No one would argue that the Cowboys are ready to line up for their Week 1 date with Tampa Bay just yet. They were never going to be, not in mid-June.
But the team got far enough along in their preliminary work that the coaching staff saw fit to scrap the rest of mandatory minicamp after just one actual practice. Wednesday’s session was canceled in lieu of a team-building fun event at a nearby Topgolf, and Thursday’s practice was nixed shortly thereafter.
“I think the biggest thing is you have a starting line and a finish line,” McCarthy said in explaining the early dismissal, “and I just felt like we crossed the finish line, particularly with the veterans.”
That starting line McCarthy speaks of was crossed weeks ago. The Cowboys saw almost full participation from players during the voluntary portion of the offseason, which allowed coaches to get through seven of the eight scheduled “installs” before the team’s first mandatory session even began on Tuesday.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of our young players,” McCarthy said, “but just to compliment the coaching staff, that’s really what I echoed in the last staff meeting, I thought they knocked it out of the park. I thought they hit a home run as far as maximizing their time with our players. Veterans, we had excellent participation in Phase 1 and, really, the captain workouts, Phase One, and all the way through, so we were able to go through all the concepts with the vets, and then the vets also got all eight installs. I think we clearly crossed the finish line of what we were trying to get done this year.”
So it came down to one final weightlifting workout for the rookies on Thursday morning, and a last media briefing from head coach Mike McCarthy, and a five-week break was suddenly underway.
“Everything we wanted to accomplish in the offseason was completed, and really, the focus turns [now] to their individual five-week plan.”
McCarthy is confident that his players will still be studying, working, and improving over that time off.
“From the first day,” the coach elaborated, “we have a timeline in what we want to get done in the offseason program, and this next segment is five weeks of their individual plan. I mean, most guys are staying here. We’re very fortunate to have an incredible training facility and the love of the city of Dallas, so just more people will be here in town than I think I can recall in my time in this league over the last three decades.”
So while there will certainly be lounging on Instagram-worthy beaches and living it up in exotic locales, there will also be just as many private workouts at The Star and impromptu playbook study with groups of teammates.
“We feel really good about every guy’s individual plan,” McCarthy went on, knowing that his players will largely be responsible for keeping themselves sharp over the break.
“I think you’ve got to really commend today’s athlete. There’s a lot of interaction that goes on, whether it’s Dak with the receivers at his house and the perimeter group, guys will still be working out here all the time. I do think there’s structure to it. It’s obviously not all us here together.”
That time will come soon enough, at the Cowboys’ training camp home away from home, Oxnard, California. McCarthy plans to throw a lot at his team during their West Coast stay, including joint practices with both the Broncos and Chargers before preseason games with each club. That’s when the pressure will be more appropriately turned up.
“Obviously, our time limits are in place a far as the CBA rules, but Oxnard gives you that opportunity,” said the 58-year-old coach. “I think going up to Denver and spending an extra couple of days up there practicing in the Mile High climate will be another nice factor, and then the competitive work down there in Irvine will be another opportunity. So I feel good about our plan, looking forward to that.”
Maybe it’s the impending vacation talking. But McCarthy admits he feels good about a lot more than just the team’s California itinerary.
Given that his first offseason in 2020 was all but completely wiped out and relegated to Zoom meetings, and 2021’s was spent still dealing with COVID protocols and a rehabbing quarterback, this offseason has the veteran coach feeling more optimistic heading into the break than he has since arriving in Dallas.
“It’s the best I’ve felt about a football team going into the preparation, clearly.”
[listicle id=698659]
[listicle id=698443]
[listicle id=698192]
[lawrence-newsletter]