- Messages
- 4,604
- Reaction score
- 0
Why Witten-Jones, Lee-Elliott are matchups to keep an eye on at the Cowboys' training camp
By SportsDayDFW.com
Jon Machota and Brandon George of The Dallas Morning News are back with an all-new edition of Candidly Cowboys.
Jon Machota: Can they avoid that big injury in training camp that has specifically hurt the defense over these last three years?
Brandon George: They've had big defensive injuries. Tyrone Crawford was lost for an extended period of time in 2013. Then you had DeMarcus Lawrence in 2014 who was injured. And then everybody remebers last year in training camp when Orlando Scandrick and was out for the season. I think that's the big question, Jon. Can they avoid the big training camp injury? That'll be something we'll be following.
This defense, quite frankly, cannot afford a big training camp injury to any kind of marquee player. They just don't have many marquee players on that defensive side of the ball. If a Sean Lee or even a DeMarcus Lawrence-type player, or maybe even Brandon Carr goes down; you look at the depth at this defense and there's just not may players behind them that's going to be able to step in and contribute in a way that a Brandon Carr, Sean Lee or DeMarcus Lawrence can give what they give you. They're only out there for about three weeks in California so they're not going to push these guys maybe as hard as they have sometimes in the past. They'll pull off them a little bit.
...
Jon Machota: Brandon and I were at all three of these training camps when these injuries happened. We'll tell you that don't think for a second it's just because they were super-physical practices that were out of control.
...
Jason Garrett structures these training camp practices to be competitive, but at the same time goal No. 1, and I don't care what anybody says, is getting through these things healthy. Freak injuries have bit them. I mean you had Sean Lee in the OTAs. It wasn't any big-time play he was making or anything like that. They weren't even in pads. Knee planted the wrong way. Twist. Boom. Done for the season. DeMarcus Lawrence, Tyrone Crawford are both injuries that happened in drills early in camp. Orlando Scandrick's happened late in camp.
It's bad luck on their part. I definitely don't look at their training camp practices and think that it looks anything like what you would have imagined in the '80s or '90s or anytime before that. The goal is to get through these things with those guys healthy. Obviously they want them to be in game shape. They want them to be to ready. They want them to compete. They want them to be ready to roll, but at the same time they want these guys to be healthy.
Some battles we're looking forward to
The tale of the tape for one matchup that Jon Machota and Brandon George are looking forward to at training camp this year.
Jon Machota: What will be the best training camp battles? In the past there's been some great ones with Sean Lee and ... DeMarco Murray. Great battles between those two guys, even when the pads weren't on. Always heated. Obviously there were other ones like DeMarcus Ware and Tyron Smith early in Tyron's career. What kind of camp battles, Brandon, do you have your eye on going into this year's training camp?
Brandon George: The one that stands out to me ... I think you'll see Ezekiel Elliott and Sean Lee and pick up where DeMarco Murray left off. I think you'll see some intense battles with Elliott and Sean Lee there. Especially if you see Zeke maybe lined up in the slot or he's kind of a single backfield and he gets into the secondary. I think you'll see some intensity there with Sean Lee. I think that'll be fun to watch. Sean Lee is as an intense competitor as you'll have. That's the way he approaches all these training camp practices. Any time you get to see him against a rookie that maybe has a little attitude or a chip on his shoulder, I think it'll be fun to watch that battle. Jon what do you think? What jumps out to you as far as battles go?
Jon Machota: I gotta just roll with what we saw in offseason workouts and I gotta go back to Jason Witten and Byron Jones. Those were the best ones in OTAs and minicamp. The plays were very competitive. You gotta give the edge to Jason Witten. First of all, he's a savvy veteran. One of the greatest tight ends to play the game. Him and [Tony] Romo are playing catch, which they've done as long as pretty much anybody in the NFL has done in it in the current NFL setting.
The advantage is going to go to Witten in those settings. Also the fact that Byron is playing physical but at the same time they don't have pads on. He's not trying to injure Jason Witten. He can only take it so far. When the pads come on though I think is when it's going to be real interesting because Byron's a competitor. Jason Witten is as competitive as they come. When the pads come on I think you see a lot more trash talking. I think you see a lot more physical play between the two of them.
That's great for Byron Jones and the growth of the safety position. Jason Witten is going to be able to give him he ins and outs of everything he's been able to see throughout his career playing the position what he's seen from other safeties. That can only help Byron Jones grow as a player going forward. That'd be at the top of my list. I'm very interested.
The ones that are most fun to watch I really feel like are the defensive line and the offensive line when they're just kind of circled up going one-on-one in front of the entire team just trying to get to the quarterback. Any time these defensive linemen beat any of these offensive linemen it's going to be a big deal. We're going to make a big deal of it. I'm telling you that right now. Any time that happens that's going to be a huge deal. No one is expecting that to happen. This is the best offensive line in football going against a defensive line that not many people are expecting a ton from.
Brandon George: Going back to Witten real quickly. He's probably one of the most underrated trash talkers in the league as well. You'll see a lot of that where he'll say something under his breath and he'll kind of get in the face of Byron Jones or someone like that. It's going to be fun to watch.
You mentioned the offensive line vs. the defensive line. I think one of the battles that really jumps out to me is Charles Tapper, the rookie out of Oklahoma, vs. Tyron Smith at left tackle. It'd be interesting to see if [Tapper] can get around Tyron Smith on the outside. If he can't get around him, does he have enough power to get through him? That's going to be fun to watch as that develops in training came to see where Charles Tapper stands early on in his rookie season going against a Pro Bowl left tackle like Tyron Smith.
By SportsDayDFW.com
Jon Machota and Brandon George of The Dallas Morning News are back with an all-new edition of Candidly Cowboys.
Jon Machota: Can they avoid that big injury in training camp that has specifically hurt the defense over these last three years?
Brandon George: They've had big defensive injuries. Tyrone Crawford was lost for an extended period of time in 2013. Then you had DeMarcus Lawrence in 2014 who was injured. And then everybody remebers last year in training camp when Orlando Scandrick and was out for the season. I think that's the big question, Jon. Can they avoid the big training camp injury? That'll be something we'll be following.
This defense, quite frankly, cannot afford a big training camp injury to any kind of marquee player. They just don't have many marquee players on that defensive side of the ball. If a Sean Lee or even a DeMarcus Lawrence-type player, or maybe even Brandon Carr goes down; you look at the depth at this defense and there's just not may players behind them that's going to be able to step in and contribute in a way that a Brandon Carr, Sean Lee or DeMarcus Lawrence can give what they give you. They're only out there for about three weeks in California so they're not going to push these guys maybe as hard as they have sometimes in the past. They'll pull off them a little bit.
...
Jon Machota: Brandon and I were at all three of these training camps when these injuries happened. We'll tell you that don't think for a second it's just because they were super-physical practices that were out of control.
...
Jason Garrett structures these training camp practices to be competitive, but at the same time goal No. 1, and I don't care what anybody says, is getting through these things healthy. Freak injuries have bit them. I mean you had Sean Lee in the OTAs. It wasn't any big-time play he was making or anything like that. They weren't even in pads. Knee planted the wrong way. Twist. Boom. Done for the season. DeMarcus Lawrence, Tyrone Crawford are both injuries that happened in drills early in camp. Orlando Scandrick's happened late in camp.
It's bad luck on their part. I definitely don't look at their training camp practices and think that it looks anything like what you would have imagined in the '80s or '90s or anytime before that. The goal is to get through these things with those guys healthy. Obviously they want them to be in game shape. They want them to be to ready. They want them to compete. They want them to be ready to roll, but at the same time they want these guys to be healthy.
Some battles we're looking forward to
The tale of the tape for one matchup that Jon Machota and Brandon George are looking forward to at training camp this year.
Jon Machota: What will be the best training camp battles? In the past there's been some great ones with Sean Lee and ... DeMarco Murray. Great battles between those two guys, even when the pads weren't on. Always heated. Obviously there were other ones like DeMarcus Ware and Tyron Smith early in Tyron's career. What kind of camp battles, Brandon, do you have your eye on going into this year's training camp?
Brandon George: The one that stands out to me ... I think you'll see Ezekiel Elliott and Sean Lee and pick up where DeMarco Murray left off. I think you'll see some intense battles with Elliott and Sean Lee there. Especially if you see Zeke maybe lined up in the slot or he's kind of a single backfield and he gets into the secondary. I think you'll see some intensity there with Sean Lee. I think that'll be fun to watch. Sean Lee is as an intense competitor as you'll have. That's the way he approaches all these training camp practices. Any time you get to see him against a rookie that maybe has a little attitude or a chip on his shoulder, I think it'll be fun to watch that battle. Jon what do you think? What jumps out to you as far as battles go?
Jon Machota: I gotta just roll with what we saw in offseason workouts and I gotta go back to Jason Witten and Byron Jones. Those were the best ones in OTAs and minicamp. The plays were very competitive. You gotta give the edge to Jason Witten. First of all, he's a savvy veteran. One of the greatest tight ends to play the game. Him and [Tony] Romo are playing catch, which they've done as long as pretty much anybody in the NFL has done in it in the current NFL setting.
The advantage is going to go to Witten in those settings. Also the fact that Byron is playing physical but at the same time they don't have pads on. He's not trying to injure Jason Witten. He can only take it so far. When the pads come on though I think is when it's going to be real interesting because Byron's a competitor. Jason Witten is as competitive as they come. When the pads come on I think you see a lot more trash talking. I think you see a lot more physical play between the two of them.
That's great for Byron Jones and the growth of the safety position. Jason Witten is going to be able to give him he ins and outs of everything he's been able to see throughout his career playing the position what he's seen from other safeties. That can only help Byron Jones grow as a player going forward. That'd be at the top of my list. I'm very interested.
The ones that are most fun to watch I really feel like are the defensive line and the offensive line when they're just kind of circled up going one-on-one in front of the entire team just trying to get to the quarterback. Any time these defensive linemen beat any of these offensive linemen it's going to be a big deal. We're going to make a big deal of it. I'm telling you that right now. Any time that happens that's going to be a huge deal. No one is expecting that to happen. This is the best offensive line in football going against a defensive line that not many people are expecting a ton from.
Brandon George: Going back to Witten real quickly. He's probably one of the most underrated trash talkers in the league as well. You'll see a lot of that where he'll say something under his breath and he'll kind of get in the face of Byron Jones or someone like that. It's going to be fun to watch.
You mentioned the offensive line vs. the defensive line. I think one of the battles that really jumps out to me is Charles Tapper, the rookie out of Oklahoma, vs. Tyron Smith at left tackle. It'd be interesting to see if [Tapper] can get around Tyron Smith on the outside. If he can't get around him, does he have enough power to get through him? That's going to be fun to watch as that develops in training came to see where Charles Tapper stands early on in his rookie season going against a Pro Bowl left tackle like Tyron Smith.
