The Dallas Cowboys are talking about their eyes after the Los Angeles Rams handled them in the trenches during a joint practice Tuesday.
The Rams found a lot of success running the ball and stopping the run with their physical fronts in the Cowboys’ first live reps against another team this offseason.
“We didn’t play with great eyes,” coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “We had too many unaccounted-for [defenders] in the hole. Again, eye discipline. A couple of times we were bringing receivers in to handle things off the edge, and we were a little wide with our splits with the receivers. We’ve got to cover people up in the run game to have a chance.”
Missing starting left tackle Tyler Guyton as he nurses a knee injury suffered earlier in camp, Nate Thomas filled in and took on the challenge of defending 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse.
As the practice went on, Verse tallied multiple tackles for loss before opening up room for some of his defensive teammates for similar production.
“Not clean is the initial gut feeling,” offensive line coach Conor Riley said about his unit’s performance. “I thought our eye discipline wasn’t great. We need to really improve on pad level. On the positive side, I thought we had the competitive stamina that we talk about. We stayed in the fight.”
Joe Milton exits with thumb injury
Backup quarterback Joe Milton began practice with a flurry of completions in team drills, including a 65-yard cannon shot to Jalen Brooks for a touchdown. However, he watched from the sideline for the final hour of the session after injuring his thumb.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and executive vice president Stephen Jones did not express much concern coming off the practice field about his availability for Saturday’s preseason opener against the Rams, and Schottenheimer furthered that belief Wednesday.
“He’s doing fine,” Schottenheimer said. “He should have no problem. He was throwing the ball around ... earlier.”
While Schottenheimer has not decided on if starters such as quarterback Dak Prescott will play in the preseason, Milton is expected to get a large amount of work in the team’s three exhibitions.
KaVontae Turpin shines in receiving game
When KaVontae Turpin signed his three-year, $18 million extension with the Cowboys this offseason, it was expected that he would find more of a role on offense moving forward to justify his price tag. Sure, his impact in the return game is invaluable, but that kind of salary cap hit will have to be justified with offensive impact as well.
Dallas Cowboys receiver KaVontae Turpin is trying to show his value at training camp after signing a contract extension. Kirby Lee USA TODAY NETWORK
On Tuesday, the manifestation of his heavy involvement on the offensive side of the ball in training camp came to fruition with multiple touchdown grabs and success on a day when his teammates found it hard to come by.
“I think Turp is having a heck of a camp right now,” wide receivers coach Junior Adams said. “You see that he’s developing a lot and playing the position of Y-receiver. He made a few good plays [in the joint practice]. He’s been explosive in the pass game for us. He’s just going to add another dimension to our offense.”
Donovan Ezeiruaku provides defensive light
Despite a subpar day overall for the defensive line, yet again it was Donovan Ezeiruaku shining off the edge with multiple quarterback pressures.
The rookie second-round pick out of Boston College has drawn praise from coaches and front office personnel as he looks to win a starting job at the edge position.
“He’s a smart guy,” defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton said. “That’s been one of the biggest things for him, we’re not having to repeat things over-and-over again for him. The maturity, you can feel that on him. He’s a professional, serious type of person. On the football side of it, the guy makes plays.”