The Cowboys coach says the team will monitor the seven-time Pro Bowl left tackle’s neck issue before Sunday’s home opener versus Atlanta.
Dallas enters Week 2 of the season already looking to backup plans at several key positions. Watching linebacker Leighton Vander Esch and tight end Blake Jarwin get helped off the field in the season opener was bad enough. But news that left tackle Tyron Smith missed Thursday’s practice with some sort of neck issue brings a whole different sense of doom and gloom over Cowboys Nation.
Coach Mike McCarthy wasn’t ready to hit the panic button quite yet, but he knows the readiness of his seven-time Pro Bowl lineman is something that will be monitored closely as Sunday’s kickoff versus the Falcons approaches.
In fact, despite the more obvious holes in the Cowboys lineup, he admits that offensive line is his biggest concern right now.
“Going into the game, I would say yes,” McCarthy told 105.3 The Fan on Friday morning. “Every season, it’s on that list of firsts. You have your first game, you have your first road game, you have your first different types of situations: two-minute drills at the end of the half and end of the game. You go through this all the time, especially in Year One. But this is our first time- experience- with a player, maybe two, that may or may not play come Sunday. It’s part of being a good team, so you have to work through these things. We need everybody; that’s always been my approach as a head coach.”
A player… that may or may not play come Sunday.
That’s a scary thought, particularly for Cowboys fans who recall what happened the last time Smith didn’t suit up against Atlanta. Quarterback Dak Prescott is likely still having middle-of-the-night flashbacks to the six sacks Smith’s replacement allowed that day.
“We’ll see how Tyron is,” McCarthy concluded. “I’m not alarmed right now, but it’s something that we’re looking at.”
That dreadful Falcons tilt took place in Atlanta in 2017. This time, the two teams will meet in Arlington. So the Cowboys will at least have home cooking on their side.
Or will they? Much has been made of home-field advantage in 2020, with most stadiums devoid of fans on opening weekend. The Cowboys will buck that trend on Sunday, allowing AT&T Stadium to be at approximately 25% capacity.
Between piped-in crowd noise and the natural up-close intensity of professional football players trying to beat the tar out of each other, many have argued that empty venues are only strange to fans watching at home, that the players are too locked in to care.
But McCarthy noticed a difference this past weekend in Los Angeles. And he believes it will be good for the Cowboys to play in front of Cowboys fans, even if it’s fewer than usual.
“I would think so. Without a doubt, just going off the experience of last week,” McCarthy confessed. “The fans are such a huge part of the game: just the gameday environment, the enthusiasm, and everything that goes into it. The players really feed off of that. You’ve just got to ‘make your own music’ is the way we’ve talked about it. It’s the way we’ll approach it. I think it will definitely help.”
Of course, a strong showing from the offense will help encourage the fans in attendance to make a little more of their own music. The much-ballyhooed debut of Team Fortyburger never got out of first gear on Sunday night, putting up a pedestrian 17 points.
Many pundits in the days since have pointed to a lack of pre-snap motion in coordinator Kellen Moore’s offensive game plan. When ranked by how much motion each team used in Week 1, the top half of the league went 13-3; the bottom half- where Dallas sat- combined for a 3-13 mark.
McCarthy appreciates the numbers, but emphasizes that it was just one game.
“You have to be honest about statistics. There’s a place for them. But it’s Week 1. To think that Kellen was able to call everything on his call sheet that he may have anticipated going into the game, that’s just not how it works. Shift and motion, you’ll see that in our game plans each week, and how much we use will depend on the flow of the game.”
The flow of the game, certainly on offense, could change dramatically depending on whether No. 77 is on the field for the Cowboys.
The former QB sat down with Cowboys Wire to cover a wide variety of topics as a new NFL season and ad campaign for the beer pitchman begin.
Tony Romo started nine Week 1 games as a Dallas Cowboy. One of his most exciting season openers came in 2015 with a touchdown pass in the final seconds to beat the Giants. He broke his collarbone the next week and Dallas would ultimately finish that season last in the NFC East with a 4-12 record. The year before? An 0-1 start after an embarrassing first loss to the 49ers. But that team went on to win the division with a 12-4 mark and the top seed in the NFC postseason bracket.
The point is this: Week 1 isn’t a reliable predictor of anything.
That may be a good mantra for those among Cowboys Nation who were ready to write off 2020 as another wasted season after a disappointing opening night loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
During a private videochat this week with Cowboys Wire and two other outlets, Romo held court in his trademark backward ballcap and covered a wide range of topics: Dak Prescott’s contract drama, the hidden ways COVID-19 will affect players across the league, his own (surprising) fantasy football skills, even his return to the Corona Hotline in a new series of televised beer commercials.
Romo on Week 1 overreactions:
Befitting the cool and unflappable attitude he exudes while manning the beachside phone line in those popular ads, Romo warns against reading too much into whether the team wins or loses their first game of the season.
“I’d be very careful for people to base everything on Week 1,” Romo said. “Just every year in the NFL, everybody, before the season starts, is going to be amazing. Everyone’s figured it all out: they all have a plan, everyone has everything great. Every new team has the new coach or the new players, they’ve got the new scheme or done whatever, and everything is going to be great. And then everyone watches Week 1, and from a fan perspective, we all go, ‘They’re not going to be any good. Did you see that? Terrible.'”
The lead analyst for CBS points out that the global pandemic that’s impacted everything else will mean a longer learning curve for teams that are still just now coming together.
“This is a very unique year. These guys have not been been together all offseason. Right now, you’re trying to figure out your own system.”
He was referring to Tom Brady in his first year with the Buccaneers, but it’s easy to swap in Mike McCarthy and the Cowboys and see some parallels that should talk a few Dallas fans off the proverbial ledge after Team Fortyburger failed to show at SoFi Stadium.
“We pretend like they should have this down because they’ve been together for a month. That’s not realistic,” Romo cautioned. “When the bullets start flying and you’re going through real games, that’s when you start to learn what’s really going to hold up and what’s really not. During the preseason, during practices and training camp, you get all this. But during the offseason, you start to learn about your players. When you’re the quarterback, you start to see, ‘This kid can run this route; this kid can’t.’ In training camp, you really have already assessed all of that, so now you’re like, ‘Okay, let’s put it in these situations to see if it works in these situations. In training camp. In preseason. Or scrimmages against other teams.’ There’s been none of that.”
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott readies to take a snap during the first half of an NFL football game Los Angeles Rams Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Romo believes that it typically takes four games for everyone to get on the same page. But he also thinks McCarthy’s willingness to not only retain Kellen Moore as the team’s offensive coordinator but leave his playcalling responsibilities intact should accelerate the usual getting-to-know-you process between new coach and roster.
“With the Cowboys, the verbiage is the same. So the Cowboys are, kind of, the same offense. They’re not going to be behind when it comes to the verbiage,” the 4-time Pro Bowler said. “As long as the verbiage is the same, you know the offense, you know the rules, you know what people are supposed to do. So that part of it isn’t really different. The difference with Mike McCarthy coming in was that he kept that. So he allowed Kellen Moore to kind of do the same thing, because they were successful last year, offensively. The production was where they wanted it. So I think that’s a good thing.
“Now, as a head coach and you’re an offensive guy, if the production isn’t equaling what you think, then you might start to influence it a little bit more. But right now, Mike’s just trying to see how this goes, watching what’s happening with Kellen and the team. I think is trying to put in a couple things that he knows he likes, so Kellen will put that in. But the majority of it’s going to come from Kellen and the offense. And they’re going to be more similar to last year than they would be [with] a new guy and changing everything. If the verbiage was different- because Mike comes from a West Coast background, and that verbiage is very different. But he decided to come in and keep it the same way. And that allows the players to not have to think as much. That, alone, I think will help them early on. If they ever struggle, I think he’ll put his influence on it very quickly as the head coach.”
Romo on adjustments for players during COVID-19:
Of course, COVID-19 didn’t just scrap preseason exhibition games and abbreviate training camp. The worldwide health crisis hasn’t gone anywhere, so the league is having to adjust on the fly, trying to conduct business as usual in times that are anything but. And while Week 1 may have felt like the finish line and a welcome return to normalcy from the vantage point of fans’ rec room sofas, Romo says the players themselves are still in the very early stages of figuring out just how different the 2020 season will be.
“I don’t think they know yet,” Romo explained. “Really, it’s just beginning. When you’re in the NFL, you’re creatures of habit. Everything is set up for you, timewise. A year in advance, you know what you’re doing next August 21st, next September 11th, 12th, 13th. You can map out your entire schedule. The difference now is the timing of everything is just a hair different. What you do with your normal routine is just a hair different. If you’re used to waking up and getting into the facility at a certain time, now that changes. You’ve got to get up a little bit sooner to do the test, do a lot of other things. You decide not to go out to eat with your family on Friday night. Your family comes in town for a home game, you’re used to going out with [your] parents, [your] wife’s parents, your aunts and uncles, everybody, Are you willing to risk that and go to dinner?”
Romo downplays the notion that it will be difficult for players to pump themselves up for games played in vacant or nearly-empty stadiums. The Cowboys and Rams conducted their Week 1 contest without fans in attendance in Los Angeles; Dallas returns home to host Atlanta at AT&T Stadium, where estimates suggest a crowd of around 20,000 on Sunday.
Sep 13, 2020; Inglewood, California, USA; General overall view of SoFi Stadium before the NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Los Angeles Rams. at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The ex-quarterback doesn’t think it will make much of a difference to the players on the field.
Or, at least, it shouldn’t.
“As far as gameday, people were talking about fans in the stands. Some coaches talk about the energy, stuff like that. I don’t know. If you’re a player, and you’re in the NFL, and you can get hit, or you have to go hit somebody, it’s a fight-or-flight feeling.
“So with or without fans,” he continued, “you’re exposed to that feeling. There’s nerves, and a lot of it is because you can get hurt. Like, right away. You’re going to get hurt, and you’re going to be in a position to be exposed in multiple ways. As far as how we evaluate you on Monday, your coaches are still evaluating everything you do. The fans may add energy and stuff. I know it’s a little bit different when you’re watching it, but as a player, I really believe these guys can’t go into a game and go, ‘Oh, there’s no fans; I just didn’t have it today.’ You’re going to get dominated.
“These guys, their lives are on the line, and someone’s going to come and attack you. And if you’re not bringing it every day?… It’s not like a different sport where it’s just, ‘Well, I didn’t feel the energy.’ If you didn’t feel the energy, there’s a good chance you could get hurt. I think the players are going to go just as hard. They’re going to give just the same effort.”
Romo on Dak’s deal in an evolving NFL:
In 2007, Romo was rewarded with a lucrative six-year contract extension with the Cowboys after just 17 starts. Another big-money six-year pact was reached before the 2013 season. Conversely, Dak Prescott started 54 games under his rookie contract and got a one-year prove-it deal on the franchise tag for the effort.
The will-they-or-won’t-they drama surrounding Prescott and the Cowboys front office’s long-term commitment to him was the rollercoaster ride of the summer. But Romo, who has made a name for himself with his predictive abilities in the broadcast booth, forecasts a happy ending for Prescott and America’s Team.
“I think with Dak, it’s going to be very easy for the Cowboys to get that done. It’s just one of those things.”
One could argue that if locking up Prescott’s services were truly very easy, the Joneses would have checked that box on the to-do list long before it became the lead story on sports reports everywhere. Instead, the Chiefs inked Patrick Mahomes to a groundbreaking contract in July, and the Texans secured Deshaun Watson earlier this month. That likely ensures that Prescott’s paycheck will get even bigger than it would have been had the deal gotten done in the spring.
Aug 19, 2016; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) and quarterback Tony Romo (9) talk during the pregame warmups against the Miami Dolphins at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
“I think Dak Prescott bet on himself,” Romo posited. “But I don’t think it’s just him. I think a lot of quarterbacks are doing that right now. The seven-year, eight-year contracts are probably going away. And what’s happening is, teams are having to adjust. That always helps the salary cap when you can have a guy who you know is going to be there a long time because you can always roll the money back to next year, you can always push it back, and that position, you always knew he’d be there…
“So Dak bet on himself. And I think in a lot of ways, that’s what a lot of people are doing, just betting on themselves and saying they know they’re unique and they have the ability to help a football team win.”
“I understand both sides,” Romo offered. “I understand Dak’s side, because he’s right. And the Cowboys are right. There is no perfect answer here. It’s hard because the salary cap changes each year… It’s just a different time right now where quarterbacks are understanding their leverage, and teams are having to adjust what they’re doing. I think it will still get done. It’s obviously not ideal for anyone, but I think it will get done.”
The Cowboys’ career leader in passing yards and passing touchdowns believes that the league is currently in the middle of a rare quarterback renaissance. And that is contributing to the delay in a deal for the man trying to get there.
“It’s a different time. Quarterbacks have always been something that has driven the league. You want great quarterbacks, and the more great quarterbacks you have, the league is better off. It’s just rare when you get the older quarterbacks who are finishing up their careers who are really good, and you get a bunch of young quarterbacks, and they’re all kind of mixed in; these guys aren’t way better. For a long time, it was like, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning; they’re just so much better. Then you throw in Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees: there’s the four, and then there’s everybody else who’s trying to knock on the door. There might be a guy or two, but there’s never been this much depth.”
Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott and Seattle Seahawks’ Russell Wilson greet each other at midfield after their NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 24, 2017, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Ron Jenkins)
Despite proclamations from the top that Prescott is the future of the franchise, passer depth across the league and in the college ranks may be a small part of what’s kept the Cowboys ownership from wedding themselves to their 2016 fourth-round find.
But Romo also thinks the current QB boom helps the truly special signal-callers prove their worth when it comes time to re-negotiate.
“There are so many guys that have the ability to lead their team to a championship, if their team is in a position to really win,” he said. “Saying all of that, yes, I know about the contract stuff. I’ve been through it before with the Cowboys. Quarterbacks now: it’s nothing more than they’re understanding their position in the sport. And they’re starting to get to a point where they understand the influence they have on the organization and, really, their contribution to the football team and what that means.”
The analyst with the reputation for breaking down hot reads and blitz packages so that the casual fan can grasp complex football strategies managed to do the same for the financial side of the game, using the NBA to draw an easy-to-comprehend analogy.
“In basketball, it’s been happening for a while now,” said Romo. “LeBron James, years back, decided to, instead of taking this seven-year or long-term guarantee, he decided to say, ‘I’m going to go two years.’ Because who’s not going to want LeBron James in two years? So it’s a position where you have the ability to kind of control your environment, I guess you could say. But, more than that, you can control your situation.
“And quarterbacks are starting to do the same thing basketball players have been doing, a little bit. Instead of taking the long-term guarantee, they’re starting to do less years. Quarterbacks forever took the guarantee just in case they were injured. What you’re finding is they’re not doing that near as much anymore, because they’re rare. Really good quarterbacks are rare. And if you’re rare, you can trust that someone’s going to like you enough to make you their quarterback, and multiple people will want you, because it’s hard to have a really good quarterback in the National Football League.”
Romo on 2020’s expanded postseason format:
It may be hard to have a really good passer in the NFL, but starting this season, it just got a little bit easier to make it to the big dance. Seven teams from each conference will now receive a playoff berth, up from six.
Detractors say it runs the risk of watering down the level of postseason play. Romo does not agree. Rather than assume a No. 7 seed must be a mediocre squad who backed into their undeserved wild card slot, the gritty underdog hero of so many improbable Cowboys comebacks instead sees the opportunity for a late-blooming team to make an exciting run.
Feb 3, 2019; Atlanta, GA, USA; The Vince Lombardi Trophy is handed off after the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl LIII against the Los Angeles Rams at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
“Think about that team that makes it, that extra team who gets in,” Romo imagined. “What happens if your starting quarterback is Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes? And now all of a sudden, that team sneaks into the playoffs and he gets healthy in Week 16 or 17. And that team snuck in. Do you want to play that team? They just became a very formidable opponent.
“If you say it dilutes it, I would say it depends on who you’re talking about… I don’t think it dilutes it at all. The more playoff football games you have, it’s better. And more people are going to watch. And it just makes more money for the players, the owners, everybody else, your coaches. That just helps the NFL.”
Romo on his own fantasy football prowess:
Of course, Romo’s role within the NFL is now one of a lead analyst for his network’s marquee game of the week. That’s his official role, anyway. Unofficially, he’s the all-knowing (and wise-cracking) brains behind the Corona Hotline, the beermaker’s imaginary help desk where Romo assists everyday fans with their fantasy football dilemmas.
The 2020 ad campaign gives real-life viewers the chance to call in and instantly win a Corona-branded championship trophy for their league. And one lucky grand prize winner will get a four-day, three-night beach vacation for up to 11 guests for the purposes of holding their 2021 fantasy draft in style.
But fans looking to put Romo’s keen football insight to use on their fantasy squad may want to reconsider. As brilliant a mind as Romo is with the actual Xs and Os, he admits that his fantasy expertise is only a fictional construct for the Corona beach ads.
With permission from Corona
“I’m actually in a fantasy football league with [CBS broadcast partner] Jim Nantz,” Romo explained. “He’s the head; he spearheads our team. They had the draft last week. So we talked before the draft, and he asks some questions. And I’m like, ‘Why don’t we just take this guy? I think this is going to be great.’ And he goes, ‘Uh, they’re saved on [someone else’s] team.’ And I’m like, ‘What does that mean? Saved?’ He’s like, ‘Well, each person gets to save two people from the year before.’ And I’m like, ‘How many years do they get to save them?’ He says, ‘Two years.’ I’m like, ‘Why two years? Is it six years? One year? How do you even come up with these rules? It’s endless, the rules they have. So I’m like, “Well, who’s the top ten picks?’ And the top ten picks are not even a part of the top 20, 30 guys because 15 teams have the top 30 guys saved. And there’s one guy who slipped through the cracks, maybe. And if you don’t have the number one pick, then you don’t get that guy. And I’m like, ‘This is much harder than I thought.'”
Besides apparently being new to the concept of a keeper league, Romo went on to confess that he struggled with the notion of point-per-reception play.
“I didn’t realize… PPR league: do you guys know what that means? I’m always like, ‘He’s going to run the football great.’ [Jim] is like, ‘Oh, that’s great. But he doesn’t catch the ball.’ And I’m like, ‘Okay, well…’
“‘That matters more than running.’
“‘Then why aren’t we drafting only the best pass-catchers in the league?’
“‘Oh, well, rushing matters. Just not as much. Touchdowns matter [in] rushing.’
“And I’m like, ‘I don’t know the rules to this whole thing. I can’t even help you.’ It’s actually really hard for me to help. I’m not that smart in fantasy football. Unless you want to call the Corona Hotline.”
As the Cowboys saw ticket sales marred by technical difficulties, the league has announced a plan to pipe in crowd noise on gamedays.
The Dallas Cowboys are trying to make sure their gamedays look- at least partially- like they’re supposed to. And the league is ensuring that its stadiums will sound somewhat like the NFL on Sundays.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has expressed how important it is for his club to “put the show on” in this COVID-stained season. For the ringmaster-in-chief of America’s Team, that unquestionably also means having paying customers in the seats.
While many stadiums across the league have already vowed to play the regular season in front of an empty house, Jones has promised that AT&T Stadium will be open for business on Sundays this fall, to at least a percentage of the venue’s full capacity. Season ticket holders were supposed to get their first chance at claiming seats for Cowboys home games on Thursday.
Like so much of the rest of 2020, it fell apart in short order.
Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News has reported that the online platform used by SeatGeek “experienced issues” shortly after the sales window opened and was subsequently shut down, with ticket sales suspended until further notice.
“In reaction to COVID-19, SeatGeek built a custom ticket-buying experience that keeps fans safe and adheres to local and state safety guidelines around social distancing,” SeatGeek wrote in a statement. “Fan safety is paramount for SeatGeek and the Cowboys. While we are excited to pioneer this new technology, SeatGeek and the Cowboys made the joint decision to pause the on-sale until early next week to offer an improved user experience.
“We look forward to resuming the on-sale and helping as many fans as safely possible attend an event at AT&T Stadium this season.”
The Cowboys sent out an email of their own, just two hours after tickets were supposed to have gone on sale.
“We apologize for the technical difficulties with SeatGeek regarding the Dallas Cowboys single game ticket on-sale this morning and are working through these issues,” the team stated. “Rest assured that you have not missed out on purchasing any games for the on-sale. Once the issue has been resolved and is fully functioning, we will email you when you are able to go back online to purchase. Thank you for your patience, and we apologize for this inconvenience.”
Fans who already own Cowboys season tickets will be allowed to purchase up to six tickets for up to three of the team’s eight home games this regular season. The seats will be grouped into pods around the stadium to ensure proper social distancing on gameday, and ticketholders will not be permitted to re-sell seats within a purchased pod.
It is not clear exactly how many fans will be permitted into AT&T Stadium during games in 2020. Jones has said he will follow state guidelines regarding crowd sizes, but has declined to specify a number prior to the Week 2 home opener. Texas law currently would allow 50% capacity.
But Gehlken also reports that there is some grumbling about ticket prices under the new system.
“On social media,” he writes, “some season-ticket holders complained Thursday about the ticket prices in certain sections. A SeatGeek spokesperson confirmed that four of the stadium’s 14 sections are priced higher than they were in 2019. The other 10 seat sections remained flat.”
AT&T Stadium may be at half-capacity, and other sites fanless, for games this fall, but the NFL’s venues will at least sound like they normally do… mostly. The league will attempt to emulate the gameday experience for the players, coaches, and TV audiences by piping in crowd noise during games.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the league will provide a recording of crowd noise “specific to each team’s stadium that must be played over the PA system,” whether the venue is hosting live fans or not. The league will also monitor the volume level at which the looped noise is played back, to ensure a stadium operator can’t use the sound effects to provide an unfair edge to the home team or unfairly disrupt the visitors during play.
Here’s the full memo from the NFL on the use this season of pre-recorded audio, which will be monitored by NFL Football Operations. Any person or club caught attempting to manipulate the league-curated audio will be subject to fines, suspensions or potential lost draft picks. pic.twitter.com/J7v7LYaxWD
“Per the memo,” notes Jack Baer of Yahoo Sports, “teams will not be allowed to play their crowd noise at a sound greater than 70 decibels, and their total output (think crowd noise while music is playing) cannot exceed 75 decibels. That’s roughly analogous to the noise of a vacuum cleaner and well below the triple-digit readings seen at stadiums of teams like the Seattle Seahawks and Kansas City Chiefs.”
Commissioner Roger Goodell maintained just this week that the league believes there will be no competitive advantage for teams who have live fans in attendance compared to clubs who play in empty stadiums.
The Cowboys’ first home game is set for September 20 as they face the Atlanta Falcons. The team has not yet set a new date for online ticket sales to resume.
The Cowboys owner doesn’t believe live fans at AT&T Stadium will create an unfair advantage, despite many other teams having empty stadiums.
Jerry Jones is itching to start handing out tickets to Cowboys home games. He just doesn’t know how many he’ll be allowed to sell.
After the NFL’s preseason schedule was scrapped, the team’s annual fan fest in Oxnard was called off, and the local practice sessions at The Star and the Blue-White scrimmage this Sunday at AT&T Stadium were closed to the public. The first chance Cowboys Nation will now have to see the team in person will be the Week 2 game versus Atlanta. The Los Angeles Rams have already nixed all fan attendance for the team’s opening game at SoFi Stadium as the country continues to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
State and local guidelines will ultimately dictate the size of the gameday crowds for Cowboys home games. The owner gave an update on where the upper end exists currently.
While AT&T Stadium can accommodate over 100,000 with standing-room areas, the 50% cap would likely be able to include only the seating bowls, which hold 80,000 total. That would mean a maximum capacity of 40,000 fans.
But Jones knows things could change between now and kickoff of the team’s home opener, set for September 20.
“Things are evolving. I would imagine we can have as many people out there as far as the demand to be out there as we want. We’ll see how the lay of the land is as we get closer and sell those number of tickets accordingly.”
While Jones quoted the current “official boundary” of the stadium’s capacity as established by the state of Texas, he was reluctant to go on record with how many tickets would actually be made available.
“I can’t give you a straight answer because I don’t know how many fans we’ll have in that stadium. Here we are, the Dallas Cowboys, got one of the greatest stadiums in the world, and I can’t give you a straight answer to that? We’re playing it by ear.
“I’m anticipating adjustments for [a] potential outbreak, if you will… The key word is flexibility and adapting to a need to change.”
It will already be a surreal season, as many clubs across the league have already announced that there will be no fans in their stadiums for the duration of 2020. As of August 27, Washington has also said no to live fans for the season. Seattle has announced zero attendance for its first three games, which includes Dallas on September 27. The remaining five cities on the Cowboys’ travel schedule are operating on a no-fans-until-further-notice basis.
It’s entirely possible that the only live crowds the team plays in front of all season will be for their own home games. But Jones says he doesn’t believe that would give the Cowboys an unfair edge.
“I don’t know that,” Jones demurred, recalling his own college playing days when Arkansas would travel to Austin to play Texas. He says the roar of the Longhorn faithful had him ready to “run through a wall,” despite playing for the other team.
“The scene doesn’t just enthuse the home team. And it doesn’t have to be intimidating at all. It can inspire the visiting team as well. No, I don’t believe that’s a competitive advantage.”
The erstwhile salesman may try to downplay the crowd to the eight opposing squads coming into Arlington this season, but he did admit that an empty stadium just might provide a slight help when his own Cowboys players enter the notoriously raucous CenturyLink Field.
“I will say this: It’s going to be nice to have, hopefully, a quieter crowd in Seattle than we’re used to, to be specific about it.”
The Dallas coach wants to prepare his players for the conditions they’ll likely play the Rams in an empty SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
Cowboys training camp has been filled with all kinds of new sights thus far in 2020. Red jerseys on the quarterbacks. Cooling tents. Team meetings in the Ford Center bowl. Coaches and staff wearing masks. Last names on practice jerseys. Dak Prescott wearing a visor.
Yes, this year’s camp has provided a feast for the eyes, causing Cowboys fans everywhere to refresh their timelines repeatedly as they wait for the latest round of photos to be sent out into the ether after every practice session. But by all accounts, the sense going through the biggest adjustment in Frisco these days may be that of hearing.
New coach Mike McCarthy has all but scrapped the popular tradition of piping music onto the field during practice. He claims to be using the eerie silence as a way to prep the team for the conditions they’ll likely encounter in Week 1 when they face the Rams in an empty SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
There’s a reason the Cowboys haven’t been playing much music in practice. Mike McCarthy: “It looks like we’re gonna be playing our first game without fans. What I’ve always done is you try to keep your training environment as close to the game situation as possible.”
“I think there’s a place for music,” McCarthy told reporters Monday morning before team activities. “I think even more so than any year that I’ve coached in this league, this is probably a year for not very much music.”
The Rams announced last month that their new stadium would be “at limited or no capacity” in 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis. Several other stadiums on the Cowboys’ travel schedule have already said fans will not be in attendance for any games this season.
Jerry Jones has stated emphatically that Cowboys home games, however, will be played before live fans at AT&T Stadium. The number of fans that could be admitted on gameday, however, has not yet been determined.
So perhaps music will return to the team’s practices after Week 1. The Cowboys’ 2020 home opener will take place in Week 2- September 20- versus Atlanta.
“The influx of music for me,” McCarthy explained, “in the practices that I’ve had in the past, there’s a purpose for it. So when the offense is playing on the road, we’ll have music during their periods for communication challenge and things like that. We play music during the TV timeouts; there’s what, two or three of those a practice? I think music’s great, but I think it needs to be at the appropriate time.”
As for what tunes actually get cued up when the time is appropriate? That may turn out to be another big-time adjustment for many of the Cowboys players.
Does Mike McCarthy pick the music played at Cowboys practices?
“Can’t you tell? That’s my iPod, or whatever they call it. My playlist.” https://t.co/W2a6gN4Qch
The Cowboys owner believes AT&T Stadium is uniquely designed to accommodate more live fans this year than many other facilities in the NFL.
The list of NFL teams capping or outright cutting fan attendance for 2020 home games is growing by the day. But don’t expect the Dallas Cowboys to put themselves on that list anytime soon. At least, not if team owner Jerry Jones has anything to say about it.
As usual, Jones had plenty to say- about a wide range of topics- during Wednesday’s press conference to open training camp. Clearly, though, one of his main points of emphasis for the reporters assembled via videochat was attendance at AT&T Stadium for the club’s eight upcoming home games.
“The Dallas Cowboys plan on playing all of our football games,” Jones stressed, “and we plan on playing them in front of our fans.”
He said it twice. In the first nine minutes of the press conference. Just so there would be no misunderstanding.
But beyond vowing that there would be fans in the stands, Jones declined to go any further by giving a number or percentage.
“I don’t have an expectation,” Jones said. “As you know, you’re dealing with a little bit of a moving target, and I’m not trying to diminish the moving target aspect of it. But we’re very unique in that we have the suite capacities that we have out there that give us some extra control.”
The NFL has already ordered that, at any stadiums that are open this season, the bottom several rows of seats be tarped off to keep players, coaches, and sideline personnel safely distanced from fans. For AT&T Stadium in Arlington, that mandate almost assuredly includes the field-level suites.
Just this week, the New Orleans Saints became the latest team to announce attendance changes, saying their season opener will be played before an empty Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The team also calls in-person attendance during their next home game in Week 3 “unlikely,” and won’t even commit to allowing fans in for their Week 5 contest.
The Washington Football Team recently declared that there will be no fans at FedEx Field at any point during the 2020 campaign. The Raiders have also closed their new stadium to the public for its inaugural season. The Packers won’t have live fans for at least its first two home games. The Jets and Giants won’t host fans until further notice. Eight other clubs so far are already publicly expecting their stadiums to be at a greatly-reduced capacity; others will surely follow.
But Jones spoke in glowing terms of the building jokingly called JerryWorld, claiming that the structure’s unique architecture will actually help allow for more Cowboys fans on gameday.
“We opened that stadium,” Jones said of AT&T, which made its debut in 2009 as Cowboys Stadium, “and it was pointed out that if you didn’t open the doors at the right time and had the roof open in a certain way, that you had an air current through there that is pretty impressive, if you will. A serious, serious air current … quite a naturally-built airflow that can be very positive relative to protecting and be safe for our fans. That’s not all of it, but when we finish showing our fans what and how and what we can do to make it safe to come to the ballgames, I’m really proud that we’ve got that stadium to work with.”
The Cowboys’ home can indeed transform itself away from a completely-enclosed building, and that added ventilation may, in fact, help comfort fans who are worried about breathing recirculated air for three hours on a Sunday. The league will still require all fans at NFL stadiums to wear face coverings.
But given the stadium’s sheer size, Jones believes it will also be possible for a large number of fans to socially distance quite easily within its walls.
“We have, also, a stadium that has three million square feet in it,” Jones reminded reporters. “And the fans going in the southwest side do not get near the ones going in the northwest side. As a matter of fact, that goes on like that all the way up until a very reasonable close. When you look at a number in the stadium, don’t think that number’s getting together out there. They’re not. It’ll be in pods of possibly five, ten, fifteen different people.”
Jones alluded to a more official attendance policy being issued by the team in the coming days. But he promises that the team will follow federal, state, and local guidelines in determining how many fans will be permitted to see the Cowboys play in person in 2020.
Whatever the number, Jones is optimistic that the Cowboys fans who show will be treated to a great product on the field and a safe environment inside the stadium. But he also acknowledged that some of the responsibility for keeping everyone healthy will fall on the Cowboys faithful.
“We’ll adhere to all protocols,” Jones announced. “And we will adapt them to the uniqueness of our stadium. That’s within the protocol. We have a real unique situation, and I think that we’re going to be able to really have a great experience. I think that our safety precautions that we’re doing won’t be unfamiliar to a lot of people when we look at the general protocol of the country or we look at how you get together numbers of people. We will have our challenges. The people that will be there will be there at their own volition, just as the players that are on this field out here for the Cowboys are here because they have chosen to be here. Our fans will be in the stadium because they have chosen to be there. I’m completely confident that if I’ve ever seen a general population have had information of where the issues are, where the vulnerabilities are, how to conduct yourself, the ‘do-right rule’ relative to the person with you and beside you that you do know or don’t know, I’m confident that we’ve got a very educated situation and that our fans can come and have a safe experience at our stadium.”
Also, a fresh start for Chido Awuzie, drafting an all-time Cowboys roster, Dez Bryant makes dreams come true, and playing in empty stadiums.
Jadeveon Clowney reportedly wants to be in Dallas, but there are a few factors that make it doubtful that he joins the Cowboys, even though many fans are hoping for the team to engineer a Cam-Newton-to-New-England-type blockbuster signing. The current crop of Cowboys, according to Vegas oddsmakers, are set to make some serious noise in 2020. The defensive backfield could potentially hold Dallas back, but players like Chido Awuzie could take the next step with a fresh coaching staff.
NFL games, if they happen at all, are likely to be without fans. But the lack of fans might actually enhance the viewing experience. Cowboys writers take turns drafting their all-time Dallas rosters, and a former Cowboy believes he should be next in line for Canton. All that and more; here are the Dallas Cowboys news and notes for June 29, 2020.
Many people are linking Jadeveon Clowney to the Cowboys after he revealed he would like to play in Dallas. Clowney has lowered his asking price slightly in the last few weeks, but Patrik Walker explains it still doesn’t make sense for the Cowboys to sign Clowney to a huge deal.
Whether it’s for actual wagering or just fantasy football scouting, looking at the official odds can indicate who may be poised to do big things. Plenty of Cowboys are getting decent-to-good odds at winning some end-of-season hardware, and that could mean good-to-great things for the team in 2020.
The team’s staff writers feel the 25-year-old cornerback might be on the cusp of an elevation in his game (and maybe even a move to safety), especially now that he’s under a new coaching staff that includes the likes of Al Harris. “Remember this: Byron Jones was a disappointing first-round pick,” David Helman writes, “and coaching helped turn him into an All-Pro.”
The former Cowboys running back told a Minnesota news outlet back in April that he had done enough in just the NFL to be enshrined in Canton. But as Mike Fisher points out, it’s the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and Walker’s USFL stats should count, too. It’s likely an uphill battle, though, considering some of the other Cowboys legends who also don’t have a gold jacket.
"Just to be honest with you, he made dreams come true."
Bob Sturm and Jon Machota go head-to-head, each drafting a full 53-man roster from a pool that includes every player to ever wear the star. In Part One, they lay out the ground rules and reveal the overall top ten picks. Who went first? Probably not who you think.
Imagine Roger Staubach throwing to Jason Witten with Emmitt Smith blocking in the backfield. Or a defensive huddle that includes Bob Lilly, DeMarcus Lawrence, Deion Sanders, Mel Renfro, and DeMarcus Ware. RADIO.COM and 105.3 The Fan put together a historic showdown for the ages- thanks to Madden 2020- over the weekend. It took a Dan Bailey boot with under 20 seconds left to decide this one; read the recap at the link, or go back and watch the whole game here.
Would NFL games in an empty stadium be weird? Of course. Would it be flat, sterile, and boring? Not necessarily, according to one former player. In fact, fewer penalties and a more intimate proximity to on-the-field audio might just enhance the game experience for television audiences.
@NFL@NFLPA can we have an update on training camp procedures, testing, etc.? We’re 4 weeks from the assumed start of training camp and it would be nice to have adequate info before I attempt to move my family across country during a pandemic…
The Dallas Cowboys are entering the 2020 season with a new offensive line coach, and will have a new starting center. What will this all mean for a unit that has been consistently among the top offensive lines in football? Cowboys staff writer Rob Philips takes a deeper look at the O-line changes.
Also in Cowboys news, Terrell Owens speaks out on Jerry Jones, evaluating the rookie class, and what moving ahead with a 2020 season says.
The league is moving full steam ahead toward a 2020 season, but there’s very little that anyone knows for certain right now. There’s talk of reporting dates, tarping off lower rows of seating, and letting teams set their own attendance caps. But there’s also the nagging question of whether there should be a season at all. All this while some players, including Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, are still recovering after testing positive for COVID-19.
Elliott spent some time talking about Jamal Adams, and new safety HaHa Clinton-Dix spent some time running from a bear. Literally. All that, plus vacated targets translating to big opportunities for CeeDee Lamb and Blake Jarwin, rookies outperforming their draft slots, getting to know Jon’Vea Johnson, reading the close-game data tea leaves, T.O. talking J.J., and could Emmitt Smith really have competition as the all-time rushing king? That’s on tap in this edition of News and Notes.
It looks as if July 28 will be the “on-time” start for players to report to team facilities for camp. That would likely mean no early work for rookies or teams- like Dallas- with first-year head coaches.
While gaming it up at home, the running back shared an encouraging update on his health after testing positive for coronavirus and gave his thoughts on a possible trade that would make the Jets safety a teammate in Dallas.
Re: Jamal Adams … I remember some advice I got from @calvinwatkins when I got on the Cowboys beat. "Stop asking guys from other teams if they want to play for the Cowboys. They all want to play for the Cowboys."
He was right. So Adams wanting to go there isn't exactly unique.
In the latest wrinkle of what a COVID-19 NFL season might look like, teams have been told that the first six to eight rows of seats- as well as on-field suites- will be tarped over on gameday as a safety precaution. Those tarps will also feature ads visible only to television audiences.
With only the Atlanta Falcons ahead of them in vacated targets last season, opportunities for success could be in abundance for rookie CeeDee Lamb and Blake Jarwin.
Former Cowboys receiver and Hall of Famer Terrell Owens believes Cowboys boss Jerry Jones’s silence on social injustice speaks volumes. He also thinks the owner’s relationship with Donald Trump plays a factor.
There were rumors that Antwaun Woods was intending to sign his tender last month. He still hasn’t done so, and he hasn’t received a contract extension.
The 35-year-old running back hopes to play at least four more seasons, possibly because doing so might give him a crack at Emmitt Smith’s all-time rushing total. Right now, the seven-time Pro Bowler is in fifth place and sits 4,139 yards behind Smith.
Fans owe it to themselves to momentarily put aside their personal desires for a fall full of gamedays and read this in-depth look at what forging ahead with a 2020 season during a global pandemic really means.
It’s looking like teams will get to set their own attendance caps. Some teams may play before a full house; others may see their stands at half-capacity, some may host games in an empty stadium. And that prospect raises all kinds of other questions.
More on Aldon Smith’s reinstatement, new numbers in Dak’s contract saga, who made the Top 100, and who wants an empty AT&T Stadium?
Christmas came early for the Cowboys and former Pro Bowler Aldon Smith. Now that the formerly dominant defensive star has been reinstated by the league, there’s plenty of getting up to speed for fans to do on what this means, both for Smith personally as well as from the team’s perspective. And what about Randy Gregory? Will he have his suspension lifted, too?
There’s also some new (but expected) math involved in the Dak Prescott contract saga, an eagerly-awaited list that ranks several Cowboys lower than expected, and whispers of how likely a new Dallas dynasty might be. All that, plus the team’s new man in the middle, an old-school football tradition falls by the wayside, and a division rival is hoping for an empty stadium when he visits Arlington. That’s all ahead in this edition of News and Notes.
After a 54-month hiatus from the National Football League, the top-ten pick from 2011 has been cleared to add to his 47.5 career-sack resume starting Tuesday. The reinstatement follows a videoconference with commissioner Roger Goodell and comes the same day former sackmaster DeMarcus Ware expressed optimism that Smith could excel in the Cowboys’ new-look defense.
Here’s the nuts and bolts of what Smith’s reinstatement means to the team, from his reunion with his 49ers position coach to his rocked-up physique to how he fits in with the likes of DeMarcus Lawrence, Gerald McCoy, and rookie Neville Gallimore.
The NFL Network insider shares some of what the league reportedly told Aldon Smith as they officially granted his reinstatement, including a plea that he use his experience to become an “example” to young players.
Aldon Smith wasn’t the only suspended defensive stud the Cowboys front office gambled on this offseason. Randy Gregory, suspended indefinitely in early 2019 but retained by the club, finds himself in a holding pattern similar to the one Smith just got out of. Gregory’s agent had this to say about his client’s chances of also being cleared to return: “We are working through the process.”
Randy Gregory is not quite there yet. But a source said this morning he's "in a great place, physically and mentally."
Analyst Chris Simms made waves on Tuesday by floating supposedly-inside info on the club’s back-and-forth with Dak Prescott, citing proposed numbers. The previous suppositions by Mike Fisher has been recalibrated, no longer saying the difference between the two sides is solely four-vs-five years for the same amount of annual salary.
Ex-Dallas defensive star DeMarcus Ware said in a new TV interview, “your play creates your pay.” When it comes to Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, Ware suggests, “Yeah, he made it deep into the playoffs, but you haven’t won any championships. If you maybe had one of those rings on your hand, you might get 40 or 50 [million] right now.”
When the senior writer of CBS Sports ranks his 100 best players, people listen. Cowboys fans may take issue with the placement of their team’s seven representatives: Ezekiel Elliott (17), Dak Prescott (46), Zack Martin (50), DeMarcus Lawrence (58), La’el Collins (77), Tyron Smith (80), and Amari Cooper (81).
The team’s official website takes an in-depth look at fan favorite Joe Looney as he prepares to take over for the retired Travis Frederick as the Cowboys’ starting center. He’ll bring his trademark positive attitude as he battles fourth-round draft pick Tyler Biadasz for the job in camp.
Now that the Belichick/Brady partnership has been busted up, NFL.com columnist Adam Schein thinks the Cowboys have the fourth-best shot at being the league’s next dynasty.
How different will Cowboys 2020 offense be with Mike McCarthy, Kellen Moore?
RG Zack Martin says they'll keep a lot of the same plays they’ve run in past. Just change up terminology on how they call it.
A fascinating read here on the delicate dance between making football safer to play while allowing the most popular sport in America to remain recognizable. Kevin Seifert explains the science behind why the game’s youngest players are no longer allowed to put their hands in the dirt before the snap… and what such a rule change could ultimately mean for the evolution of the sport.
New Redskins coach Ron Rivera will be looking for every edge he can get in taking over the 3-13 team he inherited. In mulling over the prospect of playing the 2020 season in empty stadiums, Rivera says, “When you have to go someplace like Dallas or Philadelphia, it might be refreshing that you don’t have their fans in the stands. That’s for darn sure.”
First we dive into how the pandemic is likely going to impact the fortunes of the NFL. Then we dive into what that could look like for several Cowboys. How the coronavirus and lost revenue will trickle down to how rosters are formed in 2020, 2021.
On one hand, the playing of professional sports is one of the last things anyone should be concerned about in times such as these. With people losing loved ones across the country and the globe, millions unemployed and not knowing what their personal futures hold, what happens in the world of sports seems as inconsequential as it’s ever been. But that’s ignoring why sports is such a vital component to so many people’s lives.
Rooting for sports teams, paying attention to their every move is the ultimate distraction. Outside of trying to stay safe, there isn’t much most folks can do to change the course of the pandemic. Being distracted, having something to do other than fret and be anxious about the state of the world might be the most important thing in the history of right now. That’s why a return of sports is of paramount importance for so many. Sports has shown to have a healing power on the collective, as it did for America following the 9/11 attacks. The NFL, like the other American professional sports leagues, is trying to map out a plan that will allow the competitions to resume as soon as things are safe.
There are of course many hurdles to jump through. From the threat posed to the coaching community, mostly made up of men in the high-risk age groups, to the issues with what to do with games were players to test positive the night before, many things will have to be worked through before games can resume. Even when they do, though, there is a strong possibility games could be played without fans, and therefore local revenue will be greatly impacted for each of the NFL’s 32 teams.
Local revenue accounts for about one-third of total revenue, of which a formula decides how much teams are allowed to spend on player salaries. As such, if the league isn’t open to the public, revenue will be greatly impacted and teams could lose between $70 million to $100 million in revenue for 2020. That in turn will likely have a huge impact on the 2021 salary cap.
CBS’ Jonathan Jones contemplates this to a great degree here. The long and short is that, because the NFL’s hard cap and CBA does not allow for a universal decrease of player salaries in proportion to lost profits, there’s a very real chance that teams will look to trim payroll to limit expenses in 2021.
A flat salary cap for the next several years is the most likely scenario. The salary cap, with the boatloads of new revenue expected from TV deals – adding two wild-card games this year, and a 17th regular season game for all 32 teams next year – was expected to explode as early as 2022. In-stadium gambling was on it’s way, too, to bolster legalized gaming in several states of which pro leagues are going to get a cut. But those extra streams may not be realized fully and even the portions that will be could be used to subsidize what is certainly going to be a lean forecast for the 2020 and likely 2021 seasons.
As Jones points out, the league will likely borrow against those revenues as the debt ceilings for teams has already been upped by $150 million and maintain a flat salary cap for at least the 2021 season. Without the annual $10 million bump and the expected $20 million or more annual bump from 2022 onward, long-term deals already signed or currently being negotiated (read: Dak Prescott) take a different turn.
Clubs will likely end up hollowing out the middle of their roster, jettisoning mid-level veterans with pricey deals so they can afford the escalating costs on their star players. That leaves several players at risk of not making the team for reasons other than just their level of play.
