Dallas City News

It has been about a week since the Dallas Cowboys began proper action at training camp in Oxnard, California. That means that it has been about a week since CeeDee Lamb’s absence has felt rather large.

Lamb did not participate in any activity over the course of the offseason so an absence during training camp was to be expected if he did not get a new deal. We are still waiting, he is not there, so on and so forth.

If you are looking for the positives in Lamb’s absence, they are hard to find. Remember that future HOFer Zack Martin held out last year as well and that it took even him a bit to ramp up into proper football shape. Hopefully that does not happen with Lamb.

But if there is a silver lining of sorts, it is the amount of opportunities that grow for everyone else at the wide receiver position. Lamb is clearly the top option on the team, but Brandin Cooks and Jalen Tolbert will both play critical roles on offense as well in 2024. They were both thriving during Wednesday’s practice, the second padded one of camp.

The mothership’s Nick Harris specifically noted about the chemistry that seems to be growing between quarterback Dak Prescott and Cooks. Recall that Cooks did not have the best start to his Dallas Cowboys career in 2023 from a yardage standpoint, but he found the endzone much more often across the second half of the season.

This is quite literally the time of year where connections like this grow and foster. Prescott and Cooks getting to work together so closely could pay dividends in ways we simply cannot fathom in July and August.

Off of the field, consider that Cowboys players have discussed an excursion that Dak, his fellow quarterbacks and the team’s overall offensive weapons took together. The trip was to Oregon and involved working out, throwing and all of that jazz, but it also involved connecting and fostering relationships. Cooks was a big part of it as Oregon is his home and he even housed Cowboys players while it was going on.

Prescott paid for the plane tickets for everybody in attendance. He and Cooks took care of everything else. Players stayed at Cooks’ house, a house Prescott rented or a local hotel.

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“Honestly the best part was the fellowship we had,” wide receiver Jalen Tolbert said. “Just having fun and creating that brotherhood that we all speak about. It speaks dividends to us coming out here and being able to compete and knowing each other’s ‘whys.’ That’s a big part — knowing B Cooks’ why, and him knowing my why. Dak, obviously, and all the way through the whole offense.

“I think that fellowship that we created and we continue to grow on out there was big for us.”

For Prescott, the trips build a bond that he believes makes a difference when adversity hits.

“I feel like I say each and every year [it was] the best yet,” Prescott said. “It was this time.”

If there is one player who seemingly has done everything that he can to take advantage of these kinds of things over the course of his career it is Jalen Tolbert. The first two seasons of Tolbert’s career have been interesting to say the least, but there is a much higher level of dependence on him entering his third.

Like Cooks, he is also benefitting from more opportunities and had quite the day on Wednesday.

Ultimately we are talking about a couple of moments from one padded practice at training camp. But it is nice to see that something somewhat positive is coming out of the unfortunate situation involving Lamb. Hopefully he returns soon enough and the overall chemistry from everyone involved can grow and flourish.