Mike McCarthy dishes on Dallas Cowboys camp, says Ezekiel Elliott will get his touches
The Dallas Cowboys are excited about the new offense under coach Mike McCarthy and the explosiveness in the passing game with rookie top pick CeeDee Lamb joining receivers Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup as the primary weapons for quarterback Dak Prescott.
But the team will not leave two-time NFL rushing champ Ezekiel Elliott out of the mix.
Vice president Stephen Jones is so high on the receiver corps that he says the Cowboys have never seen anything like it in the history of the franchise.
Cooper said the Cowboys could have three 1,000-yard receivers in 2020 with Lamb joining him and Gallup. They both topped the mark last season.
McCarthy loves all of that but said Elliott will be a big focus as well.
“Well, I think the most important thing is I love the way he thinks,” McCarthy said of Cooper. “You want Zeke to feel the same way because at the end of the day, it’s about ball distribution. That’s always an emphasis. The ability to get the football spread around — we’re going to need all of our perimeter players when it comes to touches. That’s really where my focus is. Really the way the games play out and the performance and execution of players usually takes care of that but yes, Zeke is a primary target for us as far as him touching the football.”
McCarthy says he is the one who has had to learn the most in coming to Dallas, as the team retains most of the same plays with holdover offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. Some of the verbiage has changed but the plays are largely the same. He gave Moore a lot of credit.
“I can’t say enough about the job Kellen Moore has done,” McCarthy said. “I’ve been extremely impressed with the way he’s pulled everything together. We’ve had the time, particularly in the early months February and March, to get through the philosophy approach and the management of how we game plan how it all fits together. Kellen’s doing a great job.”
As far as camp is concerned with all the COVID-19 pandemic protocols in place, McCarthy said things have gone smoothly. He is impressed with how the players and the staff got into a rhythm and flow.
The Ford Center at the Star in Frisco has allowed them the ability to social distance and conduct team meetings because they can spread out in the 12,000-seat indoor facility.
But there is a constant and ongoing conversation about being safe and adhering to the protocols.
“It started with our first team meeting,” McCarthy said. “We’ve gone through all the administrative changes and challenges that are in front of us, obviously presented all the resources that we have to beat this challenge of COVID-19 and I think our players have done a really great job. We’re very fortunate to be in this facility and just the flexibility that it gives us and frankly the education process that continues to be upgraded as we go, as we learn more and more about the specifics of the challenge ahead of us. That part has gone very smoothly. It’s become part of our everyday regimen. Guys are doing a good job with it.”
Leighton Vander Esch said earlier in the week that he is swapping positions with Jaylon Smith. He was moving to the middle linebacker and Smith was moving to the weak side. McCarthy downplayed the move.
“I don’t think that’s a huge position change,” McCarthy said. “The biggest thing we want to emphasize for a defensive philosophy is the ability to play matchup football, the focus on utilizing our players and letting them do the things they do best. I think with that, with Leighton and Jaylon, they’re impact-style players and we’ve got to make sure we’re giving those guys opportunities.”
McCarthy did acknowledge that the team was cross training cornerback Chido Awuzie at safety to gauge the versatility and the flexibility of their options in the secondary. Free agent cornerback Daryl Worley and rookie fourth-round pick Reggie Robinson II also have safety flex.
But Awuzie has been the starter the last two years at cornerback and the team is unlikely to be looking at rookie second round pick Trevon Diggs at safety.
“We definitely want flexibility back there,” McCarthy said. “It’s so important, you have to have at least two things that you do. If you’re a corner, does he have the ability to play nickel? Does he have the ability to be a primary player on special teams. So that’s a common thread just from our approach to how we’re building our roster. Yes, if our corners have safety ability and vice versa and whether to play inside or outside because I think we all understand, it’s a sub defense and sub offense game. We cannot have enough perimeter players.”
McCarthy acknowledges that the challenges of pairing down the roster and evaluating the rookies will be different without the benefit of preseason games. But it is what it is. He plans to make the most of it.
“I think this is a time to really trust your experiences, trust your instincts,” McCarthy said. “We are aware of all the unique challenges this year brings to us. The reality is the other 31 teams are going through the exact same situation.
“You are still looking at everything. We are an 80 roster right now. We are going to do the best we can to make sure we pick the right guys.”
McCarthy had no update or any information on the possible return of indefinitely suspended defensive end Randy Gregory, who expressed some frustration earlier in the week on social media about the NFL’s lack of urgency in handling his reinstatement application.
