Brian Schottenheimer: We Dodged a Bullet | Dallas Cowboys 2025

Brian Schottenheimer: We Dodged a Bullet | Dallas Cowboys 2025

Dallas Morning News. How much would you say you uh kind of dodged something there with uh Mr. Gen? Yeah, I think uh you know, obviously we’re um pleased that it could have been worse. You know, the process is going on and what I talked to Tyler about last you know, last night a little bit is like he’s had such a great off season. Uh you know, Calvin, it’s it’s just it’s been such great growth, such great confidence, and now what he has to do is he’s got to continue to grow professionally and learn how to attack rehab. no different than how he attacked, learning his sets and the different things he’s doing. And uh he’s excited about that. And you know, my stance, I’ll just be very clear. My stance with guys that are injured, man, is you know, whether they’re, you know, a couple weeks, a dayto-day thing, the year, man, is like we love him up. You know, we love them up. We communicate with them. We want them around. And so, um, he’s going to be here training his ass off. And, uh, again, I do feel like, uh, we dodged a bullet there. the medical people telling you he can come back by the opener, week two, three, what are they talking? Yeah, the timeline’s different. Again, I do think that, you know, it could be a couple weeks, but again, based on his ability to go and attack this, I think that he’ll come back as fast as possible and, uh, that’s important. One more, uh, Nate Thomas, what do you guys like about him? Yeah, I talked about Nate the other day. You know, he, uh, big man, worked his his butt off coming back from, uh, you know, his injury last year. He’s massive. um plays with great length and I talked to Nate yesterday uh on the the players day off just walking into into the meal uh and was just telling him like you know nothing changes like play free play relaxed you know how to play this game like don’t go out there be oh now I’m with the first group and oh my gosh I got to do this that’s the wrong way to approach it be excited you get an opportunity to compete and he’ll get the first shot at it but you know when these guys go in they say oh now I’m with the first group I got to try harder that whole thing of trying harder it doesn’t work usually put pressure on yourself and you’re like, “Oh, I’m going to I’m going to go so hard now.” And it doesn’t work. Just play, man. You You get this. And um big man, great feet, great length, and powerful tells Cowboys. Um guy, this was a big camp for him. Certainly, we we talked about how he’s been out there since the end of the season. How much does this set back his development for year two, just missing his time in practice? I think, you know, he’s going to control that. We’re going to control that as a staff with him. And, you know, we’re already starting on doing, you know, certain projects with him. You know, Raone Chin Young’s already got his his reps of all his one-on-one pass, you know, protection, um, you know, clips and all of his run protection clips and he’s still going to be in the meeting. So, you know, I don’t think, you know, uh, it’s going to be a huge setback for him. The biggest thing for him is to stay mentally prepared, stay mentally in it. But, you know, there’s going to be days that it it bothers him and it hurts and he’s going to have to push through and he’ll do that. And um like I said, these guys that are dinged up and injured, we’re going to love on them. We’re going to support them, but they got to do the work. And I think that uh that’s part of a young player understanding how important it is that you that you attack the rehab and the process that you got to do so you feel good going into hopefully that first game. getting back to Nate, man. What has he done to take that step, you know, since he missed all that injury and also when you rotate guys in there? Who are the other guys that left? Yeah. So, again, Nate, the power jumps off the film, Clarence. I mean, the power of the man in his body. So, the first thing that jumps out at you is the ability to get displacement in the run game. He’s able to move the dot, we call it, if that’s the guy who the back’s reading. He’s able to get move the dot. But you see a big guy with nimble feet, great length. Um it’ll be good for him and Tyler Smith to be communicating. That’s a big part of it. We’re all over that every day about the communication. Uh but you’ll see awesome Richards over there some. Uh you’ll see Hakee over there some. You know, we’re all about creating competition and um but those two those guys awesome and Nate will get the first couple cracks at it. Brian Todd Archer with ESPN. When you look at the injuries you’ve had the first, six practices or whatever it’s been, do you look at your practice schedule and say, “Is that or is it a lot of just poor luck taking some perspective?” It’s just football, Todd. I mean, you know, you don’t you don’t sit there and say, “Oh, well, hey, if we would have done this, we would have done that.” Hey, look, our objective is to get on the field and get off. Um, we’re going to work. And like I said, we’re going to we’re going to have a physical camp. We need to have a physical camp. We need to pop and hit and wrap and thud and pads. And you know, I mean, you look at the play with, you know, that that happened to Tyler. It was a blitz and uh just some bodies got tangled up. And that happens in football. You hate to see it, but again, at the end of the day, as you look at it now, it’s like, hey, I think we we we got away with one. And have you ever had been at a training camp where you’ve been under a tsunami advisory? No, but I will I will uh admit something uh that I was a little worried. So, I did call Cable last night. I was like, you know, you hear tsunami, you get really worried. So I was like, “Cable, we good?” He said, “Yeah, we’re okay.” So yeah. Yeah. Well, yes. Hey, that’s a great point. How in the hell does Cable know? Why am I taking Cable’s word for it? I mean, that’s a great point. Must have been tired when I answered that question. I’m going to have to ask him that. He said something by talked to the local police department, something like that. He just said, “You’re good.” And I was like, “Okay, good.” That’s all I wanted to hear. Then I was able to go back to sleep. But good point. I need to follow up with him. Who made you a weatherman? John Mashoto with the athletic uh going off the injuries quarterback just what’s your level of concern at that position right now? Yeah, again I think it’s you know it’s an opportunity to find out about some of these young guys. You know I’ve been talking about Caillier. I’ve been talking about uh his ability to step up and do things you know getting Bland back. Um you go down the list you know we’re finding out you know what does Kan Hall look like? You know how does Kman do moving out? You know again Zion Childress is another another young guy that we like. Troy Pride’s doing some really good things and uh again a guy that’s really kind of popped over the last couple days for us is Robert Michelle, you know, I mean, so again, the the injuries happen and again, you don’t want to see injuries, you hate it. You support the guys that are injured and you talk to them about what’s the plan to get them back, but it is an opportunity to create competition and build the depth of your of your roster. And when you play 20 plus games, which is what we’re planning on having to play to win the Super Bowl, you’re going to need everybody. And someone is going to start in the Super Bowl that was maybe not even on the 53man roster. That is the the nature of pro football today with how big and strong these guys and what a physical and violent game it is. And um but uh again, we’re getting some good rep and it’s also, you know, allowing us to do some things defensively that sometimes would happen in a game. What do I mean by that? You might have a bunch of nickel or sub packages in and then all of a sudden you’re down a corner or two and you have to play more base. Okay. Well, let’s see how Maris does walking out over the slot. Can he do that? Or who is the best person to do that? And so, it’s good for us to have to adjust. And we do it during practice even with the scripts. Okay. Hey, Shotty. Hey, Flu will say, “Hey, I got to go more base or I got to go more more jumbo with the offense because we’re down a tight end or two.” And that’s what happens on game day when you’re limited to the, you know, to the the smaller roster. And then obviously a lot’s been made about the energy at practice and certainly uh the loud music supports that. Um but how does slow hand by the pointers fit into that? Well, if you notice where I put it, it was very well thought out, very calculated. It was during a special teams walk through. I did get some looks by the guys and I just kind of did the, you know, it wasn’t my request. Uh but uh yeah, it’s uh you know the cool thing for me when I’m you know going signing autographs with the fans and stuff like you know they just they’re excited. They feel the energy and our guys feel the energy not just from the music you know um but from the fans being out here from the competition like that that’s the that’s the the thing that makes training camp fun. I mean, this is training camp’s long, you know, and it’s uh it’s physical and it’s demanding and it’s not long days like I remember when I first got into coaching when you’d have your last meeting end at 10 p.m. and then you’d have to hustle back to grab a beer at staff meeting at 11:00 and then I can always remember this was a Marty shot timer thing. So, literally we’d come in, we’d be watching practice film and the meeting, the staff me would end about 11:15 and he’d say one of two things. He’d say either offense stay and the defense ran out as fast as they could. They’re like, “Get out of here.” Or he’d say, “Defense stay.” And the offensive guys would be like fist bumping under the table like, “Yeah.” Because they knew that the the guys that got asked to stay were getting ready to watch the practice all over again. Did you know slow hand and of course pointer sisters, baby? I like the faster paced pointer sisters. I’m going to be honest. Like I’m so excited. I like that one, you know, and I just can’t. That’s my probably favorite Pointer sister song. But it was solid. Solid choice. Uh someone from very high up. Extremely high. Very high up. But it was played at the right time because it was special teams walkth through. Toby Dallas last year. How do you try to keep the mental side of their game fresh so that when they can come back they can play confidence when at times it seemed like they were lacking it last year? Great question. Um number one they’re not rookies anymore. They’re year two. They’ve been exposed to a lot more. They kind of know what it looks like. But I would say the starting point is keep them very very involved in meetings. Fire questions at them. Keep them involved. Make them check their notes. Hey, let me see your notes from today. Like what what notes did you take? What did you learn? What did you put down? And then you know still follow your position. So if you’re playing the field corner, Kaylin, and let’s say Kir’s getting all the reps, like what did you see? So I’ll ask him walking off the practice field, hey, what did you see? You know, what what was a couple plays that Kyrie said that you saw? And um just got to keep them keep them involved and then know that they’re going through the mental anguish of I’m being I’m I’m I’m hurt and it sucks and I get their frustration. I talked to a number of guys yesterday. I said, “Hey, this isn’t does not define you. You’re going to be fine.” But only way you’re going to be fine is if you keep attacking the rehab and stay engaged mentally and um that way you’re going to pick it up as soon as you get back. Hey coach Patrick, Dallas Cowboys.com. Goes without saying your first two opponents are elite on the defensive front and the defensive trenches. When it goes to planning for those guys, do you give your left tackle, be it Gen coming off of an injury or a Richards or Nate Thomas, do you give those guys the same trust you have in Cable or where does scheming to help those guys come? Well, I mean, we obviously have a bunch of time. You know, honestly, Patrick, I you know, I think Dines in this league are all now elite. You know, you mentioned two in the division, three in the division that are great, just like ours is. Um, we have tools, but, you know, we don’t have to answer that right now. And I’m just excited to watch, you know, Nate, you know, go out there and compete against some elite pass rushers that we have out here. Um, see, awesome. Compete. And then again, they’re not going to win every rep. You know, they’re going to make mistakes and that’s part of practice. And, um, uh, when we get to the game planning part of it, our system is flexible enough that, yeah, we have all the tools that we need to be able to change things up. And at the end of the day, u the best thing you can do for any offensive line, any team offense when you’re playing elite defensive lineman is pound the freaking football, man. Just freaking, you know, try to shove it up their ass. And that’s what we’re going to try to do. We’re going to be physical. By the way, to to your defensive line, how is Sam Williams coming along as far as knocking some rust off after his injury? He’s doing great. He uh um you know, he uh so competitive. His um you just see him getting comfortable. He’s wearing the brace, you know, he’s uh doing different things. But I saw a pass rush the other day in the padded practice where he came off an edge and he had actually a stunt coming inside and you saw the explosiveness. And that’s kind of what happens with guys coming back. Like there’s a play or two that they speak to like, uhoh, okay, I’m back. Like, and I don’t know if that was that moment for Sam, but I did notice the the the twitch and the things that you’re used to seeing from Sam Williams. Um, and and that got me excited. Joe Dallas is a little bit of a convoluted question here. Matt Eberlu says he loves Sha Lee because he’s able to get to the the most of his abilities, the extent of his potential. Uh Demarian Overton told me that Matt Eberlu wants him to be like Sha Lee in that regard. Is the time away for Demarian Oversh that athletic could this be beneficial in getting to that point? Absolutely. And I think Demo is a great example of the question that Tommy asked about the injuries. Like if you guys, and I mentioned this the other day, you guys watch Demo, he stands by Flu a bunch and he wants to see the game through Matt’s eyes. Why is that so important? Because that’s the the words and the tone and the um speaking that he hears coming into the into the helmet and they can dissect things and they can talk about things. And that’s a guy that gets it. That’s a guy that understands, okay, yeah, I can’t be out there running around right now, but I can still be getting a PhD in Matt Ilus’s not just his defense, but in what he’s thinking because it’s all it’s all anticipation. You know, if we’re playing situations, critical situations, Dak and I have a great feel for, hey, he’s anticipating my thoughts. Is that always that way? No. But we talk through it like, well, I thought you would do this. Well, yeah, here’s why I did that. And, “Oh, yeah. Yeah, okay. you might be right or yeah, Dak, I agree with that. I should have done that. But that’s what he’s doing. He’s doing that with with flu right now. And I think that that’s um uh that’s those those those reps, they count. They don’t not count. I mean, he’s not running around, but we all know Demo knows how to run around and make plays. We’re not concerned about that. It’s him mastering this defense. Tyler Booker obviously being sometimes when you think of stunts and you think how rookies to communicate and handle that kind of looks like he’s handling it pretty well. Is that was that part of the draft process in terms of him potentially being an incident that guy, hey, this is something that football instincts top shelf. The other thing that really helps with that is his length. His arm length is huge because when you’re trying to pass a game, there’s a point of impact where it’s a TE and the ends looping inside and the length allows you to hold it off a little while longer. Guys with shorter arms, they don’t have that, so there’s more penetration. Uh, but his football instincts are uh excellent. Welcome to Camp Newie Scrugs. Where you been, man? Okay, that’s good. I like it. Well, we’re in Hey, we’re in shells today. Tomorrow. Maybe leave now. Come back tomorrow. Now that you’re the head coach, how you so far? Um, you know, honestly doing the same. Um just you know the things we’re doing in the evening time, the mocks that really people don’t get to see. That’s when we do a ton of the game management stuff. We do a bunch of two-minute work. Um and then we you know we talk through all that stuff. We really do a great job at debriefing kind of after that practice. So we do the live practice out here. That’s great. Then we go we grade it. We watch it. Then we watch it with the players. But the afternoon stuff I think to me is really the stuff that’s where Dak and I are getting on the same page. We’re communicating. We we have terms that we’re using that in one word tells him what we’re thinking. I’m not going to tell you what those words are, of course, but the ability to debrief after a practice like that or, you know, a mock game management situation is so powerful because what it’s going to allow us to do is on game day uh during the season when it’s breathing and it’s hot and the pressure is up and all that stuff, we’re both anticipating one another’s movements and um what we’re going to do and um but you know, just such a great guy, such a great competitor. um that uh it’s it’s been very very normal. How are you going? Yeah, I uh well, number one, I think the world of Bill. Uh what a great coach. I do it all the time, you know, and I do it on the field. I do it after the field. I make notes during practice, things I see, you know, as simple as, hey, any competitive period, we need whistles and things like that. But um and it’s it’s I really love coaching all the coaches because, you know, they’re an extension of me. You know, I want to make sure we’re doing things the same way in terms of how we teach fundamentals, how we coach effort first. But I love love love diving into the younger coaches. I think that’s part of your responsibility as a coach. Uh whether you’re a coordinator or a head coach, um that’s your responsibility. These guys have dreams and aspirations and these guys do an incredible job of making it easy for me and Clayton or you know you know flu to when we come up with these plays and scheme and those are the guys that actually bring it to life on the computers but you know if I’m not spending the time leaning into them and teaching them on hey this is right hey maybe look at this or hey having them have chances to lead meetings and things like that with some of our younger players then you’re doing yourself a disservice because I’ve said this all along. We’re going to win and we win. When when we win, people are going to raid our staff. They’re going to want to come in and raid our staff. And I’ve always been a guy that believes you develop your staff members from within and when one guy moves out, next guy moves in. Does that always happen? No. But that would be the um objective here for us. Joe Treyan. Shotty, you’ve talked a few times about when players get hurt, you like to make sure that you love on them and treat them that way. Um, I’ve been doing this a long time and it feels like decades ago when a player got hurt sometimes they could become persona non grata. Can you talk about how that’s evolved and how that’s an example of how the way coaches treat players has evolved in the NFL? Yeah, I mean I I told the players the other day, you know, this isn’t 1988, you know, training camp, whereas, you know, you want didn’t want to be anywhere near the training room. I mean, it used to literally be where you felt like if you went to the training room, you were going to be judged. We want our players communicating, hey, this is tight. Hey, this is my back feels a little this way. We want that because we have worldclass trainers and arts and chiropractors and all these things that that we have to use. But to me, you know, if you’re a competitor, which all of our players are, and now you’re being told, hey, I’m out for two weeks or whatever it is or maybe longer. You know, you can go into most of these guys, they they they find their self worth in what I’m a football player. I play in the National Football League. Well, I don’t see them that way. I see them as the man, the men that they are. I mean, the way they handled opening ceremonies the other day, like we got I can’t tell you, I got four or five letters from people just talking about kids that were here that when their parents came to pick them up, they were crying. There’s a letter. I read it. I read it to the team. The kids were crying because it was the best day of their life. And I just said, “Hey, I want to thank you guys for the type of men you are.” And injuries don’t change that, you know, and um I think sometimes, you know, coaches, they get busy. There’s a lot of stuff that comes across our our our plates that we have to handle. But if you don’t keep the main thing, the main thing, which is having a connection with your players and loving them, whether they’re on the field or not, whether they’re playing, whether they’re hurt, whether they’re not, then to me, you’re in the wrong business. But I do agree that that’s changed. I don’t think it’s always been that way. There certainly was coaches that were that way. Um, hell, there’s probably coaches that are that way today. Uh, but I’m certainly not one of them. Mike, coach, with with Turin, it seems like based on the reps that we’re seeing, you guys are focusing on trying to get him the ball in a variety of different ways. How do you see his role in this offense? And take me through the I get trying to get him the ball in space, some of the interior handoffs. Can he work in that space in your mind? Oh, yeah. If you think about it this way, Mike, is it’s literally it’s a punt return. That’s different because it’s usually a little bit more space, you know? So, I get that. But the one thing Turpp never does is he never checks up. He never changes speed. So, let’s say he’s pressing the B gap. He’s going to press the B gap and he’s so damn quick that if the B gap shuts and he’s got to get to the C or the A gap, he’s fine doing that. Um, are we going to make a living doing that with Turpp? No, we’re not going to make a living doing that with Turpp, but we’re going to get him the ball. We’re going to get him the ball doing different things. And um again, kudos to him. I mean, my first year as a coordinator, he he could not handle all the things mentally that we’re doing with him now. Now, it’s kind of fun for me because I see him coaching Josh Kelly. Like, I mean, that’s really cool for me. I’m like, how be damn Turf’s coaching Josh. Like, that’s how well he’s mastered what we’re doing. And um game changer, man. Game changer. And I know one thing when the defensive coordinators see him standing over there by me, they’re like, “Okay, just take a deep breath. Real, oh here he comes.” I mean, that’s really that goes through their that goes through their mind. Outside of speed, what other elements of Jaden’s game has flashed you the most? Ability to catch the football, ability to work in tight spaces. Um, you know, I think in the spring he he picked it up maybe slower than we had hoped. Not now. He’s got it. He’s figuring it out. And he’s one of those guys that he doesn’t say much, but there’s a there’s a there’s a big time competitive fire in there, man. He um he wants to be great. He wants to be elite. He knows he’s talented, but I think he’s realizing, okay, I’m I’m really talented. I’m really good, but I am in the NFL now. And most of these guys are really, really good. And uh so I have to do the things off the field, preparing mentally in the classroom, studying a little bit extra for the installs for the next day, taking care of my body. Um and uh it’s been fun to see. Hey coach, there’s a saying that you learn a lot with them. What are some of the things you’re learning about your players as they’re here in I think, you know, I wouldn’t say one thing sticks out, Sydney. I think Yeah, I just look I I want our players to be authentic to who they are. I want I want their personalities to shine. And so I think I’m getting to know some of their personalities a little bit better to where I can almost read them and be like, “Okay, something’s going on with this guy. Oh, that guy’s in a great spot. Hey, I need to check on him. I mean, I think that’s part of it. It’s um more of your intuition, you know, like I can look at my wife and be like, I’m staying away from her today. Like, I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t do honeydews very often, but I’m going to go figure out some honeydews. It’s a little bit the same same way. You know, you’re like, “Okay, hey, I need to I need to call him in.” I brought a couple guys in yesterday just because of things that I saw out there in practice and had nothing to do with the game, the X’s and O’s and things that I saw in the meeting room. So, I brought them in, talked to them, shared some thoughts and ideas with them and um you know, but you know me, I mean that’s I’m authentic. I want them to be authentic because I think anytime you try to force somebody to be something they’re not, it’s it’s it’s never going to go well because it’s like why why you making me act like that? That’s not who I am. And so I wouldn’t want anybody to do that to me, so I’m not going to ask them to do it. As you go around before practice and warmups and you’re talking to each player, is there something that a player has said to you that’s really stuck out as to what they’re planning on working on or things of that nature? Yeah, different things. I mean, they they literally a lot of times it’s fundamentals, you know, or maybe it’s a a correction that they saw. Um, I was talking to one of the corners the other day. It was AB and I was just talking to him about um, you know, how I could see the confidence in in his eyes and how he was recognizing a route and splits and things like that and how he was actually firing his gun. And it’s just little things like that. But most of them come out here with a very intentional um, idea of what they want to work on and what their fundamental of the day is or you know, hey, maybe it’s it’s something they want to improve on from the day before. And to me, if you’re not doing that, then the individual period is not going to be as beneficial for them as it can be because it’s only usually 12, 15, or 20 minutes. And if you’re not really locked in and dialed in on exactly what you want to be focused on, then you’re going to miss Knop. Jared. Yeah. Jared Bell, USA Today. Uh, Brian, what’s the most striking thing or impression on you regarding Micah Parsons as far as his presence and his engagement here knowing the business matters at hand? Yeah. You know, again, this Jarrett might not answer your question. I mean, because I think I’ve known this, but I think now sitting in the chair that I sit in, how competitive this guy is. I mean, literally, there was a three-minute break the other We gave our guys a three-minute break and he went in and in the course of three minutes because they have to get to meetings on time where they get fined. He played a game of seven. I don’t remember who he’s playing and then he goes, “Oh, we have connect four. Who wants a piece?” And he literally sat down and played Connect Four until he had to go to the meeting. Like the guy is just an incredible competitor. Like he just he loves to compete. And so, um, I just never really got a chance to see that side of Micah because I wasn’t in the room and around the defense like I do now, how he’s sitting there in some of the meetings and things. But, uh, I’d say ultimate competitor jumps off of, uh, his personality. Does it surprise you though that he’s been that engaged here, um, just knowing what you know about? No, not at all. I think, you know, again, he uh he wants to be a great uh teammate and I think again he’s one of those guys spending a lot of time coaching some of the younger players up and has taken a liking to Donovan, you know, as a rocku and um so no, it does not surprise me at all. Hey Brian, Patoni, NBC, DFW. We’ve seen Dak out with his young daughters on the field and some of the other young children of the players out here. How much do you embrace that as someone who lived that as a child with an NFL head coach, not a player? How open are and how much do you enjoy seeing that from your players? I think that’s what life’s about. I think life’s about going and competing at the highest level, trying to be the best in the world at something, but then trying to when it’s over, go and celebrate with the ones that you love and the ones that you care about. And um it it it warms my heart quite honestly. I mean, I was the the kid that after practice would run out and tackle my dad back in not River Falls because I was old, but Lakeland Community College in somewhere in Cleveland. Um, that was me. And then it was my kids, you know, when when I was in Floren Park and um the different training camp places I’ve been, like when practice end, I could not get to my kids fast enough because I knew that was, you know, just, you know, the purest form of love. You know, they love you, win, lose, whatever it is, they love you. So for me, I try to make an effort to get over there and meet all the families. I don’t get to all of them, but I try. You know, I want to meet them. I tell the guys, “Man, your your your your girlfriend, your wife, your mom was here, you know, how come you didn’t introduce me?” And they’re like, “Oh, my bad, coach.” But like, it’s what this practice should be about. Let’s go out there and compete against each other, knock each other around for an hour and 45 minutes, and then when it’s over, let’s celebrate with the ones we love. All righty. Thank you. Thanks, guys.

Head coach Brian Schottenheimer speaks with the media about Tyler Guyton’s injury, creating competition at LT, the team’s commitment to remaining physical in practice, and more.

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