Cowboys news: Cowboys hope health woes won’t carry into regular season

How the Cowboys can turn a bad situation into a good one - Shane Carter, A to Z Dallas

Injuries have been an issue for the Cowboys to start OTA’s.

Another blow to the Dallas Cowboys defense. Specifically, the linebackers group. What is already a group depleted of depth is even smaller now.

Veteran LB Devante Bond hasn’t played in an NFL regular season game since October 8, 2020. After spending much of the 2021 season on the practice squad, Bond was looking to get back to the field. Unfortunately, he will have to wait another year to do so after suffering a season-ending knee injury during Thursday’s practice.

So what does this mean for the rest of the LBs?

Micah Parsons is the obvious defensive headliner, and Jabril Cox and Leighton Vander Esch are the likely starters beside him. With the loss of Bond, it’s made a tight competition for 2-3 extra roster spots even more wide open.

There are speculations out there for the Cowboys to seek out free agent help. But they continue to show that money talks loudest.

Undrafted rookie free agent, Markquese Bell, has taken snaps at both linebacker and safety. He’s already reportedly on the inside track to make the team, and this only helps his case. An A to ZSports Dallas favorite, Bell’s versatility and lack of veteran presence behind him really helps his chances.

Report: Former Cowboys HC Jason Garrett coming to NBC’s Sunday night pregame show - Todd Brock, Cowboys Wire

Jason Garrett to the NBC booth!

Last week it was speculation. Now it’s apparently real. Jason Garrett is coming to Sunday nights, and he’ll kick things off this fall with his old team in Week 1.

The former Dallas head coach will replace ex-Saints quarterback Drew Brees on NBC’s Football Night in America studio pregame show, according to the New York Post.

Brees’s future with the network is undecided; Garrett has also been mentioned as a possibility for replacing him in the NBC broadcast booth during Notre Dame football games.

Garrett, who spent a season-plus as offensive coordinator for the New York Giants after parting ways with the Cowboys following the 2019 season, has served as an analyst for NBC’s coverage of USFL games this spring and summer with Jac Collinsworth. Collinsworth is a candidate to take over play-by-play duties for the Notre Dame football season.

The Cowboys need Terence Steele to perform well and prove them right in 2022 - Matt Holleran, Blogging the Boys

Terence Steele will need to prove himself in his first year as the starting right tackle.

While it might not have come as a complete shock, the Dallas Cowboys releasing veteran tackle La’el Collins back in March was a strange move. Entering his eighth season in the league, Collins was coming off one of the better years of his career. In 2021, the 28-year-old recorded the highest run-block grade (89.7), and the second-highest offensive grade (80.2) of his career, according to Pro Football Focus.

While it did save some money, letting go of the proven veteran Collins showed the Cowboys have a tremendous amount of faith in third-year tackle Terence Steele. The 25-year-old’s first two seasons in the league have been filled with plenty of ups and downs.

In 2020, Steele was thrust into action after Tyron Smith’s season-ending injury. The then-rookie did not fare very well, as he surrendered the third-most sacks (9) and pressures (48) in football and recorded a 49.1 pass-block grade, via PFF.

Steele did not let his nightmare of a rookie season hold him down for very long, as he bounced back nicely in year two. Surprisingly, Steele ended up starting 13 of Dallas’ 17 regular season games last year and upped his level of play considerably. The tackle increased all three of his offensive grades by a large margin and allowed seven fewer sacks (2) and 17 fewer pressures (31).

When Steele played well, so did the Cowboys as a whole. In regular season games that the tackle recorded an offensive grade above 60, via PFF, Dallas was 7-2.

There were certainly some areas that Steele still struggled in, like being flagged for eight penalties, but overall his trajectory as a whole is looking much better than it did after his rookie year.

Steele faces a lot of pressure entering this year. His ability to perform will have a direct correlation on if the Cowboys will be able to find consistent success on offense this season. So much so that Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report labeled Steele as Dallas’ X-Factor for this season in a recent article.

Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor Member Don Perkins Dies at 84 - Shane Taylor, Inside the Star

Rest in peace, Don Perkins.

Dallas Cowboys ring of honor running back Don Perkins died at age 84, according to a team announcement on Thursday night.

Initially drafted by the Baltimore Colts in 1960, he was also a first-round pick of the New York Titans of the AFL that same year, a team that is now known as the New York Jets. Perkins instead joined the Cowboys in the franchise’s second season of existence.

He sat out the entire year due to a broken foot but returned the following season as a rookie in 1961. Perkins would go on to play eight NFL seasons, all with the Cowboys. He became the first Dallas Cowboy to rush for 100 yards in a game when he rushed for 108 yards on 17 carries against the Minnesota Vikings. He never finished a season with a per-rush average lower than 3.9 yards.

According to the Dallas Cowboys website, Perkins was a six-time Pro-Bowl selection, and in 1961 was named the NFL Rookie of the Year, following that up with All-Pro honors in 1962.

Perkins finished his career with 1,500 carries for 6,217 rushing yards which ranks him fourth all-time, and 42 touchdowns put him fifth only behind Emmitt Smith, Tony Dorsett, Ezekiel Elliott, and Marion Barber III. Perkins added another 1,310 receiving yards and three scores on 146 receptions.

Perkins was induction into the Cowboys Ring of Honor in 1976. The news of Perkins’ death comes just days after the organization learned about the passing of Barber.

Sam Williams Finds Himself With Quality Mentors - DallasCowboys.com

Sam Williams should have plenty of help in his rookie season.

FRISCO, Texas – Sam Williams has all of the tools at his disposal if he wants to succeed this season.

The Cowboys are leaning on their second-round draft pick from Ole Miss to help replace the production lost from Randy Gregory after he signed with Denver this offseason. The physical traits are all clearly present, but what about navigating the hustle and bustle of adjusting to life in the NFL?

Fortunately, the rookie defensive end has found himself under the tutelage of a guy who knows a thing or two about being dominant during his rookie season in Micah Parsons.

Parsons has been a calming influence and administered a healthy diet of advice for Williams, proving that the 23-year-old linebacker is already well ahead of his years in the maturity department.

“Micah has helped me out,” Williams said. “[He told me] I just need to terrify these guys and open pass rushing lanes, things that I can do. Just start off with speed. Once they get used to your speed, then it’s like a chess match. Now they have to figure out what I am doing.”

Parsons has not been the only person that has handed out advice to the talented rookie. In fact, it has not just been current teammates of Williams. It has also come from Pro Football Hall of Famer and former Cowboys’ great Charles Haley.

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