Mike McCarthy press conference: Andy Dalton, Tyrone Crawford will be activated off COVID list, Brandon Knight to practice

Coach Mike McCarthy is settling back into a regular routine after the bye week, and that includes press conferences. The coach met with the media today to update everyone on the status of the Cowboys. (All answers are paraphrased and not actual quotes).

Cowboys coaching staff bubble

The Dallas Cowboys have had discussions about the creation of a bubble for the staff as far as combatting Covid-19 is concerned. Mike McCarthy noted that the Cowboys obviously have the resources with the Omni Hotel being connected to The Star and that this has been a constant conversation with Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones, Will McClay, and Todd Williams. He noted the center of those talks have been about how the team can improve especially around the coaching staff and their families and the program of testing.

Scouting for the draft

McCarthy noted that Will McClay’s staff is hard at work in preparations of the draft and they are having meetings with the scouts who are off-site.

Andy Dalton and Tyrone Crawford

McCarthy said that both Andy Dalton and Tyrone Crawford will be activated to the team’s roster today. Dalton is coming back from both being in the concussion protocol and on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, Crawford was only on the latter.

Vikings run game

McCarthy noted that Minnesota does a great job of committing to the run and that you can see how comfortable Dalvin Cook is in Gary Kubiak’s system. He added that the Vikings do a great job with the keep and boot game off of their run prowess and noted that stopping them will be a challenge. He also complimented the speed that they utilize the wide zone run game.

Getting the playbook back

Andy Dalton is the primary backup quarterback for the Cowboys so it is possible that parts of the playbook open up with his return considering that he has had a lot more time to work with the team than say Garrett Gilbert did. McCarthy noted that while this is true in theory and that there is a larger “menu” to pick from the focus is consistency.

Brandon Knight

Coach said that offensive tackle Brandon Knight will practice on Wednesday, but that doesn’t mean that he will necessarily be active any time in the immediate future. He has a 21-day window to be put back on the roster.

Tyler Biadasz

McCarthy said that Biadasz is progressing from his injury but they won’t know anything until later this week as they work on offensive line combinations.

Mike Zimmer

Coach noted that Zimmer obviously puts together great defenses and that his players all play the same way which is a real credit to his coaching style.

Ron’Dell Carter

Another familiar face is back with the Cowboys in Ron’Dell Carter and McCarthy said that he is a great fit for what they want to do on the defensive front. He likes his versatility along the line and his ability to play multiple techniques. He said Carter brought a pass rush game with him from college.

Ezekiel Elliott production struggles

McCarthy noted that the Cowboys have gone back and looked back at everything that has happened to this point. He noted that the Cowboys have two glaring negatives as a football team, penalties and the turnover differential. He talked about how you continue to emphasize this and plan around it in a given week, but that at the end of the day all players need to try and create positive opportunities. He also added that the Cowboys - and everyone else in the world - are operating in extremely unprecedented times and that he is proud of how his players continue to bring energy week in and week out.

Quick turnaround

Things are going to happen quickly for the Cowboys over the next week as they will play the Washington Football Team on Thanksgiving Day after their Minnesota game. Asked if the Cowboys would have another punter around to prepare for things he noted he did not have any specifics.

Trevon Diggs

Coach noted that Diggs will be placed on IR.