San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
After slow start, Gallup poised for breakout
Cowboys receiver may get more targets as Lamb, Cooks draw attention of defense
The Cowboys play the Carolina Panthers in a rare noon game Sunday at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. Here are our five final thoughts on the matchup:
Gallup can eat, too
So is Michael Gallup going to join the party? Over the last month, receivers CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks have produced big numbers for the Cowboys. Lamb is the first receiver in NFL history to post three consecutive games of 10-plus catches and 150-plus receiving yards. Lamb is on pace to break the franchise season receiving record. Cooks, after a slow start to the season, had nine catches for a team-high 173 yards with a touchdown against the Giants last week.
Gallup? He’s endured a slow start as well, but he caught two passes for 70 yards, including a 41-yard touchdown reception from Dak Prescott. Gallup was moving 21.5 mph, the 10th fastest play for ball carriers, according to NextGen Stats.
It seems Gallup has fully recovered from knee and ankle surgeries the last two seasons. So does Gallup have his speed back from before the injury?
“It’s not every play like it used to be,” he said. “It’s still there. I know that it’s definitely not every play.”
With Lamb and Cooks making big plays, Gallup might get more targets from Prescott as defenses shift to take Lamb and/ or Cooks out of games. Gallup is fifth on the team in completions (22) from Prescott.
“All three of us know we haven’t put it all together yet,” Gallup said. “That goes handin-hand. CeeDee is going 150plus three games straight. The ball got to come back around eventually, that’s what I tell myself.”
What’s about rest?
The Cowboys are nearing the point of the season where Thursday games become a common theme. So last week coach Mike McCarthy instituted a different practice schedule. Wednesday turns into a walkthrough session late in the afternoon while Thursday practices remain in full pads. So the Cowboys will have walkthrough sessions Wednesday, Friday and the day before a game.
The goal is to keep players fresher. McCarthy said he didn’t like how his team felt toward the end of last season. So after the Cowboys game at Carolina, the team will prepare for its annual Thanksgiving Day game with light practices Monday through Wednesday. But after the Thanksgiving game, the Cowboys won’t have the weekend off. The team will get back to work Nov. 26 to get ready for another Thursday contest against Seattle. Most, if not all, of these practices will be light in nature.
As part of these practices, left tackle Tyron Smith, who continues to deal with a neck stinger, is not even practicing. He’s getting the NFL’s version of load management. The Cowboys don’t want Smith’s injury to flair up in practice while engaging with a defender. So Smith will do the bare minimum.
“I think he was talking about Hall of Fame schedule,” linebacker Micah Parsons said. “He’s on a Hall of Fame schedule right now. I think we have so many vet guys that get vet days anyways, coaches at this point, we might as well all have a mock game. I guess it’s a blessing to have a lot of vet guys on your team.”
At times during the season, McCarthy has given veteran players an off day, including Zack Martin and Jayron Kearse.
Roster decision
NFL teams look to improve their rosters every day during the regular season.
When the Cowboys signed linebacker Rashaan Evans to the practice squad on Oct. 12, it was to provide vital depth at that position after Leighton Vander Esch went on injured reserve with a neck injury that ended his season.
Evans was called up three times from the practiced squad, starting against the Giants last week and getting two tackles. Practice squad players are afforded three elevations during the season before they must be signed to the 53-man roster. Evans is a prime candidate to move to the big squad for the Carolina game. The problem is the Cowboys must cut someone or move a player to injured reserve.
McCarthy has talked about playing younger players more and more as the season progresses, and that was true against the Giants with rookie defensive tackle Mazi Smith playing a season-high 25 snaps. Defensive end Sam Williams, a second-year player, played the second-most snaps of the season at 27. With the youth movement underway, either a veteran or younger player will be sent packing with Evans due to be moved up.
One thing to consider when it comes to the roster is a player’s value on special teams. Special teams coach John Fassel is wellrespected at The Star and could have a major say in who stays and who goes before the Carolina game. There is a possibility the Cowboys make two roster moves.
Fassel has a fondness for former second-round pick Kelvin Joseph, who was released by Miami this week. The Cowboys traded Joseph to the Dolphins for corner Noah Igbinoghene, who’s been inactive the last four weeks. You remember Igbinoghene don’t you? He made his Cowboys’ debut and returned a blocked field for 58 yards for a touchdown in the season opener against the Giants.
Young’s small stature
Carolina quarterback Bryce Young looks like a little kid compared to his bigger teammates.
Young, the No. 1 overall pick from Alabama, is 5-10 and 204 pounds.
There are other quarterbacks with a similar size that have had success.
Russell Wilson (5-11, 215) comes to mind. Kyler Murray (5-10, 207) and Baker Mayfield (6-1, 215) are similar height but have a little more beef, so to speak, in comparison to Young.
The Cowboys, however, are aware that Young’s ability to scoot from the pocket will present problems for them Sunday if they can’t handle it.
Going in motion
The Cowboys are using more presnap motion with several players, including Lamb.
He says he’s not a slot receiver, yet the Cowboys have motioned him toward that spot at times and he’s made big plays.
Lamb has run 202 routes from the slot compared to 116 when lining up outside, according to Cowboys’ statistics.
After Week 6, the Cowboys were last in the league using presnap motion (42.1%) according to ESPN’s Stats and Info.
But those numbers have increased the last three weeks.
According to Sports Info Solutions, the Cowboys have used presnap motion on 47% of plays which is now 19th in the league.
The team does generate a successful play 42% of the time when presnap motion is used, which ranks 13th.
“It just stresses the defense,” Prescott said of the motion. “At the end of the day, we’re running things that we’re really good at finding different ways to dress them up and from there we’re putting stress on those guys whether it be the slower motion or whether it be faster motion, breaking in and out of formations getting into other formations. Getting (the defense) to communicate quick on the fly and I think it puts us at an advantage.”