• Micah Parsons dominates: The Dallas Cowboys offense had no answer for the superstar defender Monday, especially as rookie offensive tackle Tyler Guyton remained out due to an illness.
• Jalen Tolbert has taken another step forward in his development: With Michael Gallup no longer on the roster, there was a lot of pressure on Tolbert to prove that he can handle the WR3 responsibilities, and he accomplished that thus far in training camp.
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Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes
The Dallas Cowboys had a bit of a slow start to Monday's practice, but it quickly ramped up throughout the afternoon as they prepare to face the Los Angeles Rams Sunday night in their first preseason contest.
Trey Lance might learn the hard way about Trevon Diggs.
Yeah, I’m thinking he’s back. #Cowboys pic.twitter.com/ijFINkcw5x
— Patrik [No C] Walker (@VoiceOfTheStar) August 5, 2024
On the notable injury front, cornerback Trevon Diggs returned to padded practice for the first time since he tore his ACL last season. He didn't compete in a ton of competitive drills, but he moved well and even had an impressive recovery to notch a pass breakup. On the negative side, running back Royce Freeman left practice early with an unknown injury.
Without further ado, let's dive into some observations from the Cowboys' training camp practice on Monday.
Micah Parsons is going to thrive in Mike Zimmer's defense
Parsons was simply unblockable for most of Monday's practice.
The Penn State product repeatedly took advantage of the overmatched Chuma Edoga during pass-rush drills, accumulating at least three sacks against the reserve offensive lineman, but he was also moved around the defense to create different mismatches and attack the first-team offense's protections. Parsons aligned on both edges with his hand in the ground, smugged up in the A-gap in a two-point stance and further off-ball in a traditional Will linebacker alignment.
Regardless of where he aligned, Parsons' elite get-off, burst, agility and bend were simply too much for the opposing pass protections. In fact, on more than a couple of snaps, Parsons' blocker was barely able to land a hand on him, as the superstar defender deftly maneuvered his body to slip strikes while gaining ground on the quarterback. Here's an example:
Micah Parsons probably would’ve got home here but Dak Prescott steps up and fires a rocket into Brandin Cooks #DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/dkU9Lt6Hd0
— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisDC) August 5, 2024
On this snap, Edoga attempts a jump set aimed at getting his hands on Parsons quickly to both throw off his timing and impede his progress to the quarterback before he can get up to speed. Unfortunately, Parsons naturally evades Edoga's attempted strike with a “ghost” move on the edge, where he gets low around the tackle's waist to evade a strike and corner quickly to the quarterback.
The only player who has seemingly had some success in pass protection against Parsons is rookie tackle Tyler Guyton, but he's missed the past three practices due to an illness. Once he returns, it will be interesting to see if he can continue to have success because Parsons appears to have rounded into elite form.
There has been a lot of conversation surrounding how Zimmer will use Parsons, but save for dropping into coverage once in a while, Parsons will continue to do what he does better than anyone not named Myles Garrett when the opposing quarterback drops back: rush the passer.
Jalen Tolbert proving to be a worthy WR3
With CeeDee Lamb holding out of training camp, Tolbert has been given plenty of opportunities to show his development entering his third year. Despite consistent praise from Dak Prescott during OTAs and minicamp, Tolbert needed to have a good camp to ease any concerns Dallas may have about their lack of depth at receiver.
Dak Prescott ➡️ Jalen Tolbert.
🎯 #Cowboys pic.twitter.com/tYwsv8mgsR
— Patrik [No C] Walker (@VoiceOfTheStar) August 5, 2024
Luckily for the Cowboys, Tolbert has taken complete advantage of those extra opportunities, showing improved route-running, ball skills and overall timing within the offense's structure. Notably, Tolbert was able to get loose and beat cornerback DaRon Bland, who has had an excellent camp thus far in his own right, down the sideline for a would-be touchdown during seven-on-seven drills. Prescott uncorked a beautiful throw, but Tolbert deserves credit for creating the separation that gave Prescott the confidence to target him.
Solid improvisation by Dak Prescott and Jalen Tolbert to connect for this score #DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/N8rBwXAH0n
— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisDC) August 5, 2024
Additionally, Tolbert has proven to be one of the better receivers at finding open space when Prescott is in scramble mode, consistently gaining targets in those situations in camp thus far. Additionally, note the body control and sideline awareness to get both feet inbounds despite all of his momentum carrying him out.
Even though he's still young in his career, Tolbert looks like a veteran who is ready to finally early a definitive role as the WR3 (once Lamb returns) on the Cowboys offense.
Don't forget about Carl Davis in the DT rotation
All the attention has centered on Mazi Smith in regard to the defensive tackle position, but Davis made a case to not be forgotten Monday, putting together his best practice since the pads came on last week.
Listed at 6-foot-5 and 320-plus pounds, Davis is a giant human being who has the size the eat space and clog gaps in the run game. Unfortunately, Davis wasn't able to make much of a positive impact after being picked up midway through last season.
Nonetheless, Davis had a great day on Monday. During inside run drills, Davis appeared with the second-team defense for three snaps and made two tackles while occupying a double team that allowed the linebacker to make the other. Additionally, Davis had a nifty arm-over win against T.J. Bass in one-on-one pass-rush drills, a rarity from any of Dallas' nose tackles thus far in camp.
While Davis' performance doesn't mean he's going to be a breakout player for the defense, it does show that he has the ability to contribute more than he did last season if he can play with good pad level and overall focus from snap to snap.
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