Mike McCarthy says Dallas Cowboys are ready for camp, declares ‘we will be better’
How ready are the Dallas Cowboys for training camp after the most productive offseason in Mike McCarthy’s tenure as head coach?
So much so that the third-year coach reduced their mandatory three-day minicamp this week to one practice day on Tuesday and a team bonding event on Wednesday at Top Golf.
They canceled practice on Thursday.
The Cowboys don’t meet again until they report to training camp in Oxnard, California, on July 25 and earnestly begin the official ramp up to the 2022 season, when McCarthy promises they will be better.
“I think the biggest thing is you have a starting line and finish line and I just felt like we crossed the finish line, particularly with the veterans,” McCarthy said. “I think we clearly crossed the finish line of what we were trying to get done this year.
“Everything we wanted to accomplish in the offseason was completed and really the focus turns to their individual five-week plan.”
The players will work out on their own until the start of training camp and McCarthy is confident they will continue to maximize their time as they have done throughout the offseason.
“What we’ve accomplished in the offseason, we need to move forward. We can’t go backward,” McCarthy said. “I think they clearly understand that. At the end of the day, we all have to do the physical work that needs to be done to make sure we’re ready to go in Oxnard.”
McCarthy is excited about what they accomplished in the offseason because it was the team’s first full offseason since he took over as head coach in 2020.
The first offseason was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic. and the team was still dealing with pandemic protocols in 2021.
This year, the players have been at the facility fully engaged since workouts began shortly after the end of the season. That has continued throughout the five-week offseason program.
“It’s the best I’ve felt about the football team in the preparation phase,” McCarthy said. “You have to throw the first year out. We are clearly ahead of where we were at this time last year.”
Dak Prescott is leaner than ever and healthy after he missed the offseason program last year rehabbing from a fractured ankle.
McCarthy said running back Ezekiel Elliott, who played last season with a torn ligament in his knee, is fully healthy and setting himself up for a strong season in 2022.
“I think the biggest thing with Zeke is he’s completely healthy now and he’s had a tremendous offseason,” McCarthy said. “The weight that he has been pushing in the weight room, just the numbers that he’s been cranking out have been very, very impressive. I can’t tell you it’s been the best of his career, but he’s in top shape. So, I think he’s definitely set himself up for that.”
McCarthy is most excited about the rookie class, led by first-round pick and Fort Worth native Tyler Smith. He feels it is the most mature group he’s been around and said the players knocked it out of the park in the offseason with extra time they have spent at the facility after practice and on weekends.
“Our rookie class has done a tremendous job getting themselves ready for training camp,” he said. “At the end of the day, that is what the offseason program is about: getting ready for a great training camp.”
The Cowboys focused the offseason on solving their penalty woes.
The Cowboys finished 2021 with 127 penalties, the most in the NFL. Their 1,103 penalty yards were second in the league. They committed 14 penalties in the 23-17 season-ending loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC wild card game, tying the NFL record for the most by any team in a playoff game.
The Cowboys have had officials at practice throughout the offseason and even in team meetings.
Gary Slaughter, the local NFL official rep in the area, has helped train the local referees the Cowboys use at practice. They will have exposure to NFL officials at least twice in training camp with joint practices against the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers.
McCarthy said has had more communication with officials this offseason than he ever has. They talked about game situations and mechanics. They even discussed the fateful final play against the 49ers when the clock ran out on Prescott before he could spike the ball for a final Hail Mary pass into the end zone.
There has been much conjecture about whether Prescott should have handed the ball to the official rather than give it to the center, as he did to spot it.
McCarthy said they are not going to change the mechanics of their operation, other than maybe Prescott sliding sooner.
“We will be better is our focus,” McCarthy said. “That needs to be the headline. We will be better and that’s our focus.”
This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 3:25 PM.
