LOS ANGELES — Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy was seemingly ready to get on the charter back to Texas in the second quarter of Saturday’s 32-18 preseason victory against the Los Angeles.
Well before McCarthy earned his first preseason win as coach of the Cowboys, he made sure that there would be no delays in the team’s departure.
Following a touchdown that gave Cowboys a 13-10 lead, McCarthy called for a two-point conversion.
He said it did because he wanted to give backup quarterback Cooper Rush, who on a pitch count, an extra snap.
But McCarthy was leaving nothing too chance. McCarthy’s decision also made sure early that overtime wouldn’t come into play, keeping the Cowboys in California longer than necessary.
“It feels great [to go home],” McCarthy said. “I mean, it’s been great to be in Southern California. This has been an outstanding trip for us all the way around, but to a man, we’re all ready to go home.”
After 27 days, beginning in Oxnard, Calif., on July 25 and including four days in Denver for a practice and preseason game against the Broncos, the Cowboys are coming home.
The venture also included a train ride from Oxnard to Irvine for two days of practice against the Chargers in advance of Saturday’s preseason game.
The Cowboys are one of a handful of NFL teams that still go away from training camp. They are the only team that travels 1,500 across the country to do so.
Certainly, the 100-degree weather in Texas compared to the cool temperatures of Oxnard are a good justification for training on the west coast.
For the Cowboys it’s not only what’s best for football.
It’s also about the show.
And no one puts on a show better than owner Jerry Jones. However, sometimes the show is a detriment of what’s best for the football team.
The one-day practice with the Broncos in the high altitude before the preseason opener was unnecessary and quietly regretted by all involved.
And then after the Broncos game last Saturday, they flew back to Oxnard, arriving after 3 a.m. on Sunday. They took the day off, had two light practices and then took the train to Irvine for two practices with Chargers.
It would have made more sense to go from Denver to Irvine.
Clearly, the Cowboys needed the train ride.
“It’s definitely a challenge,” McCarthy said of the team’s barnstorming training camp. “Stress is an additive. You have to be in tune with everything. I am talking about the stress of traveling. It’s something you factor into to all those things. How we schedule. Going to Denver. Playing at Mile High. You look at those things.”
Credit McCarthy, who was happy and as giddy as he’s been in a long time after the Chargers game, for pushing all the right buttons and coming with a plan that worked for the Cowboys.
The Cowboys still have some questions to answer on the offensive line and at receiver but, by all accounts, they had a strong and productive training camp.
Quarterback Dak Prescott, along without about 20-25 starters and key veterans, didn’t play in either of the first two preseason games.
One year removed from a fractured ankle that sidelined him for the final 11 games of the 2020 season and limited his work heading into 2021, Prescott experienced no setbacks and missed no days in camp this year.
Vice president Stephen Jones said it was Prescott’s best camp.
“I thought he’s had his best camp that I’ve seen him have since he’s been a Cowboy,” Jones said. “Velocity, his accuracy, the whole thing. Obviously, as the quarterbacks get older, they get better. The good ones do. They get better every year. There’s no question in my mind, I think he’s had his best training camp he’s ever had.”
McCarthy’s decision to keep limited to practices and out of games was part of his plan of managing the team’s barnstorming camp but also getting the most out the situation for the veterans as well as litany of young players the team will be counting on to contribute in 2022.
Look for that plan to continue heading into Friday’s final preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks at AT&T Stadium.
No final decision has been made. But McCarthy said he plans to work Prescott and the starters hard in practice Wednesday and Thursday in keeping with the same schedule.
The starters got roughly 160 snaps in the two practices against the Chargers. They got more than 70 in the one practice against the Broncos.
“I like the way we have gone the past two weeks,” McCarthy said when asked about Prescott’s playing status for the Seattle game.
The thing McCarthy was most excited about was the amount work his young players like guard Tyler Smith and receiver Jalen Tolbert got against the Broncos and Chargers. They are among of host of young players the Cowboys are counting on to play big roles in 2022.
“This is the most experience I have ever been apart of for young players after two preseason games,” McCarthy said. “To play your young players this much in the first two preseason games is going to play dividends for us moving forward.”
The Cowboys did survive their barnstorming trip to California.
Was it the best way to prepare for the season?
Time will tell.
