The Cowboys held their first training camp practice of 2024 in Oxnard on Thursday. There were no pads, no tackling, and none of those sexy one-on-one periods that social media loves, but it was football nonetheless.
Here are some of the main takeaways from practice Day No. 1:
Trey Lance is a Big Draw
Fans, media, and even members of the Cowboys brass spent a lot of time watching Trey Lance at Thursday’s practice. The Cowboys traded for Lance at the end of the preseason last year, and the media isn’t allowed to see the quarterback work during regular season practices, so offseason workouts and training camp are the first extended looks anyone has gotten on Lance with the Cowboys.
Lance’s first practice of Oxnard was about the same as the practices we saw during OTAs and mini-camp: Nothing super troubling, but nothing super exciting either. His mechanics and footwork look pretty sharp and consistent, but the physical tools and accuracy haven’t been what many would have hoped for yet.
Cooper Rush Has Tough Day
Trey Lance won’t have to be great if Cooper Rush isn’t very good, and that was the case on Thursday.
Throws from Rush during receiver drills and 7-on-7 were consistently off-target, and they were off-target in a variety of ways: High, short, wide, etc.
Rush has never been a great practice player, and yet he’s shown an ability to win football games in a pinch, so maybe this is nitpicking.
The Rookies Wait
When the Cowboys worked their first-team offensive line for short periods on Thursday, the group did not include first-round pick Tyler Guyton or third-round pick Cooper Beebe.
Listeners of Shan & RJ, GBag Nation, and Love of the Star have heard Bryan Broaddus and myself mention that it was almost a guarantee that veteran Chuma Edoga would begin camp at left tackle, and center Brock Hoffman would be snapping the ball. That’s exactly what took place during the first practice.
Bobby Belt
This isn’t cause for alarm just yet, but it is worth monitoring. Guyton is still a raw player, and Beebe hasn’t consistently played center during his career. With essentially the entire coaching staff on one-year deals looking to earn extensions, they may not want to add the growing pains of young players to their list of things to address.
Speaking of Beebe, he struggled with shotgun snaps during 7-on-7 period. Beebe’s snaps looked a little shaky throughout the period, and several were considerably off-target.
Pass Catchers Show Out
Practices like the one held on Thursday tend to showcase the abilities of skill players, especially wide receivers and tight ends, so it’s no surprise that most of the highlight reel moments came from that group.
Jalen Tolbert had the play of the day with an impressive diving catch near the goal line during team period. Dak Prescott led the ball a little too far outside of Tolbert’s outside shoulder, but the third year receiver did an impressive job of flipping his hips to the sideline and diving to make a finger-tip grab.
Some of the back-end of the depth chart receivers made nice plays as well. Tyron Billy-Johnson did a nice job tracking a throw down the sideline in double coverage, and Ryan Flournoy had a couple of impressive leaping grabs during receiver drills.
But the player who caught my eye the most during position drills was tight end John Stephens Jr., who the Cowboys are very high on. Stephens is a former receiver with a monstrous catch radius. At 6’5 and a little over 220 pounds, he moves with really impressive fluidity and showcases strong hands. There were a couple of passes that Stephens snatched out of the air on Thursday when they appeared to be a little out of his reach.
A Couple of Cameos
CB Trevon Diggs, who began camp on the PUP list, was working on the field opposite of the team for the final few periods of practice. He appeared to be moving well and didn’t look too far away from taking the field with the Cowboys.
Dallas was also paid a visit from an old friend: Former Pro Bowl Center Travis Frederick was in attendance with his family for practice. Frederick spent time catching up with Jerry Jones and Will McClay at the end of practice.
Frederick, who retired shortly after Jason Garrett wasn’t retained by the Cowboys, also spent a few minutes chatting it up with head coach Mike McCarthy.
