Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, it has been difficult, near impossible to get the usual interactions from NFL players and staff. The Dallas Cowboys, with some of the most high-profile coaching hires and free agent decisions of any club in the league, have felt like a vast wasteland of mute as fans have feened for the slightest bit of relevant information about the coming season.
With players reporting to camp, clearing Covid testing and getting to conditioning work this week, it seems things are loosening up a bit. So much so, that the normally recluse Amari Cooper, WR1 for the Cowboys, spent some time on a conference call with local media on Tuesday afternoon. Among several topics discussed were the on-field changes coming to an attack that led the NFL in yardage in 2019 and finished sixth in scoring.
Dallas added wide receiver CeeDee Lamb out of the University of Oklahoma with their first selection in April’s draft. His availability at No. 17 was a shock to most, including Cooper, who co-signed the team’s decision to add to a strength.
Amari Cooper has high hopes for the Cowboys’ receiving corps with first-round pick CeeDee Lamb joining him and Michael Gallup this season. “I think it was a great pick up,” Cooper said. “You have to draft the best player on the board. Everybody… https://t.co/9jxkdDoEOs
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) August 4, 2020
Joining Cooper and Michael Gallup, as well as the ever-present run-game dedication to Ezekiel Elliott, should put Lamb in a position to thrive as a rookie, where he may have been facing a steeper learning curve in a less-potent offense.
Lamb, who will likely ascend to No. 1 status in the near future, will play his rookie season matched up against opponents lesser-talented defenders. Cooper thinks the attack will be good enough to allow for another 1,000-yard receiver after both he and Gallup surpassed that threshold in 2019.
Amari Cooper has spent some time with CeeDee Lamb this offseason. They understand there are high expectations for the trio of Cooper, Lamb and Michael Gallup.
Cooper: "I think the expectations are to have three 1,000-yard receivers this year."
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) August 4, 2020
As Dallas Morning News’ Michael Gelkhen points out, that’s only happened five times in league history, most notably in 2008 when Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston pulled off the feat. Cooper says (via NFL Network’s Jane Slater) that Lamb is “fundamentally sound” and a “quick learner”.
The offensive personnel may have missed the offseason work that every team had to shun due to the shutdowns, but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been work put in. The team has gathered over the last month with quarterback Dak Prescott to get repetitions in ahead of the August 17 first allowed day of team-orchestrated practices.
Amari Cooper said he's feeling ready like any other year. He said Dak Prescott and several of the Cowboys WRs, TEs and RBs have been working out together consistently for months. Some of those workouts have taken place at the recently finished football field at Dak’s house
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) August 4, 2020
Of course the main ingredient missing from those souped-up backyard football sessions is the coaching staff, which is one of the bigger question marks facing the 2020 edition of the Cowboys. Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore returns for Year 2, but has a new boss in head coach Mike McCarthy.
McCarthy is an offensive-minded coach, so even though he retained Moore, the expectation is that there’s plenty McCarthy will want to have an imprint on. Early in the process, it was reported the club would maintain the verbiage used by Moore, to ease the conversation conversion between he and Prescott during the games.
However it appears that may not be the case.
Amari Cooper said the Cowboys offense hasn't changed that much under Mike McCarthy. He said the verbiage is different but the plays are the same
— Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) August 4, 2020
As for the other facet of the offseason, Cooper was able to cash in on his contract situation. After being acquired in the final season of his rookie deal when Dallas traded for him in Week 8 of the 2018 season, Cooper played on the fifth-year option in 2019. Dallas chose to use the franchise tag on Prescott and not him, leading him to the open market.
Cooper chose to stay in Dallas for five years, $100 million total instead of signing somewhere else for better money. Once the Cowboys were in the right ballpark, Cooper indicates the decision was easy to stay.
On what led him to choose Dallas over Washington despite more money? Valued the culture and atmosphere in & out of the building and referenced how being with another team helped him appreciate the Cowboys. Opportunity to be on a team he truly loved, wouldn't trade that for money.
— Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) August 4, 2020
While Cooper received his long-term assurances, Prescott was left to play under the franchise tag which will pay him almost eight times as much as he’d made in his career to this point, but doesn’t have the injury protection afforded in a multi-year contract. Cooper wouldn’t bite the bait the media was putting out for him, following the tried and true edict of never watching another man’s pockets.
Amari Cooper declined to discuss Dak Prescott's contract situation.
Cooper when asked about Dak not getting a long-term deal: "I don't speak on other people's contract situations."
When asked to describe Dak's mindset after it didn't get done: "I wouldn't describe it."
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) August 4, 2020
Cooper and the Cowboys will have four weeks of padded practice to put together their attack plans for the September 13 season opener against the Los Angeles Rams. The club will look to bounce back from an 8-8 season and return to the playoffs in search of the franchise’s sixth Lombardi.
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