Dallas Cowboys Preseason Recap + Daron Bland Injury Update

Intro the Dallas Cowboys have concluded the 2024 preseason we'll tell you who's on the roster bubble and who's not plus how big of an injury is donon Ban's foot injury all that more in this episode of the loton Cowboys podcast you are locked on Cowboys your daily Dallas Cowboys podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome back to the loton Cowboys podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day we' like to thank you for making us your first listen of the day this episode is brought to you by FanDuel now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a free three-week trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV just visit fanduel.com lockon to get started welcome back I am your host Marcus moer you can follow me on Twitter Marcus cor mooer joining me today as always is lon mol you can follow him on Twitter at mbcb no more no more solo shows for Lon that's right yeah thanks Lon for filling in for me for a couple days but you're back for goodness sakes that's the key thing this the longest break I've taken from doing podcast in I think six or seven years so it's it's been a bit but but let's talk about some Cowboys preseason stuff obviously we're going to talk about Trey Daron Bland Injury Lance we're going to talk about who's on the roster bubble who made the team who did not but let's start with some very unfortunate news that we got on Saturday afternoon donon bla the Cowboys all pro cornerback suffered a foot injury uh he's I believe he's already had surgery the expectation is that he's going to mix Miss six to eight weeks and that's likely going to mean four to six games maybe seven games if they stretch it through the buy how big of a loss is this for Dallas well it's I mean you know replacing him is going to be extremely difficult obviously you know you and you and I and and I feel like you and everybody else have been talking about the fact that uh the Cowboys just can't seem to get their you know Superstar Duo quarterback no matter who it is out on the field at the same time right like it's it obviously happened last year where the Cowboys got Diggs and uh uh Gilmore out for just I think you know was it two games and a half games two games um and so uh now that that the Bland kind of finally emerged we were exciting to see that duo and and obviously this happens like so it's it's it's frustrating extremely um but on the bright side you know I was talking about this you know before the game as well it always feels like these pre-season injuries sting a lot more than the regular season ones do when it when in an actuality it's it's almost better to get injured early in the season than it is to get injured late in the season right so um I do think that you know it is a couple a couple things just to kind of you know Silver Lining aspect of this right you you just mentioned he did already have the surgery so that 68 uh week time frame that started that clock started when he had surgery I think he had surgery before the game so um that that's going I think he actually had it the day before the game if I'm not mistaken so that that that clock has already started that means that he'll probably be back you know a week or two before the Cowboys have their Buy in October um I think you know Carson has been out here playing incredibly well and I think we'll talk about that as you know a plan moving forward but I think you know the hope is that by the time Bland gets back you have Carson playing at a level that you don't feel like you have to Blitz to get Bland back on the field you can give him a little bit more time um and then maybe we can even kind of get to a point where you you feel comfortable if you need to waiting until the by week uh to kind of you know give him another extra week to come back from this and then the other thing I'll mention is that you know it is the fifth met metatarsal that is I'm probably mispronouncing that that that the famous kind of injury thaton fracture Jones fracture right but the good news is that it's not it wasn't broken from what I understand it was just strange so so uh it's not quite the same as what Dez and some other people have famously gone through it's it's a less severe version of that so still required surgery obviously um but hopefully uh it will give him a little bit better chance to kind of bounce back from it a little bit quicker than some of those other guys so the Cowboys have a week seven by right I think they play week the lions in week six and then they play the 49ers I believe in week eight I don't have the schedule in front of me I think that's that's the correct thing sounds right guess is the Cowboys are going to be pretty cautious here right Deon Bland's Kaylin Carson a young player who they value quite a bit unless things have just gone so terribly wrong in the first month of the half of the Season where they feel like they have to rush him on the field I would bet that we see him after the buy they'll probably give him those six weeks to get ready a couple weeks to practice and get ready for the season and then coming out of the buy against the 49ers it was when will probably see him it sucks I mean to have an allpro player like Dar BL and you know already missing a third of the season is rough um but at the same time you still have Trayvon Diggs yep still have Jordan Lewis most teams in the NFL don't have this situation at cornerback where you're still having an allpro guy on the other side and one of the best slot Corners that's a huge opportunity for Kaylin Carson who I I would expect is going to get the first shot at winning this job maybe Booth will play some more maybe somebody like Izzy makamu will get some more snaps but I gotta believe Kaylin Carson is going to be your week one starter first of all yes you nailed it is the sixth game or week six is vers Detroit that that really does feel like the first one of those games where I mean how can I say this I mean Baltimore is going to be a very difficult game obviously but that really feels like the first game in which you really feel like you want all three of your Corners out there right just because well in the Browns game a little bit but it's different yeah yeah it's different um second of all I think as you mentioned uh I I think the the the timing of it you know kind of worked out just so that the bye is right when this injury would be coming back I I tend to think that they give Carson the Full Slate for the whole six weeks uh there's nothing that's been going on at this camp that tells you that he can't handle it I'm not saying that that's a guarantee that he will handle it but there isn't anything that uh that he's done out here uh he's one of these guys that's been out here uh and the drum beat has been consistent like there hasn't been an up and down day for Kaylin Carson he's been uh fantastic out here almost every single day so uh if you're gonna have a guy if you're gonna have to have a stter rookie on week one outside of the rookies you're already starting I guess I mean Kayla Carson is without a doubt the guy that you want to just based on the performance that we've seen out here we're we're also we're going to talk about some guys that perform well in week three of the preseason but you had a fifth round rookie Corner yeah not dressed for a preseason game not because he's hurt because his spot on the roster is already solidified now maybe that tells you what Mike McCarthy thinks of the preseason maybe it also just tells you what the Cowboys think of Kaylin Carson right like I think they've seen enough I think it's at least enough to tell you that they had the information about Bland and they knew that the kayn Carson was the guy that they needed to shut down because he's taking that spot right so either way I think it it reads well for Bland taking uh I mean reads well for Carson taking Bland's spot I I would I would have guessed that Carson likely wasn't playing in this game even before the Bland news came down simply because that's just how good of a training camp he's had where his spot is secured they needed to see the kind of down roster guys that he had you know Lea frogged over essentially the last thing I want to say about donon Bland before we move on I don't want to see the Cowboys Rush him back to the field now we've seen historically younger players recover from this injury better than older players yeah um but I wouldn't mess around with a cornerback that relies on quickness and speed so much like one of the things that tends to happen is these guys rush back onto the field with this Jones fracture they reinjure it and then they've got to get a bigger surgery that requires pins and screws and all that kind of stuff you don't want to mess around with that if it means giving him two or three more weeks so he feels 100% healthy and he trusts that foot to me it's worth it like you can still accomplish all of your goals this year if donon Bland doesn't play the first nine weeks of the Season like it's I he's a he's an awesome player he's very important to this defense but you want him healthy not only for the end of the season but you want him healthy for the rest of his career because I think he is a Cornerstone type of player for your defense that Detroit game is going to be a big game for the Cowboys But ultimately it comes down to do you want him for that Detroit game or do you want to give someone who has a Jones fracture or Jones not fracture A Jones injury uh uh two extra weeks off that foot and I think right you know even as big as that game is the answer is you want to give him two extra weeks likely off of that foot I want donon Bland healthy for the second Detroit game this year not the first one how's that yeah all right let's talk about Tran who had a wild preseason he had a wild week three performance let's dig in to that LinkedIn next this episode is brought to you by 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your second listen enjoy the loton fantasy football podcast get daily insights to the best fantasy draft strategies so that you can win your League this season part of the loton podcast Network your team every day all right Len let's talk about Tre Lance Let's we can talk about week three of the preseason if you'd like the the five turnovers the 400 yards of offense but I'd rather just take a big picture look at Tre Lance in the preseason how do you think he performed as a whole uh through these three games yeah I mean I think that he what what you really this is what we've kind of I've harped on a lot you know during the week is that I really think the big thing here is is is this going to is this an improving situation is this a guy that's on the rise or or does he have you know kind of fundamental flaws that are just not fixable and and I think that what we've seen is is a guy who has uh has gotten better at at certain aspects of his game as the week's gone on we've watched him get better um I and I even think that the the third game despite a lot of the statistical stuff that's there there was a lot of extremely positive stuff that happened in that third game that didn't happen in those first two games I thought he made some throws in that third game that he he W I don't know that I thought he could make in this the throw to John Stevens that he fumbled I thought that was his best throw of the preseason that that third down strike to Tyron Billy Johnson up down the up on the sideline and you know so there were a couple of different throws that I thought were really was really good stuff and and you know the negative stuff look I mean I think in this third game they asked him to open it up a little bit especially as the game kind of went on right like I I think if you watched the game early on when you had a lot more of the kind of competent players in there and he was maybe on script a little bit more you saw a lot more of a of a confident comfortable thrower I mean there was definitely stretches of this game where he looked his best that he had all all week right I mean all all all preseason I mean um and so I I think that you know obviously as the kind of game went on there was some other stuff that kind of popped up you know the interception in the endzone the one that was kind of stolen away from a wide receiver you know I just so I obviously he didn't finish the game very strong but I I think you know if we are taking a step back and looking at at what he's done in the preseason I think if you look at the skills that he has and the ability he has and I think you know a couple of people put it this way and I think ultimately it boils down to he does things that are very difficult for quarterbacks to do very easily yeah yeah yeah and then he does things that are very easy for quarterbacks very difficult they're very very it's very hard for him so I I think that when you consider the fact that what he has in his athleticism and not just like the speed which we saw even more of which goodness I mean he really can't take off like he has running back Vision he has the ability to break tackles in the pocket he navigates the pocket well he doesn't you know abandon being a quarterback too early and and rely too much on his legs you know he still tries to get the ball down the field uh I I think that these are all positive and things that uh developable uh traits that I want to try to kind of get another year in and and look I think ultimately he was getting paid $5 million either way like he was going to be on the roster yeah so keeping that in mind like I'm I'm excited to see where he is a year from now just based on how far he's come you know in in the in the limited amount of snaps that we've been able to see him which you know is basically the maximum that you can in a preseason at this point yeah I got a lot of takes that I want to fire off I've been off a week so I've been I've been just you know thinking of all these first of all I didn't think I thought Scott toline who was calling plays did not call a very very good game for him I mean a lot of weird decisions especially at the end right it felt like early on things were good but especially at the end right yeah yeah so I think if trands had a started game for the Cowboys this year you would see a very very different game plan I think you'd see a lot of Zone reads probably a lot of defined reads like okay if my first option is not there I'm going to the running back and then I'm or to the tight end and then I'm running the ball right so what you saw in the third preseason game is it anything like what you would see in a regular season game no if Lance were called he still looks like an athlete playing quarterback and at at times that's great there was a time where I think there was a third down at the end of the game where he had to break like three or four tackles just to have the ability to throw the ball to Snoop Conor uh you know on the sideline like there's only so many guys that have the strength to be able to do that and then keep your eyes downfield so there are things that I really like the thing that's a little concerning to me Lon is the the third down stats that's the money down in the NFL and if you look at his third down numbers throughout the preseason 26 passing attempts 116 yards zero touchdowns three interceptions 4.5 yards per attempt a passer rating of 26 now there were a lot of drops uh in that sample size um he was pushing the ball down the field the a DOT was actually pretty encouraging but if he if he's going to ever make it as a quarterback it's third down where he needs to be better oh without a doubt you know I mean and I and I completely agree that was one of the points I had brought up earlier the week too is that you know if you give him that second game preseason game plan uh or or at least you know even go lean further into what what they were doing in the second preseason game you're obviously going to get different results and that's and that's kind of the thing that's a little bit difficult about this evaluation is that you know we're evaluating Trey Lance in Dak Prescott's offense right and and and they could bether yeah it couldn't be further from Trey Lance is a lot like what Dak was his senior year at at Mississippi State yeah sure yeah and and and I just one comment too about the the quarterback athlete playing quarterback that is I do feel like that is absolutely true the thing that makes me you know feel like that he's just a little bit better than that is for example what he what he was doing to get uh uh uh get them into position to kick that 66 yard field goal right he understood the the situation he got got up and down he made a play and then got down with one second left to get the timeout you know he he's doing he's he's making line calls and he's getting them out of bad run plays and you know what I'm saying like there are things about him that are true quarterback right but you're right he does still kind of suffer from the same sort of uh uh issues that those sort of athletes playing quarterback as you said suffer from right a consistent accuracy you those guys are always going through footwork changes and that's what Trey is going through so the question becomes like can you get better with it through development can we through Snaps are you gonna get better with your footwork more consistent I feel like we saw it through the three weeks of the preseason um but I think you know one more year is is at least is at least needed before he's going to be ready ready to like you know be in the discussion for a backup quarterback role or or any or you know potentially starting quarterback role depending on how far he goes in the next year I think it was Peter from loton Packers said that he got into a bad situation in the sense that he hasn't been given a chance or been on a team that just allowed him to play 14 games in a row and kind of work through some of these struggles he was on a 49ers team that was ready to compete for a Super Bowl and then he got hurt and then he got traded to Dallas right and he's been been behind deck he just hasn't had very many opportunities to play even going back to North Dakota State so he just needs the Reps I don't know how many he's going to get during the year like in practices because those practices are geared towards the starter giving the starter as many reps as possible he's gonna need to do this kind of by himself that's a really tough spot for a Young quarterback yeah I mean but he doesn't have another Choice really you know it's like it's either this or go playing the UFL or XFL or whatever is being called this week so uh you know it's it's it's it's it's tough because it's like with quarterbacks especially it's like you need reps specifically and and it's a tough thing to kind of get it's one of the rarest things the the rarest Commodities in all the NFL is reps yes all right let's talk about the the preseason let's talk about players that we think might have snuck onto the 53 man roster which ones played thems off the roster we will get to that next FanDuel Ad this episode is brought to you by FanDuel you've heard us talk a ton about FanDuel America's number one sports book I love it I've already been making bets for the NFL regular season I've been getting ready for week one cannot wait for the action to kick off but we've got something a little different for you now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a free three-week trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV then with a YouTube TV base plan you'll be able to watch every regular season Sunday afternoon out of Market game all you need is a Google account in a current form of payment and you can cancel any time I've been a Sunday Ticket subscriber for 20 years now maybe a little bit under that absolutely love it I don't know what I would do without it go get yours now all you got to do is BET $5 visit fanduel.com lockon to download America's number one Sportsbook welcome back to the loton Cowboys podcast every dayers on tomorrow's show we're going to talk Podcast Intro about some 53 man roster stuff who made the roster who didn't uh The rosters are official quote unquote official as of 4M Eastern on Tuesday I'm sure we'll get some news about who the Cowboys are moving on from some trades so tune in for that show buta I've got a list of names here that I just want to run through kind of quick you tell me whether you think they are on or off the 53 man roster now I want to preface this by saying let's call it the week one roster because there's gonna be a lot of different moves the Cowboys make they're gonna cut guys like Ryan anger probably and Cooper rush and then put them back on the roster but I want you to tell me if you think these guys are going to make the week one roster and let's start with Deon I think duvon is actually going to Week 1 Roster make the roster um I I I think he's played did well enough in these last two games to make it you know uh the turnaround real and it's been consistent that's the thing that's really exciting I think is that I mean he's averaging I didn't see what the numbers were for his game in the third in the third game but it was over six yards a carry uh and and and it was it was a positive situation overall uh so I think you know it's to the it's you know I think there's been a lot of kind of talk about how they're going to play this running back situation to me they're definitely going to play Malik Davis they may play Malik Davis more than Duce Fawn but I don't think they're going to keep him on the roster because they've seen Malik Davis make it through waivers they'll see Malik Davis make it through waivers again they'll call him up from the practice squad as they need him and if they need to sign him to the regular uh regular 53 man roster at some point they can do that on the other side of week one but uh the running back room is such a bizarre situation because you know the the value of running backs and the fact that you know the Cowboys don't have very many valuable running backs so uh I think really du vwn and Rico gathers are really well Zeke I probably not D or Rico gathers God Rico D Rico gathers is gonna make it through waivers I bet Rico do and Vonage to me the only ones who like would be any kind of any threat of potentially being snatched up by somebody uh not the D is someone that you would put through the but just saying like those are the only two that I feel like would be snatched up and V's really just on potential he's a draft pick right so may I would think maybe take someone take a flyer on that shot so that's why I think V makes the squad that I don't know that that necessarily means that he's the third running back though I do think that he's probably likely earned the opportunity to get some Touches at least see how it goes again this year I kind of agree with you I think V makes the roster and unless something opens up where they can go out and get a my sanders khil Herbert je Jeff Wilson I think he probably is going to be on the roster let's run through some other names uh quicker um Ryan floro I have him on I I think he he done enough just in the last few weeks yeah I think so too I think he's going to be probably that last receiver on the roster who's not active on game day but I don't think they want to expose him to waivers um next one brevan Spain Ford the Cowboys uh rookie tight end who they spent a lot of money on uh in undrafted free agency no I have him on the on the tight on the practice squad but I don't think he makes the roster I mean I just I honestly have them keeping three tight ends at this point I mean even though I think they're going to play a lot of tight end um I just don't know that I'm gonna save save a spot for those guys at this point just because there's so many other guys I bet you they they feel like they can get one if not both of pton Hendershot and uh ran Spain four in the practice squad so they probably won't stress there this next one's really interesting Josh ball I have Josh ball making the team it's crazy because I did not expect us at all I yeah me neither uh he's definitely the one of the most surprising guys in Camp so far and I and I wouldn't be shocked if he didn't end up actually on the team I wouldn't be shocked if he became trade bait for something else because uh you have to think that that teams are watching the Cowboys offensive line room and it'd be hard to kind of miss ball I think at this point they're not gonna trade awesome Richards who I think is is had a better camp but still ball has been good enough that you feel like I I would take a flyer on him if I'm looking for a guy to develop into a starter maybe he he may be he may be getting close to that that level all right couple more we're going to run through quickly uh Jordan Junior foku no get get him out of here it's just especially after that contain uh that first play of the game I'm just done go go let him play for Washington Andrew Booth I do have him making the squad just because they just finished that trade with him they're going to need another body there he has he's it's been very very up and down to say the least yeah um but I do think there's some things you can do in coverage to kind of cover him up if you need to play him a little bit and I do think it's development worth yeah I think he makes it I although that would be a spot that I would be looking to maybe upgrade if the right guy came available uh a couple more uh Willie Harvey the Cowboys UFL linebacker they signed no but can I give you a name of the guy instead I think does make it buddy Johnson yeah I I butd he's just played fantastic these last two weeks he's looked really good I just think he's been a a more consistent player through this training camp in preseason all right Justin Rogers the cowboy seventh round pick at defensive tackle I have him making it right now um we'll see I mean you know there's there's Whispers that the Cowboys aren't done you know looking at defensive tackle so maybe there's a chance that he ends up on the practice squad and playing but I think he ends up playing for the Cowboys this year I I agree I think he ends up on the practice squad to start and then when somebody gets injured or they just need another body in November or December I think he comes up uh Tyrus wheat I don't have him uh on here and I don't have him on the practice squad but he did have a really good game I wouldn't be shocked they gave him a lot of money last year so I I don't know that he fits this defense very well the way he did the last no uh Eric Scott no I I think I have him as a practice squad guy I don't know though I may not even have a practice squad guy I think out on Scott you're just done I I just think that they should cut bait on the guys that like that aren't a fit you know like don't don't you know he has just hasn't done a ton maybe you feel like you keep him now because of the injury like if you're gonna keep an extra outside guy but uh no I don't think so okay last one Tyron Billy Johnson I don't have him I have him on the practice squad but I just think that he's he's bounced around the league and that's I think that's the thing that you got to look at a lot of the stuff is like what's the history there because that's what teams are going to look at when they look at these lists right so he's bounced around the league it's not like he's been so exceptional that someone's gonna be like oh wow like that guy's had a really great Cape let's pick him up I think he ends up making it to the practice squad and he's one of these veteran practice squad guys who ends up playing for the Cowboys in a couple games this year can I give you one really hot take on a player where I wouldn't be upset if they caught him in favor of if they wanted to go long on the defensive line or the offensive line John Stevens Jr um for a couple reasons I I think I thought he's looked okay in the preseason but I just don't want I I don't know if the Cowboys cut him if anybody else is signing him after torn AC being undrafted like could he be a guy that goes under practice squad and you bring him up a couple times a year when you need him I I would rather to me I would rather keep hunter lipkey in another running back and just let lepy do the third tight end stuff so in your world how many tight ends would they take at that point how many tight ends would they have week one like you know I mean two and then a rotating third depending on the week maybe like some weeks you bring up Brevin Spain Ford if you need more blocking if you need another receiver maybe that's when you bring up John Stevens see here's the name that we're missing here that I can't believe that you of all people have forgotten is Princeton Fant I I think it's more likely that Fant is the guy that's on the practice squad because then he gives you backup at both full back an I think he will be my point is I don't think John Stevens has been so good that I'm willing to keep him over other guys that I think are more worthy of being on the roster that's that's fair I mean I'd rather go deep at linebacker I think how many linebackers do you have going right now in your head six yeah I've got five right now yeah and I think because I think that you can get like you know a couple of worthy down roster guys on on practice squad and call them up if you need to probably uh I just also wouldn't be surprised if that's a spot where they sign somebody like if they make a waiver claim or they add a vet like I could see them wanting to get more depth at the position especially if Michael Parsons is gonna be playing more defensive end maybe just grab another guy there but I can't wait to see all the roster moves the Cowboys make over the next couple days should be a lot of fun we'd like to thank you for making loton Cowboys your first listen every single day again for your second listen go like go listen to the locked on fantasy football podcast get daily insights to the best fantasy draft strategies so that you can win your League this season you can find the link to the lockon fantasy football podcast in the descriptions of this show so you don't even need to go search part of the loton podcast Network your team every day go follow Lon on Twitter mbcb I'm at Marcus cormia we've got busy shows for you all week getting you ready for week one again check us out on YouTube or wherever you download your podcast we are free and available on all platforms and we will see you right back here tomorrow