Dallas Cowboys hold minicamp

By Elwyn Henderson

The Dallas Cowboys held Day 2 of minicamp Wednesday at team headquarters at the Star in Frisco. The minicamp was mandatory for both rookies and veterans and was scheduled for 3 days of practices but Coach Mike McCarthy decided to cancel Day 3 for Thursday, June 6th so the team could have more meetings that he deemed was necessary.
Micah Parsons didn’t attend the voluntary OTAs (Organized Team Activities) earlier, but DID show up on Tuesday for the mandatory minicamp. CeeDee Lamb, who is holding out for a new contract, did not show up for either the voluntary OTA’s or the mandatory minicamp, and will be fined for each day of mandatory practices he misses.
Prior to the Wednesday practice Coach Mike McCarthy held a press conference with the media in attendance to answer their questions. The practice was held after the presser and following practice there was an open locker room session for the media to talk with the players.
In his press conference, McCarthy was asked if the disappointing way the 2023 season ended with the blowout loss to the 7th seeded Green Bay Packers was any motivation for the early preseason practices.
“I think the reality of it is, I spoke on the last game a little bit at the beginning of the offseason program, but those lessons are best served in Training Camp and as we get ready for the season. Our time is so limited on how much we get with the players and all the veterans through all the concepts of Phase 1 and 2, so they’re exposed to everything; especially.”
Ezekiel Elliott met with media members after the practice and talked about being back in Big D. He said, “I’m trying to regroup and get ready for the season. I came back in shape, but it’s definitely going to take some time. I just came back from vacation.”
He was asked if he was concerned how he would fit in when he got back with the Cowboys and responded, “I wasn’t worried at all how I was going to fit when I got back. I was gone for however long, but I still have a lot of guys in the locker room.”
He was also asked his thoughts on having a different role on what he had when he carried the load earlier in his career and he said he was fine with the ‘running back by committee’ that Coach McCarthy has said will be the way the running game goes this year. He said he knew his role would be different and he was prepared to do whatever the team needed him to do.
Dak Prescott looked particularly sharp in the work he did on the field at the practice, McCarthy said in his presser before the practice that he feels Dak is the best prepared he has ever been in the offseason and that he came back even more focused than this time last year. He also said that the team is way ahead of where they were at this time in 2023. Hopefully, that will translate to the team pick up where they left off in the regular season last year. That having been said, Dallas lost a number of key players on both offense and defense to free agency, with former Defensive Coordinator and now Head Coach of the Washington Commanders, Dan Quinn grabbing up some of ‘his guys’ from last year, so there will be several spots that have to be filled. One thing about it, it won’t be long before we will begin to see if this team can have another 12-win season for the fourth year in a row.
Many of the football pundits feel that if the team doesn’t win at least two playoff games in the postseason that McCarthy will be sent packing. An interesting rumor floating around is that Bill Belichick will very probably be the next Dallas coach IF McCarthy loses his job, but this writer doesn’t believe that will happen. Belichick is used to having total power over his team, and you absolutely know that Jerry Jones would not allow that in Dallas, so that doesn’t appear to be a good marriage. Time will tell!