Dallas Cowboys plan to stay COVID-19 disciplined after camp, not ‘do anything dumb’
Training camp has officially ended for the Dallas Cowboys.
The veteran players have left the largely controlled, bubble-like environment of the Omni Hotel at The Star in Frisco and are back at their respective homes.
Now, the hard part begins with the Cowboys trying to navigate an NFL season and realize Super Bowl aspirations in an unsupervised and unrestrained COVID-19 world amid more free time and more interactions with family and friends who are not adhering to the same protocols.
The challenge of keeping the spread of the disease under control has now become greater, and the players know they must be even more diligent for themselves and their families.
“As we depart from camp, it’s important that everyone stays as disciplined,” running back Ezekiel Elliott said. “And everyone continues to protect everyone on this team and their families.”
“We all are here to play football. We’re not going to do anything dumb to jeopardize that. It’s really not about you. It’s about the guy next to you. You don’t want to get that guy sick. You don’t want to have him go home to his family and get it. It’s more of an accountability thing, just keeping each other accountable. It’s not about you. It’s about the guys around you in this locker room and their families.”
The Cowboys have had only two players test positive out of more than 5,000 daily tests since the start of training camp, according to team owner Jerry Jones.
So the Cowboys have done a great job in their monitored environment.
But tests are not prevention, nor a cure, nor a vaccine.
“You can’t test your way to be free of COVID exposure,” Jones said. “You can’t test to do it, but if you could, we’re setting the mark. Right now, it’s going good. We’re ready for, as a league, we’re ready for any set of circumstances and ready for any alterations that COVID might cause. I feel very good about being able to go through this season. I’ll feel better after the second week, third week, and we’ll just play it as you go. This is option quarterback time.
“This is ambiguity at its best. I haven’t seen anybody that knows, can give a straight answer on the COVID. But I do know this: We’re really executing. These staff, these players are really outstanding in how disciplined and how we’re approaching the safety.”
Coach Mike McCarthy said training camp has been an educational and learning process for everyone in regards to the COVID-19 protocols.
He has made a point to talk to the team about why they are testing, why they have to develop a routine in adherence to protocols and the importance of wearing a mask and social distancing. They have to stay disciplined at home.
“To this point, the results speak to the fact that we’re doing a heck of a job,” McCarthy said. “It’s more about preparing us to now be at that phase of, OK, we’re going home and being with our families. ... The biggest thing is discipline and wearing a mask, so I think the whole process has helped us all and God willing, hopefully we can stay the course and continue to get the results we’re getting.”
That adjustment includes McCarthy being more disciplined about keeping his mask on in practice and on the sideline during games.
He has taken it off to communicate. And that’s out of protocol on game day when the season starts.
“It’s going to be different,” McCarthy said. “Quite frankly it’s something I need to start doing at practice just to get used to it because most of us have been taking our mask off or wearing it down around our neck just so we can communicate better. Once again, there’s a number of rules and regulations that continue to be worked on and we clearly understand the why. So just got to get used to it.”
This story was originally published September 2, 2020 at 4:37 PM.
