News: BTB: Circle Your Calendar: Cowboys Offseason Dates Fixed

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The Cowboys officially kick off their offseason workout program on April 17. We look at what happens between that date and the first preseason game.

The NFL published the 2017 offseason dates on Monday. For the Cowboys, the offseason program starts on April 17 and ends it with a mandatory minicamp from June 13-15. The players then get another month at home before training camp kicks off on July 20. This is what the Cowboys' offseason schedule will look like:

Key Offseason Dates for the Dallas Cowboys

• April 17: Start of offseason workout program (teams with new head coaches can begin on April 3)
• April 27-29: NFL Draft
• Early May: Rookie Minicamp (Either May 5-7 or May 12-15)
• May 23: Voluntary OTAs begin (veterans and rookies). Three OTA sessions scheduled: May 23-25, May 30-June 1, June 5-7
• June 13-15: Mandatory Minicamp (veterans and rookies)
• July 20: Training camp opens (Oxnard, CA)
• August 3: Hall of Fame Game versus Arizona Cardinals

Here's a reminder from the NFL about what teams are allowed to do in the nine-week offseason workout program that is split into three separate phases:

Phase One consists of the first two weeks of the program with activities limited to strength and conditioning and physical rehabilitation only.

Phase Two consists of the next three weeks of the program. On-field workouts may include individual player instruction and drills as well as team practice conducted on a "separates" basis. No live contact or team offense vs. team defense drills are permitted.

Phase Three consists of the next four weeks of the program. Teams may conduct a total of 10 days of organized team practice activity, or "OTAs". No live contact is permitted, but 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 drills are permitted.
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A note on the interaction coaches are allowed to have with players during these activities:

In Phase One, only strength and conditioning coaches are allowed to work with players on the field. All other coaches may not attend or observe in any way. Also, the CBA prohibits the use of footballs during Phase One. The only exception allowed is for quarterbacks to throw to receivers, but defensive backs aren’t allowed to cover them, and coaches may not be present.

All coaches are permitted on the field during Phase Two. All activities are conducted without helmets. Contact work (e.g., "live" blocking, tackling, pass rushing, bump-and-run), is expressly prohibited.

All coaches are allowed on the field, but no live contact is permitted in phase three. Helmets may be worn, but no other pads. No one-on-one offense vs. defense drills are permitted (i.e., no offensive linemen vs. defensive linemen pass rush or pass protection drills, no wide receivers vs. defensive backs bump-and-run drills, and no one-on-one special teams drills involving both offense and defense are permitted). Special teams drills (e.g., kicking team vs. return team) are permitted, provided no live contact occurs.

Knowing that the Cowboys play in the first pre-season game allows us to reverse-engineer what the Cowboys training camp schedule could look like.

We know that the first possible practice of training camp is 14 days prior to each team's first preseason game, which would should make July 20 the first day of training camp. We also know that the first two practices of camp are conducted without pads, and that teams are allowed no more than four consecutive days of practice.

We also know that the team will have an extended stay in Canton this year, as Clarence Hill of the Star Telegram explains.

The game will be played two days before Jones will be officially inducted as a member of the Class of 2017 on Aug. 5. In between, Jones will hold his Hall of Fame party on Aug. 4.

It will result in an extended stay in Canton, Ohio, for the Cowboys, who will likely travel arrive on Wednesday, play the game on Thursday, have Friday off, conduct a light practice on Saturday and then fly back to training camp on Sunday.
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Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/nfl/dallas-cowboys/article134558024.html#storylink=cpy​

All of which means this is what a tentative, unofficial camp schedule in Oxnard could look like this year.

Note that this simply an educated guess about what the camp schedule could look like, albeit a guess based on some of the rules governing camp as well as the way previous camps were organized. If you're planning a visit to Oxnard this year, don't book anything until the Cowboys release an official schedule.

Having said that, I'm arriving in Oxnard on July 22!

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