There’s always a workaround.
The modern NFL has clamped down significantly on what paces teams are allowed to put their players through during summer workouts. The number of practices, the duration of drills, how many sessions can involve pads and even physical contact- it’s all been reduced dramatically in the name of player safety. Even the preseason- long a traditional slate of four games- has been slimmed down to just three exhibition contests.
And it’s all good. Unless you’re a football coach. And then it’s time to get creative with ways to properly evaluate talent and get your players ready for the physical grind of the regular season.
To that end, the Cowboys plan to show up at two different clubs’ practice fields in mid-August for shared work sessions. While holding their own camp in Oxnard, head coach Mike McCarthy will take his troops for a joint practice with the Denver Broncos on Aug. 11, and then visit the Chargers in Costa Mesa for a pair of workouts on Aug. 17 and 18.
It’s new territory, even for the 58-year-old McCarthy.
“Never done this,” the coach explained to reporters this week at The Star. “This is a bit of a leap for me personally, but obviously, I think we’re doing it for the right reasons. I think it’s an opportunity to work against two AFC teams. You’re on grass, all of those things. I look at all of those factors; always have. It’s an opportunity go to Denver before . It’s really risk assessment, a lot of it, to work certain players in a practice environment as opposed to playing them in a game. So that’s the driving force for me in talking with the other two head coaches who have done this a lot.”
The Cowboys held a joint practice last summer with the Rams. And while McCarthy stressed ahead of time that he had warned his players against the extracurricular fights that typically come with inter-squad work, it took exactly two plays for Connor Williams and Aaron Donald to end up going at it.
McCarthy…
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