Cowboys’ offense shows welcomed red zone improvement in joint practice with Rams

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. — The Dallas Cowboys’ starters aren’t expected to play in the preseason. Their best work to get ready for Week 1 is likely to come in their joint training camp practices with the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints. They had one of those sessions Tuesday as they traveled to the Rams practice facility in Woodland Hills.

The Cowboys arrived around 9:30 a.m. PT, and things ended around noon. There wasn’t much individual work. There was no seven-on-seven. The teams basically got right into team drills with the Rams’ offense and Cowboys’ defense on one field and the Cowboys’ offense and the Rams’ defense on the other. The team-drill portion was broken down into three segments with special teams work in between.

We were not permitted to record video of the team-drill portion. Here are the highlights.

Offense

• The first-team offense was very good in red zone work. Dak Prescott had two touchdown passes to CeeDee Lamb, one to KaVontae Turpin and another to tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford. The best highlight of the four was probably a back-shoulder throw to Lamb. Prescott also had a touchdown pass on a slant to Ryan Flournoy.

That’s one of the biggest areas the Cowboys need to improve on from a year ago. The extra work they’ve been putting in during camp practices appears to be paying off.

“I think that was probably the stronger drill or the stronger period of the day for us, and so that’s good,” Prescott said after practice. “Obviously coming off of the struggles at the end of last year, it’s good to see. Even though we’ve got things in our back pocket that obviously we’re not going pull out just yet, so most definitely.”

• George Pickens continued to be the star of stars. He’s had an excellent camp, and that continued with multiple catches, including a nice back-shoulder grab along the right sideline and a slant he took in for a score.

“That’s just George being George,” Prescott said. “That’s what I expect from him. That’s what he expects from himself. There’s still probably a ball or two that we want to correct.”

Prescott had one interception while targeting Pickens in the end zone.

“(That one) can get cleaned up very simply,” Prescott said. “(That practice) is what I expect from George. He just does great things, and today was another showing of that.”

• Joe Milton was the second-team quarterback. He had a solid day with one interception that came on a highlight leaping grab by a Rams linebacker as Milton was moving to his left.

• Offensive coordinator Klayton Adams called the offense while Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer bounced back and forth between the fields.

• It was not a great day for right tackle Terence Steele. He had issues in pass protection going against Rams outside linebacker Byron Young. Rams star edge rusher Myles Garrett did not participate in the practice. He watched from the sideline.

• Tyler Guyton spent time with the trainers looking at his arm but he returned and appeared to have a good day.

• Starting running back Javonte Williams probably had his best run in the second team-drill period. It came on a handoff he took to the left, running behind Tyler Smith and Guyton. There was no tackling to the ground, but the play would have likely gone for more than 10 yards.

• No. 2 running back Jaydon Blue lost a fumble on a carry during the first team-drill period.

• Working with the third team, Sam Howell had a touchdown pass to rookie tight end Michael Trigg.

The Cowboys have been running after practice to help improve their conditioning. Some Rams players cracked jokes about it as they exited the fields after practice, which led to some spirited trash talk between the teams. Schottenheimer said the usual running was the idea of the players, not the coaching staff. “We’ve got the right guys,” he added. “The leaders of this football team are some of our best players. Historically, that usually means you’re gonna have a lot of success.”

Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer came away from his team’s joint practice against the Rams on Tuesday in good spirits. “They had their plays, we had our plays,” he said. (Kirby Lee / Imagn Images)

Defense

• Dallas’ defense was destroyed by the Rams’ offense when the teams practiced together last year. And Los Angeles was without MVP QB Matthew Stafford. The Cowboys faced Stafford on Tuesday, and they had a much better showing this time. Stafford connected on a few big plays, but that’s to be expected from him and their talented offense.

“We’re a different defense,” Schottenheimer said after practice. “You guys know that. You can look at us on paper and see we’re a different defense. Having practiced against (our offense) every day the mentality and mindset of the defense is different. I think that’s great. (The Rams) challenge you in a lot of different ways. They’re a very, very physical run team. … Matthew Stafford has an unbelievable ability to get the ball out of his hand fast, so they’re hard to get home on.

“But a few guys jumped out today. Quinnen Williams, I think we should probably keep that contract. I think that’s a good contract for us. Thrilled about him. … I thought it was a battle. They had their plays, we had our plays. It’s what a joint practice should look like.”

• Williams was arguably Dallas’ best defender on the day, causing plenty of problems in the run and pass game up the middle.

• Backup linebacker Justin Barron had the most highlights of anyone, recording three interceptions. One came off Stafford and the other two were on throws from Rams backup QB Stetson Bennett.

• Donovan Ezeiruaku was noticeable, especially early with a sack and a nice run stop.

• Caleb Downs had an impressive tackle for loss on a run play and was active all over the field. He was working more at safety as Malik Hooker did not practice for personal reasons.

• Shavon Revel continued to build on his strong camp. He nearly intercepted Stafford on a well-defended fade ball in the end zone. Cobie Durant also recorded a pass breakup.

• DeMarvion Overshown continued to move around well. Dee Winters continued to make plays at the other linebacker spot. Those two remain the expected starting linebackers Week 1.

“It’s just showing what we’ve been building on from the spring up until now,” Overshown said after practice. “It was good to hit a different color jersey. … Getting to see what we got against another top offense, it puts stuff in perspective. Just another block that we’re building on.”