Thursday’s joint practice between the Cowboys and Broncos has been designed to give both teams’ starting rosters a more gamelike workload than their regular intrasquad sessions or even a full preseason contest.
But it won’t resemble a “scrimmage” the way most fans think of that word.
For one, the two-hour practice will be spread across two different fields at UCHealth Training Center the Broncos’ complex in the Denver suburb of Englewood. The rosters and the starting quarterbacks will reportedly be split between them; Dak Prescott on one field, and Russell Wilson on the other. So fans hoping to see a head-to-head QB competition will instead have to choose which offensive/defensive matchup to watch.
As for fans, the event is expected to see heavy attendance. Mike Klis of Denver’s 9News reported that plenty of fans- mostly sporting the star, he noted- were lining up almost three hours prior to the start of practice in hopes of seeing their heroes in action.
And both the Cowboys and Broncos plan to give their starters a good day’s work, saving Saturday’s preseason game for younger players looking to claim a roster spot.
That’s quite a departure from the more traditional approach of playing starters for the opening drive of the first preseason contest and then benching them. But the Cowboys skipper hints that carefully controlled joint practices like Thursday’s with Denver (and next week’s with the Chargers) may be becoming the norm. And for good reason.
“I never liked the hey-play-the-guys-for-a-series, and I did it,” Mike McCarthy told the media this week. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense to give a group of guys one series.”
Three snaps against players wearing different jerseys doesn’t make much of a difference with a veteran like, say, Prescott.
“It’s not how much he plays, it’s who he plays with,” McCarty explained. “Training camp has injuries. You don’t practice as much [as the old days]. I think it’s harder to get the group of guys on the field at the same time to accomplish that. That’s why I like what we’re trying this year. We’re going to get a little safer environment, but we’ll get those reps.”
Broncos first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett agrees and is looking forward to hosting the Cowboys.
“I’m lucky to, in the past, also be a part of a lot of intersquad scrimmages, and I think it’s fantastic work,” Hackett said, per Denver7’s Troy Renck. “I just think it’s great for both units, to be able to protect them and still get that work in like if it was a real game.”
Even though Thursday’s dual-practice session will be a closely monitored affair, things are sure to get heated, in more ways than one.
Temperatures in Denver are predicted to be in the upper 90s during the Cowboys’ visit, with heat indices pushing toward 100 degrees. Not quite what awaits them back in North Texas, but a far cry from what the Cowboys have been enjoying thus far in Oxnard.
The mercury won’t be the only thing rising at Thursday’s joint practice. Tempers will most certainly flare once the opposing teams square off wearing helmets and pads.
The Cowboys did plenty of pushing and shoving just amongst themselves in their Tuesday walkthrough. And while McCarthy doesn’t want to see anyone get hurt by throwing punches or brawling, he admits that he loved seeing the intensity ratchet up as the team’s date with Denver drew closer.
“Hell yeah,” the coach shot back during a Wednesday Q&A. “You can’t get to where you want to go without it. That’s football. You talk about getting on the edge and playing with that… we want to push the envelope, always, in the realm of emotion and competition. That’s what training camp’s for.”
And that’s what Thursday’s long-awaited joint practice will deliver.
Even if it looks very different from what the Cowboys have experienced up to now.
[pickup_prop id=”26795″]
[listicle id=700241]
[listicle id=700222]
[listicle id=700217]
[lawrence-newsletter]