Following an off day on Sunday, the Cowboys were back in pads for the seventh of eight install practices.
Here are some observations from Monday’s practice:
Wide receivers shine
The receivers were the stars of practice on Monday, with CeeDee Lamb, Noah Brown, and Simi Fehoko all having strong performances. Lamb had a nice touchdown grab to begin the “Mojo Moment” portion of practice, and finished the day with a crafty seam route, getting behind Jourdan Lewis and the defense for a touchdown in the two-minute offense.
Simi Fehoko showed toughness in traffic, and had two red zone touchdown grabs. Noah Brown continues his strong camp, and highlighted it today with a touchdown reception down the right sideline as he fell on his back during one-on-ones.
Battle in the trenches
The defensive line has won the majority of the trench battles during practice, but the offensive line did a pretty good job of protecting Prescott in team period today. Tyler Smith has outplayed Connor McGovern for the majority of training camp, but McGovern had a steadier day than Smith on Monday. Smith had a few nice reps and showed that power we’ve become accustomed to, but he appeared to get a bit more grabby today than in previous practices, and had trouble with a couple of twists from the defensive line.
Mukuamu has a big day
Second-year safety Israel Mukuamu really flashed on Monday and had two nice pass breakups. The first came on a play where he carried CeeDee Lamb in the slot to the middle of the field and punched the ball out. The second came during the two-minute offense when he knocked a red zone throw from Will Grier out of the hands of tight end Peyton Hendershot.
More Cowboys notes
*Dante Fowler’s get-off at the snap is incredibly impressive. Fowler is consistently the first defensive lineman off the snap, and coupled with his ability to bend around the corner, he was giving Cowboys offensive tackles all they could handle on Monday.
*I know tight end blocking isn’t necessarily a sexy topic, but Ian Bunting showed up a couple of times with both his run blocking and occasional pass protection. It’s a pretty crowded tight end room, but Bunting’s ability as a blocker may help him find a way onto the roster.
*Maybe it was the added rest from the day off on Sunday, but Ezekiel Elliott looked as elusive as we’ve seen him in camp on Monday, both as a runner and catching passes out of the backfield. There were a couple of different times during practice where Elliott navigated tacklers on the sideline and cut back to the middle of the field for extra yards.
*A bit of a scary moment at practice when CeeDee Lamb and Jourdan Lewis knocked knees as Lamb tried to run a slant. Lamb came up hopping on one leg and appeared a little bothered by it for the next few snaps. Lamb didn’t appear limited as practice wore on, however.
*Lirim Hajrullahu was a perfect 7-7 during the kicking period to open practice. Jonathan Garibay went 5-7, pushing one wide left and another wide right. Hajrullahu has been much more accurate than Garibay through almost two weeks of practice.
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