Dallas Cowboys OTAs: What The Assistant Coaches Are Saying

Cowboys' multiple offensive voices will preach one message ... simplicity | David Moore, DMN
David Moore wonders whether the Cowboys may have collected too many signal callers over the years, and whether confusion will trump clarity on offense. Scott Linehan argues that won't be the case:

"You can talk all you want about the creativity of offensive football. I think the best offensive coaches keep things pretty simple, find ways to run the same things different ways so the guys can get good at basic principles. You can do too much pretty easily if you’re not careful.’’

"[Garrett's] big emphasis was to prune things down, to get to basics, get to principles that we believe in, what we like and then build back up off that,’’ Linehan said. "You can take it to the simplest form, then all get anxious to start adding our wrinkles to things and all that stuff, but that’s a secondary goal. The primary goal is to get really good at the basic principles — what to do in the run and pass game.’’

"The biggest challenge is not to get too infatuated with a lot of different plays, but maybe the same play a lot of different ways,’’ Linehan said.

DB Coach Seeks Even Rotation With Top Three Corners - Nick Eatman, DallasCowboys.com
We've already established that there will be a lot of rotation on the defensive line, perhaps even in the entire front seven. Add the corners to that list, according to secondary coach Jerome Henderson:

"We’ve got three corners who we think are starting-caliber corners," Henderson said walking off the practice field Tuesday. "We’re just rotating those guys and getting them all reps and getting them ready to play. We knew that last year. That hasn’t changed."

Cowboys Corner: Receivers coach says Beasley has added to 'route inventory' and will have to play more than just slot
Looks like Beasley will get a chace to play more outside than he has in the past.

"We’re moving him around a little bit. He’s going to have to play some outside," Dooley said after Tuesday’s practice. "But he’s really expanded his route inventory, so because of that, he’s going to be a much better player than he was last year. And he was really valuable to us last year."

"Sometimes you want a little longer, rangier guy in the slot, and sometimes you want a guy with a little more quickness in short areas in the slot," Dooley said. "It’s just good to be versatile. I think one of the things that helped Dez last year was moving him around, and when they don’t know where you are, it starts putting pressure on their coverages. It’s no different with Cole."

"Especially on third down, he was really effective," Dooley said. "The teams that just played him with one guy really sturggled to win. So they had to, later in the season, be aware of where No. 11 was. Two things come from that: it opens up the other players to make plays. The second thing is, now Cole has to continue to build his route inventory to get a little more downfield."

Gary Brown Thinks Cowboys Need To Keep A Fullback - Rowan Kavner, DallasCowboys.com
Instead of taking this as an indictment of the blocking abilities of the tight ends, we'll take this as an endorsement of the two fullbacks currently on the roster. For both fullbacks, their time to shine will come when the pads get on.

"If you look at the teams who are winning it – Seattle, Baltimore – they all have a running game and they have that fullback in there for that presence, that physical toughness you have to have when you want to close games out."

"He’s another guy we’re not going to see what his full potential is until he puts the pads on," Brown said of Copeland. "His reputation is as a huge blocker. When he gets those pads on, we’ll see what he can really do."