FRISCO, TX – The Dallas Cowboys concluded OTA’s today and they will roll into minicamp next week. Some players returned to the practice field after missing some OTA’s due to injury and other players opted out of practicing altogether.
Breakdown of the day:
TE DALTON SCHULTZ:
Dalton Schultz has been the topic of discussion all week after he informed the front office that he will not be finishing out OTA’s due to frustrations with his contract.
Schultz has been on a franchise tag since March, if the front office doesn’t come to terms with a deal by July 15 he will spend the 2022 season under the franchise tag and make $10.9 million for the year. When the 2022 season concludes he will be a free agent.
Schultz’s frustration comes from the fact that he claims the front office has made no moves forward in getting a contract done by July 15.
“You have business situations happen all the time. We will see next week.”Head Coach Mike McCarthy said that he had a long talk with Schultz on Friday and he hopes they can get the issue resolved by minicamp next week.
TE JAKE FERGUSON:Â
Jake Ferguson signed his rookie contract yesterday, he was the last of the nine rookies to sign their contract. All nine rookie draft picks are now under contract heading into minicamp next week. With Schultz not at OTA’s today, Ferguson had the opportunity to get first-team reps with Dak Prescott and practice alongside the other tight ends.
Ferguson said he’s extremely excited to finally get pen to paper and make it official. With Schultz out he said he just wants to have the opportunity to improve and he can do that by learning from all the other tight ends.
RB TONY POLLARD:
There were rumors in the beginning of OTA’s that the Cowboys would try and use Tony Pollard at the slot and receiver position due to the fact that Dallas’s wide receiver inventory is low. With Michael Gallup most likely not being ready and available for the first game and the Amari Cooper trade, having Pollard help out at WR would make sense.
Pollard told us that he wants to get as many touches as possible. Pollard said that when they have him playing wide receiver and slot it reminds him of college. He also said he’s ready to play whatever position the Cowboys have him playing; he just wants what’s best for the team.
“He’s a dynamic player. The fact that we can have him (Pollard) play at multiple positions is a huge advantage for our offense.” , Pollard’s teammate Jayron Kearse
WR JALEN TOLBERT:
Jalen Tolbert missed the last two OTA’s due to a hamstring injury. He returned to the field today and had some good connections from Dak Prescott. He caught a touchdown pass in the 2-minute drill that left Prescott very happy.
“In the passing game everything is about timing and spacing, so I did the right thing on the play and he was excited about it,” Tolbert said.
He’s preparing to see the field early as well, again due to inventory of wide receivers being low for Dallas.
Tolbert told the media today that he didn’t start actually playing football until he was in the 10th grade. He grew up as a baseball guy and one day his teammate wanted to play catch with the football and he fell in love. He said he liked how football was so fast paced while baseball is more of a slower moving game.
Tolbert said that the biggest challenge right now for him is the speed of the NFL compared to college. He said once he gets that down then playing at a high level should be easier.
WR MICHAEL GALLUP:
It’s looking like Michael Gallup will not suit up for game one of the regular season but he was seen again today on the sidelines of OTA’s getting a workout in with the trainers. He was seen working out last week as well for the first time since his knee injury and he is making lots of progress according to head coach Mike McCarthy.
OTA’s have concluded for the Dallas Cowboys, they will head into minicamp next week.
