OXNARD, Calif. — Quarterback Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys starters will practice Thursday against the Denver Broncos.
They will not play in Saturday’s preseason opener, which will be reserved for the young players on the team.
Coach Mike McCarthy believes they can get more quality work done in practice with starters than they would by playing them for a series or two in the preseason, as they did in the past.
With just three preseason games, McCarthy said the work in the joint practices will take precedence. Teams played four preseason games prior to 2021.
After the trip to Denver, the Cowboys have two joint practices next week against the Los Angeles Chargers before their preseason game in Los Angeles, Aug. 20. And the plan will be the same. The starters will only work in the practices.
“It doesn’t make a lot of sense to give a group of guys one series,” McCarthy said. “I’ve had two Hall of Fame veteran quarterbacks throw a touchdown on a first play and we’d laugh about it. No matter what you called the ball was going down the field just to get their one series out of the way. So, I’m not a fan of that.
“It would be the same with Dak, it’s not how much he plays, it’s who he plays with. That’s why I like what we’re trying this year is we’re going to get in a little safer environment. We’ll get those reps because if you have a 16-play team period. It just gives us a chance to make sure these guys compete against the other team in terms of play time. And we’ll see how it goes.”
Look for the Cowboys to head into practice against the Broncos with a little extra juice.
They haven’t forgotten the 30-16 blowout loss to Denver in 2021, ending a six-game winning streak and sending their season into a tailspin.
After starting the season 6-1, the Cowboys lost three of the next four with the Broncos’ allegedly putting out a blueprint for the league on how to slow down the Cowboys’ high-powered offense.
Although they finished 12-5 and won the NFC East, the Cowboys were never quite the same before ending the season with a 23-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the wildcard playoffs.
The Broncos have a new coaching staff, led by Nathaniel Hackett. And a new quarterback in Russell Wilson.
But the players are largely the same and the Cowboys are heading to Denver with something to prove.
“We touched on that a little bit,” tight end Dalton Schultz said. “Obviously they got new coaches. But there is a sour taste in your mouth.”
McCarthy laughed at former Broncos coach Vic Fangio for “beating his own drum” after saying he came up with a way to stop the Cowboys offense.
McCarthy has no hard feelings for Hackett, the son of Paul Hackett, who McCarthy coached under at the University Pittsburgh and then followed to the Kansas City Chiefs in 1993 when got his first NFL job.
McCarthy has known the younger Hackett all his life and took him on the roller coaster at the amusement park when he was a kid.
“I have a tremendous amount of love for the Hackett family and spent a lot of time with Nathaniel,” McCarthy said. “He was in grade school when I first met the Hacketts back in 1989. I think we were together nine years, so I got to watch the young man grow from grade school through high school and go off to college. Real excited for him, real proud of him. He’s a phenomenal football coach.”
