It has been a busy first week-plus of training camp for the Cowboys, and while there have been positive developments, especially among the team’s receivers, there have also been early injury concerns. The defensive backfield is an issue, but so is the group that is tasked with protecting star quarterback Dak Prescott.
Of course, Prescott is coming back from a torn hamstring injury that ended his season in Week 8. At 32 years old, it’s getting more and more important to ensure that Prescott is well-protected.
As such, the Cowboys held a workout on Thursday that certainly caught the eye of Prescott himself. As the team seeks depth following a knee injury to tackle Tyler Guyton, and more minor injuries to Terence Steele and Tyler Booker, the Cowboys brought in old friend La’el Collins. a 71-game starter for Dallas from 2015-21.
Collins has struggled with injuries (he tore his ACL and MCL in 2022) and has not appeared in a game since 2023, but at age 32, he feels he can still play.
Dak Prescott: ‘LC Is a Guy That I Love’
Prescott certainly agrees. A fellow Louisiana native, Prescott and Collins have a friendship off the field, and the quarterback was rooting for his old teammate to make the team again.
“I saw (Collins) back there, it was a very joyous reunion,” Prescott said. “LC is a guy that I love, you all know that. He’s a friend well beyond the field. Me and LC just went fishing this offseason, seen him time and time again whether it be different guys’ retirement parties—honestly in those different retirement parties or those announcements, I was saying myself … I feel like he looks as good as he has ever looked and is in better shape than, you know, I’ve ever seen him.
“Hopefully, he kills this workout.”
Cowboys Have Gone With Nate Thomas
Prescott also expressed faith in Nate Thomas, the second-year player who is getting his first real chance to play after hitting the injured reserve last season. Thomas was a seventh-round pick in 2024, and because he spent the offseason rehabbing at The Star, Prescott had the opportunity to watch him over the spring.
“Pumped for him. Pumped for his opportunity,” Prescott said. “Nate is someone that obviously we got last year. Then with some injuries, I guess you could say, take the redshirt route to have to get himself back and healthy. I was fortunate to train with Nate this offseason.
“Understanding the talent and ability I saw then, I started telling him, ‘Nate, you can play. You can play, you’ve got the tangibles.’ This game is about confidence, and I was trying to pour it into him then, not knowing he would have the opportunity a week-and-a-half into camp, to start running with the 1s and showcasing his ability. Super proud of him, super proud of what he’s done, and the approach.”
Cowboys Must Show Discipline
Speaking at his press conference on Thursday, Prescott also addressed incidents from the previous day, when coach Brian Schottenheimer had the Cowboys run sprints as a punishment for disrupting practice with fights.
Prescott supported Schottenheimer and said the team can’t let poor discipline interfere with valuable practice time. Running sprints is generally reserved for high school teams, and was not something Prescott was used to.
“That was definitely the first time,” he said. “I wanted those plays. I can’t say I am surprised, I think, in a sense it needed to be done and that’s what he felt. And that’s the head coach. I’d be damned if I questioned that moment and his leadership ability in that time. He has preached to us about being competitive and not combative, and playing on the edge and not going over the edge. I think a time or two, we crossed it.
“I think it was an important for us to understand how much we need those plays, so as a professional and as an adult, that hurt all of us, that hurt the players. That’s where we got to understand that and know we want to practice, and we’ve just got to be disciplined.”
