. Of course, it’s great to think positive, but it’s also naive to think that amazing things will happen if you just believe. Has Jones really put in the work this year to build a roster that will lead them on a path to greatness, or to mediocrity? Jones seems to believe he has indeed done the right thing, in signing young players instead of experienced veterans.
“We needed to make some changes. The best way to make it is with youth. Youth costs you a little bit to play with it but we know that, too. We think this is the best way with this team, with this quarterback, this talent,” said Jones.
Any by we, he means I. For him, the youth plus Prescott, Elliott, Pollard, and Lamb will be enough to make one and one equal three. The journey to make that math work starts Sunday.
Jones isn’t ruling out Gallup for Week 1
While WR Michael Gallup has never officially been ruled out of Week 1, it’s been expected since before the preseason started, and even up until recently, when he was taken off the PUP list.
That tweet hurts my head.
After today’s practice, an official injury report will be released and it will show a more realistic picture of what to expect from Gallup. Either way, he’s not practiced all offseason and still needs to practice with the coaches before playing in a regular season game again. I would not expect Gallup to play for at least two weeks. If I’m wrong, it’s because he’s missing one or three weeks - not because he’s starting Sunday.
Positive Prescott and the Cowboys’ new offensive look
Dak Prescott is in better shape than ever - which may actually be true. But unfortunately for him, his o-line and receivers aren’t. In last year’s season opener against the Bucs, Prescott threw for over 400 yards and three touchdowns, and it was wide receiver CeeDee Lamb who accounted for over 100 of those yards and one of those touchdowns. That’s good news, considering he’s the only receiver of last years’ receivers that will playing on Sunday when the Cowboys open their season against the Bucs yet again. Instead of Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup, we will be seeing some combination of Jalen Tolbert, Noah Brown, and Simi Fehoko.
Then there is the o-line. It’s a rookie who is supposed to start at left tackle on Sunday too - Tyler Smith. Along with Smith, the Cowboys are expecting to start Connor McGovern, Tyler Biadasz, Zack Martin, and Terence Steele. Martin is the only one of those that has proven anything positive so far, and that is concerning.
Of course, Prescott himself is feeling optimistic about the young core around him, based on his own experience. He was a fourth-round pick who became the NFL’s offensive rookie of the year when he took over for Tony Romo unexpectedly in 2016.
“Y’all hadn’t seen me as a rookie, either,” said Prescott. “So the same little fog or whatever you want to say was going around when I was a rookie, and I know what I went and did. That’s why I say I love it. Keep writing. Keep talking. We’re for it. But we know what we have. We know who we are and what we’re going to do.”