
COWBOYS SQUAD SHOW: The Cowboys are getting ready for a Week 6 clash in Carolina against Rico Dowdle & the Panthers.
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Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
It's the Lockdown Podcast.
Landon McCool
Network your team every day.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
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Jeff Biggs
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Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
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Jeff Biggs
I'm Jeff Biggs, the host of the Cowboy Squad show and I think we should start this show with a Jerry Jones style salute.
Landon McCool
Hi, I'm L M with the Locked On Cowboys podcast and I am grateful for Clayton Adams Glenn Strut Smith.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
That is a good find for hollering. Hook them unicorns. I'm all about it.
Landon McCool
How about them Cowboys? It's the Cowboy Squad. Everything Dallas Cowboys every week covering all the big hits and game changing plays.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
From America's team the way only the Locked On Podcast Network can get ready.
Landon McCool
And start squad up. It's the Cowboy Squad show starting now.
Jeff Biggs
Well, welcome to another edition of the Cowboys Squad Show. Hard to believe that we are already at Week 6 of the NFL season. Unbelievable. Our episode today brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and if your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. As always, we start with a welcome to one of the co hosts of the daily Lockdown Cowboys podcast. Marcus is not with us, but Landon McCool is running solo all week. Landon, great job. Great to have you with us. And we are also joined as always by the one and only former Cowboys coach Glenn Stretch Smith. All right, we got a lot to get to today. Coming up first, real quick, we gotta be.
Landon McCool
We gotta be clear. Marcus isn't dead. Everyone. Jeff says, you know, Marcus isn't with us. And I think some people kind of got a little nervous there.
Jeff Biggs
No Marcus, I didn't want to go.
Landon McCool
He's off. He's off at a wedding. He's doing fine. He's having a great time.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
What is he. Where is he? On some junket flight heading to Guam.
Landon McCool
You're not too far off. But we can't, we cannot reveal the location of Marcus Martin Mosier. We don't want his many, many fans to glob onto him and we want him to be left alone.
Jeff Biggs
And he does. That's no joke. Have you seen. He's got a. He's got a huge following and blows up on Twitter all during the week. And so we'll. We hope he has a great week and he'll be back with us next week. And of course, he'll be with you. And Landon will be with you after the game on Sunday. So we're looking forward to that. All right. But coming up on our hour today, the very latest with the Cowboys. Another big week. We'll have some final thoughts on the blowout win over the Jets. We'll look ahead to Sunday's clash at Carolina and the Rico reunion, if you will, with Rico Dowdle. I mean, if I'm being completely honest, it's more of just fun to just say it and hype it up. But big, big picture. Yeah, but it's okay.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
It's.
Jeff Biggs
It's. It's a new week. It's part of the show. So, so we'll play along with it. And the Cowboys just have some injuries, but as they showed on Sunday against the jets, they have some depth, too. Maybe more depth than we even realize. So a lot to get to and as always, we want to hear from you via the comment crew. So we'll do that coming up. But Landon, let's start with you. We have not spoken since last week and I know going into the game against the Jets, I think, you know, there was a little concern how would the team respond after kind of a disappointing tie. Ties are 40 40. And wasn't sure how they would come after an emotional performance like that. A Sunday night game and going in on the road, early start against the jets, team that was. Was desperate, winless, you know, would the Cowboys step up or would they kind of play down to the competition? And I don't know about you. I was, I was pleasantly surprised. I thought they really handled their business well.
Landon McCool
Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, we're evaluating a lot of different aspects of what's going on with, with this team right now. And, and I think that, you know, one of the big things that I wanted to see with, with the new head coach and a new coaching staff is, you know, just taking care of business type of mentality that I feel like at times that's been a problem with the Cowboys is just, you know, going into a situation where you're the better team and kind of putting your best foot forward early in these games. And I think you even pointed it out specifically, the Cowboys have really struggled in these last few years playing these on the east coast in these early games on the road. Right. Like, it's, it's just, it's, it's a lot to get up for. And these, and these Cowboys teams haven't played a ton of these games just because they've been. Yeah, yeah, always in prime time, like playing Sunday night games, you know, the second window games. So they, they have traditionally not been, they've been slow starters. They looked sloppy at times in previous administrations going into these games. And I think that, you know, look, I mean, they, they haven't had complete success. But I just like the way that the. This team, this is iteration of this coaching staff's commitment to the run game, I think has really benefited the way that this team is able to get started on the road. Right. It's because run game travels and I think that, that what we've seen is that it provides a little bit of balance just in case Dak is needing a little bit of time to kind of work himself into these games a little bit. But also to Dax credit, I don't think he's the, an issue we've seen with him before is, is being a slow starter and, and now we're starting to see. I, I feel like whether it's the coaching staff, you know, putting him in a position where he's comfortable early in these games, if it's game script, I'm not sure and I'd love to hear talk about it. I just feel like that we're getting into these games a lot quicker. We're. We're playing at a higher level more immediately. We're not playing down to our competition. And, and to me, these are all signs of, of improvement from the head coach, I guess is the way I would frame it.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah, I mean, I, I think he's in step with the quarterback. I think the head coach and the quarterback really are attached at the hip. I think when you look at how the game is called, I'd be willing to bet you that they get together, meet on things that they like in the game plan, maybe some things that they don't like, and that Dak is not comfortable with it. It felt like that starting the year and it really feels like that is really starting to be an expanded role. As far as the team going out there, it felt like a business trip. I mean, it felt like they were going in there to take care of business. They went in there and did what they needed to do, which was shore up a secondary that was very porous, that was playing with really bad leverage multiple times. I saw even Kair Elam, even James play with correct leverage. And so business wise, that's what this felt like. This felt like a business model where they said, okay, we're bad here and we're bad here. Let's take care of that now. Let's take this show on the road. Let's make sure we go in here and do what we're supposed to do and, and, and get out of here with a win. And, and I thought it was a very business like trip. I thought they handled a lot of adversity very well. I mean, to play four backup offensive linemen, there's not another team in the National Football League that could do that. I mean, you look at the Chargers, they are struggling, minus Joe, all one guy. I mean, Dallas put four in there. Thank goodness for the preseason. It's painful for a lot of people, the preseason is painful to watch. However, it has benefited this offensive line immensely to have that preseason. And now look at the depth that Dallas has along their offensive front. I think you made a good point about Clayton Adams. Obviously he's, he's done a heck of a job.
Landon McCool
Yeah.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
Of getting his players in position to be successful. That's, that's big. When you, when you can identify the strengths of your players and you know how to then play to that strength. That's why they call you the coach, because it's your job to get them in position to be successful. And guess what? Take away things that they're not good at. They're not good at certain things, don't ask them to do those certain things. Don't, don't square peg a round hole because you think your system is the greatest system that's out there. There's no new football being invented. There's not anything. I mean, I'm watching the Jacksonville game the other night and it was, I think they had it second goal on the fourth, Jacksonville did, and they take the right guard and they actually pull him to the left and they're running a flip out the back door to the right. The influence, it didn't influence anybody. It was a minus two play. It was a crap play. And that doesn't mean that Liam Cohen hadn't done it. He's done a fantastic job. But that call was crack. And so don't, don't put your players in position to, to, to run that kind of stuff. Play what within the system and with what they can do. And I thought that's exactly what they did on the defensive side too. I mean it was so good to see some younger guy, Leopold in the game, James in the game. Some guys that were younger guys that maybe you're not as comfortable with as a coach, but guess what? You had to put them in there. Not that it was great that Sanborn went down. I. You never root for a guy to go down, but I mean, when you have to be forced to get comfortably uncomfortable with what you're doing, sometimes you benefit from that and those younger players being in the game.
Landon McCool
Real quick, Coach, let's, let's drill down a little bit on this because I do think that, that there was some interesting stuff we talked about all week that they needed to make some adjustments, you know, in the kind of scheme aspect of what they, of what they were doing on defense. And, and I, I think they, they clearly did. They doubled the amount of man coverage that they were playing. We saw a lot more stunting and twisting up front. And even despite the fact that, you know, you and I talked about on, on this, a previous squad show that this may not have been the best week to try to play a bunch more man coverage against Justin Fields. It certainly was still fine that it worked out for them. I, I wanted to ask you this though, and I've been thinking about this since we, we were about to have the show is to me going back and watching the tape, it didn't feel like the changes in scheme were the difference to me in them playing as much as better than they were. I think it made a difference. But to me, I think the, the thing that ultimately made the overall difference was just better execution across the board. Right. Like, but I mean they were playing the zone stuff better too. Not only just that they were playing more man and they're comfortable with that, but it felt like they were at least playing the zone stuff correctly. And not using the wrong techniques and maybe they've even cleaned up some of that stuff as well. Would you agree?
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
Oh, what I thought was that they did change how they played zone coverage in that War two, right?
Landon McCool
Yeah.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
They pressed guys more. They were up rerouting some guys. They were up getting their hands on guys. I, I showed a play on WFAA where Elam, it's a, it's a double set. It's a tight double set. And he's in press coverage on the outside guy and he pushes the guy inside who, who actually collides with the tight end. And when he does, about the time the tight end comes out as number two, comes out to go vertical and you see James heavy inside with the leverage, you're not going to run line, defensive line stunts and be able to get there if you don't route, if you're not able to just. And I'm not talking about like huge adjustment, rerouting. I'm talking about just taking a tick. And on the very first sack, I think they went down, down and around with Houston and he was able to get home from a, from a three man stunt. If you run a three man stunt, I got news for you, it takes a little while to get there. And so what I thought they did defensively was say, all right, we, we know this quarterback, he'll hold the ball a tick longer, he'll hold it. Fields will hold the ball. All right, if we can show this and not necessarily run that, but we could run this stunt and then we can just hold up these receivers a little bit, just get them to have to adjust a little bit to their route so that the ball doesn't come out on time or a tick light with fields, then we're going to have a chance. And I think that's exactly why they got five sacks, was because they were able to get up in some guys face on the outside and make them adjust their route. And when you combine adjusting the route to the quarterback, holding it a tick longer, then you're able to get home. And I thought that's what they were able to do.
Landon McCool
Yeah. So they doubled the amount of man coverage that they played.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
Right.
Landon McCool
But they also increased the amount of COVID two. And I think that that's kind of more of what you're talking about. Right between the man coverage and between the COVID 2, they were able to get up at the line of scrimmage, reroute these receivers and then just kind of drop into their flat zones and not have to worry about, you know, they did it at the cost of not as much cover three, not as much quarters, not as much having to get up the sideline and play in those silos and be responsible for the back half of that. They could, you know, work on rerouting these guys and not have to worry about running up and covering the back half of it of their, of their zone. So I, I do think that you're right. I think that it's the techniques that they used to play in the zones that, that really kind of made the biggest difference. And, and I think that it, it, it all worked together, right? The, the, the, the, the change of the angles with, with the kind of pirate stunts that you're talking about, the different loopers that they were using. And then on top of that, it felt like Fowler and some of these other guys were getting to the quarterback on more straightforward pass rushes just a tick quicker. And you combine that with the, the fact that they were able to reroute right receivers, disrupt the timing on routes earlier early on in the snap. I think that was enough that those two things combined that it felt like they went from being absolutely slaughtered at certain points, which, you know, they still were giving up chunk plays at certain points that there's, there's no doubt. But mostly it was in the run game. I think the difference was, is that, you know, you just made minor improvements in the way that they're playing the zone and the way that they were getting to the quarterback. And those two minor improvements on either side cumulatively made all the difference in the past defense.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah. So, so that people understand Cover 2 and the concept of COVID 2. The reason you're playing Cover 2 is because you're not afraid of them running the football. Because if you're playing cover two, they can number up with you up front.
Landon McCool
Yeah.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
And the other thing is people need to understand in cover two, when you're playing two high safeties and then you've got four guys rushing the quarterback, you've got five underneath players. Now you got five guys that are underneath in that zone. So for instance, to the boundary corner, you've got that corner plan a lot of times from the numbers to the boundary. And then you've got the will linebacker playing from the numbers to the hash. You got the mic normally playing in between the hashes. You got the nickel, Sam, playing the hash to the bottom of the numbers. And then the field corner plays the number to the boundary. So you have five underneath players that are passing guys through those zones. The, the key to, to always playing A really good cover, too, is meshing then with the two high safeties so that you don't get a guy running through the scene and then a dig behind that. The safety chasing the seam route and the guy coming from the dig and creating what are gaping holes in your zone and being able to understand and read and recognize what guys are doing from a route concept and, and what guys are. And how guys are trying to get to you. Then you hear people say Tampa, too. That's just the Mike linebacker running through the middle of the defense. Because guess what? Where. Where you weak and cover two is in what they call that whole shot throw where the corner lets you go and before the safety can get up over the top. But these safeties can widen if you can play what they call Tampa 2, which is the Mike linebacker running through the middle of the. Or carrying the middle of the defense for you. So, yes, I thought you saw him play a more functional and a better cover, too, from a coordination standpoint. Now, are they going to gas you're running the football? Yeah. Yeah. Guess what? Because they numbered. They number up because you have two high safeties and it's your responsibility as an offense to run them out of playing cover to make them drop the safety down. And then when you do that, then that's. That. That's when you start to really understand the ebbs and the flows of football. So what I need you to do, Jeff, is send me your address and I'm going to send you my invoice for that coaching clinic that I just put on. I'll send you. I'll send you the damn invoice you do.
Jeff Biggs
And Coach, you'd be happy I. You'd be happy to know Coach. Actually, I had a great relationship with Monty Kiffin when he was at usc. He was awesome. One of my favorites. He was fantastic.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
I tell you, one of the first things that I, that I learned when I was. And this is back when I was at OU and Monty Kippen was at Nebraska and he was actually, he was actually putting on at the time, you know, well, I'm showing my age here. I mean, they, you know, they video these tapes and then they would like put these tapes out in coaching clinics. And he was actually on the field at Nebraska and they were stepping off exactly what I was just talking about from a Cover 2 standpoint, because the college, the college numbers are much wider than the pro numbers. But he was actually stepping off. Okay. Our corner has from here to here. And they were stepping it off and showing it was a very informative thing. But yeah, Monty Kiffin and the Tampa 2 and Cover 2 is something that he did an incredible job of putting together.
Landon McCool
Turning Tampa to turning cover two into cover three. Right. With with that middle linebacker coming back. It was great. It's good stuff.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah.
Jeff Biggs
Outstanding. Thank you, coach. That was great. Really enjoyed that. That was a blessing. All right, when we come back, let's stick with the defense for a minute. I have a question for both of you. Want to get your thoughts on that. Also want to circle back to Dak. No pun intended or no rhyme. We'll do that later on. And we got to get ready for Carolina as well. A lot of people already jumping in. Our good friend and regular Stephen White is in. Dustin Roberts makes a couple of really good comments, says Javante Williams is way better than Rico. I would agree. Gut Bomber says Shock the O line is this sturdy. Yeah, I agree. And we'll talk more about that coming up as well. And Cowboys Thanos, he's ready. He is fired up, ready to go. Great to be with you. This is the Cowboys squad show. All right. Got to give it up for FanDuel and what they're doing right now because the NFL season is here and fanduel has an offer you do not want to miss. Right now. New customers can bet just $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if you win. That's right. Pick a bet, put down five bucks and if it hits, you'll unlock $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. It makes watching football even more exciting when you've got a little something riding on the action. So what are you waiting for? Visit FanDuel.com to download the FanDuel app today and get started.
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Jeff Biggs
All right, we are back. The Cowboy squad show Landon McCool the coach Glenn Stretch Smith. Marcus Moser is okay Just as the week off. He'll be back with us next week, but he'll be on with landing coming up as well this weekend.
Landon McCool
All right.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
Thank God. Taking a sabbatical in the middle of football season.
Landon McCool
This guy really ridiculous.
Jeff Biggs
So we're talking about the defense coach. We talked about this on the post game squad show, but some people brought it up in the comments section that when Jack Sanborn left the game early with a concussion, a lot of people said that kind of helped the defense and they were really excited about the play of rookie Shamar James. What do you think of that sentiment and what, what's going on with Sanborn?
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
Well, I mean I was thinking. Oh, I'm sorry Landon. I was saying concussion I thought is what they checked him for. I don't know. And I'm assuming that then they pulled him out physically.
Jeff Biggs
I meant just in general why he has struggled.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah, yeah. Again, let's. So the, you know, in my mind, from a coaching standpoint, it's always, there's always a comfort level with guys who understand exactly what you're wanting to do, scheme wise, understand your verbiage, understand how to do it. And, and because she's been in this defense for so long, there's a, and this just me looking at it. I don't know anything other than looking at it. I don't like to talk to people in the building. I don't like, I like to give an opinion over what I see because I've always believed that your eyes don't lie. And so I think there's a certain comfort level with Jack Sanborn and what he has done and what he did in Chicago when he played for Dave Borgonzi, the linebacker coach, and understanding what is being asked of the defense to do. Is he limited physically? Is he limited speed wise? I think he is. But there that comfort level is there. And I think that James is probably not as comfortable in that situation, which is this defense. And so maybe you, and this is just a guess here, maybe you don't have as many things that you think you can do with James as you can with Sanborn. Again, I'm talking about this from a coaching perspective, but if you can bring guys along with what you want to do and the only way to do that is playing the game, it's not going to happen in practice. It's not going to happen wearing virtual goggles. You, it isn't going to happen sitting in the film room. It's not going to happen that way. You have to be in the game and be playing to really get the full, you know, the full scope of what's being asked of you. And I think what happened was in this situation that they had to kind, kind of become comfortably uncomfortable in kind of almost spoon feeding someone who they don't think has the, the, the, the, the. The mental capacity that Sanborn does, but has more of the physical side of it. And guess what? Sometimes that makes you dial down what you can call. Sometimes that makes you dial in some of the things that you can do, and sometimes that's not bad. And so I think that all of those things lined up and the Cowboys were able to. Because like I said earlier, I mean, to watch, when I watch the film and I see, I see James play, he's playing with very good leverage and he's a faster guy. So guess what? He's able to drop and get some more depth and he's able to do some things, maybe not as many things. Maybe the, maybe the, the, the, the. The cue card is not as big, but guess what? He does some things really good. And so I use the term comfortably uncomfortable because all of a sudden you become. It can kind of get out of your comfort zone as a coach knowing you got to play somebody that in fact is younger and may not have all that, but he's got better physical tools. I know that's a long answer, but I'm trying to give it to you.
Jeff Biggs
I love it.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
I'm trying to give it to you, Jeff. And the Greek Alphabet, the alpha to the omega. How's that?
Jeff Biggs
I love it.
Landon McCool
Speaking of being comfortable, it looks like Mike Marcus is sipping a pina colada while watching the show. So shout out to Marcus. He is still alive.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
He's on a sabbatical, for crying out loud. During the middle of football season. Shout out. Nothing.
Landon McCool
Yeah, Marcus, it's been, there's been a lot of yelling so far. Yeah, Listen here, you know, here's the thing with, with, with playing the, the young guys versus the old guys. Guys, right? It's. There's two, there's two. There's two processes that have to happen for a linebacker to make a tackle, right? He has to process the information of what's happening in front of him in his eyes, right? He's got to see what's happening. And, and I think that is where Sanborn has got, you know, Shemar James beat in spades, right? He sees and processes and knows what to do way, way faster than, than where Shemar James is right now, right? It the second process of, of taking that information and then running to the football, that's where Shemar James has got Jack Sanborn beat by a mile at this point. Especially as with young legs, the only thing that's going to get better in this process is Shemar James's ability to process. And as coach said, the only way to improve that is to get him on the field. But there is a risk first reward there, right? Because yeah, maybe Sanborn can't make the play at the same speed that, that Shemar James can at certain times, but there's also certain plays that Jamar James is simply just not going to make because he doesn't recognize what's happening to him. And that's kind of what. And then again, as coach is saying too, it also kind of puts a limit on what you're calling and what you have, you know, kind of available to you on the menu. And, and sometimes that's not a bad thing, right? Like sometimes if you limit it down to three or four things that the defense knows how to execute well and they're playing their leverages really well, that's probably, you know, ultimately a better net result than doing that at a lower rate and then throwing in a couple more exotic plays, trying to create a big play on defense and then ultimately giving up a big play on defense. So, you know, I think it's not the worst thing right now with the defense where it is right now to think about trying to remove volatility from the situation. Right. And just like being more solid, however, the problem is, is that you need these young players to develop and the only way that they're going to develop is by getting out there and taking their lumps and, and you as your, as the D, as your defense, you're gonna have to take the lumps with them. So I think it just means that it's still beholden on the Cowboys offense to dictate the game script to help their defense out. I just think that by playing the, the younger guys, it changes the shape of how you need to help them and it also at least gives you a light at the end of the tunnel that, hey, if we can just suffer through this for three or four weeks of playing with more Leopale and, and, and you know, eventually overshone when he comes back and, and, and more Shemar James and less of, of of the Murray's and Sanborn's. If you could suffer through that then, then you hope that by the end of this, in a month from now, you've raised the floor of the defense and the ceiling in a way that you, you couldn't have done if you just continually threw out more Sanborn and more Murray. And, and because those guys aren't going to get better, they're only just going to get, you know, more beat up as the season goes on and, and you're going to get kind of diminishing returns.
Jeff Biggs
Right? Right. So, flipping back to the offense, and I, I want to say this again. I mean, for me, I know there were a lot of great highlights from that game on Sunday. I loved the way that they finished the first half. I, I just, I thought that was awesome. That really showed me a lot with those two drives, the big long one and then the quick one. Really, really impressive. And back to your point about Dak, I, I'm, I've always been big on. Okay, there's a time to criticize, but there's also a time for praise. And you got to be fair. You got to do it right. And to your point, Landon, you can know Dak knows the answer. The Schottenheimer, they know the answer. But whatever it is, he, he, you know what? Those, those weeks at the end of last season when he was sitting up there in the box watching, and with another year turned on the calendar of his career, you know, to his credit, he came ready to play. I mean, it's one thing, you know, for all the things that we've said, but he, he himself took it upon himself and in his heart and his character to. He's trying to take the narrative and finish his legacy and his career and get that super bowl and he's come ready to play.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
I mean, I'm going to tell you, and I am, I am, I am not afraid to say this in any arena. I, I was as critical of Dak Prescott and a 60 million dollar extension as anybody could be. I did not, I did not think he was that. I didn't think he was that level of player. I did not see that and have not seen that until this year. But I want to tell you, I was, I was absolutely and have been absolutely uber impressed with the job that he has done running this offense, with the job that he has done, take taken control of what feels like the football team. And I'm going to tell you, I'll be the first to say I'm not so sure that getting rid of Micah Parsons is not maybe the best thing that's ever happened to Dak Prescott, because now he is the face of this franchise, no question about it. And he's put himself in that position by, by being the best he could be, which I think is. He lost some weight. You can see very. He's very much more in tune kind of with his body and kind of how he can get in certain areas and when he can take off with the football, I, I couldn't have been more critical of any of that. And yet I'm going to be the first guy to tell you that I think he's done a hell of a job and he has taken on the role of being a leader and the face of this franchise and. Okay, you can say, well, they're two, two and one. Well, it's New York Jets. Let's. Hey, you know what? At the end of the day, he's done what they've asked him to do, and he has put points on the board and he has led this offense. And in, in.
Jeff Biggs
In.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
In a way that I didn't think he could ever do it.
Landon McCool
Yeah. I just think, you know, Dak made. It feels like Dak made a commitment to do whatever it takes, and I think he's doing stuff that maybe was out of his comfort zone even a little bit. Right. Like, I think one of the things that I think Schottenheimer kind of challenged him on is, hey, we want to do some more on our center stuff. And, and I think that that wasn't something that Dak was always super comfortable with. I think that Dak also, you know, like Coach said, recommitted himself to training his body to be ready to run the football. He's talked about that, is that he felt like the fact that he, you know, tore his hamstring off the bone while he was running, you know, in, in a. It was a scramble. I think it, it just showed him that he needed to be more deliberate with the way he was training his body because he. He's going to need to use his legs, and that's always been a component of, of his game. And I think, as you're seeing in the modern NFL, right, like, Dak is considered to be the old guard at the quarterback position, but even then, you're expected to be able to create with your legs in a way that, you know, Peyton Manning and Late Stage Tom Brady and some of these other guys didn't. Right. Dax, you know, kind of the next iteration of the pocket passer where you're not using your legs all the time, but you're still going to be expected to use your legs. Right. And I, And I think coaches and I think. Who was it said in the chat, I'm Sorry. I think it was Stephen, actually it was Stephen White, right, who said it like, I think Dak has hit this point in his career and it surprised us with Tony Romo too. He's hit that late last stage, Tony Romo part of his career where it was never at that point with Romo, it was never about whether he was good enough. It was about whether he was healthy enough. Right? Like, like by the end of it, Romo was in such incredible command of the offense and just understood it at a level that we never thought that he, he would or he could. He just took it to a level that I don't know that any of us expected for him to get to later in his career. And I feel like that's what Dak did this year, is he, he accessed that final stage of his kind of developments. And so we've got a window now and I, I and I think that that's why I look at this situation and we do have these conversations about trades, right? Is because it's like, hey, Dak actually is that guy. Now maybe we do need to see if we, is it like, are we good enough to be aggressive, to like lean into, seeing if we can optimize this window? I think that that's something that we're going to see. If they could win this game in Carolina, I think I could be convinced into like leaning into this season to see what we can surround Dak Prescott with.
Jeff Biggs
All right, well said. Okay, let's take our second time out and when we come back we will start to look at the clash in Carolina and the Rico reunion. We'll get to more of your comments as well. We got to get into the injuries and kind of where things stand here in the middle of the week, but another big game coming up. Week 6 Another early start on the road for the Cowboys against the Panthers. This is the Cowboys squad show. I'm Tyler Rowland from Locked On Titans. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. It's a great time to apply for an Apple Card. You'll love earning up to 3% unlimited.
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Cody Rourke
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Jeff Biggs
All right, there you go. Nicely done. Welcome back to the Cowboys squad show Landon McCool the coach, Glennon Stretch Smith. I am Jeff Biggs. Great to be with you as we look ahead now to the Week 6 matchup coming up on the road at Carolina for the Cowboys. Well, let's start with a headline. Former Cowboy. Another one. This time on the offensive side of the ball. Rico Dowdle is going to be in the game. He's coming off a monster performance of his own and even provided a little bulletin board material telling the Cowboys they better buckle up. Rico. And what do you think of the matchup?
Landon McCool
I loved. I mean, I hated to see Rico go. I was a big fan of Rico Dowdle. I thought he, you know, was always a guy that was underappreciated and I think, you know, was I shocked to see him get a 200 yard rushing affair. Yeah, a little bit. I mean, but you know, listen, you get into the right situation, you get a good scheme around you, you play the right opponent, you get an opportunity, then I and you can. You take advantage of it. So kudos to him and it looks like he's going to get the lion's share again this week because it does look like Chuba Hubbard is probably, you know, or at least he hasn't plaqued so far this week. We'll see if he is able to kind of come around by the end of the week. But it does feel like it's going to be a lot of Rico Dowdle that we're going to see and it'll be an interesting matchup. I, I, I, I think that, you know, the Cowboys are a little bit better settled to, to kind of stop a Rico Dowdle led rushing attack than they maybe were when he was on the team last year.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
I'm, I'm from the school that, and, and I always told my players this. I've always told at every level. You know what? Talk, talk with your helmet and your shoulder pads. Yeah. I don't want to hear all that bump in your gums. I mean I'm not, I'm not from that school. Buckle up for what we'll be buckling up for when we riding, we're riding the damn runaway mine train at Six Flags.
Landon McCool
We're playing football already. You know, it's like, what are we doing here?
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
That doesn't mean, that doesn't mean jack crap to me. I mean, I, it doesn't. But you know what if you feel like you need to go out and you need to tell your former teammates, I, I, I, I'd be willing to bet you that they'll, they'll, they'll have it, they'll, they'll have it ready to go. I like that there was nothing said out of the Cowboys side. You haven't heard a lot of that. Again, at the end of the day, talk, talk with your helmet and your shoulder pads. You shut your pie hole. I'm not interested in all that other crap.
Landon McCool
Yeah, the only thing I've heard is Dak confirming we're always buckled up so, you know, like, thanks for the heads up, Rico. But it's like, yeah, I don't know. To me, I, I hate this, I hate this kind of narrative of like players that, that go to sign at new teams. Like it's a revenge game. Like, you know, it's just a business. Like these guys move around. It's never, you know, like if I something, I think there's specific cases that are obviously more so like this but just run of the mill, hey, your contract is up and then you went to go sign with the for some more money on another team and this is a revenge game. Like come on man, we're, we're already out here playing football. It's already physical and tough. Like I, I don't, you don't need to add subscribe some, you know, ridiculous non, you know, revenge story to this whole thing too.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
Grown, grown, grown men. Grown men. And guess what? Get paid they get paid to do this. So yeah, you feel like you, you feel like you need to go out there and, and do that. Well, you know what, good luck to a swell fella. Probably don't work out. Good for you.
Jeff Biggs
Well, sticking with the running backs, wanted to get your thoughts really quick on Jaden Blue who made his debut, ended up with four carries for 7 yards and shot him. Said during the week, I think it was yesterday that he said Javante Williams is the bell cow. He's earned that. So that's not really, not really a surprise. But coach, I know we talked about on the post game, he, he did block well did Blue, but nice little.
Landon McCool
Blitz, pick up like third snap. He was in right. Coach, that was good. Yeah, yeah.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
I thought it was interesting the guy ran up and just stuck his chest up into him. But hey, he had, what I liked was again, and I talked about this in the, in the post game, I mean, what I like was you, he heard the protection. He reached up, buckled his cheek. He, he reached up and yanked it. Good for you. You did the thing, you know what you're gonna do. And he went up and picked up who he was supposed to pick up. I thought that was the most impressive thing.
Landon McCool
Absolutely.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
That he did in the football game. Do I like that he got a little burn that he got a few carries that he got to, you know, put the ball in his hand and take a few shots. Sure. And guess what? You're going to need, you're going to need him. That's the thing is keep, keep kind of in the same way we were talking about spoon feeding certain players. Continue to spoon feed him, give him those four or five carries and let him, give Williams a little break and let him get in there and maybe see if you can get him the ball on the perimeter a time or two and you know, play to his strength. So I, I, I, I, I, I'm, I'm glad for Jaden Blue and I'm, you know, I, I hope he continues to get his, you know, get his card filled up with more opportunities. Yeah, yeah.
Landon McCool
And real quick, I, I think there's a schematic thing that's interesting here that's happening too, is that as the Cowboys, especially when CD Lamb comes back, right. As the Cowboys, the, the defenses they face start to fail more because they, they see this kind of deeper passing attack that the Cowboys are hitting them with, you're going to start seeing teams play with a little bit more shell coverage and they're going to start dropping back and there's going to be times when the Cowboys get into third or longer situations and teams are just going to be playing more kind of, you know, not letting anything get behind them sort of coverages. I think that you're going to start seeing more creative ways to, for, for Dak to get to his check down quicker, right. And, and, and, and, and get optimal like yardage on defenses that are all dropping far, further and further back to make sure the bigger plays aren't happening. There's going to be a ton of space underneath and that is where I think Jaden Blue could really, really make a difference if he can, you know, continue to do all the things that could keep him on the field. Because if you can just imagine, you know, you've got your corners and your linebackers sprinting back to kind of make sure that they can cover the deep zones and you're able to swing a ball out into the flat to Jaden Blue with no one around him for 15 yards. That's when you start to really see the reasons that you, you've drafted a guy like this. I love the designs that Schottenheimer's included, including that little kind of one man screen that they ran to Hunter Lipke where they, where it was like third and 10 and they swung it out to him in the flat with an offensive lineman in front of him. I think that that's the kind of stuff you're going to start to see to take advantage of these defenses as they try to play deeper and deeper coverage, taking advantage of all the space that's being created underneath.
Jeff Biggs
Yeah, we talked about that, coach. That tight end screen too was awesome. That was a fantastic.
Landon McCool
Something we've never been able to do. Right. Isn't that crazy, Jeff? Like, it just feels like we've been watching the Cowboys for so long and they just have never been a good screen team. Right. And that's, it's something that you see all the really, really elite offenses, it feels like have a really decent screen game, right? You look at the Liam Cohen's of the world, the Andy Reid's of the world, these guys are elite at calling screens in the timing that they call it and then the execution, the way that their teams executed. The Cowboys just never really had that in their game the last, I don't know, 15 or 20 years. It feels like now Clayton Adams is here and I think he's just drawn up some interesting things because they pull their guards and centers a lot because they do that stuff, it's easier to fool defenses with some of These more interesting screens, I think, and they've been pretty effective.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah. And the quarterback's got to be comfortable with it, too. I mean, you got to draw the defense to you. You gotta, it's a timing thing. You gotta, you gotta be able to get them to you and then, boom, you gotta get it out. Here's the other thing that I talked about Sunday night, was that you don't always have to have these big offensive linemen. They're not going to go out and probably get their hat on a really good athlete on a good corner, on a good safety, on a good linebacker. What they are going to do is if you can get them out and get them to run. And I mentioned this Sunday night, just be like an 18 wheeler, just take off running, Just, just get, get you some facing and run. Yeah. And then the back, hey, guess what? He. He's that guy that makes you mad on that motorcycle. You know, the trucks aren't really blocking anybody. He's just moving in and out of the traffic. So I do think it's something you have to be comfortable calling from a coaching standpoint. And then it's something that the quarterback has to know, hey, I got to draw. I got to kind of draw them to me and then get the football out.
Jeff Biggs
Nice. And I mean, just, just thinking too, I could, I could back to Jaden Blue. I could see him becoming a late season weapon. I feel like his time is going to come for sure. But in the meantime, with what the Cowboys are doing, we haven't hit on it, but what they're doing with the offensive line, and we talk about this as well. I mean, what. The depth that they have. I mean, what, what. What a pleasant surprise, Coach Neil. I mean, how many other teams could handle four of their five starters being out and still dominate the way that they did?
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah. Nobody. No. Nobody else in the NFL. Not. Not nobody else. So that, you know, if you're, you're, you know, you're. You're trying to hang your hat on something from a Cowboys fan. Hang your hat on the fact that they've got depth in the offensive line. Now, are they going to keep that depth or, you know, might that be something that you could. I guarantee you, the phone's ringing. There are people that are calling that are saying, what. What would it take to get whoever. Whichever one of those guys you want.
Landon McCool
DJ Bass, please give me TJ Bass. What is it going to take?
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
Whoever. And, and, and then, you know what? You're, you're in need too now. Very seldom do you see a player for a player trade at this time? Because, you know, you're dealing with the money issue and all that. But at the end of the day, it's good to have depth. It's good to have Ryan Flournoy ready to play. It's good to have Cropper written, not the lights weren't too big for him in MetLife to go back and just, you know what? I don't need you to make a play. Just secure the punt. Good to have those kind of guys and it's better that they're getting. They're getting the opportunity to do that. The lights don't feel too bright for those guys and they certainly don't feel too bright for the offensive lineman and the depth of the offensive line because, I mean, the last I checked, there's a collision going on with those five guys every time that you snap the ball offensively. So that's, that's where the lion's share of a lot of times a lot of a rash of injury can hurt you there. So. And it's hit him and guess what? Nobody's even talking about going, what are we getting Cooper, baby back? When are we getting so and so back? All of a sudden it's turn the page. And you know, you hear, hear it all the time. The coach speak, all the next man up. That's certainly what it feels like with the offensive line.
Jeff Biggs
Yeah. And look, you guys know, I mean, historically, the teams that win, the teams that advance and play in January and February have good offensive lines. Usually their O line is intact the whole season or their line is really, really good. So I agree with you there 100%. Somebody did ask, do you think we'll see any kind of a trade? We have a few weeks before the deadline, but I think we're all in agreement, right? You don't want to, you don't want to burn through all those picks that you have. You want to keep those. But we'll see, you know, we'll see.
Landon McCool
I need to see one more game before I need to see the Cowboys beat, win a game that they are supposed to win on the road in an early game.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
Again.
Landon McCool
I need to see you do it one more time to, to prove to me that you are worthy of investing picks for this year. Order to. To. To, you know, accelerate things for this year. I think I still need to see one more win. That makes you three, two and one. And that gives you some hope that if you could beat Washington after, after that, you might be in this thing in A way that you weren't certainly even two weeks ago.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna wait just a little longer. I'm gonna go. Who's after Washington? Is it the Raiders?
Landon McCool
That sounds right. I don't know off top of my head.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
I'm not sitting here looking at the schedule.
Landon McCool
Yeah, yeah, no, it's Denver actually.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
After it's Denver, then the Raiders.
Landon McCool
I'm sorry, at Denver, at, at Arizona, then the bye week and then the Raiders.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
Okay. Yeah, I mean, get, get, get me to the, get me to that kind of. That bye week right there. And let's see, let's see where we're at. You got Kyler Murray coming in here. He's never been beaten at AT and T. So I'm sure that'll be the biggest Monday night story. But yeah, get, get a little farther down the road before you start saying, okay, what is it going to take to go get us maybe a frontline linebacker to, to, to, to all of a sudden rotate in here with oversh James. If, if, you know, if that's. I, you know, I don't see a long term situ or a short term situation with somebody like Hendrickson. I just don't, I don't know that that fits right now. But certainly you get to that point in the season where maybe you, you, you think you're within a game of, of, of. Of being in first place game and a half now you got that half game out there. Maybe you, maybe you make that move.
Landon McCool
Let me throw this out real quick. The trade deadline is actually November 4th, so the, the, the Arizona game is November 3rd. So any trade that you would make, you probably need to do. You probably need to make your decision after that Washington game or after that Chicago game. I mean, you, you, you've gotta like.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
You probably have Denver.
Landon McCool
Yeah, I'm sorry, Denver. Yes, you're right. I'm looking at this. No, no, no.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah, I would be. Yeah, that's. To me, that's the time frame. You said.
Landon McCool
Honestly.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
I'm saying give me three games.
Landon McCool
Honestly, I think that Washington game is to me the kind of lineup you really have to win this Carolina game just because you need to win the. You gotta win the low hanging fruit. That Washington game, if you win that at home, that gives you a division win over someone that you're in the race with actively. If you give. If that, if you win that game, you're in the race. And I think that that's to me enough to like, trigger. All right, let's go see who's out there. Let's see what we can do. Obviously we're, we're talking about the defensive players. So yeah, I think that Washington, the Carolina game is required. The Washington game. If you win that, I think that supercharges the conversation.
Jeff Biggs
All right, when we come back, final thoughts and our final segment. This is the Cowboys squad show. You can just move through life or.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
You can find the things that move you.
Jeff Biggs
It's your choice.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
You can choose to get out there, choose your people. You could choose to go for it. No, like really go for it. Just choose to do something that moves you. Mazda cross craft cars. For those who choose to do more than simply move, Mazda move and be moved.
Jeff Biggs
Nice and quick. Welcome back to the Cowboy squad show. Landon McCool and the coach Glenn Stretch Smith getting ready for the Cowboys and Carolina Week 6 on Sunday. All right, let's kind of go down the list. I know it's kind of fluid right now, Lana, but what, what are we hearing on the injury front? It sounds like maybe the Tylers are going to be back but yeah, let's.
Landon McCool
I mean the list is long and you look at it and, but there is some positive news on the list because it's also including Kaylin Carson and Jonathan Mingo who are both now coming into their 21 day practice window coming off of IR. So those guys are listed as limited because they're coming off of the, the IR for, for, you know, the, the like I said the 21 day practice window and then yeah, like guys like Guyton, he actually practiced today. So I, I, the word was that from Schottenheimer that he had a, an evaluation today. We don't really know how that turned out but hopefully it went well and he'll be out of the concussion protocol. It does sound like Sanborn is now in the protocol. So it's likely he is not going to play this week. I would assume Kenneth Murray's already been talking about moving over to play Mike this week and, and so I think they're going to be rotating probably Shemar James and some of these other folks that will linebacker. Right. And then I think Tyler Smith was a guy that was a game time decision last week. He has knee tendinitis but it's, it sounds like he was out there practicing limited today so hopefully he'll be back. So I think you're gonna get Tyler Smith back. You're probably gonna get Tyler Guyton if things went, went well. Tyler Booker was also out there. I, I think without, you know, a brace on but I also think he was listed as a DNP. So I, I, I, I'm still not 100 sure if, if he's going to be this week or next week. And then CD Lamb it sounds like was out there running around without a brace. But I would definitely, you know, put him in the category the of players that Schottenheimer mentioned that they may be out on the field but I wouldn't necessarily count them as be, you know, being locks to play this week. I would imagine they give both Booker and CD probably one more week and they try to get them ready for that Washington game that we referenced.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah, Turpin. Probably another week, maybe two.
Landon McCool
Probably.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah.
Jeff Biggs
All right. And so on on the defensive side of the ball, Malik Hooker we already know was already placed on the injured list before the jets game, but the Cowboys brought back Julius Wood and signed him to their practice squad. What do you recall? What do you remember, Landon, about Julius Wood and what, what can he bring?
Landon McCool
I remember that people made a lot of the hubbub because he got claimed, you know, after being cut. You know, I, he's a solid player. I, I don't know that he's going to move the needle in this situation or that he's even going to be active or play. But I think he's, I think the reason that a lot of folks are talking about about him is because he was a guy that a lot of folks liked as a down roster developmental safety. He was the guy that the Cowboys cut hoping they could sneak onto the practice squad. It didn't work out. He got claimed by the Titans if.
Jeff Biggs
I'm, yeah, that's right.
Landon McCool
Yeah. So he's, and so now he's coming back after, after getting snagged off the waivers.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
All right.
Jeff Biggs
And, and former, excuse me, former Cowboy Israel Makwamu was, has been released by the Panthers and he never made it off their practice squad. That's kind of surprising.
Landon McCool
I, I don't know. I, I, I, I don't know what to say about Mukwam. I, I have always liked the Kwamu. I can't believe I was shocked when he got cut and I'm shocked again that is that, that he got cut from Carolina. I thought, you know, when he's gotten out there, he's acquitted himself well, I don't know. I, I don't really get that whole situation. Maybe he'll come back to the Cowboys.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
I don't know. Yeah, I don't either. I mean I, I don't know that for whatever reason, they let him go before. Does he look any better now? Probably not.
Landon McCool
It's crazy. He played really, really well in that playoff game against the, the Buccaneers. Just on kind of spot duty. Coming in playing slot corner. Yeah, I never understood that whole situation. I thought he looked good in training camp, too, so I'm a little surprised.
Jeff Biggs
All right, so final thoughts Sunday at Carolina. We know that they're going to try to run Rico. Bryce Young is going to throw. He's not a big guy, but he can move a little bit. Throws about 30, 30 passes a game was sacked three times last week in their win over the Dolphins. They came back. I mean, they came back and rallied to get that win. What are you looking for in this one?
Landon McCool
Yeah, getting after this kid, you know, I mean, he is. He's really kind of just a high variance player right now. And a lot of it has been bad, you know, especially early on in the season. It felt like he had kind of reverted back to a lot of the bad play that got him benched. And then obviously, you know, had that kind of amazing turnaround last year and played some better football at the end of the year. And Carolina fans were certainly excited, you know, coming into the year with, with what they had seen at the end of the year from Bryce Young. I think it's been real uneven again this year. You know, ultimately, at the end of the day, you know, he's. He's very high, anticipatory thrower. He knows where to put the football. He knows how to throw the football. Even though he's one of these guys that, even though he's smaller, he's not afraid to throw over the middle of the field because he can throw with good anticipation. But he is limited. He is a physically limited player. Even though he's small, he's not exceptionally fast or quick. So he's not a guy that's super elusive. So that makes him an easy target in the pocket. So since he's not big and strong, he's not fighting through tackles or, or anything like that. So, you know, there's a certain amount of kind of Justin Fields to his game, except without the. That a lot of the athleticism and, and he's a better thrower of the football because that's the thing is that, you know, suddenly he'll, he'll turn it on and him and Dave Canellis are, are completely in sync. And now they're, you know, putting up 20 points in no time. So, you know, they've got a good, decent offensive line. But the Cowboys should be able to, to make some hay there. If they kind of continue to play that we saw last week. The question is going to be, you know what, which version of Bryce Young they get and how are they going to be able to slow down this Rico Dowdle head Panthers running attack.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah, I mean, he's comfortable running his own read stuff. So I can see Carolina putting a heavy dose of zone read in there. That's what hurt the Cowboys. They were playing field some along with playing that, playing cover two. So you saw the jets try to kind of get them out of that cover two. Look, and Dallas was just patient with saying, you know what, we'll, we'll give you, we'll give you a 12 yard run here, we'll give you this, but we're not giving you that. So I, I want to see a defense go out and, and play the way you played last week, expanding just a little bit. I look for Clowney to have and play a bigger role and then I think the Dallas offense just continue to do what you got to do. Go, go score 30. Go, go, go, go, go. Post 32 on the board and see if, you know, play chase, see if they can catch if they can.
Jeff Biggs
All right. Yeah, I forgot Clowny facing one of his former teams, right? Yeah, that going. So we got that angle.
Landon McCool
He's a Carolina guy too. That's right.
Jeff Biggs
And hey, look, earlier start like you said, Landon, and anytime the Cowboys come to town, it's, it's huge. It's a huge game. So looking forward to it. Final thought before we go, Landon, what do you got? Coming up on the Solo Daily Locked on Cowboys podcast. Minus Marcus, hopefully not disaster.
Landon McCool
That's what we hope. What we got, right? Yeah, we got, we got a game preview coming up. We're going to be talking about all this and more when the Carolina of game. You know, it's an important game, even though it's, it's a game where you expect the Cowboys to win. Even though they're playing on the road, they're the more talented team. This is another game that traditionally the Cowboys have struggled with. So if we want to prove that we're really a different team, this is a different coaching staff and it's not just the same old situation. Cowboys need to come out and play like they did against the jets early on and, and kind of control the game start to finish. We'll talk all about it.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
All right, well, you got, you got, you got your sidekick. You know, he, he champions how much film he watches and how much he works and all that. Take a damn sabbatical right in the middle of the season. What?
Landon McCool
If you think that. If you think that he isn't in his hotel room in undisclosed location X watching a game film right now, you're probably right. He's probably.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
Well, he probably is. But he's on a damn sabbatical. He ain't on his shows. I don't want to hear about the rough water. I just. I want to see the ship come in. Don't tell me about.
Landon McCool
Be careful, coach. You say his name too many times. He's going to show up in this. In this chat like candy. Man.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
It's spooky season.
Landon McCool
Marcus, Marcus. Marcus.
Jeff Biggs
Outstanding. Outstanding. All right, guys, we'll have a great rest of the week. And coach, we'll talk again on Sunday afternoon. Landon, enjoy the game. We'll talk to you next week. And Marcus, we'll see you next week, if not sooner. This has been the cowboy squad show. You can just move through life or you can find the things that move you. It's your choice.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
You can choose to get out there, choose your people. You could choose to go for it. No, like really go for it. Just choose to do something that moves you. Mazda crafts cars for those who choose to do more than simply move, Mazda move and be moving.
Cody Rourke
I'm Cody Rourke from Lockdown Broncos and this episode is brought to you by Peloton. Peloton is shaping the future of fitness with the brand new Peloton cross training Tread plus. Powered by Peloton iq, this is Peloton's most advanced equipment yet, giving you real time guidance and endless ways to move. Whether you're running, lifting or you're cross training with your favorite instructors like Alex Toussaint, it's training reimagined to make your workout more personal. Peloton is built for breakthroughs with features that help you plan, stay motivated and hit peak performance. Can let yourself run, lift, flex and go while Peloton handles all the rest. Plus, Peloton IQ provides real time strength coaching, tracking your progress and suggesting weights that challenge you so you can get stronger. Plus the new movement tracking camera. It counts your reps and corrects your form in real time, making sure every rep is safer and smarter. So let yourself run, lift, flex, push and go explore the new peloton cross training shred@1peloton.com Tonight's meal, Tilapia Surprise with boiled cabbage.
Landon McCool
Begin cooking steps one through 50 now.
Coach Glenn Stretch Smith
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This episode of Locked On Cowboys Squad Show features Landon McCool (solo in Marcus Mosher’s absence) and Coach Glenn “Stretch” Smith alongside host Jeff Biggs. The crew recaps the Cowboys’ impressive blowout over the New York Jets, analyzes key improvements on both sides of the ball (especially the defense), examines Dak Prescott’s performance and evolving leadership, and looks ahead to the Week 6 road matchup against the Carolina Panthers—complete with a “Rico Reunion,” as former Cowboy running back Rico Dowdle has emerged as a Panthers weapon. They also address listener questions, injury updates, and the Cowboys’ surprising roster depth.
On the Cowboys’ improved mental approach:
"This team...not playing down to our competition. These are all signs of improvement from the head coach."
— Landon McCool (05:35)
Cover 2/Tampa 2 breakdown:
"The key to always playing a really good Cover 2 is meshing then with the two high safeties...so you don't get a guy running through the seam..."
— Coach Glenn Stretch Smith (17:49)
Sanborn vs. Shemar James, risk and reward of youth:
"You as your defense, you're gonna have to take the lumps with them...you hope by the end of this month of playing more [youth], you've raised the floor of the defense and ceiling…"
— Landon McCool (28:56)
On Dak Prescott’s leap:
"I did not think he was that level of player...until this year...He has taken on the role of being a leader and face of this franchise."
— Coach Glenn Stretch Smith (33:30)
On Rico Dowdle’s trash talk:
"Talk with your helmet and your shoulder pads...Buckle up for what, are we riding the damned runaway mine train at Six Flags?"
— Coach Glenn Stretch Smith (42:07)
On Dallas’ O-line depth:
“Nobody else in the NFL [could do this].”
— Coach Glenn Stretch Smith (50:24)
Locked On Cowboys Podcast — Your Team. Every Day.