Cowboys news: Tony Pollard slowly working through OTA after successful surgery

Cowboys’ Mike McCarthy: Tony Pollard participating in OTAs on a reduced tempo, has chance to be ‘lead back’ - CBS Sports, Garrett Podell

RB1 is back on the field.

Everything is lining up for a massive Tony Pollard season with the Dallas Cowboys in 2023.

The 26-year-old earned his first Pro Bowl selection after the 2022 season because of a career-high 1,378 scrimmage yards and 12 total touchdowns. He topped 1,000 rushing yards for the first time, and 75% of his scoring was on the ground with nine rushing touchdowns. Despite suffering a fractured fibula in the Cowboys’ season-ending NFC Divisional Round playoff defeat at the San Francisco 49ers, Dallas head coach and play-caller Mike McCarthy said Thursday that Pollard is participating on a reduced tempo, per the Dallas Morning News.

That’s a significant development for the Cowboys and Pollard, whose 5.9 yards per touch led the NFL among players with at least 200 touches in 2022. Just as notable is that with the Cowboys releasing Ezekiel Elliott — one of their franchise leaders whose 3.9 yards per touch was dead last in the league among players with at least 200 touches last season — it’s Tony time in Dallas.

Mike McCarthy on new Cowboys coaches around Dak Prescott: ‘It’s a continuation’ - CowboysWire - Todd Brock

Dak’s first offensive coordinator change in four years.

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott finds himself surrounded by a lot of new faces as OTAs get going in Dallas. And not just guys in the offensive huddle, like Brandin Cooks or Luke Schoonmaker or Deuce Vaughn. Even when Prescott gets back to the sideline or the meeting room, he’ll notice there’s been a lot of turnover since last season.

Kellen Moore is gone. So is Doug Nussmeier. As offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach respectively, theirs were the voices Prescott heard most often under head coach Mike McCarthy’s tenure over the past three seasons.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a transition; I think it’s a continuation,” the coach told reporters Thursday from The Star.

NFL’s most underappreciated players: Kirk Cousins, Osa Odighizuwa among NFC picks - NFL.com, Cynthia Frelund

Odighizuwa racking up some well-earned hype after season two.

First, I calculate and then rank each player’s season-long contribution metric by team (win share). To sum it up without getting overly technical, the contribution metric (or win share) measures each player’s production during the previous season. The metric encompasses a value for every snap by each player and reveals each player’s contribution to the team’s overall win total. After making those calculations, I factor in each player’s salary by position (contract data via Over The Cap) to add some context around who was being “underappreciated.”

APY: $1.271 million (rookie contract; 111th among interior defensive linemen).

In his second pro season, Odighizuwa had an average pass-rush get-off of 0.96 seconds, per NGS, ranking 11th among defensive tackles. He piled up 26 stops in run defense and 31 pressures as a pass rusher. That latter figure is more than the combined pressures of all other Cowboys defensive tackles (30). He also single-handedly outproduced his Dallas DT cohorts in sacks (four to three). Odighizuwa feels like an exceptional fit in Dan Quinn’s defense.

NFL Coaches on Hot Seat Before 2023 Season Starts - Bleacher Report, Alex Kay

Head play-caller and head coach usually get the bulk of the blame, now that blame may be placed upon one guy.

It’s been nearly three decades since the Dallas Cowboys last competed in an NFC Championship Game. That is an excruciatingly long time to go without even earning a chance to compete in a Super Bowl, especially for an organization that dominated on the biggest stages in the 1990s.

The team may be doing well enough in the regular season to seem like contenders, but Dallas has been consistently outfoxed in the playoffs during the Mike McCarthy era.

While McCarthy said he’s in an “excellent spot” with Jerry Jones and claimed that the team owner wants to have him on the Dallas sidelines for as long as Tom Landry was—the Hall of Famer was at the reins of the organization for 29 years and won two Super Bowls and an NFL Championship—it’s hard to envision a scenario in which he continues in his current role without at least getting to a conference championship game this year.

‘I Don’t Care!’ Cowboys’ KaVontae Turpin Takes Bold Stance Against New NFL Rule - CowboysCountry, Richie Whitt

Fair to say KaVontae Turpin doesn't like the new rule.

The 2023 NFL season has itself a controversial new rule change that will surely mean fewer kickoff returns. ... unless Dallas Cowboys return man KaVontae Turpin gets his way.

“I don’t care,’’ Turpin said.

What is the Pro Bowl return man’s reasoning? First, to the new NFL plan: Under the new rule, if a kickoff returner calls for a fair catch anywhere inside the 25-yard line, the result will be the same as a touchback. Instead of the ball being placed at the 20-yard line, the ball will now be placed at the 25-yard line.

“I don’t care (about the new rule), because I’m not fair-catching nothing,’’ said Turpin, who made the Pro Bowl last year as an electric rookie coming into the league from the USFL, via DallasCowboys.com. ”I’m being real with you — nothing.’’

Blogging The Boys Podcast Network and YouTube Channel

We offer a different show every single day on the Blogging The Boys podcast network, and on weekdays we offer two different shows every single day.

• Monday: 1st and 10 with Tony Catalina & Aidan Davis
• Monday: Hidden Yardage with Mark Lane and Sean Martin
• Tuesday: The Writer’s Block with Jess Nevarez and Brandon Loree
• Tuesday: BTB Roundtable with various BTB Staffers
• Wednesday: NFC East Mixtape with RJ Ochoa and Brandon Lee Gowton
• Wednesday: Talkin’ The Star with Connor Livesay
• Thursday: The Ocho with RJ Ochoa
• Thursday: Ryled Up with Roy White and Tom Ryle
• Friday: Girls Talkin’ Boys with Kelsey Charles and Meg Murray
• Friday: The Star Seminar with Danny Phantom and Rabblerousr
• Saturday: The World’s Team with Meg Murray and Paul Stewart

Also every single weekday features a roundup episodes of sorts similar to these news headlines that catches you up on everything that you need to know! Make sure to listen to Dallas Cowboys Daily hosted by Jess Nevarez from Monday through Friday. We also offer live shows every weekday afternoon on the Blogging The Boys YouTube Channel.

The Blogging The Boys podcast network is available on all major podcast platforms.

Subscribe here on Apple devices.

Subscribe here if you are a Spotify user.