The Dallas Cowboys aren’t nearly a finished product. There’s still one more week left to go in the Oxnard portion of training camp and that includes a joint practice against the New Orleans Saints and another road trip, this one to face the Arizona Cardinals.
But Saturday was the first preseason game, and though most starters remained camped out on the sideline, key backups who could be called upon during the season got a lot of run. One key area that seems to be a bit deficient of talent is the backup offensive line, who failed to open up running lanes for backs Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah.
Head coach Brian Schottenheimer discussed the issues they had against the strong Seattle Seahawks’ front on Saturday night, highlighting the team’s inability to create rushing lanes.
A lot of moving parts, like I said, they threw a lot of things at us,” Schottenheimer said via DallasCowboys.com. “I want to look at the film. Definitely some leaky moments, but early on especially, we struggled to move their guys up front. I think you’ll see that. That’s why the run numbers in the first half weren’t very good.”
Dallas started with an offensive line of, from left to right, Nate Thomas, Trevor Keegan, TJ Bass, Ajani Cornelius and fourth-round rookie Drew Shelton. Each had some solid snaps, but as a group they struggled mightily. Blue and Mafah combined for just 28 yards on 12 carries.
“They were doing a good job plugging up the middle. So we started the second half actually with a perimeter play. We have those, we don’t want to show too many of them, but give them some credit because I thought early on their defensive front was really a handful of force.”
Things got easier as the game went along and Dallas’ third-string line faced off against the lesser talent on Seattle’s side. Backs Malik Davis and Israel Abanikanda combined for 75 yards on just 14 carries in the second half.
The Cowboys know what they have in TJ Bass, who is going to be the top interior backup whether at guard or center. Beyond that, though, there absolutely could be a need for the front office to go secure additional bodies through trade. They’ll know for sure based on next Saturday’s performances against the Cardinals.
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Head Schotts: Cowboys skipper calls out ‘leaky moments’ vs Seahawks’ D
Reporting by K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire | USA TODAY Network
