Chemistry lesson
Two prominent Cowboys are seeking to improve their rapport.
FRISCO — Expectations are dulled by boredom and splintered by uncertainty at this time of year in the NFL.
Cowboys fans are convinced the future is bright with Dak Prescott. How can it not be after what they witnessed from the rookie quarterback? Toss in Ezekiel Elliott and a few other outstanding young players, and that excitement is not only genuine,it’s justified.
But it has been more than five full months since Prescott has taken the field in a game?
Sure, Prescott was exceptional in leading the team to a 13-3 record. But that means the schedule is much
tougher in 2017. Defensive coordinators have had an entire offseason to study Prescott. How realistic is it to expect him to throw 23 touchdowns, rush for six more and throw only four interceptions?
Doubts happen when analysts and fans have too much time on their hands. Now, is this a long-winded lead-in to explore whether Prescott will experience a sophomore slump?
No. That’s a debate to save for training camp, which kicks off in late July. For the moment, let’s focus on one area where Prescott can improve from his rookie season: his rapport on the field with Dez Bryant.
Hit-and-miss connection
“The sky is the limit for us,” Bryant said during the Cowboys’ organized team activities. “The way that we communicate, the way that we get better. “Me, him and Zeke (Elliott) were just watching film after practice. All of that plays a factor into moving forward this year.” The two weren’t bad together. Bryant caught a season-high nine passes for 132 yards with two touchdowns in the playoff loss to Green Bay. But there were games when Prescott and Bryant didn’t appear to be on the same page. Bryant caught fewer than four passes in four games. He was held below 45 yards receiving in four of the 12 games he played during the regular season. Cole Beasley was the team’s leading receiver. Jason Witten was second. Bryant was third with 50 receptions for 796 yards and eight touchdowns. “Yeah, he spread the ball around and made plays, but I’d like to see a greater connection between Dez and Dak for the Cowboys to get over this next hump,” Hall of Fame receiver Michael Irvin said earlier this year. “That’s what they’re going to have to do.” Irvin admires Prescott’s
ability to calmly go through his progressions and get the ball to the open receiver. But he believes part of maturing as a quarterback is having the confidence to alter the call when needed. Part of being great is knowing when to take a chance, and knowing who gives you the best chance to succeed when taking that chance.
“I’ve got a thing going with Dez Bryant,” Irvin says, playing the role of Prescott. “We’re coming down and Coach is saying to spike the ball, and I look over there and the guy is 10 yards off you. ‘Dez, I’m shooting the ball to you, get 8 yards and get out of bounds. If the guy is pressed on you and I look at you, we’re going to go deep with it.’
“These are the little things he has to pick up, and we’ll be watching to see if you make that step. He did an excellent job of playing within the offense and doing what they asked him to do. But now, he’s no longer a rookie and you have to make those other assessments.”
Two-way street
Prescott put in extra work with Bryant and the other receivers before OTAs got underway. What takes place now is getting a better feel for how Bryant runs routes against different coverages, man vs. zone, and how he responds to certain options. It’s not a one-way street. “He’s got to know what I’m thinking just as much as I want to know what he’s thinking or how he’s running the routes,” Prescott said. “He needs to know certain positions — the ball is going to be here, the ball is going to be there — just as good as we can get in knowing each other.
“We’ll keep trying every day.”
Can the rapport between Prescott and Bryant improve? No question. But it’s misleading to suggest it was bad last season.
Remember, Prescott was the No. 3 quarterback this time a year ago. He rarely got any snaps with Bryant and the first-team offense. He didn’t start working with the starters on a consistent basis until Tony Romo went down to injury in the third preseason game.
Prescott and Bryant then had three games together before the receiver suffered a lateral hairline fracture of the tibial plateau of his right knee. That kept Bryant out for three weeks. The two didn’t start practicing together on a consistent, uninterrupted basis until late October.
They are making up for lost time.
“I mean, I’ve seen a motivated, a hungry gogetter in Dez,” Prescott said. “It’s hard for me to say he’s better this offseason than last because I wasn’t in the same position to judge. But what I’ve seen from him,
“I’m so excited for what he can do this year and the way he’s handled it all the way back to March.
“He’s one of the best at what he does.”
It’s Prescott’s job to bring out the best in Bryant.
That’s one of the things that take place in the dead days of June.
Redemption? Is that the word? Is that what Ricky Williams achieved, all these years later, when he returned to South Florida recently to talk in an open forum about the benefits of marijuana?
“Maybe that’s the right word,” he says. Redemption? “It’s starting to feel like that,” he says. “I can come back to South Florida … and talk about that was so controversial and such a big deal a while ago — that’s a big deal to me. And it’s more me feeling good about the choice I made and re-affirming that we’re aware now of things everyone wasn’t back then.” Redemption. “But, for me, true redemption comes when — and this will take 20 or 30 years — when hopefully I get into the Hall of Fame,” he says. “When people start to realize I was on to something and when the doctors and scientists have studies that show how to maximize the health benefits of marijuana on a large scale and know if used properly it is a positive.”
Is the Hall possible? Who thought it possible a decade ago that Williams would headline a “Pro Football, Pro Cannabis” event and a panel at the Southeastern Cannabis Conference and Expo?
Changing times
So much has changed since Williams was suspended by the NFL twice while a Dolphin for marijuana use and played under a stigmatizing cloud of Ricky Williams, just six years after he retired from the NFL, is now spreading the word about the benefits of medicinal marijuana. He spoke at Harvard Medical School (left) earlier this year and also is a partner in a pot friendly gym in San Francisco. Left: Steven Senne / Associated Press Right: Getty Images