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Fantasy football picks, sleepers, busts for Week 2 - Matthew Berry, ESPN
ESPN fantasy guru Matthew Berry offers the players he loves and hates for Week 2, and reminds you to not let one bad week change your mind about the players you liked when you drafted them. Two Cowboys rookies make his list, and here's what Berry has to say about them:
Quarterbacks I hate in Week 2
Dak Prescott, Cowboys: Not unless you get points for handoffs. There will be no need for Prescott to attempt a pass in this one, as Ezekiel Elliott will run all over Washington. So if you saw Ben Roethlisberger on Monday night and think Prescott will carve up Washington like he did, think again and look elsewhere in deep leagues or if searching for cheap DFS plays.
Running backs I love in Week 2
Ezekiel Elliott, Cowboys: "Mama, who is that bad, bad man?"
Dallas Cowboys: Troy Aikman: 'I really believe [the Cowboys] have something' with QB Dak Prescott - SportsDay
Troy Aikman recently joined KTCK 1310 The Ticket to talk all things football. Here's his take on Prescott.
I've come out of meetings with young quarterbacks and I've walked out and said, 'This guy, he does not have a chance in this game. I'm just telling you.' They go out there and they don't play well. You can just tell they're nervous, they're anxious. Things have to go really well for them early in order to get them to calm down. I didn't sense that at all with Dak. I really believe they have something with him. It's one game. He's got a long way to go, but the early signs [show that] he's one of the more impressive young quarterbacks I've been around.
Redskins' Josh Norman on Cowboys' Dez Bryant: 'A hard guy to control' - John Keim, ESPN
Josh Norman did some crowing after shutting down Dez Bryant in 2015, but as Sunday's Redskins-Cowboys tilt approaches, the corner's talking respect.
"Man, he’s a hard guy to control," Norman said. "Once he gets that motor going, it’s all she wrote. He’s a physical specimen. He gets the ball at the highest point. He’s a threat, man. He’s a threat. It will be exciting to see that again. Looking forward to it as always."
"You’ve got to respect the good ones, the great ones," Norman said. "You go out there and disrespect somebody once and they come back and they hear that and you go on the field and you see them torch you for 100-some yards. It will be a little issue there. You swallow a big piece of humble pie beyond that. I respect each and every one of them for what they do in their craft. Their freak athletes at the top of their games, elite as they come. I want to compare myself up against that. If I can come within a measure of that, I’ll be OK."
Prescott: 'I’m going to run the offense. If Dez is the read, Dez is the read' - Drew Davison, The Star-Telegram
Dak Prescott and the Cowboys are not going to change the way the offense is run in Dallas.
"I’m going to continue to run our offense. If Dez is the read, Dez is the read."
The Cowboys run a democratic approach on offense under coach Jason Garrett and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan. The quarterback is supposed to find the open receiver, whether it’s an All-Pro such as Bryant or a second-year tight end such as Geoff Swaim.
Should The Cowboys Force The Ball To Dez? - Cary Mageors, CBS DFW
No.
No way.
No, no, no, no.
Dez Bryant: "Of course I want passes, but it's more than me. I know my time is coming. We got a long way to go."
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) September 15, 2016
Week 1 Film Room: Missed Opportunities Galore For Cowboys - Marcus Mosher, Today's Pigskin
The Cowboys won't force it to Dez Bryant, but their young QB needs to start seeing him better, Mosher explains.
It’s understandable that the Cowboys were trying to play it conservative with a rookie quarterback on Sunday. But even as conservative as they were, they just missed opportunities, specifically to Bryant.
Slightly better ball placement and a tad more anticipation turns that game from a one-catch, eight yard performance to a multi-touchdown game for Bryant and probably a win. These things will happen with a young quarterback, though. You just hope he can grow from this point.
Recently-signed defensive end Ryan Davis might play against Redskins - Drew Davison, Star-Telegram
Davies thinks he could be ready to go for this Sunday’s game at Washington.
"I think I can get acclimated pretty quickly," Davis said. "It’s just about getting familiar with the playbook."
Davis signed with the Cowboys on Tuesday, and was working with the second-team defensive line in the early portion of Thursday’s practice that was open to reporters.
Cowboys' Ryan Davis wants to get up to speed quickly to help pass rush - Todd Archer, ESPN
Ryan Davis, who was among the Jaguars' final cuts, has more career sacks than anybody on the Cowboys' current roster.
The Cowboys might need Davis to play Sunday against the Washington Redskins. The quick turnaround is not ideal, but in 2013 the Cowboys had a handful of defensive linemen come in during the season who practiced two or three times and were forced to play.
Davis said there is some carryover in systems from Jacksonville to the Cowboys that will help him.
"Now it’s getting familiar with the playbook, and I’ve been in the playbook since I got here," Davis said. "For me it’s getting reps, mental reps and just learning that aspect of it because I feel like I can go out there and play. But at the same time I don’t want to go out there and do damage if I don’t know everything yet."
Dallas Cowboys pass rush remains work-in-progress but has shown potential - Drew Davison, The Star-Telegram
The Dallas Cowboys had two sacks in the opener. And even though it's just one game, that means that technically, they are on pace to surpass their season totals from the previous two seasons.
Statistically speaking, it was a decent outing, too. The New York Giants had only 18 first downs and 316 total yards. And holding an opponent to 20 points with what’s supposed to be a high-powered offense should typically translate to wins.
Still, questions remain about the pass rush and the Cowboys continue to search for answers. It’s telling that a guy signed off the streets earlier this week — Ryan Davis — could see meaningful snaps as early as Sunday in Washington.
The sky’s probably not the limit for the pass rush as a whole, but there are signs it can be better than expected. After all, the bar isn’t too high considering this is a team that had only 28 sacks in 2014 and 31 a season ago.
#Cowboys' Terrell McClain made a stop on 5 of 14 run snaps last weekend, the highest Run Stop % of any DT. pic.twitter.com/prynP7EQsL
— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) September 14, 2016
Alfred Morris Calls Free Agency 'Insulting' - Lauren Lapaglia, Pro Football Spot
Morris didn't like the free agency experience one bit.
According to ESPN's John Keim "The free-agency process was very insulting, to just say the least," Morris said in a conference call with the Washington media Wednesday. "I didn't like it one bit. I don't want to do it again."
"By the end of the year, I figured my time there was gone," said Morris, reflecting on when Washington drafted Matt Jones. "You're not the coach's guy, you're not the GM's guy, they draft a young guy. It's a business, so I expected that. They just had a different plan and I wasn't a part of it and that was OK."
Morris has a fresh start in Dallas. After four seasons in Washington, he's excited to bring something new to Dallas and get back to his 1,000 yard self. "I can't cry over spilled milk. I just had to go buy me another gallon."
Jerry Jones says on NFL Insiders that we could see more of RB Alfred Morris vs. Washington this week. Morris played just 18 snaps in Week 1.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 15, 2016
Cowboys Replay Sunday's Final Drive During Thursday's Practice - David Watkins, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
The Cowboys used Sunday's exact scenario to practice what went wrong on the final drive against the Giants.
During Thursday's practice, the Cowboys worked on that exact sequence again. Final drive, 65 seconds, down one and no timeouts. This time, Dak Prescott led a drive that resulted in a field goal and a win. However, it's just practice and it doesn't make up for Sunday's loss.
"It pisses you off having to recap it and think about it, but Coach Garrett he does work those situations, 2-minutes, competitive situations in practice a lot," said tight end Jason Witten.