The Dallas Cowboys wrapped up their first OTA session. The Organized Team Activities are Phase 3 of the NFL’s offseason program, still restricting physical contact and totally voluntary. Still, the majority of the team is in attendance and working out on mock scenarios that simulate what they’ll do once they ramp up in training camp.
Head coach Brian Schottenheimer spoke about the handful of limitations to major players during his press conference on Thursday, Day 3 that was open to the media after an off day on Wednesday. He mentioned specifically how second-year edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku and top corner DaRon Bland are being held back out of an abundance of caution.
You guys will see most of the guys in mock, we’ve got a few guys that we’re gonna be smart with. Ezeiruaku, Daron Bland, guys like that. You’ll see them throughout the next couple weeks advance into more individual drills and stuff like that. But a few of those guys we’re gonna be really smart with. But right now we’re pretty healthy, and most of our guys are in a good spot. The two that jump out at me right now would be Daron and EZ, would be the guys we’re being mindful of.
Ezeriuaku had just two sacks in his rookie campaign despite ranking third in pressures by rookie edge rushers with 36. He had hip surgery this offseason, which has limited him to doing rehab work while focusing on the learning aspect of the early offseason install phases.
There’s a reason why we felt so highly of him last year. Then you look back and know that he played the last number of games with some ailments.
Bland, the Cowboys’ most expensive defender, enters his second year under his $90 million contract. Bland has dealt with foot injuries over the last two seasons, playing just 19 games and also having offseason surgery to try and clear up the consistent issues.
Schottenheimer provided positive outlooks on each’s chance of being ready for training camp.
Oh yeah. Both guys are doing great. It’s more of us taking precaution and being smart. They both wanna get out there, but again, its OTAs. It’s more important that they’re learning the scheme and system and all that as opposed to them going out there.
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys top edge, $90M defender held back in OTAs
Reporting by K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire | USA TODAY Network
