San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Cowboys say they’re “dialed in” despite early adversity.
Despite challenges similar to 2020, Cowboys confident things are different
LOS ANGELES — A suspension takes down one starter.
A broken foot takes down another.
Throw in a calf strain, a groin injury and a positive COVID test and unsettling flashbacks to last season are impossible to ignore.
The temptation heading into Sunday’s game against the L.A. Chargers is for Cowboys fans to throw their hands in the air and declare here we go again. The scars of 6-10 are too fresh to take these personnel losses in stride.
It’s different for players and coaches. They can’t allow themselves to feel trapped in some perpetual loop of injuries, absences and early morning calls from the trainer to inform them to stay home because they have the coronavirus.
The Cowboys can’t be overwhelmed by circumstances, especially this early in the season. This places an even greater premium on the outcome of the second game of the season.
Will Dallas rise to the occasion and dispel the narrative that began to take root one year ago or will it once again succumb to the challenges thrown in its path? Will the Cowboys give their fans — and more importantly, themselves — a tangible example of why this season won’t be the sequel no one wants to see?
“I think the guys and everybody knows it’s going to be a different season,’’ quarterback Dak Prescott said. “That’s kind of the expectations that you set at the beginning of the year.
“Last year was last year.
We’re going to be aware of it but it’s not something that we’re going to hold onto, it’s not something we’re always going to be trying to battle against.
“We’ve got different expectations, goals and perceptions of how this year is going to play out.”
Moral victories aren’t a thing in the NFL. But the Cowboys did have the type of performance against the defending Super Bowl champion Bucs that builds confidence and excitement.
The next six days steadily chipped away at that veneer. Right tackle La’el Collins was suspended for five games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. He can’t return until Halloween.
Receiver Michael Gallup came out of the game with a calf strain that landed him on injured reserve. He’ll be out for three to five weeks.
Defensive end Randy Gregory tested positive for COVID-19 and isn’t expected to play Sunday. Safety Donovan Wilson missed the week of practice with a groin pull. Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence broke the fifth metatarsal in his right foot and will be out for six to eight weeks.
The focus has been on who will be missing when the Cowboys take the field against the Chargers. It’s time to shift the focus.
Prescott is playing at an elite level. He has two outstanding receivers, one of the game’s best running backs and two productive tight ends.
A quarterback playing at an elite level makes up for a multitude of sins.
“When Dak lines up, we have a chance to win the game,’’ coach Mike McCarthy said. “That’s the type of player he is. He clearly demonstrates that not only on Sundays, but the way he approaches it each and every day.
“That’s what you look for in your franchise quarterback.”
It’s natural to say the offense must do more with Lawrence and Gregory out this weekend. It’s the strength of this team and good enough to compensate for some of the defensive deficiencies.
But it can’t carry an inordinate amount of the load. The defense must still contribute. The loss of Lawrence is a huge blow, but at the risk of sounding indelicate, Lawrence was the unit’s best player last season and how did that turn out?
The organization emphasized the defensive side of the ball through free agency and the draft to avoid cratering the way it did last season.
“We trust that side of the ball and everything they’re doing, so we have to play complementary football and help them out,’’ Prescott said.
“I don’t know if you guys (media) have noticed but in the games, the offense and the defense, we think independently of each other,” receiver Amari Cooper said. “We don’t really worry about what they’re doing and they don’t really worry about what we’re doing because whatever happens on the defensive side of the ball is not going to make us play any better or worse.
“We just have to go out there and do our job. Their job is completely independent from our job so we don’t even really worry about it.”
McCarthy feels for Lawrence on an individual level. But he refuses to roll that injury into everything else that has happened to the Cowboys since the opener and lament their fate.
This isn’t a continuation of last season in McCarthy’s eyes. This is life in the NFL.
“The reality of it is, this is how it goes year in and year out,’’ McCarthy said of the injuries. “It’s just a matter of how many.
“As I’ve stated, the injuries are so personal to the individual. But in the team concept and the team environment, we’re focused on who’s the next guy up, the opportunities. And really from a coaching perspective, we just want to make sure we put these guys in position to be successful.’’
Here we go again? McCarthy doesn’t get that sense from the players based on how they practiced leading up to the Chargers game.
“We’re dialed in,” he said. Jaylon Smith echoed his coach’s observations. The linebacker pointed out this is a new year with a new (defensive) staff and new players. There’s no reason to believe they’re falling into last year’s patterns.
“Things happen,” Cooper said. “Just have to keep pushing forward, keep adapting.
“I feel like everything is going to be cool.”
Still, wouldn’t it be nice for the Cowboys to have an uneventful week heading into a game, maybe something more normal?
“Trying to find normalcy, trying to hope for the best, I don’t think you should go about your day like that,” cornerback Trevon Diggs said. “I felt like you should take whatever the day is given you and just alter, as far as adversity.
“There are some things you’re going to face. So yeah, it’s those challenges that are going to make the season special.”