FRISCO, Texas - The full roster will convene for organized team activities later this month, but in the meantime, Kellen Moore is continuing his transition to offensive coordinator as he works with the rookies at this weekend's minicamp.
"You talk a lot more," said Moore, who spent last year as quarterbacks coach before the Cowboys promoted him as Scott Linehan's replacement this offseason. "It's been busy. It's been fun, though. It's fun just to get the whole group together and kind of explore some things and go through the process of watching last season."
Moore and the offensive staff have spent the offseason evaluating last season and discussing how the offense can evolve in 2019.
"We were a playoff team that had a lot of success and when (wide receiver) Amari (Cooper) came into this, we did some really good things," he said. "You don't want to discount any of that. You want to embrace all that and at the same time find some other avenues or roads that we can go down and see where that takes us and see where it evolves."
-Rob Phillips
Colombo's New Linemen
In his first offseason as Cowboys offensive line coach, Marc Colombo is getting his first on-field work with a crop of rookie linemen, including third-round pick Connor McGovern.
The Cowboys plan to "cross train" McGovern at center and guard because interior linemen must provide versatility. McGovern started at both spots at Penn State.
"Really excited to have him," Colombo said.
Another talented rookie lineman, tackle Mitch Hyatt, went undrafted despite earning All-American honors as a starter for national champion Clemson. The Cowboys had a mid-round grade on Hyatt and signed him after the draft.
"Mitch has got a ton of experience," Colombo said. "Started a lot of games. He's got a lot of versatility. He played both tackles, has quick feet. We're really fortunate to be able to get him after the draft."
-Rob Phillips
Eliminating False Steps
New quarterbacks coach Jon Kitna was the starter in Jason Garrett's first-ever game as an interim head coach back in 2010. Things have changed quite a bit for both as Kitna has returned as the Cowboys QB coach for this season.
After finishing up his playing career, Kitna has spent time as a high school coach. When asked this weekend if teaching the fundamentals of the position is vastly different from that level to the NFL, Kitna was quick to respond.
"For sure. Yeah it's hard in high school to get those kids to understand that the smallest little details matter," Kitna said. "At the pro level, they do understand. They understand when you have to take a different hitch and that affects things down the field. I never really coached quarterbacks in high school because I knew I would be too technical for them and they wouldn't be able to understand it. Here, these guys are really working hard at eliminating false steps. My example is always Jason Witten. He's going to the Hall of Fame because he eliminated false steps. It's the same thing we want to do at quarterback."
-Nick Eatman
