A new feature on DallasCowboys.com this training camp is to hand out some Cowboys-themed "gold stars" after each padded practice here in Oxnard. Thursday was one of the more competitive practices, evident by a wide range of players picked on both sides of the ball.
Nick Eatman: Maybe not everyone is so excited to keep talking about Antwaun Woods. Today in the 1-on-1 pass-rush drills, "Jumbo" Joe Looney put Woods in his place, or actually, on the ground with a swift motion. And Looney has actually been playing well in practices lately, both at guard and center. He did find himself in a scuffle with Brian Price, showing again that Looney might be the team jokester off the field, but has a mean streak as well.
Bryan Broaddus: Okay we're half way through this camp and I just wanted to do something a little different. Kris Richard is my camp star of the day for a simple discussion that he had with one of the NFL officials. Richard asked the official why didn't he call the receiver from pushing off? The official began to walk away and didn't answer him. Richard was furious he didn't get an answer initially and began to really let the official have it. The official finally heard Richard and said something without actually looking at him. This prompted Richard to yell - - "You will be a man and look at me in the eye like I am looking at you." Kris Richard has no filter and I love it.
David Helman:There's no way around it. This was an ugly practice. The offense was out of sync, the defense couldn't stop jumping offside and everything just felt out of whack. With that in mind, I'm going to shout out Tavon Austin for the second-straight day. The coaching staff got Austin involved in the run game on Monday. He lined up in the backfield, he took handoffs and end arounds from Dak Prescott. He motioned out wide. It was a great look at all of his different abilities, and it was interesting.
Mickey Spagnola: This is somewhat of a two-day evaluation, but starting to sense first-round draft choice Leighton Vander Esch is growing more comfortable with the transition from college to the NFL. The Cowboys have him solely as the second-team middle linebacker, and Sunday, he made a couple of plays in the running game and did a good job moving from sideline to sideline. Monday, LVE in team filled a hole nicely and made what would have been a tackle behind the line of scrimmage. Can't wait to see him when the pads start popping and players are being actually tackled Thursday night against the Niners.
Rob Phillips:Cornerback Anthony Brown has a pick in two straight practices, so he gets a cumulative camp star from me. Chidobe Awuzie was back in team drills today, but Brown still made the most of his snaps. Today's interception was actually more impressive; he didn't get fooled on an inside move by Lance Lenoir Jr., contested the ball and made the pick sitting down. New defensive backs coach/passing game coordinator Kris Richard says Brown has a terrific attitude and has done everything asked of him to this point. He's showing the entire staff something right now.
| Player Name | Star of the Day Total |
|---|---|
| Chidobe Awuzie | 5 |
| Terrance Willams | 4 |
| Tavon Austin | 4 |
| Dorance Armstrong | 3 |
| Charvarius Ward | 3 |
| Tyron Smith | 2 |
| Byron Jones | 2 |
| Michael Gallup | 2 |
| Anthony Brown | 2 |
| Dak Prescott | 1 |
| DeMarcus Lawrence | 1 |
| Ezekiel Elliott | 1 |
| Allen Hurns | 1 |
| Kavon Frazier | 1 |
| Rod Smith | 1 |
| Cole Beasley | 1 |
| Charles Tapper | 1 |
| Leighton Vander Esch | 1 |
| Connor Williams | 1 |
| Bo Scarbrough | 1 |
| Donovan Olumba | 1 |
| Antwaun Woods | 1 |
| Rico Gathers | 1 |
| Joe Looney | 1 |
| Mekale McKay | 1 |
| Kris Richard | 1 |
