It’s go time! Cowboys arrive in Oxnard for training camp
Six chartered buses carrying the Dallas Cowboys and staff arrived at their training camp complex in Oxnard, Calif., Tuesday afternoon.
The buses, coming from LAX about an hour and a half south, pulled into the parking lot of the Marriott Residence Inn next to the River Ridge Golf Club.
The players streamed out of the buses, grabbed their bags and headed for their rooms. Everything seemed normal except the absence of two familiar faces: Jason Witten and Dez Bryant.
“Obviously, losing Jason Witten is tough for us so I’m going to have to step up as a leader and a lot of the other guys are going to have to step up,” said linebacker Sean Lee, one of two players who spoke to the horde of media for the arrival. “We were hoping maybe he’d pull that [Cadillac] Escalade up and jump on the plane with us.”
Lee was joking, of course, but Witten’s voice in the room was a major asset for the the team and his retirement in the spring leaves a void.
“You miss having that influence around,” Lee said. “All the lessons he’s’ taught us we’re going to apply that now. Hes passed so much leadership down to us it’s our turn to take everything he’s taught us and use it.”
Lee is excited about the Cowboys’ 2018 defense, one that he expects to be among the top 10 in the NFL.
“There’s always an incredible sense of excitement when you come here just because we’ve put in so much work. This group is unbelievable. The type of guys we have, we had an incredible set of OTAs. I think we want to take that next step and become a dominant defense throughout an entire year.
“I thought we played better at times last year but, for us, we have to be a top 10 defense that’s playing great year in, year out and game in, game out. That’s our goal right now.”
And Lee, who was already an established leader on and off the field, figures to become even more important with Witten’s departure.
“The biggest thing is staying on the football field, finding a way to stay healthy,” said Lee, who missed five games because of injuries in 2017. “I’ve done a lot this off-season to make sure the hamstrings are right and the entire body is ready to go. I doubled down on what has worked for me in the past. Flexibility work, staying in the weight room longer, having a great diet.”
Lee said this Cowboys team is as close to one another as any he’s been around in his eight seasons in the league.
“Defensively, we have some guys I’m excited to see take that next step. Some young guys who played last year and did a really good job and had really unbelievable off-seasons and I think they’re going to play really well for us and hopefully take us to the next level.”
This story was originally published July 24, 2018 at 8:49 PM.