Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer had mixed opinions about the Dallas Cowboys’ showing at joint practice with the Los Angeles Rams this week. The Cowboys are preparing for their first preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks. NBC 5’s Newy Scruggs caught up with the Dallas M orning News’ lead Cowboys beat reporter, Calvin Watkins, to discuss the first two weeks of training camp. “(Schottenheimer) talked about the rezone offense, which was really good. As you know, they had some struggles last year in the regular season. Defensively, he wasn’t happy with the coverage. There was a little too airy, he said. But overall, he thought he had some physical contact, which is what you want to see in run defense. But overall, I think he was pleased with everything,” Watkins said. Rams starting quarterback, Highland Park native and reigning league MVP Matthew Stafford had some success against the Cowboys’ new-look defense, but everyone agrees the unit is improving. “That’s the main thing. Even offensively, they struggled bad at the beginning of that joint practice with the Rams. And then all of a sudden, Dak got into a rhythm. And then Sam Howell got into rhythm, and Joe Milton got into the rhythm. And then you saw CeeDee Lamb catching some passes there. Defensively, same thing. As Overshown said, you gotta get your sea legs under you. They did, but they’re still a little too airy in that secondary. That still concerns me a little bit. They did get after the quarterback, which is something that I like, because that was the main concern for me. Going to that scrimmage. Can they get the Stafford? Can they get to Stetson Bennett?,” Watkins said. Most Cowboys starters will not be playing the preseason, but Watkins is still watching for growth from young players. “Brian Schottenheimer said there’s a possibility that the two first-round picks, Caleb Downs and Malachi Lawrence, might be participating in that game. I think that’s a good thing because those guys need to play. He wasn’t sure about Shavon Revel, who’s entering his second year, as you know, Newy. He tore his ACL at East Carolina, and he was rehabbing that thing all last year. I think he needs to play in the preseason. He needs the reps, right? But he’s got a good running back battle, and he talked about that. It’s going to be very competitive. The backup quarterback position, he seems like he doesn’t know what he’s going to do there. So. I think Seattle on Saturday night is going to be fun,” Watkins said. A couple of position battles that will play out on Saturday: Joe Milton and Sam Howell are competing for the backup quarterback spot; Jaydon Blue and Philip Mafah for the backup running back spot. “I’ve been out here since day one of practice. I would say Joe Milton’s a little ahead of Sam Howell. In the joint practice, Milton got the second team more reps. Now, in Thursday’s practice, we’ll see if Howell (gets more reps), because they’ve been flipping who gets the most reps between those two guys. So I would expect in Thursday’s practice, Howell will get probably more than Joe Milton. But I think overall, Milton’s just a little bit ahead of Sam Howell. You just love the way Milton throws football, right? He’s just got that tight spiral; he’s got a great arm,” Watkins said. “It’s gonna be a good competition. Right now I would say Milton probably will be the number two guy, but we’ll see how things go on Saturday in Seattle.” On Jaydon Blue, Watkins said, “When you have small hands, they think you can’t throw a football, you can’t block anybody, but that’s a problem. I’ve seen CeeDee Lamb drop a lot of passes out here in training camp as well, more so than George Pickens, and no one’s trying to put CeeDeLamb out to pasture… Hopefully Blue will get his act together, but you know who I think has had a really good camp: your boy Phil Mafah.” Scruggs and Watkins also talked about rookie Jaishawn Barham. “(Barham) might not play on Saturday in Seattle. He’s got a little groin injury that he’s been dealing with. You’ll probably see him next week, but I like him. And the Cowboys coaches like his versatility. You can put him as a pass rusher, you can put them as an off-ball linebacker. You can pair him up with Overshown… That’s a really good combination there, because those two guys are thumpers. And the thing I like about Barham is that he is big. He’s a big guy. He walks around big. And Overshown is a little slimmer. He’s just tall, but slimmer… and that’s the kind of guy you want to see at linebacker. Barham, big, powerful guy; hopefully he’ll get well. Maybe we’ll see him for the second preseason game in Phoenix,” Watkins said. Click here to read more of Newy’s conversations with Calvin Watkins of The Dallas Morning News at Cowboys training camp. The Cowboys recently signed Pro Bowl defensive tackle Quinnen Williams to a $100M contract extension. Williams said he believes in the organization’s long-term vision. “It wasn’t important to me. The most important thing is winning, getting better every single day, and winning football games. It’s super dope to see an organization that wants me here for a long run, that believes in me. And I’m super excited for an organization and a team like this to want me here and believe in me also,” Williams said. “But the most important thing is winning football games and getting better on defense every single day. So I think that’s the most important. And I’m kind of focused on that.” “100 belief. When you do the things that we did this offseason. Bringing the guys in, bringing the coaching staff in,” Williams said. “It’s amazing. And I’m here for it. I want to be here to help change this thing around. And I feel like this is one of the best opportunities and the best organizations to win. So, I’m just super excited to be here in the next five years and get a chance to win for this organization and the fan base,” Williams added. Oscar-winning actor Dustin Hoffman attended Cowboys camp Thursday. Hoffman said, “I don’t know anything about football, so I think they’re great,” about the Cowboys. august 13, 2026 dustin hoffman attends dallas cowboys training camp Jerry Jones knew about Hoffman, however. Jerry said his favorite movie was The Graduate (1967). “At the wedding, his girl was getting married to somebody else. And I liked him in Marathon Man, when they pulled his teeth. I’m teasing. He’s a great guy; he’s really a great guy. Why wouldn’t he be? But we sure enjoyed his interest in us out here today and enjoyed meeting him,” Jones said. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. ...read more read less