Okay, folks. I'm back and ready to recap yesterday's segment. I apologize for the delay. Tis the season for hours of yardwork, grilling, chilling on the lake, and beers by the pool!
Let's go:
1. Mike McCarthy is back in town and had at least one Zoom call with the team last week that JJT knows of and gave a raw, impassioned message to the team, mainly discussing the current state of society and the George Floyd killing, and the aftermath that we are currently experiencing in the present days. Players seemed to take well to it. JJT noted that there are some teams like the Saints bringing in celebrities like Shaquille O'Neal and even Spike Lee to speak to the players, but Dallas is opting to keep things in house and personal amongst themselves. This did give JJT a chance to point out that no Dallas personnel has yet to go full Drew Brees and air out an unpopular opinion in the media on the matter for all teammates to hear. Pretty impressive stuff for the most visible sports team in the world. With the situation in New Orleans, Sean Payton is likely playing damage control with his guys, and we haven't really had the need to go that route yet thankfully.
Pretty refreshing to hear rumors from insiders like JJT that McCarthy seems to be building some clout in the locker room as well, albeit via the internet.
2. Dallas has apparently always really emphasized mental health within their organization and have been on the cutting edge really for the last two decades or so. Jerry Jones has always had psychiatrists available for players to speak to to evaluate any problems that they may be having internally. Supposedly, Dallas has been involved with evaluating mental health longer than most teams, and Jerry actually just hired on another big name doctor to evaluate and work with the players. JJT notes that it can be difficult for guys as young as 21-22 years old that came from extremely humble beginnings and less than favorable backgrounds to be all of a sudden cashing checks for millions of dollars, while still being expected to do the right things as people.
This fact almost makes me wonder if this is why Jerry often takes his chances with, what fans and media describe as "head cases." For years, I've just thought Jerry likes the attention of signing the "crazy" players, but it appears he actually believes in what his organization can do on the mental health front. If he can land great talent, while also helping a player battle his own personal demons and put him in an environment to succeed, it's a win for everyone involved in my opinion. I also wonder if being a mental health advocate could be Jimmy Johnson's influence as well. As most know, Jimmy Johnson received his degree in Psychology and was fully prepared to attend grad school and become an industrial psychologist himself. A coach at Louisiana Tech, however, had a heart attack, and the HC hired Jimmy on to help teach the players the defense, and the rest, as they say, is history. The HOF has spoken.
3. We all heard John Harbaugh whining about the new guidelines in the league this week on the Baltimore sports radio station, as I believe he called them "humanly impossible." I think the main issue he had was that players are expected to have physical, padded practices, but are also expected to social distance in the locker rooms and beyond. JJT asked a source about this, and what he thought. The source noted that they are constantly doing off the wall things for the benefit of the team, and these hurdles caused by COVID will be no different. At the Star, everyone under the Joneses has a "just get it done" attitude. Nobody in any department is going to tell the Joneses that anything is impossible. They're going to roll with the punches and take these challenges as they come. The source did note that they have plenty of space at their current facility, and should be able to accommodate anything they're trying to do with the players.
4. JJT basically stressed pass defense and turnovers here. He and Matt had some banter here about sacks, and how they're the sexy stat that every fan of defensive football stresses over, but in actuality takeaways and not allowing the big completions are far more important, as it translates into winning. JJT noted that 6 of the top 10 teams in sacks last season didn't even make the playoffs. I think he had mentioned during Rod's best year as DC in terms of points allowed, they were hardly able to generate any turnovers. Either way, it's Mike Nolan's job now to fix this defense into a unit we all know they're capable of being.
I, personally, think defense at any level is very important. Pass rush/sacks has a lot to do with pass defense, but I think that this segment was only mentioned in haste for Matt to go into depth about some research he had done on sacking the QB. JJT hardly did much talking here.
And that's it folks!
https://www.kesn1033.com/2020/06/12...protests-insight-on-sack-philosophy-and-more/
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