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Cowboys have plenty of opportunity in 'highly winnable' NFC East | Tim Cowlishaw, Dallas Morning News
Cowlishaw wisely refrains from making a season prediction 'until we have seen the preseason games unfold around the league,' but considers the NFC East there for the taking. For everyone.
The NFC East has not produced a team with one of the league’s top eight records since 2010. It is highly winnable. For everyone.
The Eagles won it last year despite the perceived handicaps of a rookie head coach, a midseason quarterback change and a potentially divisive racial situation in the locker room. The Redskins won the East in 2012 with rookies at quarterback and running back after a 3-6 start.
And you want to eliminate the Cowboys because they lost a linebacker?
Justin Durant has inside track for MLB spot - Todd Archer, ESPN Dallas
In part two of his weekly mailbag, Archer addresses a number of questions, including one about the competition for the starting MLB spot.
@toddarcher: Justin Durant enters as the front-runner, for sure. Perhaps Rolando McClain gets in the mix if he shows up in shape and wanting to play football. Maybe DeVonte Holloman or Anthony Hitchens get in the mix, too. But Durant has the inside track for the job. The coaches like what he did last season and believe he can handle the spot. He is athletic enough. He is smart enough. Is he Sean Lee? Of course not. But he's not a poor player either. He doesn't have a lock on the job, but he is the closest to figuring out which key to use for that lock. Last season he had a difficult time staying healthy -- so did a lot of defenders -- so that could be worth watching this summer.
Barry Church embracing new role as leader, but vocal part ‘kind of tough for me’ | Michael Florek, DMN
Florek writes that secondary coaches Jerome Henderson and Joe Baker have asked Barry Church to be a more vocal leader. Apparently, the "quiet, let-my-play-do-the-talking-type of player" is not the model the Cowboys are looking for.
"I’m not a big rambunctious guy that’s out there rah rahing, so it takes a lot for me," Church said "I usually just lead by example but now they’re asking me to be more of a vocal leader. That’s kind of tough for me. I practiced a lot on it this off-season and I feel like I have a pretty good handle of it."
Cowboys’ J.J. Wilcox: I got caught up in the lights and fame as a rookie | Michael Florek, DMN
Add J. J. Wilcox to the long list of rookies who had a rude awakening in the NFL.
He said he got a wake up call after the first couple of games last year. "You see that you’re not as good as you think you are in this NFL," Wilcox said.
"As a rookie you don’t understand that. You’re caught in the lights, you’re caught in the fame. Your second year you understand that it’s a business."
Cowboys Matt Johnson 1-On-1 - Jordan Ross, Cowboys HQ
‘I almost didn't tell the trainers,' Matt Johnson tells Jordan Ross regarding a recent hamstring problem, ‘because I didn't want anyone to know.' But there's good news about the oft-injured Johnson as well.
"I know the defense much better now,'' said Johnson, who on paper has a chance to push young starter J.J. Wilcox for a job alongside veteran Barry Church. "I've studied the offense more, too, so I can understand the other side of the ball. It's all a lot slower for me now than it was in my first two seasons. I feel like I've improved a lot mentally, but it's tough not being out there for OTA's because I felt like I was getting a lot better every day."
Why is Cowboys DE DeMarcus Lawrence really tough, tenacious? Credit his childhood | Barry Horn, Dallas Morning News
Horn offers an in-depth profile of DeMarcus Lawrence, just the right thing to read on a lazy Sunday morning.
Top 10: Ranking Cowboys’ Best Players Heading Into Camp - DallasCowboys.com
The DC.com staff each voted on their top ten players, and when the votes were tallied, a safety came in as the highest ranked defender.
From an early age, it was destiny that I would be a Dallas Cowboy. #cowboysnation http://t.co/9yzTUqmw6M
— Ben Gardner (@BennyG49) July 20, 2014
