One of the benefits of opening the NFL season on Thursday night in Week 1 is a three-day break during the first weekend of the season.
The Cowboys did just that, as the team returned to the facility on Monday to apply some final touches to their review on their narrow 24-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles last Thursday before looking ahead to their home opener against the New York Giants on Sunday afternoon.
The team worked all season to be prepared for the Eagles, defending Super Bowl champs, but it’s a quick shift to flip the page moving into Week 2 — especially when the campaign starts with back-to-back division opponents.
“This is a new week,” head coach Brian Schottenheimer said Monday. “Guys are in today, we watched the review of the Eagles game ... Just pointed out the good, the things we did well, the things we can do better and how we’re going to do that.”
After going through the review in the morning, the Cowboys took a lunch break before diving into their next opponent this upcoming Sunday.
“Every week, you have to think about it like a one week season,” rookie offensive lineman Tyler Booker said. “I’m already onto the next season, so to say. Every game is of the upmost importance like it’s the Super Bowl for me. That’s how I approach every game.”
The importance of the week two matchup against the Giants is not lost on the locker room. While the opening week loss to the Eagles offered a lot of optimism, it still counted the same in the loss column as it would have had they been blown out.
It makes getting a win to get on the board in the division that much more important.
“Just setting the tone and getting our ball rolling early,” offensive tackle Tyler Guyton said. “We get an early win like that, it sets us up going into the next one and the weeks after that. Getting that first win is super important, especially against a division opponent.”
The Cowboys will take their league-mandated day off on Tuesday before returning for three consecutive days of practice on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. After a brief walk-through on Saturday, the Cowboys will be at AT&T Stadium for their home opener on Sunday morning. Kickoff is scheduled for p.m. on FOX.