Cowboys Practice Observations: Jeff Heath with another INT. Time to stop hatin on him?
Tuesday was not a good day for Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
He completed 9 of 15 passes in team and 7-on-7 drills. But he also threw two interceptions on the second day of pads in training camp.
The first pick was a high pass to Randall Cobb that was picked off by safety Jeff Heath. The second pick came on the first play of the final 11-on-11 drills. Safety Xavier Woods jumped in front of a pass to Cobb for an easier interception that would have resulted in a Pick-6.
Coach Jason Garrett was not alarmed.
The offense will win some days and the defense will win some days. That is what practice is for.
“Yeah, you just want to create a competitive situation,” Garrett said. “That’s really what we try to strive to do with our team is build our team to a point where it’s competitive and there isn’t an imbalance. So the way you get better is playing against a unit that’s going to challenge you every snap and that’s a part of the game. We have to do a better job of taking the ball away on defense.
“So I thought that was a really good thing for our team today for those guys to make a couple of those plays. Obviously, we’re always emphasizing securing the football on the offensive side of it but those things happen and it’s a function of competing. It’s a bad day when one team is just dominating the other. Then you start looking at each other and say what the hell are we going to do? When it goes back and forth that’s really pretty healthy for your team.”
Here are four other observations from Tuesday’s practice:
COWBOYS DEFENSE NEED TO BE BETTER FORCING TURNOVERS
As Jason Garrett said, the Cowboys have to do a better job turning the ball over on defense. They had just 20 takeaways (9 INTs, 11 fumble recoveries) last year.
The interceptions by Woods and Heath were a good start as well as a fumble recovery on Tuesday by safety Darian Thompson.
For Heath, it’s a matter of him continuing to be in the right place at the right time and continuing to make plays, despite so much chatter from media and fans of wanting him to be replaced.
BIGGEST HIT OF THE DAY WENT TO JOURDAN LEWIS
The biggest hits of the day came from cornerback Jourdan Lewis on running back Darius Jackson and safety Kavon Frazier on rookie running back Mike Weber.
The catch of the day came from receiver Amari Cooper, who went high over Lewis for a pass from Prescott. Rookie receivers Jon’vea Johnson and Jalen Guyton continue to flash their speed and make plays down the field.
The offense line had its way with the defense line again in pass rush drills. Guard Zack Martin and right tackle La’el Collins particularly stood out.
BLAKE JARWIN IMPRESSED WITH JASON WITTEN OFF
Jason Witten took the day off but the tight end play didn’t miss a beat as Blake Jarwin continues to impress. He had a couple of nice catches from Prescott on Tuesday and showed that there is no stunting the progress he made at the end of 2018. Witten is the starter but Jarwin will have a role, according to Garrett.
“There’s competition for guys who are going to start, what role they have and ultimately it’s going to be decided what we do on that practice field,” Garrett said. “Those guys understand that and we’re going to do what’s best for our football team.
“The interesting part about that tight end position is often times you have one tight end in the game, but many times you have two tight ends and three tight ends in the game. So there are a lot of roles and responsibilities that guys can play and we’ll try and put the guys in the best spots to help our team. So there’s a competition every day and both of our guys will benefit.”
TRAVIS FREDERICK BACK IN PADS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE LAST YEAR
Center Travis Frederick practiced in pads for the first time since last year in training camp when he first started feeling the effects of Gullain-Barre syndrome before being sidelined for the season. The Cowboys held him out of 1-on-1 pass rush drills but he did 11-on-11 work for the first time.
Frederick said it was a big step but it felt like just another day.
“I think it’s just one of the steps,” Frederick said. “There have been days that have been emotional and feel like a huge step. Those days when I was able to hit my max on the squat, when I PR’d in the power clean. Those days wondering whether or not I was going to be able to lift again, let alone hit my max numbers ever again. Those days were emotional. Today’s a day that I just got a chance to come back out and play football. And playing football is something I’ve been doing since I was 9 years old, so that’s second nature.”
This story was originally published July 31, 2019 at 7:07 PM.
