It’s ‘Pollard Time’ for the Dallas Cowboys against the 49ers in preseason opener
Dallas Cowboys Jason Garrett not only remembers his first NFL game, but remembers his eighth grade title game too.
Those are memories that never goes away.
So Garrett understands what awaits his rookies as they prepare to make their NFL debut in Saturday’s preseason opener against the San Francisco 49ers.
And rest assured this game is more about them than quarterback Dak Prescott and other starters who will likely make a cameo appearance at best.
The Cowboys will be evaluating fourth-round pick Tony Pollard and other rookies to see if they can perform under the bright lights as they have in practice.
“Yeah it’s certainly an exciting time for them, they’re going to go into the locker room and there’s going to be a locker with their name over it and there’s going to be a jersey with their name on the back of it,” Garrett said. “When you really reflect back on the things you want to do with your life, you’re six, seven, eight years old and you say, ‘I want to be a pro football player.’ And now you have an opportunity to be that. You get that when you’re here in training camp and in the locker room here and you go out to practice. When you go to a NFL stadium for the first time and you walk into that locker room, you say, ‘Wow this is it. I’m putting on a real NFL uniform and we’re playing a NFL game.’
“So it’s an exciting time. Now the trick to the whole thing is you have to process all that, take a deep breath and now let’s get back to work. That’s where you create a practice experience, lets trust my teaching, trust my training, trust my techniques and go play.”
5 THINGS TO WATCH IN COWBOYS PRESEASON OPENER VS. 49ERS
Can rookie running back Tony Pollard keep it up?
Pollard has been one of the stars of training camp.
His play has been especially important due to the holdout of star running back Ezekiel Elliott.
Now, no one is suggesting that the fourth-round pick from Memphis can replace Elliott. But he does give the Cowboys an option until Elliott returns and has proven to be more than what they expected when they drafted him to be a change-of-pace option to Elliott’s bulldozing style.
Pollard is not just a gadget guy. He can do it all as a runner, receiver and on special teams.
“Coming out of school, he just was a football player,” Garrett said. “You saw it on tape, you saw him run inside, you saw him run outside, you saw him return kicks. He did a lot of different things.
“With all the young players, you try to expose them to different parts of your team. At some point with those guys you say, ‘OK, let’s focus more on this and less on this.’ But he’s a young player and we need to find out about him and how he can handle all these different situations.
“He’s made a lot of strides.”
The returns of Jason Witten, Travis Frederick after a year off
Saturday is mainly about the new guys but it will be a big step for a couple of old guys too.
Tight end Jason Witten will suit up for the first time since retiring last season to do television with ESPN, and center Travis Frederick is back after missing all of last season with Guillian-Barre syndrome.
It will be like riding a bike for Witten, who hasn’t missed a beat in his return. That things have been normal for Frederick is good sign that he is ready to go after dealing with the scary auto-immune disease of a year ago.
“Travis has done a really good job,” Garrett said. “He really has. He’s taken the majority of the first-team reps. He has been part of that group where every so often he’s going to get a day off and he’s handled that really well. He comes to work every day. It’s great to have him back in the middle of that offensive line; worked very hard to get back to this point. He’s off to a really good start in camp.”
Are there concerns about kicker Brett Maher’s inconsistency
The concerns about kicker Brett Maher are real. This is a ‘what have you done for me lately’ league and last season’s training camp success story have given way to real questions about trust in crucial situations.
In 11-on-11 and special teams’ work so far in camp, Maher has made 29 of 35 field goal attempts with several misses in two-minute situations.
“Just want to give him opportunities, both in practice and preseason games, to continue to grow,” Garrett said. “He did a really good job for us last year in games, made a lot big kicks for us. So we’ll continue with his growth and development. The way you do that is you give him those chances.
“He’ll get chances where he works on the side, team settings and obviously this weekend and throughout the preseason. He’ll get plenty of chances to kick for us.”
Backup QB competition between Mike White and Cooper Rush
The backup quarterback competition will get started in earnest against the 49ers.
It is wide open between Cooper Rush and Mike White. Neither has distanced themselves in training camp. The Cowboys will likely keep just two quarterbacks rather than three as they did last year so the time is now to start separating.
They are not just competing against each other but also against backups on other teams. The Cowboys could grab a quarterback off the waiver wire if they not satisfied with Rush and White in the preseason.
“As we talked about in the quarterback room, this is mine and Cooper’s season,” White said. “We got to go in their prepared and compete and, most importantly, win the game. It’s going to be fun. Very excited.”
The new offense under Kellen Moore makes its debut
The preseason is a trial run for first-time offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, who replaced Scott Linehan in the offseason. He will call plays from the field with first-time quarterbacks coach Jon Kitna serving as his eyes and ears.
Look for motion, bunch sets, college plays and more trick plays.
“A lot of people talk about the value of preseason games and how many we need and all of that,” Garrett said. “I think it’s a great opportunity to evaluate players, build your team, and when you’re building your team, you’re not only talking about the players, you’re talking about coaches and the dynamics among the coaching staff and, particularly, if someone is doing something for the first time. You want to see them and give them as many opportunities as you can. So I think it’s an important game, important opportunity for our whole football team.”
This story was originally published August 9, 2019 at 9:08 AM.