Seven months after their embarrassing playoff defeat on home soil, the Dallas Cowboys return to live action this afternoon.
Their season opener in Los Angeles – against the Rams at SoFi Stadium – starts at 3:30 p.m. It is the first of three exhibition games and will have little impact on Dallas’ playoff hopes this season.
However, there are several players who may or may not remain on the Cowboys roster depending on their performance today.
While many of the expected starters in the opening game will likely sit out the competition, there will be some position battles.
In the meantime, the coaches will closely monitor their performance and hope for an injury-free game.
In the second preseason game last year – in Seattle – two of the Cowboys’ rookies had to leave the field with cruciate ligament tears.
Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown and tight end John Stephens Jr. could have expected a lot of playing time in 2023. Instead, they spent the season on the injured list.
Dallas wants to avoid a repeat of this – especially since defensive end Sam Williams is already out for this year due to a torn ACL.
Missing
Dak Prescott was already expected to sit out this game. That was before he missed Friday’s practice in Oxnard.
The Cowboys say it was a precautionary measure due to ankle soreness.
The problem is that it was the same foot that was wearing a walking shoe a few weeks ago.
Prescott’s absence will give backup quarterbacks Cooper Rush and Trey Lance the opportunity to compete for the backup job.
Rush may have the best chance. He has a 5-1 record as the Cowboys’ starter and has done well in Oxnard so far.
Lance has a 2-2 record as a starter in two injury-plagued seasons in San Francisco after being a high first-round pick.
He did not play in 2023 after Dallas traded him to the 49ers for a fourth-round pick. He had some problems in training camp this year.
CeeDee Lamb will also be nowhere to be seen today.
His contract waiver continues. It also appears that there may be bad blood between Lamb and the Cowboys.
Jones publicly stated that he was in no rush to sign Lamb.
Lamb posted an LOL on his Twitter/X account and removed the nickname “America’s Team” from his profile.
In the meantime, Lamb’s agent was in Paris for the Olympic Games. Apparently the cost of phone calls to and from Europe is too high.
And since emails cannot cross the Atlantic, contract negotiations have been put on hold.
The beneficiaries of Lamb’s absence are Jalen Tolbert and Jalen Brooks. They will vie for the third wide receiver spot – assuming Lamb returns at some point.
It’s been a while
Today’s contest will mark the first time the Cowboys have faced the Rams in a preseason game since Week 2 of 2019.
Dallas won the game 14-10 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu. Rush threw an eight-yard pass to Devin Smith in the third quarter for the game-winning touchdown.
Since that game in Hawaii, the two teams have met four times in the regular season. Dallas has won three of those four meetings – 2019, 2022 and 2023.
The Rams’ only win came in 2020.
Unlike in the 2019 season, there are no plans for the two teams to meet again this year. If there is a rematch before the 2025 season, the two teams would have to meet in the playoffs.
The way to the future
Dallas only has six days to prepare for its next game. Fortunately, the two away games are near Oxnard.
After today’s game in Los Angeles – technically, SoFi Stadium is in Inglewood – the Cowboys will likely take a short flight to Las Vegas to play the Raiders on Saturday.
The game will take place at 9 p.m. at Allegiant Stadium – the venue for the Super Bowl last February.
Dallas’ final preseason game will be at home at AT&T Stadium against the Chargers, with kickoff scheduled for Saturday, August 24 at 3 p.m.th.
The Cowboys open the season on September 8 in Clevelandth with their home game opener on 15 Septemberth against the Saints.
