Cowboys’ joint practices offer grim glimpse at WR Depth

By David Helman
FOX Sports Dallas Cowboys Writer

COSTA MESA, Calif. — Call this a look at what the future could look like for Dak Prescott if the breaks don’t go his way.

With CeeDee Lamb missing another day of practice with a cut on his foot and Noah Brown added to the injury report with a toe problem, Prescott’s receiver corps in Thursday’s joint practice against the L.A. Chargers looked mainly like a practice squad. 

That’s not meant as a knock on the personnel, it’s just a statement of the fact. Simi Fehoko, who played seven offensive snaps as a rookie last season, is currently the most experienced healthy receiver on the Cowboys’ roster. Behind him comes KaVaontae Turpin, who spent the spring playing in the USFL but is getting his first NFL snaps this month. 

Everyone else on the depth chart is either a rookie or has never played a regular season game, and it looked like it.

CeeDee Lamb misses joint practice due to cut on foot

Emmanuel Acho and Joy Taylor share whether they feel Lamb’s injury is serious or not.

Across the afternoon, the Cowboys seemed to lack consistency in their passing game. Dalton Schultz continued his connection with Prescott, catching one of the few touchdown passes of the day. But for the most part it was hard not to notice drops from the likes of Turpin, Jalen Tolbert and Tony Pollard. 

The biggest exception to that was undrafted rookie Dennis Houston, who continued what has been a strong training camp. 

The Western Illinois standout caught two contested passes from Prescott, including an impressive post route over the middle of the field. And that was before the practice finale, when Prescott attempted a Hail Mary from midfield at the end of the offense’s two-minute drill and found Houston in a scrum of bodies for a “game-winning” touchdown. 

“I talked about it Monday, just those guys being able to step into an opportunity and make some plays, do something maybe that they haven’t done,” Prescott said. 

It’s beyond fair to say guys have grabbed the opportunity. It’s just a matter of whether that’s good enough. Going back to the original point, even Houston dealt with a drop in the crucial red zone period of practice. 

Asked about it, though, Prescott balked by the idea that he would be frustrated by his supporting cast. 

“That’s what this is about,” he said. “This is exactly about that time to work and make other guys step up and take advantage of their opportunity. Who knows? Hopefully not, but there may be times that those guys aren’t available, and we have to know what we’re working with.

“Those guys have got to know what I expect from them and how they expect me to throw the ball.”

To be abundantly fair, it’s also true that the regular season is still three long weeks away. Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters Thursday morning that Lamb would likely return to practice, when the team resumes practice in Frisco, Texas.  

Michael Gallup also raised some eyebrows after practice when he ran a handful of routes and caught some passes from Prescott — an obvious sign that he’s making good progress in his recovery from a torn ACL last January. 

Lamb should be fine, and reinforcements are eventually on the way. It’s just that Thursday offered a sobering reminder of how thin the depth chart looks at receiver. Hopefully for the Cowboys, Houston and others can continue to run with this opportunity into the regular season. 

For the time being, Prescott will keep trying to bring the offense along, regardless of who’s available. 

“I do what I’m asked to do,” he said. “Being the quarterback of this team, and any time you’re playing this position, you know your responsibility is to get other guys to come with you, to get other guys to be locked in and be disciplined. It’s no different whether the receiver corps is old or young. They look to me for answers, I look for them to communicate and be on the same page. We’ll continue to do that and continue to grow.” 

Thursday marked the Cowboys’ final practice on the West Coast. Here are some additional notes from the practice fields at the Jack R. Hammett Sports Complex. 

Top pick 

It’s time for you to know the name DaRon Bland, if you don’t already. The fifth-round pick out of Fresno State raised some eyebrows in Denver with a solid outing in the preseason opener. He built on that Thursday with his best practice to date.

With Jourdan Lewis sitting out with an injured hamstring, Bland got a chance to start at nickel back and made the most of it. He dropped a pick on the first snap of the team period, but he managed two other pass breakups and did come away with an end zone interception on the final snap of practice.

McCarthy said Thursday that the Cowboys’ goal is to have Lewis healthy in time for Week 1, which means we might not see much of him for the rest of training camp. If that’s the case, what an opportunity for a Day 3 draft pick. Anthony Brown has plenty of experience in the slot and could move inside if need be. But if Bland continues to excel, the coaches could opt to leave the veteran in his usual role on the left side and the let the rookie handle the nickel role. 

Second-year corners Kelvin Joseph and Nahshon Wright get the most publicity, given their draft stock. But Bland is making a strong case as the best young corner at this camp. 

Eyes on LBs 

Wednesday was the Micah Parsons Show, but the other members of the Cowboys’ linebacker corps got involved on Thursday. On the first play of two-minute drill, Leighton Vander Esch dropped out of the flat into Justin Herbert’s throwing lane, making a diving interception to kill a potential scoring drive. Luke Gifford also had a near-interception, which he dropped. 

It’s also interesting to note that Anthony Barr got involved in some team reps on Thursday. The Cowboys are working the veteran linebacker in gradually, but they did show some base looks with the trio of Barr, Parsons and Vander Esch all on the field at the same time.  

Rush job

Both of these teams have some juice among their pass rushers, if that wasn’t obvious. The Cowboys enjoyed another productive day hassling Chargers’ quarterbacks, as Dante Fowler Jr. and Quinton Bohanna both finished with sacks.

The Chargers happen to employ Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack, however, and it shows. For starters, the Chargers’ defense completely shut down the Dallas running game on Thursday, after giving up several plays Wednesday. On top of that, there were at least three or four occasions where L.A. rushers got to Prescott in the backfield.

David Helman covers the Dallas Cowboys for FOX Sports, providing insight and analysis on the NFL’s most visible franchise. Prior to joining FOX, David spent nine seasons covering the Cowboys for the team’s official website, DallasCowboys.com. In 2018, he won a regional Emmy for his role in producing “Dak Prescott: A Family Reunion” about the quarterback’s time at Mississippi State.