OXNARD, Calif. - The Cowboys held one final practice of the week before departing for Las Vegas to play Saturday's game with the Raiders.
Here are some practice observations from Thursday:
- Brandin Cooks and Donovan Wilson both made their way to the injury tent during today's practice. Cooks exited practice shortly after and headed to the locker room with knee soreness. It is not considered serious at this juncture, but it will be something to monitor moving forward. Wilson was evaluated after banging knees with DaRon Bland but returned to the field shortly after. - (Nick Harris)
- As has been the case the entirety of this year's training camp, the battle at wide receiver for WR3 and beyond is hot and heavy, and it's picking up that much more fuel by way of Kelvin Harmon. Joining the Cowboys just ahead of the midway point in camp, he's now flashed in both the preseason opener and again in practices to follow. Harmon is definitely, now, one to watch when the Cowboys line up against the Raiders on Saturday. - (Patrik Walker)
- Trey Lance looked a bit more comfortable in Thursday's practice, as he was able to extend plays with his athleticism and work off-script with receivers like Tyron Billy-Johnson and KaVontae Turpin. Composure and decisiveness will continue to be two key parts of his game to watch as the preseason goes on, but it was a good day for the North Dakota State product. - (Nick Harris)
- Jourdan Lewis looks to be in the same prime form that made him arguably the best defender for the Cowboys in the pre-Trevon Diggs era. Practice on Thursday featured him flying all over the field to create pass break ups and he'd let the receiver and quarterback hear about it after every single one. This is the version of Lewis that began to reemerge during the back end of the 2023 season, now having more time removed from a career-threatening foot injury and no longer carrying that in his mind. - (Patrik Walker)
- With the entire running back room healthy for the first time in a couple of weeks, every player in the position group got reps with the first-team unit during move the ball drills. Royce Freeman and Deuce Vaughn are expected to see more action in this Saturday's game against the Raiders, according to Mike McCarthy, as the front office continues to evaluate where things stand in the running game. - (Nick Harris)
- Circling back to the WRs competition, there's likely not a scenario in which Jalen Tolbert isn't a high-value target for Dak Prescott going forward. The chemistry, timing and trust between the two is off the charts in this year's training camp and clearly a product of all of the offseason reps they've put in together over the past two offseasons. So when Prescott dropped back in 7-on-7 on Thursday and threw a deep ball down the right side that only Tolbert could get to, he was rewarded with a beautiful over-the-shoulder catch he made look effortless with record-setting defensive back DaRon Bland in his back pocket. - (Patrik Walker)
- Brandon Aubrey returned to practice on Thursday after missing a couple of days after the birth of his son. The kicker quickly left the field Sunday after the game against the Rams to catch a flight back to Dallas. Aubrey scored all 12 of the points in the game with four field goals. He is expected to play against the Raiders Saturday considering he's the only play-kicker on the roster. - (Nick Eatman)
- The center competition continues as Brock Hoffman got the majority of the first-team reps on Thursday. It was rookie Cooper Beebe taking most of the snaps with the starters against the Rams in Wednesday's scrimmage. Hoffman started the preseason game on Sunday but it could be Beebe that gets the first look on Saturday in Las Vegas. - (Nick Eatman)
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