C
Cr122
Guest
[h=2][/h]
Josh Ellis
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
IRVING, Texas - The practices are voluntary, only three days a week, with no pads and no hitting. No games are won or lost during Organized Team Activities (OTA).
Except they kind of are. In the heat of May and June, teams around the league are laying the groundwork for what they will become during training camp, into the fall, winter, and if everything goes just right, next February.
Chatting with the local media on Wednesday, Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett explained the way offensive, defensive and special teams packages are being installed at this time of year, one day at a time, with no dwelling on the mistakes, but each practice building on the one before it. When camp begins in Oxnard, Calif., the process starts over, ideally with the players far more understanding of what it is they're supposed to be doing.
Right now, though, it's a struggle. In the mind of Garrett, who as much as anyone is stressing the need for urgency, it doesn't matter that the calendar is only now turning to June and the first game is still some three months away.
"It's a bad excuse," Garrett said. "You've got to keep the standard high for what you're doing. At the same time, you've got to understand where you are in the year and what you're asking of the players. Each and every day we're installing offensive plays, defensive schemes, special teams schemes, and the players have to get that in the meeting, understand what you're getting across to them, and then put it out on the practice field. It's not going to be perfect, we understand that."
The mental mistakes come in short supply, but so too will the effort, coaches hope, and therein lies the other big point of bringing the team together for these workouts.
"I think a really important part of what we're trying to get across to them is establishing the identity of our football team," Garrett said. "How do we want to play? When you look at us from afar, what do you want us to look like? And then we're going to work really hard on the specific things in terms of getting our technique and our schemes down. That's going to happen over the course of time, but you have to go about it the right way. You have to play the right way intangibly, and that's what we're working on right now."
Last year, when there were no OTAs or summer minicamps due to the offseason lockout, the Cowboys seemed rudderless at times. In certain games they showed great fortitude, but in others they crumbled. Not only was the heart put in question, but so was the execution.
By the stretch run, new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan had simplified his scheme and streamlined the process of relaying calls from the sidelines, admitting he had attempted to install too much, too quickly.
Compared to 2011, Ryan now has all the time in the world, plus a lot of players on defense who have an understanding of the things he's trying to get done.
"For starters, I'm doing a better job teaching these guys at a slower tempo," Ryan said. "But that's how you get your foundation in. We're not throwing the entire playbook at these guys. We're making slower steps, but the foundation means every defense we're going to run every week, and then other things are game plan, but we understand what we're doing a hell of a lot better than we did last year at this point – not even close."
Among the sayings Garrett has displayed on the walls outside the locker room this offseason is "Know, and know you know." For younger players especially, that won't happen overnight, but the more learning that is accomplished this summer, the better the Cowboys will be able to follow another such mantra: "Execute. Execute. Execute."
Talk of closing windows has surrounded the Cowboys in recent weeks, and there is always a lot of pressure to win in Dallas.
"I chose it to win, and that's what the goal is," Ryan said. "And if we execute the way that we're capable of, that's what's going to happen. That's what we need to do, and that's what we focus on right now."
Every snap won't be orchestrated to perfection, but the Cowboys will get closer in time if the coaches can set the tone for the 2012 season this summer.
"There's no excuse not to hustle, play with great effort, play with great intensity, be a relentless player, be a relentless team," Garrett said. "Those are really important traits. So we're trying to establish that, and at the same time have our players process the information we're giving them, and hopefully execute to the standard that we want."
Josh Ellis
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
IRVING, Texas - The practices are voluntary, only three days a week, with no pads and no hitting. No games are won or lost during Organized Team Activities (OTA).
Except they kind of are. In the heat of May and June, teams around the league are laying the groundwork for what they will become during training camp, into the fall, winter, and if everything goes just right, next February.
Chatting with the local media on Wednesday, Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett explained the way offensive, defensive and special teams packages are being installed at this time of year, one day at a time, with no dwelling on the mistakes, but each practice building on the one before it. When camp begins in Oxnard, Calif., the process starts over, ideally with the players far more understanding of what it is they're supposed to be doing.
Right now, though, it's a struggle. In the mind of Garrett, who as much as anyone is stressing the need for urgency, it doesn't matter that the calendar is only now turning to June and the first game is still some three months away.
"It's a bad excuse," Garrett said. "You've got to keep the standard high for what you're doing. At the same time, you've got to understand where you are in the year and what you're asking of the players. Each and every day we're installing offensive plays, defensive schemes, special teams schemes, and the players have to get that in the meeting, understand what you're getting across to them, and then put it out on the practice field. It's not going to be perfect, we understand that."
The mental mistakes come in short supply, but so too will the effort, coaches hope, and therein lies the other big point of bringing the team together for these workouts.
"I think a really important part of what we're trying to get across to them is establishing the identity of our football team," Garrett said. "How do we want to play? When you look at us from afar, what do you want us to look like? And then we're going to work really hard on the specific things in terms of getting our technique and our schemes down. That's going to happen over the course of time, but you have to go about it the right way. You have to play the right way intangibly, and that's what we're working on right now."
Last year, when there were no OTAs or summer minicamps due to the offseason lockout, the Cowboys seemed rudderless at times. In certain games they showed great fortitude, but in others they crumbled. Not only was the heart put in question, but so was the execution.
By the stretch run, new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan had simplified his scheme and streamlined the process of relaying calls from the sidelines, admitting he had attempted to install too much, too quickly.
Compared to 2011, Ryan now has all the time in the world, plus a lot of players on defense who have an understanding of the things he's trying to get done.
"For starters, I'm doing a better job teaching these guys at a slower tempo," Ryan said. "But that's how you get your foundation in. We're not throwing the entire playbook at these guys. We're making slower steps, but the foundation means every defense we're going to run every week, and then other things are game plan, but we understand what we're doing a hell of a lot better than we did last year at this point – not even close."
Among the sayings Garrett has displayed on the walls outside the locker room this offseason is "Know, and know you know." For younger players especially, that won't happen overnight, but the more learning that is accomplished this summer, the better the Cowboys will be able to follow another such mantra: "Execute. Execute. Execute."
Talk of closing windows has surrounded the Cowboys in recent weeks, and there is always a lot of pressure to win in Dallas.
"I chose it to win, and that's what the goal is," Ryan said. "And if we execute the way that we're capable of, that's what's going to happen. That's what we need to do, and that's what we focus on right now."
Every snap won't be orchestrated to perfection, but the Cowboys will get closer in time if the coaches can set the tone for the 2012 season this summer.
"There's no excuse not to hustle, play with great effort, play with great intensity, be a relentless player, be a relentless team," Garrett said. "Those are really important traits. So we're trying to establish that, and at the same time have our players process the information we're giving them, and hopefully execute to the standard that we want."