On the Dallas Cowboys’ second day of practice in full pads for training camp in Oxnard, Calif., wide receiver CeeDee Lamb joined 96.7 FM The Ticket and was asked if there’s much of a difference between what head Mike McCarthy is focusing on as he takes over the offense from Kellen Moore.
Lamb’s answer was reflexively quick.
“Yeah, the aggressiveness to go deep,” Lamb said. “I feel like that’s the biggest difference from this year to last year. I think we threw like maybe four or five go balls last year, overall, in the whole season.”
“That’s weird,” Corby Davidson, one of the hosts, chimed in.
“Yeah, very weird, actually” Lamb said. “We connected on like three or four of them, and we threw like five. Still not enough when you play 17 games in the regular season and two postseason (games).”
According to TruMedia, 16.5 percent of the Cowboys’ routes were go routes, which ranked 23rd in the league. The math was different than Lamb’s recollection, as the Cowboys completed 27 go balls for eight touchdowns, with Lamb accounting for nine of those catches for four touchdowns. But Lamb’s comments are an indicator of how much players were itching to push the ball deeper with increased frequency.
McCarthy could desire to throw the ball deeper with all his might but it does little in terms of results unless there is proper personnel in place to execute. To that end, the Cowboys’ trade for Brandin Cooks goes a long way in furthering McCarthy’s vision.
“Just understanding when we added him, going back and looking at his resume, looking at the guys he’s played with, the quarterbacks and the coaches he’s played under, I knew we were getting a true professional,” Dak Prescott said. “I guess you can say he’s exceeded my expectations. It’s really just the man he is, honestly. The way he’s come in, he’s led this group, he’s taken every responsibility that we’ve given him head on and has mastered that. Now, it’s about just going out there and putting it to real game action. A player like that, the chemistry was expedited just with the way he prepares and how talented he is, understanding where all 22 guys are on the field and their purpose. It’s exciting having a guy like that and adding him to that room, knowing he brings a lot of value not only to our offense but particularly that room as a leader.”
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