Dallas City News

Dallas Cowboys lose DE Sam Williams for season, source says – Todd Archer, ESPN

Dallas loses promising DE Sam Williams for the season.

Before the Dallas Cowboys even held their first padded practice of training camp, they had a blow to their defense with pass rusher Sam Williams suffering a torn ACL in his left knee, a source told ESPN on Sunday.

Williams also suffered a partial MCL tear, a source said, and the injuries have ended his season before it began.

Williams was injured during the special teams portion of practice after he was engaged in a blocking drill. He remained down for several minutes as he was attended to by the Cowboys’ medical staff. He could not put any weight on his left leg as he got on a cart and was taken to the locker room.

After practice, owner and general manager Jerry Jones said, “We didn’t like what we saw,” before Williams headed off for an MRI.

The Cowboys were banking on Williams being a major part of their pass rush behind DeMarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons. In free agency, Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler Jr. joined former defensive coordinator Dan Quinn with the Washington Commanders.

They combined for 11.5 sacks last year.

Sunday swap of cornerbacks for the Dallas Cowboys – Staff, DallasCowboys.com

Gareon Conley retires and the Cowboys bring in a familiar face to replace him.

The team parted ways with Gareon Conley after the veteran cornerback notified them of his intent to retire, releasing him and submitting a waiver claim for Kemon Hall, whom the 49ers waived one day prior.

The Cowboys were awarded Hall, who will make his second trip to Dallas after having spent time on the team’s practice squad during the 2020 season.

Hall is a former undrafted free agent signing of the Los Angeles Chargers who played in 16 games as a rookie before finding his way back to the Cowboys to replace the camp depth lost by the move on Conley, and also by the fact Trevon Diggs is currently on the PUP list awaiting his return to the field.

Nothing ‘ambiguous’ about it: this roster is a fixer-upper – Staff, DMN

A bunch of rookies will likely play key roles this season, which is what happens when you have no depth.

The Cowboys bled talent in free agency and did little to fill the voids, but Jones assured that they were, “All in.”

Well, now we’ve gotten a chance to see what “all in” looks like, and it’s a bit of a fixer-upper.

With Tyron Smith gone after 14 years, the offensive line is young. Really young. Besides Zack Martin, who may be a right guard but sure is punting retirement questions, 23-year-old Tyler Smith stands out as an experienced member of the unit. Meanwhile, the rookies, Tyler Guyton and Cooper Beebe, are doing their best to rise to a tall occasion.

On the other side of the ball, another rookie has a similar task with Trevon Diggs on the PUP list and the sudden departure of UFL cornerback signing Gareon Conley. That’s not to mention the other puzzles facing the Cowboys.

Cowboys complete lack of clarity with CeeDee Lamb is an institutional failure – Mark Powell, FanSided

Some Cowboys fans appear unhappy.

Dallas Cowboys have failed miserably in extension talks with star players

It’s why Jerry and Stephen Jones have repeatedly told fans that Prescott will be extended, along with the rest. It’s all part of their plan, even if that plan is vague and borderline impossible to comprehend. The longer the Cowboys wait to extend their stars, the more they will pay. In fact, that longer they wait, the more Dallas is at risk of losing one or more of Prescott, Lamb and Parsons altogether.

So when Stephen Jones says he’s had positive conversations with Lamb’s agent, it’s tough to take him at his word. Lamb is sitting out of training camp for a reason, after all.

The Cowboys had all offseason to progress with Prescott and Lamb in particular, but it took until training camp to make a legitimate offer. “Right now, I would characterize both conversations as upbeat,” Stephen Jones said. “Back and forth with both Todd [France] and Tory [Dandy]. I like where we stand.”

Yet, Dallas waited until the quarterback market went up $10 million for top-tier passers to re-sign Prescott (nupefully). They’re in for a similar situation with Lamb given Justin Jefferson’s extension.

Meanwhile, any dope could’ve told Cowboys ownership they were wasting money by sitting on their hands. The lack of communication between players, ownership and the fanbase is as obvious as ever. Lamb is just the latest victim.

‘Be ready; have thick skin’: Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott offers holdout advice to CeeDee Lamb – David Moore, DMN

Zeke has experience with holdouts.

Elliott said the hardest thing about his holdout was being away from his teammates in camp. He missed the comradery. There’s also the sense of obligation. Lamb has expressed that to teammates.

“You definitely feel an obligation, but that’s just being a great teammate and putting your best foot forward,’’ Elliott said. “It sucks when the business part of the game comes up because, I don’t want to say it takes away, but you spend your whole career, your whole life, playing this game and you’ve never been through anything like this where you had to be away from the team to handle the business part.

“All you can do is put in your work and make sure you’re in shape when you get back.’’

“It’s really tough,’’ Elliott said. “You go through your first three or four years and you guys are on the same side. This is the first time that now you’re kinda going against each other, so I mean, you’ve got to have thick skin.

“There is a little extra stuff that comes with it, but at the end of the day we all have the same goal. It’s going to get done.’’

Cowboys offseason countdown: 99 facts until the regular season (Day 42)- Mike Poland, Blogging The Boys

The season inches closer.

We are at day 42 of our 99 day countdown until the regular season. Here is your daily fact associated with number 42.

The shortest player currently in the NFL is number 42 for Dallas, Deuce Vaughn.

Christopher Deuce Vaughn was born November 2, 2001 and selected by Dallas in the sixth-round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Vaughn was an interesting prospect having led all FBS players in all-purpose yards in 2022 (1,936 yards). His draft moment was emotional highlight of the NFL draft not just for Cowboys fans, but football fans across the league. His father, Chris Vaughn, who works as a college scout for Dallas, was given the privilege of telling his own son the news that he was about to become a Cowboy with pick number 212. He would be the shortest player ever drafted in NFL history since records began.