Plankton
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https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/08/02/nfl-training-camp-tour-fmia-peter-king/
Camp: Cowboys
Dallas: The Dak and Micah Show
OXNARD, Calif. — The Cowboys were a collective debacle last year, of course, but the good news is they’re in a lousy division with a good chance to win it if two things happen:
When I met with coach Mike McCarthy, I was surprised at one thing he talked about in our 30 minutes. McCarthy is a traditional coach. Players have to prove their worth, and though he’s not against playing rookies, he has to see them perform consistently well. So when I asked about Parsons, his answer surprised me.
“He needs to play opening day,” McCarthy said. “You have to trust what your eyes are telling you. And when I watch him, I see a fluid and explosive player. This game’s not too big for him. Some guys run 4.3. Some guys play 4.3. He’s the kind of guy who plays fast. He looks like he’s done this at this level before.”
Interesting, because Parsons opted out of his final season at Penn State. He sounds like he’s making up for lost time, so happy to be back on a football field. “Last year was pretty long and dreadful,” he said. “That’s why I’m really excited to be out here this year.”
Dallas has an interesting and deep linebacker group. Holdovers Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch will find roles in new coordinator Dan Quinn’s hybrid D—it can morph from 4-3 to 3-4 because of some versatile pieces at linebacker—while former physical safety Keanu Neal comes over from Atlanta, when he played under Quinn, and he’ll be a solid run player. It’s early, but look for Parsons to be a strong contender to be an every-down sideline-to-sideline player. “I’m gonna blitz, I’m gonna go sideline to sideline, I’m gonna drop,” he told me. He could be a classic middle linebacker at 248 pounds, with the added benefit of quickness to chase down plays. Dallas wanted the kind of playmaking Fred Warner/Bobby Wagner-type ‘backer, and they’re going to give Parsons the chance to be him.
The last time we saw Prescott, he was on the field trying to put his ankle back together against the Giants last Oct. 11. I don’t recall the outpouring of emotion for a player injury like I saw that day. Think of it. Four years after being a fourth-round pick of the Cowboys, Prescott had worked his way into a solid starter, and the Dallas offense was all his, and their playoff hopes rode heavily on his shoulders. And in an instant, his right foot was torqued in a different direction, his ankle dislocated.
“I walked up on him when he was down on the field,” McCarthy told me, “and I don’t think I’ve seen anything exactly like it. He was trying to put his ankle back together, right there on the field. It was almost—this isn’t quite the right word—but it was almost barbaric.”
Prescott to me, on a quiet day at camp last Friday: “I remember that. My mom had always told us when we got hurt, just to get off the field so she knew that we were like okay. I initially thought I had rolled it and I had looked and grabbed my ankle and it was facing the other way. I’m like, ‘No way.’ I just was trying to like, I thought maybe if I slammed it into place a couple times it’d just snap back or maybe it was just dislocated and it wasn’t broken, stuck like it was. When I did that a couple of times and it didn’t move, that’s when I just started waving to get help. I was literally like, ‘I can’t do this myself. Help, help.’ “
I mean . . . As Bill Parcells once said, “Playing football is not for the well-adjusted.” It was amazing to hear Prescott discuss it all so clinically.
“Any lingering effects of it?” I asked. “Do you feel it now?”
“No I don’t,” Prescott said. “I can say, at this point honestly, it might not feel quite like my left leg. But as far as pain or as far as anything that I think something’s wrong — I mean, absolutely not. It may take me a little bit longer to warm it up than it obviously would this left leg. Once I’m going and rolling, there’s not anything that I think about with my ankle.”
There is, though, the matter of a right-shoulder issue. Prescott took himself out of practice last week after feeling some pain there, and will not throw competitively for at least a few days. He’s not worried, and the Cowboys are not worried, but we’ll see. “I just didn’t want to make something small worse,” Prescott said. “I never have felt soreness in my arm, to be honest. But it’s not a big concern to me.”
It’s always hard to project players returning from major injury. But the left and right tackles (Tyron Smith and La’el Collins) and the quarterback are all coming back. If they’re right, and if CeeDee Lamb can build on some of the great days he’s having early in camp, well, this offense will be one of football’s best. My little secret fantasy projection: Watch out for Michael Gallup. The buzz in the passing game will be all about Lamb and $20-million-man Amari Cooper, and rightfully so. But I’m told Prescott and Gallup have been building great chemistry all offseason, and the QB can trust exactly where the disciplined route-runner will be. So we’ll see.
Fascinating team, as Dallas usually is. I thought Washington, with its strong defense, would be the king of a weakened East again. But I’m leaning Dallas now.
Camp: Cowboys
Dallas: The Dak and Micah Show
OXNARD, Calif. — The Cowboys were a collective debacle last year, of course, but the good news is they’re in a lousy division with a good chance to win it if two things happen:
- The defense gets some juice it never had all last year. Think of this: The defense had to rally late to average giving up less than 30 points a game. It was a brutal show.
- Dak Prescott is able to return to form. The Cowboys need a top five offense, in a big way, because they’re not going to be dominant on D.
When I met with coach Mike McCarthy, I was surprised at one thing he talked about in our 30 minutes. McCarthy is a traditional coach. Players have to prove their worth, and though he’s not against playing rookies, he has to see them perform consistently well. So when I asked about Parsons, his answer surprised me.
“He needs to play opening day,” McCarthy said. “You have to trust what your eyes are telling you. And when I watch him, I see a fluid and explosive player. This game’s not too big for him. Some guys run 4.3. Some guys play 4.3. He’s the kind of guy who plays fast. He looks like he’s done this at this level before.”
Interesting, because Parsons opted out of his final season at Penn State. He sounds like he’s making up for lost time, so happy to be back on a football field. “Last year was pretty long and dreadful,” he said. “That’s why I’m really excited to be out here this year.”
Dallas has an interesting and deep linebacker group. Holdovers Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch will find roles in new coordinator Dan Quinn’s hybrid D—it can morph from 4-3 to 3-4 because of some versatile pieces at linebacker—while former physical safety Keanu Neal comes over from Atlanta, when he played under Quinn, and he’ll be a solid run player. It’s early, but look for Parsons to be a strong contender to be an every-down sideline-to-sideline player. “I’m gonna blitz, I’m gonna go sideline to sideline, I’m gonna drop,” he told me. He could be a classic middle linebacker at 248 pounds, with the added benefit of quickness to chase down plays. Dallas wanted the kind of playmaking Fred Warner/Bobby Wagner-type ‘backer, and they’re going to give Parsons the chance to be him.
The last time we saw Prescott, he was on the field trying to put his ankle back together against the Giants last Oct. 11. I don’t recall the outpouring of emotion for a player injury like I saw that day. Think of it. Four years after being a fourth-round pick of the Cowboys, Prescott had worked his way into a solid starter, and the Dallas offense was all his, and their playoff hopes rode heavily on his shoulders. And in an instant, his right foot was torqued in a different direction, his ankle dislocated.
“I walked up on him when he was down on the field,” McCarthy told me, “and I don’t think I’ve seen anything exactly like it. He was trying to put his ankle back together, right there on the field. It was almost—this isn’t quite the right word—but it was almost barbaric.”
Prescott to me, on a quiet day at camp last Friday: “I remember that. My mom had always told us when we got hurt, just to get off the field so she knew that we were like okay. I initially thought I had rolled it and I had looked and grabbed my ankle and it was facing the other way. I’m like, ‘No way.’ I just was trying to like, I thought maybe if I slammed it into place a couple times it’d just snap back or maybe it was just dislocated and it wasn’t broken, stuck like it was. When I did that a couple of times and it didn’t move, that’s when I just started waving to get help. I was literally like, ‘I can’t do this myself. Help, help.’ “
I mean . . . As Bill Parcells once said, “Playing football is not for the well-adjusted.” It was amazing to hear Prescott discuss it all so clinically.
“Any lingering effects of it?” I asked. “Do you feel it now?”
“No I don’t,” Prescott said. “I can say, at this point honestly, it might not feel quite like my left leg. But as far as pain or as far as anything that I think something’s wrong — I mean, absolutely not. It may take me a little bit longer to warm it up than it obviously would this left leg. Once I’m going and rolling, there’s not anything that I think about with my ankle.”
There is, though, the matter of a right-shoulder issue. Prescott took himself out of practice last week after feeling some pain there, and will not throw competitively for at least a few days. He’s not worried, and the Cowboys are not worried, but we’ll see. “I just didn’t want to make something small worse,” Prescott said. “I never have felt soreness in my arm, to be honest. But it’s not a big concern to me.”
It’s always hard to project players returning from major injury. But the left and right tackles (Tyron Smith and La’el Collins) and the quarterback are all coming back. If they’re right, and if CeeDee Lamb can build on some of the great days he’s having early in camp, well, this offense will be one of football’s best. My little secret fantasy projection: Watch out for Michael Gallup. The buzz in the passing game will be all about Lamb and $20-million-man Amari Cooper, and rightfully so. But I’m told Prescott and Gallup have been building great chemistry all offseason, and the QB can trust exactly where the disciplined route-runner will be. So we’ll see.
Fascinating team, as Dallas usually is. I thought Washington, with its strong defense, would be the king of a weakened East again. But I’m leaning Dallas now.
