Clarence Hill: Camp insights . . .Why Dak Prescott, Cowboys didn’t go to Spence fight
Here are some insights from Cowboys beat writer Clarence Hill on the first week of training camp:
1. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was noticeable at the Super Fight on Saturday night in Las Vegas between Dallas’ native Errol Spence and Terence Crawford. Jones was in the locker room before the Spence fight, one that ended with Crawford winning by TKO in the ninth. Jones took an entourage of Cowboys execs to the fight from Oxnard.
Noticeably absent from the much-anticipated welterweight fight were quarterback Dak Prescott and other Cowboys players. There was a lot of talk in May and June about Prescott and group of players taking a private jet to Las Vegas for the fight, considering Sunday was an off day. Saturday was also Prescott’s 30th birthday. Ultimately, no players went. Prescott’s focus is totally on football and he didn’t think it would be a good look to fly the Las Vegas for one night, even if they had the time to do it.
The Cowboys watched the fight in the team meeting room. That’s another point for Prescott and his leadership.
2. The Cowboys begin work in pads on Monday and that’s when the real football begins for the guys in the trenches. Rookie nose tackle Mazi Smith going up against left guard Tyler Smith will be a must watch. And keep an eye on the defensive line, which has showed a look with the 6-foot-3, 325 pound Mazi Smith lined up at the 3-technique tackle with the 6-3, 320 pound Jonathan Hankins as the nose. That’s pure beef in the middle of the Cowboys defense.
“He’s a rookie, he needs it,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said about seeing Mazi Smith in pads. “He needs to feel the double-teams and all of those things. Every one of our linemen need to get in there. They don’t come out and just have a perfect extension and pad level. That’s why you come to camp, definitely for the young guys. Michigan is a hell of a place, but it’s gonna be a little different here in Oxnard.”
3. Monday begins Day 1 of 10 padded practices in Oxnard. McCarthy has talked to the team about how he wants to practice and the discipline needed to get the most out of the work. McCarthy likes what he’s seen so far.
“It’ll be about the fundamentals. The biggest message is we have to get the combination levels down, the pad level down just to make sure we’re getting the quality of work,” McCarthy said. “Obviously, the extracurricular activity, if you want a competitive spirit and environment on the practice field then you’re going to push the envelope. It’s just what are you doing in the emotional part? I’ve already talked about it, we need to do a better job of penalties. After two practices, we have a 50-percent decrease in penalties. We’re on it because we do want to push the envelope. That’s part of being a physical team, but the emotion and discipline is critical. You get the training in padded work.”
4. One thing of note from last year’s training camp compared to this one so far has been the increase in touchdown passes. That didn’t happen on a regular basis last year and it’s a credit to improved talent at receiver. Prescott has found receivers CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks in the end zone. Cooks said team’s are going to have to pick their poison in deciding who to guard.
“You got to choose one. If we both on the same side that safety got to choose one,” Cooks said. “No one’s guarding him one on one. If he choose to stay on top of me then CeeDee is wide open and vice versa.”
5. The 5-foot-5 Deuce Vaughn is a challenge for McCarthy, who generally likes big and long players. McCarthy begin scheming things for the 5-7 KaVontae Turpin and the 5-10 Brandin Cooks in the spring. He is looking for ways to get all of them out in space to take advantage of their speed and shiftiness in the Cowboys offense.
“Really Vaughn, Turp and Brandin, there’s some speed there that I haven’t had as much in a perimeter group as far as the size and so forth,” McCarthy said. “It’s definitely a different component. As we got Brandin, the focus of trying to get Turp more involved on offense, and now Deuce, those are all things that I know personally I spent some time on this summer looking at. You have to distribute the football. You have to give players opportunities, particularly in their menu of routes to what they do best. That’s definitely a focus.”
This story was originally published July 30, 2023 at 6:15 PM.
