NBCDFW: Wade: No Practice On Christmas Day

WoodysGirl

U.N.I.T.Y
Staff member
Messages
79,278
Reaction score
45,637
CowboysZone ULTIMATE Fan
BY Scott Crisp // 2 hours ago

Wade Phillips had the Cowboys practice last season on Christmas day. This is standard procedure in the NFL, perhaps spurred on in the Cowboys' case by an ugly loss to Baltimore on December 20 in the final game at Texas Stadium.

Whatever the case, either the lack of Christmas cheer or a general lack of preparation (I'm leaning slightly toward the whole 'preparation' thing) led to Dallas being slaughtered in their only post-Christmas game, a 44-6 pounding at the hands of the Eagles in Philadelphia on December 28.

Since then, apparently, Phillips has amended his stance on Christmas practices.

"I think you lose a lot [by practicing] on Christmas Day," Phillips said. "[They have] families, a lot of them have kiddos and stuff. You take that away from them, you lose a lot more that way than you would having them be there."

The NFL requires that players be given one day off a week, with most teams using Tuesday to get their guys rested. The Cowboys practiced Tuesday and will have off Friday--Christmas day--before reconvening on Saturday for a flight to D.C.

Obviously, Wade has gained quite a reputation for taking it easy on his players, particularly following a win. If the Cowboys go out and out-class the Commanders on Sunday--which they probably should--this will be forgotten about quickly, like that first 'victory Monday' that was bandied about so much.

If they lose, though, this may be taken as another piece of evidence that Phillips lacks the mentality to win as a head coach in the NFL.

So what do you think: Is Phillips' decision to have Christmas off (a) harmless, (b) bad for the team or (c) the first step toward Armageddon?

Yours in the comments.

http://www.nbcdfw.com/blogs/blue-star/Wade-No-Practice-On-Christmas-Day-79994032.html
 

gmb85

Active Member
Messages
1,494
Reaction score
8
EDIT: You know what, I shouldn't have said what I said. I'm sorry.
 
Messages
18,222
Reaction score
28,531
I have no problems with it. They practiced on Tuesday, so they didn't lose any prep time.


Somebody's trying to dig up controversy again.
 

Cowboy Brian

@BrianLINY
Messages
15,864
Reaction score
5,053
I believe he is doing the right thing for the players, they have families too as he said plus we practiced tuesday so we're golden.
 

gmb85

Active Member
Messages
1,494
Reaction score
8
casmith07;3168876 said:
Yeah, screw their families, right? :rolleyes:
I'm not saying screw their families. I'm hoping that it works. People have said not to go out of their normal routine so we'll see if having X-mas off will make a difference this year.
 

Rampage

Benched
Messages
24,117
Reaction score
2
I don't care. Just bring your A game and whoop up on them Commanders Sunday night.
 

Doomsday101

Well-Known Member
Messages
107,762
Reaction score
39,034
The NFL requires that players be given one day off a week, with most teams using Tuesday to get their guys rested. The Cowboys practiced Tuesday and will have off Friday--Christmas day--before reconvening on Saturday for a flight to D.C.


Seems to me they got their work in by going to work on Tuesday instead of being off and giving a chance for players to spend Christmas with their families. I see nothing wrong with that approach and I'm sure the players appreciate it
 

aikemirv

Well-Known Member
Messages
16,405
Reaction score
9,999
Saturday night game set us up perfectly for the Tuesday practice.

Win or lose - people will be stupid to blame it on not practicing Friday.
 
Messages
18,222
Reaction score
28,531
aikemirv;3168889 said:
Saturday night game set us up perfectly for the Tuesday practice.

It's a lot more problematic for the Commanders because they are on a short week as it is.
 

Doomsday101

Well-Known Member
Messages
107,762
Reaction score
39,034
To hell with the critics one thing is for certain they will find fault with whatever Wade does. Critic do not play for this team players do
 

speedkilz88

Well-Known Member
Messages
36,949
Reaction score
23,097
It seems to me Wade made the sensible decision by practicing on Tuesday.
 

LucaBrasi

Sleeps with the fishes
Messages
5,589
Reaction score
7,495
They practiced Tuesday. Its a non-story. I don't know who Scott Crisp is, but he won't win a pulitzer any time soon.
 

TellerMorrow34

BraveHeartFan
Messages
28,358
Reaction score
5,076
I have zero issue with this. They practiced Tuesday so they traded Tuesday for Friday so they could spend Christmas with their families. I have zero issue with that.
 

cml750

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,753
Reaction score
3,964
I am not a big Wade fan but I have no problem with this. People should be with their families on Christmas
 

JBond

Well-Known Member
Messages
10,028
Reaction score
3,491
Nothing to stop the players from watching some film and going over the game plan. That being said I think Wade made the correct call. Nothing is more important than family.......except missing the playoffs.
 
Top