Category: 2024 training camp

Struggling Cowboys DT kicked out of practice for shoving Rams assistant

After a rough outing in the preseason opener, a DT made a bad mistake in joint practice. | From @KDDrummondNFL

It was all good about a week ago. On August 6, the Dallas Cowboys signed DT Albert Huggins in a move to bring them more bodies along the interior and giving him a long shot at making an NFL roster. Huggins arrived on a Tuesday and two days later he was involved in a joint practice session with the Los Angeles Rams. That was a precursor to Sunday’s exhibition action between the two teams as both squads had their first preseason snaps.

That experience did not go well for the five-year veteran. He stood out for all the wrong reasons as he took on a mammoth 32 snaps, 45% of the total for the defense, and was visibly being moved on a regular basis. He had just one assist and graded out at a 39.4 (of 100).

He must have been holding a grudge.

After being dominated on Sunday the last thing Huggins likely wanted to hear was the team announce they were having a second go with joint practices.

Huggins screwed up.  Playing beyond the rep, he continued onto the Rams side of the faux line of scrimmage and shoved one of their non-padded assistants to the ground. The action almost caused a fight and led the Cowboys’ coaching staff to end his day prematurely.

New defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer is known to be a disciplinarian, so it will be interesting to see how much leeway Huggins has. That will be based on temperament and how much different he’s been in practice to what he was in the game.

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Carted Off: Cowboys lose another offensive tackle to injury

The depth is being tested by injuries occurring while facing the Rams. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys depth along the offensive line has appeared to be a strength so far this training camp. Even with the free agency loss of starters Tyron Smith and Tyler Biadasz, the youth at the position appeared to give Dallas a ton of configuration options. Things have started to sort themselves out but unfortunately some of that is due to injury.

The Cowboys lost Chuma Edoga, penciled in as the current LT1, on Sunday to a broken toe. That will leave him out for at least four weeks. And now there’s a second injury impacting the depth. Earl Bostick, a depth piece had to be carted off from the practice field on Wednesday as the club hosted the Los Angeles Rams for another intersquad scrimmage.

Bostick is one of six tackles on the Cowboys’ roster, not counting the handful of players who could play tackle but are primarily assigned to other positions. Third on the RT depth chart, it might not seem as if it’s a serious loss but it does hamper the workload of everyone else on the line.

Bostick is a 2023 UDFA out of Kansas. He’s 6-foot-6, 310 pounds and spent last year on the practice squad.

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60+ best pics from Cowboys-Rams preseason opener

A collection of great photo captures from the Cowboys-Rams preseason tilt. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys finally have a 2024 game under their belt. While they may have fallen in the final seconds, the 13-12 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams still served more important purposes. Dallas’ coaching staff got to see their youngsters in action, while the veterans got to pose for pictures in warm ups and uniforms.

Here’s a look at the best captures from the field trip to SoFi Stadium.

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Report: Cowboys to host Rams for second joint practice on Wednesday

From @ToddBrock24f7: The Rams are set to visit Oxnard again following the two teams’ meeting in the preseason opener, which the Rams won, 13-12.

The Cowboys and Rams have made plans to get together for the third time in a week.

The two teams, who held a joint practice in Oxnard last Thursday and then met at SoFi Stadium for the 2024 preseason opener on Sunday, will have another tandem work session on Wednesday. The report comes from Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, citing sources.

The Rams beat the Cowboys by a 13-12 score on a last-minute touchdown throw from Rams quarterback Stetson Bennett, after the Dallas defense had intercepted Bennett four previous times throughout the game.

Most of the Cowboys’ veteran playmakers sat out Sunday’s exhibition contest, including Dak Prescott. The quarterback did take part in last Thursday’s joint practice but then missed Friday’s regular session with what was described as “ankle soreness.” His absence was billed as just precautionary, though, and Prescott himself said he would be able to play in a real game if he had to.

That should put him on the practice field as scheduled this week, including for Wednesday’s scrimmage with the now-very-familiar Rams.

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Last week’s visit managed to steer clear of any major fisticuffs, the kind often seen at NFL joint practices. Head coach Mike McCarthy had tried to preemptively curtail any fights ahead of time, and the two teams —for the most part — followed through. Center Brock Hoffman was said to have gotten into a brief “skirmish” with several Rams defenders at one point, but nothing like the ugly melee that caused a 2015 joint session between the two teams to be halted early.

And it obviously wasn’t enough to keep the Rams from making plans to travel to Oxnard for the second week in a row for a little extra work, even after getting the better of the Cowboys on Sunday.

The Cowboys will travel to Las Vegas for their second preseason contest, against the Raiders, on Saturday night.

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Watch: Cowboys’ young DBs secure 2nd, 3rd INTs vs Rams

Dallas has three interceptions on the game, keeping things close despite offensive difficulties.

Go head and give assistant head coach Al Harris his flowers right now. Even when he’s forced to trot out a secondary under a brand new defensive coordinator and without his top three cornerbacks and top safeties, his troop is still all about that action.

The Dallas Cowboys were known as turnover machines under Dan Quinn, leading the league in forced turnover in both 2021 and 2022. While yes, it’s just the preseason and they were facing Stetson Bennett the entire game, but the secondary isn’t missing out on their opportunities. After Markquese Bell dropped a pick on the opening drive, he made up for it the next time out. Following that, the club had two more forced picks, letting the world know that mistakes will still be penalized under Mike Zimmer.

Eric Scott closed out the first half by picking off Bennett, keeping the Rams off the board and the score tied at six. UDFA rookie safety Julius Wood did similar, squashing a late third-quarter drive in similar fashion.

Scott had been having a rough game, but turned things around when he moved into the throwing lane undetected by Bennett.

Wood’s play was a bit more difficult, having to drive on the errant pass to force the turnover.

Dallas has been unable to capitalize on the three turnovers, however. Twice they turned it over on downs and the other time the half expiring on them.

 

Cowboys LT Chuma Edoga ruled out with foot injury

The sixth-year veteran went out in the first quarter and will not return.

The Cowboys have continued to list veteran journeyman Chuma Edoga as the starter at left tackle. This despite Dallas drafting Oklahoma’s Tyler Guyton in the first round this past April and Guyton having a generally strong training camp. Edoga was part of Sunday’s starting lineup as well, but his time on the field didn’t last very long.

Edoga was out of the lineup rather quickly, replaced by Guyton, and word has come down why the swap. Edoga suffered a toe injury, and has since been ruled out for the remainder of the game.

Guyton is on track to start, but he wasn’t expected to play much on Sunday as he’s been dealing with an illness. He lasted one series before being taken out.

Entering his sixth season, Edoga was re-signed to a one-year deal this offseason after being brought in 2023 to backup Tyler Smith. Things didn’t go especially well in his six starts, so it was surprising to many that Dallas decided he would be the veteran of choice after letting Smith walk in free agency. Even more surprising was the continuation of him being ahead of Guyton on the depth chart, but Guyton will now get his chance to refuse to let go of the role.

 

LOOK: Cowboys safety Markquese Bell picks off Rams QB Stetson Bennett

The Cowboys’ safety must miss being penciled in as a starter, because he’s already making preseason plays.

The Dallas defense bent but didn’t break on their opening drive, keeping the Los Angeles Rams to three points in the exhibition opener. There were no such things on drive No. 2.

That’s because on 3rd-and-8 they didn’t allow a completion nor conversion. Instead they gave the ball back to their offense courtesy of safety Markquese Bell. Commonly thought to be No. 4 on the depth chart after spending most of the 2023 as a linebacker due to attrition, Bell announced that he should not be overlooked.

Rams QB Stetson Bennett overthrew his target, UT rookie Jordan Whittington, and Bell was well aware, reaching up to snag the ball out of the air for the interception.

Bell almost kept the Rams off the scoreboard on the first drive with an end zone interception he wasn’t able to bring in, but he had no such difficulty on this one, the first turnover of the young exhibition season.

WATCH: Rush connects with Brooks on bomb to open Cowboys’ preseason

The veteran backup helps the cause of the second-year wideout with a big play to start the game off.

The preseason has finally arrived and with it, Dallas Cowboys fans can finally move on from a tumultuous offseason. The Cowboys started off on defense in LA, but they stymied the Rams once they got into scoring position and held them to three points.

Cooper Rush got the start at quarterback with many starters sitting out the exhibition game, par for the course for Mike McCarthy’s guys. It didn’t take long for Rush to declare his competency, either. After back-to-back Rico Dowdle rushes gave an immediate new set of downs, Rush went to work and found second-year receiver Jalen Brooks on a deep throw.

Brooks is competing to be WR3 behind CeeDee Lamb (when he reports) and Brandin Cooks and has been electric thus far in training camp. Getting big plays in actual action will go a long way towards those goals.

Cowboys pass first test with flying colors, here’s what awaits

The Cowboys stood up well to the Rams in their recent joint practices. | From @ReidDHanson

So far, so good from Cowboys camp. Hosting the Rams in a joint practice, Dallas shined in multiple areas. It put many minds at ease since intrateam competitions in camp have an unavoidable bittersweet taste to them – Did Dallas Player A shine because he’s great or did he just look great because Dallas Player B is terrible? Going up against LA applied proper perspective to things.

That perspective is that many of the perceived strengths continued to look like strengths against the Rams. The Cowboys top two outside pass-rushers, Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence, were nearly unstoppable. This is an important validation because after the loss of Dorance Armstrong, Dante Fowler and Sam Williams (the former two to free agency and the latter to injury), the Cowboys are desperately thin on the edge.

Based on reports out of LA, the Rams’ offensive tackle situation is a known concern and not something the dominance of Parsons and Lawrence brought to light. Regardless, it’s still nice to see validation for what was seen earlier in training camp.

The Rams are also reportedly proud of the way their receivers played in place of Puka Nacua. It’s noteworthy because the Cowboys are equally pleased with their young cornerback group, primarily Caelen Carson. This wasn’t just a case of Cowboys beating up on overmatched WRs but rather strength against strength.

The Cowboys running game also looked somewhat dominant. Big holes were routinely opened for Dallas running backs, leading to big runs downfield. Since Dallas is widely believed to have the worst backfield in the NFL this season, big holes are critical to the success of the running game.

Throughout practices the Cowboys stacked up well against the Rams. The only area of concern appeared to be the Cowboys OTs play in pass protection. The Rams’ edge rushers, Byron Young and Jered Verse, seemingly had their way with the Cowboys. Poor play at OT is a threat to ruin any team’s season so this is by no means small potatoes. It’s something that will have to be monitored as camp continues and preseason games take place.

The first big test of the summer is complete and by most accounts, things went splendidly for the Cowboys. Applying this all in real game action on Sunday is the next test.

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Best photos of Dak Prescott, Matt Stafford, others at Cowboys-Rams scrimmage

Photo collection from Thursday’s practice and scrimmage between the Cowboys and Rams.

When Cowboys fans are looking for reasons to believe that Dak Prescott can escape his club’s post-season history and finally bring Dallas a championship as he enters the back half of his career, there’s normally one name brought up as evidence. That of Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matt Stafford.

Stafford, a Texas native, had to move on from the Detroit Lions, but found ultimate success in Year 13 once he was traded to the Los Angeles Rams. Cowboys fans hope only the latter-years part of the equation will be duplicated and Prescott doesn’t have to leave the organization to see that success. Meanwhile, the two veterans got to spend some time together on Thursday, as the Rams and Cowboys held a joint practice and scrimmage in Oxnard, CA.

The two teams will face off in the first exhibition game for both clubs on Sunday. Here’s a look at some of the photos from Thursday’s practice featuring both teams’ squads.