Dallas Cowboys
Is it OK to hit Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott in practice? LB Sean Lee missed the memo
With only one day left of training camp in Oxnard, the Dallas Cowboys held their most competitive and spirited practice.
Linebacker Sean Lee tackled running back Ezekiel Elliott to the ground multiple times. Elliott beat him on a fade route to the end zone and a short pass in goal line one-on-one drills earlier.
Linebacker Jaylon Smith popped tight end Geoff Swaim after a play, resulting in center Joe Looney jumping in to defend his offensive teammate and erupting in a brief melee that ended with Smith laughing and riding the back of receiver Lance Lenoir.
Practice ended with the offense winning in team goal line drills. Elliott ran untouched for a touchdown and spiked it over the goal post, and receiver Mekale McKay caught a short touchdown pass and followed with a spike.
That latter drew the ire of the ultra-competitive Lee, who yelled, “Good for you. Spiking the ball when you’ve done nothing.”
“You got to score in the game to spike the ball,” Lee said after practice. “That’s not an NFL touchdown. Naw, he’s been good. That is what makes practice fun, the trash talking back and forth. We are excited to come out here. We have been ramping up. We love to compete. We pushed it today. We had a great practice. That is the type of team we have. The offense won some. The defense won some.”
How about the hits on Elliott, whose health is so important that the Cowboys are limiting his exposure in the preseason? The premise is supposed to be the same in camp practice.
Right?
“I think he tripped that one time, I am not trying to tackle him,” Lee said with a smile. “It gets aggressive. We walk right to the line. You want to protect your guys. Sometimes we push it to the edge. Sometimes it goes overboard. For the most part, we have done a great job. We would rather go too hard than too easy.”
Here are the final four thoughts from training camp on Wednesday:
2. Defensive end Randy Gregory had a standout day in team drills with two would-be sacks of quarterback Dak Prescott while going against Pro Bowl left tackle Tyron Smith. Gregory has gained weight and still has the burst to get around the end. The Cowboys have been raving about how Prescott has looked in practice and Wednesday was definitive proof.
“It has worked well up to this point,” coach Jason Garrett said. “There have been no setbacks in any way and we’ll just keep progressing day by day.”
3. Tyron Smith had an eventful day with not only Gregory but also rookie fourth-round pick Dorance Armstrong registering sacks against him. Armstrong’s sack came in the compete drill in front of the team and the two went back at it twice more with Smith winning two of three. That Armstrong won one is a huge accomplishment, considering that Smith rarely gets beat. It speaks to the continued strong camp that Armstrong is having. He has easily been more impressive than 2017 first-round pick Taco Charlton was as a rookie last year. But the other side of the pancake is not that Smith gave up the sack, but instead that the Cowboys are showing no limitations with him after two relatively injury-filled seasons. Smith has been given rest days here and there but he has had no issues or setbacks. That the Cowboys had no qualms about letting him go three straight times against Armstrong in a compete drill speaks volumes about how confident they are in his health.
4. It is time for training camp to end when a rash of injuries start popping up in practice even if they are relatively minor. And that was the case on Wednesday. Center Travis Frederick missed practice with a stinger. Safety Jeff Heath was limited in drills with a low ankle sprain. Then linebacker Leighton Vander Esch and receiver Tavon Austin left practice with groin and hamstring injuries. Fullback Jamize Olawale was also sidelined briefly with a hand injury. Frederick, Vander Esch and Austin will likely be held out Saturday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals for precautionary reasons. Austin’s absence will be another blow to a receiver group that is already without Deonte Thompson (Achilles), Cole Beasley (groin) and Noah Brown (hamstring). Thompson and Brown are not expected to be ready when the Cowboys resume practice on Monday at The Star in Frisco.
5. Prescott completed 9 of 12 passes in team and 7-on-7 drills. He did have an interception when cornerback Bryon Jones picked off an underthrown deep ball to Terrance Williams. Prescott used his legs to scramble for two first downs and he continues to have good chemistry with rookie receiver Michael Gallup. Wide receiver K.D. Cannon had his best day in training camp with two long receptions. It had been a relatively quiet camp for Cannon, who was a former star at Baylor but has struggled to adapt to the pro game and NFL offenses.
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