FRISCO — With his first offseason of on-the-field work completed, Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Thursday it’s time to relax briefly before training camp begins in late July.
During the offseason phases, which ended with Thursday’s walkthrough sessions at mandatory minicamp, Schottenheimer said he was pleased with several things, including chemistry, how defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus works, special teams units and, of course, the offense.
“I feel like we’ve spent time doing things in the building, away from the building, getting to know each other, there’s been multiple events, all the coaches on different sides of the ball, have gotten together, away from the building,” Schottenheimer said. “Every position group has done that, and that’s so important. That’s been amazing. I think getting the system in place, in all three of those phases, is really important. I love where we’re at right now offensively, just in of the changes and the adjustments and things that we’re going to do. I feel really good about that.”
Adding a ping-pong table in the locker room that’s brought out spirited matches, shooting contests on a basketball goal stationed in Schottenheimer’s office and ing players away from the field was part of the rookie head coach’s goals of developing team unity.
The Cowboys also mixed players in different spots, such as outside cornerback DaRon Bland playing more slot and trying to find who the swing tackle will be.
Schottenheimer, without naming names, said several young players need to improve.
“A lot of work to do,” he said. “Some of the young guys, they got to use these next five weeks to get caught up. There’s a few guys that specifically know they’re a little bit behind, that’s normal, this time of year. They missed the first five weeks or four weeks I guess of the offseason program.”
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