#2016 mini-camp

Last week on Tweet Break, we took a bumpy ride through some offseason tweets that made us laugh and smile, but most importantly, they made us miss Dallas Cowboys football. A new edition of this series here on Inside The Star can only mean that we are closer to watching the silver and blue on Sundays though! On top of that, we have an awesome collection of tweets this week to get through. Let’s get to it, Cowboys Nation! McFadden’s Mess One of the most notable events of the week was the unfortunate injury suffered by the Cowboys “starting running back,” Darren McFadden.

  The battle between starting tight end and established veteran Jason Witten and young phenom starting safety Byron Jones has already begun. And boy is it going to be a fun one. During mini-camp this week, Witten caught a ball on Jones and immediately turned around and yelled “All day!” before heading back to his…

The next time we will see the Cowboys on the practice field will be for training camp in Oxnard, California. By that time, the preparation for the 2016 season will be in full force, and the position battles across the field will be heated. For now, the Cowboys have concluded mini camp, with DallasCowboys.com once again bringing us a glimpse of Thursday’s historic practice. Here are my final thoughts on what fans were able to see.

One of the big mysteries on the Dallas Cowboys roster right now is offensive lineman Chaz Green. Is he a guard? Is he a tackle? Does he have any shot at being a significant player this season? A third-round pick in last year’s draft, Green was essentially “redshirted” in 2015 with a known hip issue that required surgery.

Yesterday here on Inside The Star, I took a look at the Cowboys first day of mini camp and shared some of my thoughts and analysis on what fans were able to view on the team website. The second day of Dallas’ camp practices got underway yesterday as well, with Bryan Broaddus and David Helman bringing more great footage and commentary to DallasCowboys.com. Click here to watch along while reading my thoughts on day two of Dallas Cowboys mini camp: Cole Powered Chemistry The entire offense for the Cowboys is designed around Tony Romo, who’s return to the practice field has boosted the overall chemistry of the unit.

Sometimes an injury to a specific player can be a blessing in disguise. That player has to miss important time on the practice field and it gives other players the opportunity to step up and receive extra repetitions, hopefully developing a bond with their teammates. That is exactly what the Dallas Cowboys are hoping with their top wide receiver Dez Bryant not practicing during organized team activities (OTA’s) and mini-camp practices. Fortunately though, all signs point to Bryant being on schedule with his recovery from off-season foot and ankle surgery. With #88 on schedule to be ready to participate once training camp officially kicks off, all the others receivers on the roster need to realize that they need to start taking full advantage of every practice rep they receive if they want to contribute in 2016.

The Dallas Cowboys took the field yesterday for the first day of mini camp, with familiar faces on both sides of the ball like Tony Romo, Tyrone Crawford, Morris Claiborne, and Ezekiel Elliott – who have all been at every team practice this summer. Unfamiliar faces like Rolando McClain and Ronald Leary also arrived to Valley Ranch, where the practices are now mandatory. Head Coach Jason Garrett took to the podium and started off a day that would mostly be negative for the Cowboys though, as he announced the injuries to RB Darren McFadden and DE Benson Mayowa. Click here for more on the current status of both players.  The not-so-great day continued for the Cowboys when the helmets went on for practice.

Finally! After weeks of the post-draft lull and continued offseason, football is now on the horizon. Yes, real football. It’s close, oh so close. The Dallas Cowboys opened up their Mandatory Mini-Camp at Valley Ranch yesterday, and there was no shortage of news, nor excitement.