Things in Oxnard are set to get ratcheted up a notch for the Cowboys. After nearly a week of little to no contact during practices, the team was set to put on pads for the first time on Sunday.
And while head coach Brian Schottenheimer admits he’s eager to watch his players dial up the intensity with extra equipment, at least one of the linemen who’s been champing at the bit made his own excitement very apparent to his teammates.
“We’ve been tagging off. Today we’re going to ‘thud.’ “Schottenehimer said in his pre-practice press conference Sunday. The elevated rules of engagement will encourage players to hit each other with their shoulders and even wrap each other up… but then break off the contact before sending anyone to the ground.
“You find out guys that can play with leverage, guys that can lower their shoulder, guys that can keep their balance when they’re hit,” the coach explained.
“We have to build callouses. We have to have physical practices. We have to thud. We have to strike. Stay off the ground. Strike a guy, wrap him up, and then release him so we can run. Our superpower is the way we run and finish and all that stuff. We want our guys to play on the edge, but we don’t want them to go over the edge.”
But the players know full well that they can now get a big step closer to that edge, and one of them voiced his approval just ahead of the work session.
“Somebody barked today in the meeting,” Schottenheimer said. “It was Sam Williams. We had a countdown in OTAs. We were like, ’68 practices, 63 practices… Okay, 53; we’re getting closer.’ And today, we put the zero up there. It was definitely Sam. He barked. So I think Sam is excited.”
Coming off an ACL tear suffered last summer and costing him his entire 2024 season, the fourth-year defensive end has been practically chewing through his leash during his rehab of late as works his way back.
By all accounts, he’s had a brilliant camp, even if he’s been a little overaggressive.
The former second-round draft pick had to be pulled off the field on the very first day for going too hard too soon, blowing up running back Phil Mafah and then leveling tight end Tyler Neville on back-to-back plays.
“We understand why he was so excited to be out there, but we can’t practice like that,” Schottenheimer laughed at the time.
“Pads or no pads, I’m going to give it my all,” Williams said of the moment. “I haven’t touched a pad in almost a year. When I put those pads on, I got to kill something.”
Schottenheimer and the Cowboys will be looking for something slightly less violent for this phase of camp and have even had Hall of Fame legend Charles Haley working with Williams… both on technique and on restraint.
Still, Sunday’s padded work should bring a new level of pop to the proceedings in Oxnard.
“It’s going to be physical. It’s going to be the right way, but at the end of the day, we have to protect one another. And that’s the objective,” Schottenheimer said. “We’re going to take care of one another. No cheap shots, no side shots, keep guys up off the ground. The best teams in the world, they practice that way in pads.”
Woof.
Follow Cowboys Wire on Facebook to join in on the conversation with fellow fans!
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Schottenheimer: Cowboys DE Sam Williams barked over padded practice