By Tim Cowlishaw , Staff Columnist Contact Tim Cowlishaw on Twitter: @TimCowlishaw
Tim Cowlishaw, sports columnist for SportsDayDFW.com and The Dallas Morning News, author of Drunk on Sports and panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn, answered your questions in a live chat recently. Here are some highlights:
Question: Do you think there is any tension at all between the Cowboys and Dez after these reports saying that he's been fined for not showing up?
Cowlishaw: I don't think the fines create the tension. I'm sure Dez expected to be fined. The tension is that the team after all these years and incidents and coddling him and now paying him as an elite receiver still can't trust him to simply show up for work. That's a bad thing.
Question: So now we've learned that Dez tried to avoid the MRI because he feared he had a more serious injury? What's the heck is going on in Frisco?!
Cowlishaw: They can move from Valley Ranch to the beautiful Star, but it remains the same dysfunctional team. No control of the players. Haven't had any for years. Poor decisions by Dez. Great player, horrible leader.
Question: Was Greg Hardy's NFL career over before this week's arrest on a cocaine charge?
Cowlishaw: Good question, I would say it was 90 percent over. Maybe a team desperate for pass rush help might have put in a call after the start of a season? But now, yeah, you can close the lid on that one.
Question: With Charles Tapper landing on the injured reserve, it sure looks like the Cowboys are going to go all season without getting any contributions from their top two 2016 draft picks on the defensive side of the ball (Tapper, Jaylon Smith). Couldn't really predict Tapper's status, but does all this make the Smith pick look even worse?
Cowlishaw: I wouldn't look it at that way. I think the Smith pick was a bad pick, not because he's a bad player but he's someone who might never be a truly effective player for you. No one knows. He's the kind of pick New England or Denver might be able to afford to make. Not a team that sorely needed help on defense and was taking long shot flyers instead.
Question: RIGHT NOW, are the Eagles the best team in the NFC East?
Cowlishaw: RIGHT NOW? Those capital letters are pretty intimidating. Yes at the moment they are although I don't think there's a significant difference between the Eagles, Giants and Cowboys. Washington bounced back into the discussion a little with that win in New York but they lost twice at home already. Eagles have the best defense. Not sure we all saw that coming. Wentz is really dumping it off and having remarkable success. Not sure that will sustain. Eagles running game hit and miss. Cowboys have best running game. But injuries mounting on the Dallas offense. So, subject to change in a very fluid league, I would rank them Eagles-Giants-Cowboys in that order.
Question: What three Cowboys to do you think would make great coaches after their playing careers are over?
Cowlishaw: I have no earthly idea. Who are the best coaches in the NFL? Belichick is No. 1 by a long shot. Then there's Tomlin and Pete Carroll and Bruce Arians and Andy Reid. Now what kind of NFL players were these guys? You rarely find good players in the NFL that become good head coaches. Harbaugh one of the main exceptions.
Tim Cowlishaw, sports columnist for SportsDayDFW.com and The Dallas Morning News, author of Drunk on Sports and panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn, answered your questions in a live chat recently. Here are some highlights:
Question: Do you think there is any tension at all between the Cowboys and Dez after these reports saying that he's been fined for not showing up?
Cowlishaw: I don't think the fines create the tension. I'm sure Dez expected to be fined. The tension is that the team after all these years and incidents and coddling him and now paying him as an elite receiver still can't trust him to simply show up for work. That's a bad thing.
Question: So now we've learned that Dez tried to avoid the MRI because he feared he had a more serious injury? What's the heck is going on in Frisco?!
Cowlishaw: They can move from Valley Ranch to the beautiful Star, but it remains the same dysfunctional team. No control of the players. Haven't had any for years. Poor decisions by Dez. Great player, horrible leader.
Question: Was Greg Hardy's NFL career over before this week's arrest on a cocaine charge?
Cowlishaw: Good question, I would say it was 90 percent over. Maybe a team desperate for pass rush help might have put in a call after the start of a season? But now, yeah, you can close the lid on that one.
Question: With Charles Tapper landing on the injured reserve, it sure looks like the Cowboys are going to go all season without getting any contributions from their top two 2016 draft picks on the defensive side of the ball (Tapper, Jaylon Smith). Couldn't really predict Tapper's status, but does all this make the Smith pick look even worse?
Cowlishaw: I wouldn't look it at that way. I think the Smith pick was a bad pick, not because he's a bad player but he's someone who might never be a truly effective player for you. No one knows. He's the kind of pick New England or Denver might be able to afford to make. Not a team that sorely needed help on defense and was taking long shot flyers instead.
Question: RIGHT NOW, are the Eagles the best team in the NFC East?
Cowlishaw: RIGHT NOW? Those capital letters are pretty intimidating. Yes at the moment they are although I don't think there's a significant difference between the Eagles, Giants and Cowboys. Washington bounced back into the discussion a little with that win in New York but they lost twice at home already. Eagles have the best defense. Not sure we all saw that coming. Wentz is really dumping it off and having remarkable success. Not sure that will sustain. Eagles running game hit and miss. Cowboys have best running game. But injuries mounting on the Dallas offense. So, subject to change in a very fluid league, I would rank them Eagles-Giants-Cowboys in that order.
Question: What three Cowboys to do you think would make great coaches after their playing careers are over?
Cowlishaw: I have no earthly idea. Who are the best coaches in the NFL? Belichick is No. 1 by a long shot. Then there's Tomlin and Pete Carroll and Bruce Arians and Andy Reid. Now what kind of NFL players were these guys? You rarely find good players in the NFL that become good head coaches. Harbaugh one of the main exceptions.
