OXNARD, Calif. – A day and a half after returning from their preseason opener against the Steelers in Canton, Ohio, the Cowboys will welcome the Rams to training camp Saturday for a joint practice.
Saturday's practice begins at 5 p.m. Central Time (3 p.m. Pacific) and fans can watch on the Cowboys Now app (available on Amazon Fire, Roku, Apple TV) or the Cowboys' social media channels. It will also air live on TXA 21 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Here's what to expect:
- Saturday's practice won't include tackling, but it will feature some competitive situations. Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy described it as a "professional thud" in terms of physicality. "These practices give you an opportunity to get a lot of quality work done and lower the risk that you obviously have to go through to play in preseason games," he said.
- McCarthy and Rams coach Sean McVay have spoken several times about the plan for Saturday's practice. "We'll hit pretty much every situation," McCarthy said. "We'll go right through the script. We'll start with special teams and then we'll have a seven-on-seven red zone, one-on-one D-Line rushing – I know you guys love that drill, so you'll be fired up for that. Then we'll go with the seven-on-seven red zone and a team-backed-up drill, then a team red zone, a team third down. Then we'll have a full move-the-ball segment where you just call it and move the field, put the ball down and play. Then we'll finish with a two-minute. We'll pretty much try to hit every situation."
- McCarthy said the practice will feature close to 60 plays of team-drill work, and "probably 65-70%" will include starters. Starting offensive tackles Tyron Smith and La'el Collins are among the Cowboys veterans who will participate.
- McCarthy said quarterback Dak Prescott will not throw again Saturday as the Cowboys continue to exercise caution with his strained shoulder muscle. The Cowboys haven't given an exact timeline for Prescott's return to full practice work, but McCarthy said the injury is "progressing really well." The Cowboys are still hopeful Prescott will get some preseason game snaps.
- The last time the Cowboys and Rams held a joint practice here in Oxnard – 2015 training camp – competitive drills led to a pretty large skirmish between both teams. McCarthy doesn't expect that to be an issue this year. "We have no interest in fights. That's a waste of everybody's time," he said. "Those days, to me, are over. That's not what I'm looking for. It definitely will penalize your team if it happens in a game, so why the hell would you do it in practice? I think Sean feels the same way. We just want the quality work."
