OXNARD, Calif. – Thursday marked the last normal two-a-day practice in Oxnard before the Dallas Cowboys head back to Dallas on Friday in preparation for the Cincinnati Bengals for their second preseason matchup. This time, the Cowboys are back on their home turf at AT&T Stadium.
Jason Garrett said, Travis Fredrick, being absent in the offensive line during practice, stating he “went down to have his shoulder checked out. “ The Cowboys have not gotten back the results from the evaluation but “he has had some stingers the last couple of days and so we wanted to make sure he is squared away. “
The absence of the four-time pro bowler and No.87 on the NFL’s top 100 list, has given Joe Looney an opportunity to get more playing time during practice with the one’s. Garrett sees his improvement with the added reps and training camp environment. In the three’s on the depth chart for center, Marcus Martin is now unavailable due to injury and Looney is in an ideal situation. The more experience he can absorb during practice and in preseason, the more he will grow as a player and secure the position, in the event that Frederick’s shoulder injury is serious.
Garrett described the impact of Dak Prescott in his leadership role on the offensive side of the ball and to the entirety of the franchise “ he is a tremendous example to everybody in the organization, coaches and players alike, as to how you want to do it and he is as good of a worker as we have on our team. He always has great energy and juice. He handles success and adversity equally well. He just keeps going and to have a guy like that in the leadership role, setting the pace; it is really good for our team. “
Prescott is the leader of the Dallas Cowboys as the starting quarterback, but he is a young one still learning. This will be his second season coming into training camp as the No.1 guy on offense. Coming off a 13-3 season his rookie year in 2016, winning over the team from longtime QB Tony Romo, many believe Prescott had a sophomore slump in 2017.
The season ended with no payoff appearance, however Prescott continued to set records for himself. Last year, he led the Cowboys to its second consecutive winning season pushing his career wins to 22, tying for second by a quarterback in the Super Bowl era through a player’s first two seasons. He became the first quarterback in team history to pass for at least 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns in each of his first two seasons with “America’s Team.”
Prescott is continuing to develop as a player like everyone else and gain more ease in the pocket when releasing the ball. Even though he may not always look perfect in practice and will over throw players and miss his target, he is a gamer. He shows up on game days focused and ready to go. His character off the field and his ability on the field are assets to the Cowboys football team. He is always one of the last players in the gym or on the field after practice, and his dedication will gain him new stats come the 2018 season!
