Tag: Sanjay Lal

News: Dez Bryant clarifies TE role, Cowboys assistant to be honored by Packers

Also in the news, Dak Prescott’s ranking among all 2019 starters, a decision coming at linebacker, and a former Cowboys coach lands a job.

A former Cowboys position coach has found a new team. And a new Cowboys assistant is being honored by his old team.

In addition, Dallas has a decision to make regarding two members of their linebacking corps, Dak Prescott ranks lower than you think on one particular list, and there are guesses as to what the team might do in free agency if they want to make a “splash.” Oh, and Dez Bryant is tweeting directly to fans, which is always fun. This time he’s plotting out his responsibilities should he get his wishes with a return to the Cowboys roster. That’s on tap in this edition of News and Notes.

Former Cowboys wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal is headed to the Seattle Seahawks :: Blogging the Boys

The dust is still settling from the coaching staff blowup in Dallas, and now one of the pieces has settled somewhere else. Former wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal will take over the same responsibilities in Seattle, it was announced Friday. Lal was with the Cowboys in 2018 and 2019, helping Amari Cooper get acclimated as a target for Dak Prescott and aiding in the development of Michael Gallup.

Lal will now work with a group that includes receivers Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf. The Cowboys will get reacquainted with Lal in 2020 when they travel to Seattle to take on the Seahawks.

QB Index: Ranking every quarterback to start a game in 2019 :: NFL.com

Fifty-seven different men started at least one game at quarterback in the NFL last season. The league website efforts to rank them all based on their 2019 performances. The top of the list includes the usual suspects: Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson, and Drew Brees.

Cowboys fans will have to scroll further than expected to find Dak Prescott. Despite a career-best year and being one of only five QBs since 1950 to post a passer rating of 95-plus in at least three of his first four NFL seasons, Prescott placed just 11th on the list. While that puts him ahead of Matt Ryan, Tom Brady, and Jimmy Garoppolo, it also (somewhat questionably) ranks him behind Ryan Tannehill, Kirk Cousins, Matthew Stafford, and Carson Wentz.

Four splashes the Dallas Cowboys can make in free agency :: The Landry Hat

Word circulated last week that Jerry Jones “wants to make a big splash” at the 2020 NFL Draft, according to a team insider. But with free agency looming, he wouldn’t have to wait that long to generate some big waves within the Cowboys locker room.

Terence Watson looks into his crystal ball and forecasts four names that could conceivably turn the tide for the 8-8 Cowboys next season. Among his picks? A potential Robert Quinn replacement that would give Dallas a dangerous pass rush, a former first-round safety who would be an immediate upgrade over Jeff Heath, and a big-leg kicker who the Cowboys’ new special teams coach already knows quite well.

Cowboys assistant Al Harris finalizes plan to enter Packers Hall of Fame :: CowboyMaven

Before Al Harris gets down to the real nitty-gritty of coaching the cornerbacks in Dallas, he has a little unfinished business back at Lambeau Field. Harris will be inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame on April 18 alongside his fellow Packers CB Charles Woodson. Hall has chosen his agent, Jack Bechta, to be his presenter.

Harris played in Green Bay from 2003 to 2010. In 2007 and 2008, under then-Packers head coach Mike McCarthy, the former Texas A&M star turned in consecutive Pro Bowl seasons. After retiring as a player in 2013, Harris interned on the staff in Miami and was an assistant coach in Kansas City for six seasons before reuniting with McCarthy in Dallas.

Dez Bryant clarifies willingness to play tight end for Cowboys :: Heavy.com

Yeah… about that “role they gave Witten” thing Dez Bryant said a while back…

Bryant has taken to engaging selective fans via Twitter as he continues his comeback bid, and his vocal pass on interior blocking duties was just one example from over the weekend. Bryant was also asked where he thinks he could contribute on the already-loaded roster.

“Easy.. guys will need a breather… I’m a huge target in the redzone.. you create all different types packages with all of the talent… my motto is scoring.. I don’t care about yards.. all I care about is 6,” he wrote to a different follower regarding his self-projected duties.

Will Cowboys have to choose between LBs Sean Lee and Joe Thomas? :: Inside the Star

Sean Lee’s future in Dallas is in flux, but what the organization decides to do with fellow linebacker Joe Thomas may be the deciding factor. Lee is, of course, the more decorated of the two, the more established member of the Cowboys family. And any conversation regarding Lee must at least acknowledge his injury-riddled past.

Thomas is five years younger and has history with Mike McCarthy. He was with the Packers in his rookie season when a knee injury put him on injured reserve; he returned later to the team’s practice squad. After two weeks on the Cowboys’ practice squad in 2015, Thomas was brought back to Green Bay and played in 37 games under McCarthy, including five postseason contests through the 2017 season.

Jess Haynie writes that both linebackers could be re-signed by Dallas, but warns that “if it comes to one or the other, Cowboys fans shouldn’t assume that Sean Lee is the easy pick.”

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Report: Sanjay Lal to join Seahawks as senior assistant to Schottenheimer

Former Dallas Cowboys wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal will be joining the Seattle Seahawks as a senior assistant to Brian Schottenheimer.

Former Dallas Cowboys wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal will be joining the Seattle Seahawks coaching staff for the 2020 season, according to an NFL source and first reported by Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic on Thursday.

Lal had been with the Cowboys the previous two seasons and had worked with current Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer in 2017 when they were both employed by the Colts. He has reportedly been assigned to a senior assistant role to work closely with Schottenheimer on the offensive side of the ball.

Lal is also notable for being a former player for the Washington Huskies from 1990 to 1992, winning a national championship with the team in the latter year.

The exact role given to Lal is still unclear, but he will be very closely involved with the offense as an assistant to Schottenheimer, signifying that he will be an integral component of the coaching staff next season.

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WR coach with ties to OBJ, Jarvis Landry heading to Cowboys staff

Adam Henry has coaching stints with LSU, the Giants, and Cleveland on his resume, and looks to be nearing a deal to coach the Cowboys’ WRs.

Mike McCarthy may have found his target to be the new coach for Dak Prescott’s targets. According to multiple sources as of Friday evening, the Cowboys are closing in on a deal to make Adam Henry the new wide receivers coach in Dallas, replacing Sanjay Lal.

Henry spent the past two seasons in the same role in Cleveland, where he worked with Browns wideouts Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry. The 47-year-old Henry had previously been Beckham’s position coach in New York in 2016, and the wide receivers coach for both Beckham and Landry during their final two years at LSU.

Coincidentally, Henry also has history with the man he is expected to replace. Henry and Lal were on staff together in Oakland from 2007 through 2011. Both served as offensive quality control coaches in 2007-2008. In 2009, Henry was named tight ends coach, while Lal was promoted to lead the wide receiver group. Both held those roles with the Raiders until the conclusion of the 2011 season.

Under Henry’s watch with the Browns, Landry enjoyed a career-high season in 2019 with 1,174 receiving yards. Beckham also topped 1,000 receiving yards in Cleveland in 2019; his best season in number of receptions came in 2016 as a Giant, also with Henry as his position coach.

Rumors of Beckham joining the Cowboys have circulated for some time, dating back to his tenure in New York. A newly-hired wide receiver coach who has been with him at three previous stops won’t do anything to help quiet those whispers now with Cowboys fans who still aren’t sold on free agent Amari Cooper as a long-term solution for the club.

News: Elliott’s college RB coach in mix, players didn’t fear Garrett

Plus details on Mike McCarthy’s role and his epic job interview, great expectations from Cowboys greats, and more Jason Garrett fallout.

Mike McCarthy is getting to work assembling his coaching staff in Dallas, with one positional assistant headed out the door on Thursday and another new candidate appearing in the wings. Cowboys Nation is still dissecting the nearly-hour-long press conference that introduced McCarthy officially. And new details are surfacing about how things ended with Jason Garrett… and how things had been with his players that only hastened that ending.

There’s more opinion on what’s expected of McCarthy and a bit of insight on how he intends to work (or not) with the Joneses in the front office. All that, plus a ludicrous idea from Terrell Owens- because, hey, it’s been a while. Here’s the News and Notes.

New RB coach to meet with Cowboys :: ESPN

Stan Drayton, the Texas Longhorns’ associate head coach and run game coordinator, was scheduled to meet with the Cowboys on Thursday. Drayton coached Ezekiel Elliott at Ohio State before serving as running backs coach with the Chicago Bears from 2015 to 2016.

Gary Brown, the running backs coach in Dallas since 2013, is reportedly still in the mix to return for 2020.

Players didn’t fear Garrett, thanks to Jerry Jones :: 105.3 The Fan

According to Ed Werder, a team source said this week that the Cowboys lacked the following under Jason Garrett: fear, accountability, and discipline.

NFL Network’s Jane Slater, speaking on the air Thursday with 105.3 The Fan, told a story that seemed to confirm the first item on that list.

Slater’s first-hand account of a text exchange in which a player told Garrett “to [expletive] off” and that owner Jerry Jones had given the player free rein to ignore his coach is a sobering and somewhat shocking anecdote. If true, it speaks volumes about how bad things had truly gotten in Dallas.

WR coach Sanjay Lal won’t return to Cowboys under Mike McCarthy :: Cowboys Wire

Despite leading Pro Bowler Amari Cooper to a career-best season and helping turn Michael Gallup into a breakout star, wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal will be let go from the Cowboys staff.

Lal had been with the team for the past two seasons, after serving in the same capacity for the Colts, Bills, Jets, and Raiders over the previous nine years.

McCarthy wants to coach, ‘not dictate player personnel’ :: The ‘Boys & Girl Podcast

To many, Mike McCarthy was a surprise choice for head coaching duties in Dallas. Why? It was widely assumed that the former Packers skipper was also interested in having a hand in player personnel decisions, and Jerry and Stephen Jones would be loathe to give up that kind of control in any amount.

Andrew Brandt, NFL insider and former Packers vice president, shared with NFL Network’s Bobby Belt and Jane Slater on The ‘Boys & Girl Podcast that in searching for a 2020 opportunity, McCarthy was seeking a job to be purely a coach.

Jerry Jones on Garrett breakup: Wanted a ‘soft landing’ :: NFL.com

The week-long goodbye between Jerry Jones and Jason Garrett was about more than just dismissing an underachieving coach or finalizing exit interviews. For owner Jerry Jones, it was bringing down the curtain on an era. During the introduction of new coach Mike McCarthy, Jones spoke of all the years he has employed members of the Garrett family and said that longstanding relationship was a real factor in how the coach’s release was handled by the team.

“I will tell you that I had a great 30 years around the Garrett family, and it’s wonderful. It’s a good feeling, and it is one of the best parts of my life,” Jones said.

“We all wanted this to have a very nice- if possible, under the circumstances- soft landing.”

Terrell Owens says Cowboys should dump Dak Prescott… for Tom Brady :: TMZ

In an interview this week with San Francisco radio station 95.7 The Game, former Cowboys wideout Terrell Owens revealed that he thinks his former club is just one missing ingredient away from a Super Bowl title.

“They have a quarterback that’s a free agent in Tom Brady,” Owens said. “That’s the next move.”

By Owens’s logic, the fact that current quarterback Dak Prescott hasn’t been given a new contract extension signals a tangible degree of uncertainty within the Dallas front office.

McCarthy won the job in 12-hour interview :: The Mothership

It was the interview that turned into a sleepover that turned into a job offer neither party could consummate fast enough, to hear social media tell it as it unfolded over the weekend.

Using bits of the story as shared in Mike McCarthy’s introductory press conference, Star Magazine contributor Jonny Auping dives into the epic 12-hour discussion that won Jerry and Stephen Jones over. Find out what caused McCarthy to jump out of his chair and bear-hug his new boss, and what personal remembrance led Jerry to utter the sure-to-be-famous quip about finding his new coach: “The bottom line is… I heard bells.”

Aikman, Irvin, and the lofty expectations for Mike McCarthy :: Cowboys Wire

In introducing the team’s new head coach, owner Jerry Jones likened the timing of Mike McCarthy’s availability to 1989, when a directionless Dallas club owned the first pick in the NFL Draft and future Hall of Famer Troy Aikman sat atop the war room big board.

Those great expectations are shared by team legend Michael Irvin, who compared McCarthy’s arrival to Steve Kerr taking command of the talented roster of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors and swiftly winning a league title.

Aikman had an interesting perspective on the way his friend Jason Garrett’s time with the Cowboys came to an end, as well as how McCarthy was unceremoniously dumped in Green Bay with games still to play in 2018.

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WR coach Sanjay Lal won’t return to Cowboys under Mike McCarthy

Mike McCarthy’s housecleaning in Dallas continues with the reported dismissal of the team’s two-year wide receivers coach.

Mike McCarthy has officially moved in; now the housecleaning really kicks into gear. After several coaching moves in the defensive and special teams departments, the newly-named ninth head coach in club history is now shaking things up on the offensive staff, too. Offensive line coach Marc Colombo will not return in 2020; that news leaked shortly before McCarthy’s introductory press conference on Wednesday.

Wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal will also be departing, according to reports.

Lal took over the team’s receiver group in 2018 after serving in the same capacity for the Colts, Bills, Jets, and Raiders over the previous nine years. As Slater notes, Lal oversaw the best season in Pro Bowler Amari Cooper’s career and a breakout second year for Michael Gallup.

The development of Lal’s receivers in Kellen Moore’s offense added versatility to a scheme that had become frequently predictable, especially on third downs.

But the Cowboys pass-catchers also ranked as the league’s worst in 2019 in terms of drops. Despite having another year on his contract with the franchise, Lal himself will, it seems, be dropped from McCarthy’s new staff.

There is no word on who the Cowboys’ new wide receivers coach may be.

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