Cowboys rowdy in practice as Romo, Prescott struggle
1 Dez Bryant didn’t hide his emotions Tuesday, constantly barking back and forth with defensive backs. He and Morris Claiborne got into the most spirited exchanges, and it carried on even after practice. Early on, Bryant pointed at each defensive back and said: “You can’t guard me. ... You can’t guard me. ... You can’t guard me.” Claiborne took it as a point of pride, saying the DBs had a good day in particular because: “We riled Dez up.”
2 The numbers suggest the DBs had a good day. Tony Romo didn’t look sharp, starting team and seven-on-seven drills 2 for 6 passing. He did complete five consecutive passes at one point, but finished the day 7-of-12. Romo also should have thrown two interceptions, but Claiborne dropped one and Barry Church’s was called back because of an offsides penalty on safety Byron Jones.
3 Rookie Dak Prescott finished the day 4-of-10. He threw an interception in the end zone, as cornerback Arjen Colquhoun picked off an underthrown pass intended for Rodney Smith. Prescott also had a pass in the end zone batted down by linebacker Mark Nzeocha, and underthrew a fade to Devin Street in the end zone. But he did lead a couple scoring drives, and closed practice with a designed quarterback sneak for a score.
4 The competitive juices were flowing in the trenches, too. The O-line and D-line got into a brief scuffle after practice had ended as each worked on pass rush drills. It’s something that linemen on each side brushed off as anything too major. Said La’el Collins: “That’s just how it is sometimes. It’s the game of football. Things get a little rowdy, but that’s the nature of the game. ... It’s all love at the end of the day.”
5
The D-line can’t seem to avoid setbacks. Just when it seemed like they were getting reinforcements, defensive end David Irving exited with a groin injury. It’s not considered too serious at this point, but Irving will miss time. That’s another blow to one of the Cowboys’ thinnest and least experienced position groups.
Quote of the day
“This team went from winning 12 games to winning four games, the pressure is on. We’ve got to get back to who we are and that’s part of our identity, we’re going to be a physical football team. We’re going to play hard. We’re going to back down from nobody and we’re going to attack.” -- cornerback Orlando Scandrick on the chippy practice between the DBs and WRs
Injury report
QB Kellen Moore: Fractured lower leg, out 3-4 months
RB Ezekiel Elliott: Hamstring, day-to-day
LB Andrew Gachkar: Thumb, TBD
DE David Irving: Groin, day-to-day
WR Chris Brown: Foot, TBD
RB Rod Smith: Illness, day-to-day
RB Lance Dunbar: Knee, PUP
TE James Hanna: Knee, PUP
RB Darren McFadden: Elbow, non-football injury list (NFI)
LB Jaylon Smith: Knee, NFI
DE Lawrence Okoye: Hamstring, day-to-day
S Jeff Heath: Concussion symptoms, day-to-day
DE Charles Tapper: Back, day-to-day
CB Anthony Brown: Hamstring, day-to-day
25 Days until the season opener against the New York Giants at 3:25 p.m. Sept. 11 on KDFW/4
This story was originally published August 16, 2016 at 10:01 PM with the headline "Cowboys rowdy in practice as Romo, Prescott struggle."