Head Coach Brian Daboll
September 24, 2024
Q: Where are you at physically with some of the guys? Anybody coming back?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I'd say if we were practicing today, everybody would practice, except (cornerback) Adoree’ (Jackson) wouldn't practice today again and (cornerback) Dru (Phillips) wouldn't practice today. Everybody else would practice.
Q: Any chance for IR for either one of those guys?
BRIAN DABOLL: I don't think so. We’ll see.
Q: But not looking good for Thursday for any of them?
BRIAN DABOLL: We'll see. Go all the way to the end like we normally do.
Q: So, you sound optimistic that (cornerback Nick) McCloud will be able to play?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I mean, we're not doing physical activity, but that's my hope.
Q: Where are you at with that cornerback position at this point? Who's going to play?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, we've got a couple more days. We'll see where everybody's at. Tomorrow night, Thursday morning.
Q: Deonte Banks has not gone into the slot very much. Do you have comfort, confidence that he could do it if that's what is called for on Thursday night?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, if that's what we thought was best to do game plan-wise. Tough opponent, really good player. (Cowboys wide receiver) CeeDee (Lamb), they've got a lot of good players. So we've been burning it pretty good here.
Q: Injuries aside, we’ve talked about having a very young team. Do they just bounce back better than on a short week physically?
BRIAN DABOLL: No, I think it's always difficult for these guys on a short week, the routine. Again, you've got to play them when they're called upon. We're doing the best we can. Our walkthroughs, extra meetings, extra walkthroughs. We'll do a little bit of a jog through here today. But we've got to put everything we've got into it.
Q: The Cowboys' success against the Giants in the last six, seven years has really been marked by both sides of the line of scrimmage, the trenches. How much better do you think you guys are today on both sides of the line of scrimmage than you were even last year?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I would just say that our guys are doing everything they can do to get ready to play a good team. And the only thing that matters is this game.
Q: When you're building a team, though, are you building it, Obviously, you're hand-in-hand with (Senior Vice President and General Manager) Joe (Schoen) in the offseason on building a team. Are you building it with the strengths of your divisional opponents in mind?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, you certainly look at that. But you try to do the best job you can of building the team that you think gives you the best chance for that particular season or year or game.
Q: You didn't commit to (kicker) Greg (Joseph) one way or the other yesterday as the kicker for Thursday night. Where are you at in that situation?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, it's going to be Greg.
Q: You went into last week talking about (Browns defensive end Myles) Garrett and how much of a guy you have to identify. I assume (Cowboys linebacker Micah) Parsons falls in that class. If not, very close.
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, dynamic player. He's lined up in a variety of spots. He has the ability to play really any position. Explosive, athletic, tough. He's a hell of a football player. One of the better players in the league. A challenge to block him.
Q: I would assume if you just look at the numbers, it would be just run the ball against them. But I assume it's not that simple?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I think this is unique. There's three games in. You've got three games to look at. You can go back to Minnesota with (Cowboys Defensive Coordinator) Coach (Mike) Zimmer. But all three of those kind of took on a life of its own. The Cleveland game was kind of touch and go there for a while until the end of the second quarter, the early part of the third quarter. Then they get up. So, you call games differently based on how things are going in the game. New Orleans got off to a fast start. They were up 35-13 or whatever it was at the half. And the same thing with Baltimore. The unique thing is in the fourth quarter, they scored a bunch of points there to make it a game, 28-25. Baltimore hit a couple third-down conversions, a big one. (Ravens wide receiver Zay) Flowers over there. So, each of them are a little bit different. When you're up that much or down that much, you look at tendencies and things like that. But as the game goes, play callers call things differently based on situations you're in, down and distances, score. So those numbers are those numbers. But I think the games are all different, and you evaluate how they call it.
Q: You’ve talked a lot about how much (running back Devin) Singletary is a reliable guy. At what point do the fumbles kind of chip away at that?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, we've got to do a better job of taking care of the football. And he knows that, and he will.
Q: What do you think of your tight ends’ play?
BRIAN DABOLL: I think it's been good, yeah. Again, we play a certain style each week. Their job is to do a good job in the run game. We've had some, in terms of them staying in for protection. So, they're doing a good job with that. I think it's a tough group. I'm pleased with them.
Q: How is (tight end) Theo (Johnson) coming along?
BRIAN DABOLL: Good, yeah.
Q: You worked out four tight ends yesterday. What were you looking for?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, again, that's the normal procedure during the year. We'll see. (tight end Lawrence) Cager will probably be down here on IR, so we need some more guys to come in for legs. Show team. The tight ends play quite a bit of football, physical. We've used a lot of multiple tight end groupings. So, for look teams and show teams down the road, I think we need some legs.
Q: Can you speak at all to the adjustment that a tight end goes through from college to the pros? It seems like it's rare for a rookie tight end to come in and just go off.
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, it's a difficult position to play. I think Theo's done a great job. (Tight Ends Coach) Tim Kelly's really done a great job with him. Based on how they come out of the college, the things they see, they're involved in so many aspects of the game. Having coached it, you never have enough individual time with the tight ends because they've got to be in tune with the line, they've got to be in tune with the passing game, the protections. There's a lot of things to cover in that room. I'm not saying it's like the quarterback room, but there's so much to cover, and they kind of get dragged in different areas. Protection meeting here, run game meeting here, pass game meeting here, and then you're like, I've got 10 minutes of individual time. They do a good job. They meet early. He's a smart young man. He's done a nice job.
Q: You've shown a willingness to play younger players, to play rookies, have them come in, and you've got a bunch of guys playing this year.
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, Joe told me the most in the league right now.
Q: I didn't know that.
BRIAN DABOLL: Percentage wise.
Q: I appreciate the homework. But in terms of being selective, how selective are you as a coaching staff, for you personally, to know what a guy can handle, and can a guy handle making mistakes? Some guys make mistakes, put their heads down, walk away. Some guys are able to just plow through. How do you play that?
BRIAN DABOLL: I think that's based on the individual player. I don't think it's just rookies. It could be a five year. You have to know the player, understand what makes them tick, and what doesn't. For young players, they're going to make mistakes. Everybody's going to make mistakes. But young players, that's why you play them, because you think they have good talent. They're going to go through some growing pains here and there. But you can learn from them, learning from the things that show up. And then as the season goes on, you see improvement from those young players. And I'd say I have confidence in all our young guys, all our rookies. They have the right DNA. They work hard. They're smart. They care about football. They're good teammates. It's important to them. And then you have good veterans in the room that help them along the way. So, they've all been through it, the veterans. And the right mindset for our young players is important. The type of people we bring in is important to us. And I've been impressed with all of them, how they've handled things. Good or bad.
Q: The last time you played a home game, your fans made their displeasure known. What do you say to your fan base entering this game?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I would just say over the last two games on the road, too, it’s been outstanding support on the road. At Washington, it was outstanding. At Cleveland, there was a lot of people. So, again, our job is to go out there and play and perform well and love our fans and hopefully give them something to cheer about.
Q: Just back to Singletary real quick. He's been in the league, he’s a veteran. What are you doing to eradicate the fumbling, that he has to take care of the ball better?
BRIAN DABOLL: No, he knows that. He's a pro. Yeah. He'll work on that. I've been around him a bunch. So, again, you can't let one bad or two bad plays define a lot of the good things. So, you keep working on your ball security, and he'll do that.
