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The Cowboys were back on the practice fields today for their second day of the mandatory minicamp practices. Here’s all of the interesting sights, notes, and quotes from today’s practice.
The first thing that must be mentioned is that the Cowboys and Zack Martin finally reached the terms on a monstrous deal:
The total deal for All-Pro right guard Zack Martin is seven years for $93.41 million and includes a $20 million signing bonus, according to a source. As Adam Schefter reported, the guaranteed money is $40 million. The Cowboys created around $3 million... https://t.co/q8ovYSiQRg
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) June 13, 2018
The previous highest paid guard was Andrew Norwell at $13.3 million Zack Martin blew that away at $14 million Only Giants T Nate Solder has a high per year average at $15.5 million.
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) June 13, 2018
This offensive line is going to be around for a while, folks!
So Cowboys RG Zack Martin is now signed through the 2024 season. His deal in total now is for the next seven years for $93,341,000. LT Tyron Smith and C Travis Frederick are both signed through 2023.
— Brandon George (@DMN_George) June 13, 2018
Another awesome sight besides the Cowboys O-line being intact was former Cowboys backup QB Babe Laufenberg’s son, Luke, who is currently cancer-free after a lengthy battle, covering Ezekiel Elliott:
Highlight of today’s minicamp practice: @BabeLaufenberg’s son @LukeLaufenberg was in attendance. He is now cancer-free after battling Burkitt’s Leukemia. At one point, Jason Garrett called Luke onto the field to get in some defensive work against Ezekiel Elliott and others pic.twitter.com/03aVOduc4N
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) June 13, 2018
The Cowboys have also been very happy to have David Irving back on the field, including the guy that has practice against him:
Dak Prescott on David Irving back with the team: "It's great. He's a guy who is going to make a difference on Sunday and we need him back. He's got a great personality for this team and we're excited to have him back."
— Brandon George (@DMN_George) June 13, 2018
The media caught up with quarterback Dak Prescott today and asked a variety of questions from his “steal” of the offseason plus his training regimen with a month off coming:
Dak Prescott is impressed by the Cowboys newest offensive weapon, Tavon Austin, who was picked up in a trade from the Los Angeles Rams during the draft. "He's a steal," Prescott said. https://t.co/ctGk7vNOzm
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) June 13, 2018
Prescott’s not the only guy who’s excited about Tavon Austin, RB’s coach Gary Brown has been more than impressed:
Cowboys RB coach Gary Brown high on Tavon Austin as counterpunch to Zeke: He can flip the field at any moment with his speed, explosiveness, change of direction.
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) June 13, 2018
The Cowboys coaches and trainers have emphasized conditioning, including changing the way they end their practices:
Dak Prescott on Cowboys ending practices now with sprints: "It's definitely different but everybody on this team is embracing it. That's how you win. You've got to be conditioned first and know what you're doing. That's kind of the main reason we're doing it."
— Brandon George (@DMN_George) June 13, 2018
Dak Prescott said he'll take a little time off before training camp but keep his body right so he's in shape and ready to go.
— Brandon George (@DMN_George) June 13, 2018
Often a forgotten man, Terrance Williams has continued to rehab his broken foot as Scott Linehan made mention of:
Scott Linehan said Cowboys WR Terrance Williams is "right on course" rehabbing broken foot, hopeful to be ready for training camp. Williams hasn't practiced at offseason program though he's been at Star
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) June 13, 2018
Though it’s only mandatory minicamp, Drew Davison of Star-Telegram, has pointed out that the defense has been shining brighter than the offense in these practices.
“Drop sequence. As stated, the Cowboys offense struggled to catch passes on Wednesday, particularly during one stretch of seven-on-seven drills.
Backup quarterback Cooper Rush threw a strike to Rod Smith, who bobbled it and had it broken up by linebacker Damien Wilson; rookie Michael Gallup dropped a pass by Rush; and then rookie running back Bo Scarbrough had a drop, borderline fumble, on a pass from fellow rookie QB Mike White.”
It’s not uncommon for the offense to start slower than a defense, it’s been a running theme the past few offseasons. As the offense builds continuity with a lot of new faces, it won’t be long before they’re routinely making plays in practice. It’s a give/take relationship between the two sides of the ball.
“It’s a work-in-progress,” quarterback Dak Prescott said. “We’re not anywhere where we want to be, but we know the strides we need to make. We know where we need to get to, so we’re not going to stress too much or get too frustrated over a few drops here and there. Obviously I missed throws, so it’s part of it.
”But we’re definitely getting better. That’s the main importance of this right now.”
One guy who has garnered some attention is Byron Jones, he made an incredible breakup on Allen Hurns yesterday and was back at it:
Safety-turned-cornerback Byron Jones made a couple noticeable plays early on. He dropped what should have been an interception on a poor throw by Prescott to Gallup, but rebounded the following play with a nice breakup when Prescott tried to go back to Gallup.
If you got less than half an hour to spare, check out Bryan Broaddus and Ambar Garcia give you all of their takeaways from these past two days:
LIVE from The Star- @AmbarGarciaTV & @BryanBroaddus wrap up the first two days of #DallasCowboys mini camp. https://t.co/sTEEm62Naq
— Somos Cowboys (@SomosCowboys) June 13, 2018
That’s about it for the second day of Cowboys minicamp, soak it in because after Thursday, it’ll be a long six weeks until training camp!
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