OXNARD, California — Thursday’s joint practice between the Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams was a critical day for the Cowboys because it was the first time they have competed against people outside their building.
It was also crucial because head coach Mike McCarthy’s philosophy on playing key, veteran starters in the preseason is to not do it at all. Quarterback Dak Prescott connected with various young pass-catchers including wide receiver Jalen Tolbert, wide receiver KaVontae Turpin and tight end Jake Ferguson when facing the Rams’ defense. Receiver Jalen Brooks and receiver Jalen Cropper caught passes with the one’s earlier in the week. However, the lack of 2023 First-Team All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb was clearly noticeable.
Despite the first week of the preseason getting underway this weekend, Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones projected a nonchalant attitude when talking about negotiations with his team’s top target.
“Well, I don’t expect to not have CeeDee Lamb,” Jones said Thursday after the joint practice with the Cowboys and Rams. “This camp has given times, opportunities — target opportunities — and not just route running. The kinds of things that the full body of work for a receiver, but it gets a lot of target opportunities for people who need it most. That’s the ones that aren’t proven like CeeDee. It’s a great plan to see your receiving core and develop a receiving core from the rookies. “
Three weeks into training camp, and Lamb still has yet to report because he doesn’t have a new deal as he enters the final year of his rookie contract in 2024. Yet, Jones isn’t concerned about the deal not getting done before Dallas’ Sept. 8, Week 1 opener
“Well, I don’t know about that but I know that we’re getting great work, making real progress and I don’t think losing a step at where we are now.”
Jones was then asked to clarify if there was a sense of urgency to get Lamb’s new contract done with the preseason beginning, and he retorted with a surprising response: No.
“No,” Jones said when asked if there was urgency to get Lamb’s contract done. “I went to high school, and I went to college. I don’t know why I said it, but I’m just saying I don’t have a sense of urgency about getting it done. Take any reason you want. I was at Nobu [in Malibu for the team’s annual media party] two days ago.”
Lamb himself, who has yet to report to any portion of the Cowboys’ offseason program in 2024 including training camp, didn’t appear to appreciate Jones’ cavalier attitude about his contract negotiations, tweeting, “lol.” He also removed “America’s Team” from his Twitter bio.
Dallas’ three-time All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons, who is extension eligible for the first time in his career this offseason after logging three full years in the NFL, retweeting Lamb’s “lol.” reaction.
Shortly after Jones’ availability, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott took to the podium, and said the following while smirking, “The mic is hot.” He then addressed his top target’s situation, expressing a completely different sentiment than Dallas’ owner and general manager.
“That’s why [Lamb’s reaction] I said the mic is hot because he [Tad Carper, Dallas’ senior VP of communications] showed that,” Prescott said. “I’ve got the utmost urgency [for the Cowboys to re-sign Lamb].”
Whenever Lamb does get back, Prescott doesn’t envision it will take very long for the duo to return to firing on all cylinders again. Prescott led the league with 36 touchdown passes last season, 12 of which went to Lamb (third-most in the NFL), and of Prescott’s league-leading 410 completions in 2023, Lamb caught an NFL-most 135 catches, a Cowboys’ single-season record.
“One or two [practices],” Prescott said when asked how quickly it would take to get back on the same page with Lamb. “I don’t even know if it will take a full-blown practice as much as it will a couple of throwing sessions. The guy is elite. He is elite at what he does, and he is going to create separation.”
Given how dramatic the Cowboys’ 2024 offseason has been going from being labeled as “all in” by Jones to now “get it done with less,” Prescott revealed his sympathy for Lamb holding out as he suggested members of the Dallas press core hold out for more money if they don’t like how much they are being paid when he was discussing his ability to block out distractions.
“I couldn’t tell you when it’s [the noise and criticism around Prescott] is high or low to be honest with you,” Prescott said. “It’s something that I think being a quarterback of this team I’ve become callous to. So I’ve said it over and over, I’m just present where my feet are and I control what I can control and the noise is going to happen, whether it’s good, whether it’s bad, whether it’s about the contract, whether it’s about my play, I can’t stop that. You guys get paid pretty well to write headlines and to do your job, respectively. I can’t allow that to affect how I get paid in my job.”
A member of the Cowboys local media then said to Prescott, “We don’t get paid very well.” That led to Prescott offering a simple solution.
“You need to start holding out too then,” Prescott said laughing.
