Tag: Michael Bennett

Former Patriot Michael Bennett has transitioned ‘very smoothly’ to Cowboys

“(He’s a) really well-respected guy, well-respected player. And kind of understands how we’re asking him to do things and he’s done a really nice job for us.”

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Former New England Patriots defensive end Michael Bennett will be back at Gillette Stadium on Sunday as a member of the Dallas Cowboys.

Cowboys coach Jason Garrett had plenty of praise for Bennett, who the Patriots traded to Dallas for what will be a sixth-round pick when Bennett plays his fourth game for the team this weekend. Bennett played just six games with the Patriots this season, seeing a decrease in defensive snaps throughout the start of the season.

“I really like Michael (Bennett),” Garrett said. “We’ve played against him a lot through the years and he was always very difficult guy to block, both in the running game and more in pass protection. So, a lot of respect for him from afar, for a lot of years and we heard a lot of really good things about him as a guy, was around him a little bit in the Pro Bowl couple times and he has really transitioned very smoothly into our team.

“(He’s a) really well-respected guy, well-respected player. And kind of understands how we’re asking him to do things and he’s done a really nice job for us,” Garrett added.

Bennett is already third on the team in sacks (three) despite just playing three games for the Cowboys this season. His skillset is clearly fitting the Cowboys 4-3 defensive scheme better than his fit in New England, while Bennett has also been helped by the having Demarcus Lawrence (4.5 sacks) and Robert Quinn (8.5 sacks) playing next to him.

“They’ve got a lot of good players on the defensive line,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said during his press conference on Wednesday. “I don’t know how many pressures they have, but it’s a lot. These guys are explosive and very disruptive.”

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Cowboys Week 11 injury designations: LG Connor Williams ruled OUT

The Detroit Lions Week 11 opponent, the Dallas Cowboys, have released their injury designations and ruled LG Connor Williams OUT.

The Detroit Lions Week 11 opponent, the Dallas Cowboys have declared their inactives for this weekend’s game at Ford Field.

While the Cowboys are relatively healthy, they will be down 20-percent of their starting offensive line and there’s a chance they could be down as much as 40-percent come game-time.

Ruled OUT

LG Connor Williams (knee)

Williams had arthroscopic knee surgery on Tuesday and is expected to miss time. “In his place,” Cowboys Wire’s Cody Milligan points out, “the Cowboys will start sixth-year pro Xavier Su’a-Filo. Su’a-Filo started eight games for the Cowboys in 2018 after being signed as a free agent.”

This is a downgrade for the Cowboys, and may not be the end of their injury issues on the offensive line.

Questionable

RT La’el Collins (knee, back)
S Jeff Heath (shoulders)

Collins didn’t practice on Wednesday or Thursday and returned to a limited practice on Friday, but most people in the know are expecting him to play. With Williams already out, losing Collins would be a blow to their offensive line.

Heath, a Cowboys captain and Michigan native (he’s from Lake Orion), has been limited all week and is coming off a game that saw him with his lowest snap count of the season. Even if he is able to play this weekend, he may be limited on Sunday.

Not listed with an injury designation

WR Armani Cooper (knee, ankle)
WR Michael Gallup (knee)
LT Tyron Smith (ankle)
RG Zack Martin (back, ankle, elbow)
OT Cameron Fleming (calf)
DE DeMarcus Lawrence (neck)
DE Michael Bennett (non-injury)
DT Antwaun Woods (shoulder)
LB Sean Lee (pectoral)
CB C.J. Goodwin (knee)

There are a lot of other Cowboys banged in this section — including eight starters — but they are all in position to play on Sunday.

Michael Bennett says the Patriots defense was exceptionally challenging to learn

Michael Bennett explained just how challenging the Patriots defense was to learn.

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The Dallas Cowboys’ defense has been a breeze for defensive end Michael Bennett, who has been an immediate impact player for Dallas with five tackles, two for a loss and a sack in two games.

His acclimation to the Cowboys defense has been natural. The same was not true of his time in New England, where he seemed to be a misfit in their amoeba defense on two-man and three-man defensive lines.

“The scheme is very familiar to something I’m used to,” Bennett said of Dallas on Monday, via The Athletic’s Jon Machota. “I just came from the place (New England) with the most defenses in the league, so any other defense is pretty much easy to learn.”

Bennett’s time in New England seemed somewhat dysfunctional, with his playing time decreasing over his tenure until he received a one-week suspension for conduct detrimental to the team. He returned from the suspension, though he didn’t seem to carry a particularly positive attitude. Ultimately, the team parted ways with Bennett in trade for a conditional Cowboys’ sixth-round pick in 2021. Despite apparent differences, Bill Belichick spoke positively about Bennett after his departure.

“Mike’s a good player,” Belichick said on Oct. 25. “We brought him here; he helped our team. I think he would help us, but we’ve only get a certain number of – certain things we’ve got to work with and work around, and that’s what we have to do.”

While Bennett seemed likely to have a large role in New England after the departure of defensive end Trey Flowers, Bennett proved a schematic misfit, which led to philosophical problems with the Patriots.

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News: Cowboys record betrays performance, breaking down the break down

News and notes for all things Dallas Cowboys on Nov 13, 2019.

The Dallas Cowboys are treading water more than halfway through the 2019 season. In today’s news and notes there’s a snapshot of the playoff picture, which as of now, has Dallas tenuously holding in a crowded and talented NFC field.

It shouldn’t have to be this hard. Especially in the modern NFL where offense is king. By any metric this version of the Cowboys offensive attack is as dangerous as any in the league. Unfortunately, while the offense is keeping them afloat there’s anchors doing their best to drag them under.

The Cowboys playoff hopes aren’t the only thing on the verge of being cancelled. That and more below.

Week 10 EPA Power Rankings: Cowboys knocked from top-offense perch :: Cowboys Wire

Another team with a young quarterback playing out of his mind has snatched the top spot in terms of offensive EPA. Still, the Cowboys are still held in high regard in this aspect, indicating that they’re better than the 5-4 record they’ve cobbled together so far. But at some point, as Bill Parcells liked to say, “You are what your record says you are.” All the analytics and underlying stats won’t be able to get a team into the playoffs.

–TT

Decoding Kellen Moore: How Cowboys stalled against Vikings despite Prescott’s finest performance :: The Athletic

The weekly must read breakdown from Bob Sturm. This week is a postmortem on the final three plays of the Cowboys’ penultimate drive. There’s no denying those plays are tough to look at but there’s palette cleansers in there too, with a review of what was likely the best performance of Dak Prescott’s career.

–TT

Michael Bennett on adjusting to Cowboys: After Patriots, learning any defense is easy :: USA Today

Bennett gives his thoughts on his time acclimating to the new way of life for him in Dallas as well as what the future holds past this season, which is murky. He also holds one of his defensive line mates in high regards, ranking him near the top with any player he’s ever taken the field with. That and more, including some background on the headline above.

–TT

Keith O’Quinn not endearing himself after ST blunder on frustrating night :: Cowboys Wire

The Dallas special teams unit is not good. The biggest culprit is the man who runs that aspect of the team, Keith O’Quinn. This had been largely swept under the rug for the last year and a half while the team had bigger fish to fry, but the fair catch gaffe from Sunday night is the spotlight to take a closer look into what O’Quinn’s unit is costing the Cowboys.

–TT

NFC Playoff Picture Week 11: Cowboys in danger of being cropped out :: Cowboys Wire

It’s times like these when a team has to be thankful for the division in which they play. No team is as grateful as the Dallas Cowboys who are getting lapped by the contenders in the NFC yet hold on to the No. 4 seed for the playoffs. If the Cowboys continue to find ways to lose games, however, that too will slip away.

–TT

Ellie Goulding threatens to cancel her Cowboys Thanksgiving halftime show over Salvation Army concerns :: Dallas Morning News

In a story that’s not at all about what usually happens on a football field, the traditional halftime show may be facing some changes in Dallas. Ellie Goulding, the singer tapped to perform, has found herself in hot water with fans after an Instagram post touting the Salvation Army. Whether or not the show will go on as planned is unknown.

–TT

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