Klayton Adams: Let’s See Who Can Bounce Back | Dallas Cowboys 2025

Klayton Adams: Let’s See Who Can Bounce Back | Dallas Cowboys 2025

doing awesome. Pretty beautiful day here. Calvin Watkins, Dallas Morning News. How do you get Joe Milton to kind of relax a little bit and get in the flow of things? I think you, you know, we just keep coaching him and and give him uh continually put him in situations where he’s got to make decisions and stuff. And um I think that always the first preseason game for every player, especially in a new system, you got kind of a heightened sense of awareness and probably a little bit of anxiety. And I think you saw throughout the game that he did calm down and um you know, we believe in what he can do and I think it’s just really just about reps. You notice that during the game and feel like let me go chat with him a little bit just to get them going. Um you know I I just think you do anything that you can to try to help guys uh when they’re playing and um I I was in the box so I I uh I didn’t I didn’t really have any contact with them on the sideline. ODLS Cowboys. Uh, can you talk about the decision to not play Tyler Book and where he’s at in his development as a young guy? I know offensive line, home office line coach, office coordinator, how much many reps those young guys need and also can you talk about what you saw from Thomas? Well, I think in regards to book, I think it’s it’s really just more about you kind of look at those things week to week and how much contact you’ve had during the week. And obviously during that week, we had a really long physical practice with the Rams and and their starting group. And so, it’s really more about workload per week than really anything else. And so, you know, we felt like that was the right decision to make for that week. And and we’ll assess um those type of decisions again this week. Uh, in regards to Nate, um, you know, Nate’s Nate’s he’s holding it in the road and you see his ability and and, uh, you see his growth and it’s definitely been fun to watch, you know, because I feel like he’s come a long way since we started the offseason program. Did it surprise you anything? I mean, here’s a guy was seven round pick last year, didn’t play as rookie. He’s throwing out there with a start from our point of view, he doesn’t look like a fish out of water. I don’t know how you No, I’d say that he’s doing well. I um you know in response to does it surprise me? I think that I’ve gotten to the point this is like I think this is year 20 for me doing this where I’ve tried to reserve judgment until you see players in pads because and then after that you try to reserve a little more judgment until you see guys playing games just because I think it’s easy when you’re running around with just helmets on or whatever say like I think this guy’s this, I think that guy’s that. I think when you’re playing a position like offensive line especially, you want to see guys in pads and you want to see how they respond to adversity and really high pressure situations in games. And no, I’m not really surprised uh just because you know you kind of you tend to see that almost every year with somebody. What was the perspective for you like in the box? Have you ever been up when the last time you were were upstairs? I I don’t know the answer to that question. It’s been kind of a long time. Um, it was good. Uh, you definitely can see a lot of things up there. And, uh, I tend to try to think of, uh, my mindset particularly, uh, during the season and during training camp, as trying to have like a a 30,000 foot perspective so that you can help guide the ship and and lead. And I think that you definitely get that type of view from the box. Um, everybody loves being on the sideline because you get a real feel for uh, you know, the players and the game and all that, but there’s definitely value to being in the box and um, I’m looking forward to continuing to grow that way. Did you call down a bunch? Did you not call that much? How did you Well, I mean, we’re we’re all in the headset, so it’s it’s kind of different than like uh, like when I was a graduate assistant at Boise State, it was like, “Hey, give me the phone so I can talk to this guy.” Um, now it’s just it’s kind of a free- flowing conversation and so you’re constantly, you know, Shotty and I constantly talking in between series. Hey, here’s here’s where we’re going to go here. Here’s where we’re going to go there. This is what we need to The interesting thing about the preseason is you’re not necessarily saying this is how we’re going to attack these guys. In some some senses, you’re saying this is what we need to put on tape so we can coach it and so we can help the players get better at at something that we want to improve on. Athletic going back to Saturday’s game just when you watch the game over again. What did you think of Bill? Uh I I think that just like uh watching him throughout training camp, he’s another one of those guys that when the pads come on, you see something and he’s certainly got some instincts and plays fast. He’s got a little bit of a slasher. I thought he did a lot of good things. Dallas last week. What do you want to see from Jaylen Mo? I I think the the what you’d love to about Jaylen Tolbert is what you’d love to continue to see is that the guy is super consistent. Uh he’s he’s selfless. Uh he’s all about the team. He’s into doing the dirty work and he’s also has the ability to make plays. So that’s, you know, seeing him on special teams and all those other things that that’s what you want to see is the best version of JT and to me that’s the definition of that. And then you talk about being in the box first time you obviously first time OC being in that kind of support role in terms of play calling what you see what have you kind of leaned on I guess terms of learn how to be that kind of support I think the the biggest thing uh not necessar because I think when you’re coaching offensive line a lot of times you’re giving some of those uh type of input in between series I think that the bigger picture part of it what you’re looking at is you know like are we having a breakdown down on the outside in regards to uh to run or are we getting a look that we need to get back to an action that’s going to take advantage of that. Um and then just he and I continuing to grow and learn each other which has been uh a really awesome experience for me. You know, that’s to me the one of the biggest things that we’ve got to accomplish during the preseason is all right, how do we get uh our communication 100% elite, which I think that we’re definitely headed that direction. And then how can I support him the best? Because that’s really what my job is on game day is to help find solutions because aside from just being the play caller, I mean, he’s also the head football coach. So, he’s got to try to figure out when when we’re using timeouts and and try to make decisions on special teams and critical decisions that the defense needs uh his support on as well. So, my job is to is to make his job easier. Glad dallascowboys.com. Keeping to the wide receivers really quickly. Obviously, Joe Milton had a couple throws get away from him. Several of those were towards Fenoy, but when you’re looking at the film from Fenoy, what jumped out most from you from that preseason? uh from Flo. Uh you know, I the the first thing that jumps out to me is that broken tackle on the sideline. You know, it was good to see some of the strength and him pull through that. Um but outside of that, I think it’s the same thing that you see with with all the players is, okay, we think we know exactly what we’re supposed to be doing and then all of a sudden you start thinking about other things because you’re wearing a uniform and you’re playing against another team and it’s not practice anymore. And so, uh, just we like we called it, uh, in the offensive unit meeting of just just learning how to color between the lines a little bit better and some of the finer detail of the of the things. And that’s what you that’s what you’re doing when you get to this part of training camp is for the most part most part your installs are done. Um, what are the wrinkles you’re going to add and how do you find the absolute most amount of detail that you can execute within what you’ve already installed? Follow And then there are others like Turpin and Crawford and Tolbert and Jonathan Mingle. But then Tan Holden looks like he transferred some of what he’s been doing at camp to the preseason over against the Rams. What’s the challenge there? It’s been fun to watch that group. Yeah, I mean that’s that’s really that’s what you’re trying to build in every room is is a lot of really difficult decisions for the personnel guys and the coaching staff and incredible amounts of competition. And so that being what we want this team and organization to be 100% about is competition, you know, that’s that’s our calling card is what the receiving room is doing right now and making it very difficult uh for people to figure out who’s going to be, you know, what number, whatever. Um so I I love it. I think it’s great. For start, the offensive line created a lot of clean pockets for Milton. A lot more efficiency in the run game than on Tuesday. What what was different about Saturday’s game versus Tuesday? Um, you know, I think that there were some things that we certainly wanted to clean up from watching the joint practice and I think for the most part there were some times that we were able to do that. Um, you know, a couple of guys uh made some adjustments that were good. Um, I I just think also the the flow of a game is a lot different than a practice where you’re saying like, “Hey, this group’s going to be in there for four plays.” Um the mentality of a football game is like you better do it over and over and over and over and over. And so I think that that’s one thing that we tried to really hammer home on offense this year is, you know, it’s like you’re like you’re playing a game of horse, like prove it, do it again. Um and so you’re not always going to have perfect plays, but uh in a football game, you can wear people down uh and have the ability to to come back from something that happened eight or nine plays ago. So that that’s to me the exciting part of the preseason is let’s figure out who’s got some stamina, you know, let’s figure out who can who can bounce back from a bad play. But what’s been your full evaluation running back? The running back room. Um I I think it’s a good group as well. Um I think I said last time I was up here, I was excited about really the depth of the entire group. Um you know, the the veteran presence of of Miles and Javvante has been fun. uh especially for the two rookies and then Deuce kind of being somewhere in between. I think those guys really care about each other and uh and are doing a good job of helping each other which is is to me the sign of a pretty healthy room in there. I think Derek Foster’s done a nice job. Tommy Tommy.com is talking about how he wants to see a little bit more TJ Bass at center this week. What is it about his skill set that makes you guys want to see him get some more? I think the biggest thing is is that he’s he’s done a really nice job at guard. Um and so, you know, we’re all competing for for jobs and so, you know, we we feel like uh we know that he gives us a pretty high level um at least very very efficient play at guard and where he lacks the most experience is at center. And so, you know, it behooves us to put him there and say, “Hey, you need to you need to be able to do this because the more people you can you have that can snap the football on game day, obviously you know, the less likely you are of a complete mess. So, um, him being able to get in there and do that is really just trying to wellround his game. Gel, CBS Sports, Clayton, how is Javvante Williams stood out amongst the group in the running back team? Uh, I I think uh I think experience and um what’s the word that I’m looking for here? Um, wisdom almost. you know, I know that he’s he’s not like a a real real old player, but he’s been some he’s been through some things in the league. Uh he’s he’s had really good years. He’s he’s had uh you know, the devastating injury that he’s had to bounce back from. So, you see a really good level of maturity in the guy. Um and you really see that the most when he’s helping his teammates and and stuff like that. It’s not one of those deals where he’s like, I better not help anybody because I’m looking over my shoulder. I mean, I think he’s very secure in who he is and um a mature guy that has good wisdom. 105 usually obviously you get a lot of stuff that kind of I don’t say but okay. No, I I thought it was great. I mean I I think you do want to be challenged a little bit. Um, you know, obviously you you’d hate to go into a game and and there was just all sorts of stuff flying and hitting the wall in the preseason because you want ultimately to be able to coach off of it, but no, you want to be challenged by those type of things. And I thought that the Rams did a really nice job with balance on that of, hey, we need to work some of our stuff and we also need to be able to, you know, block and tackle and all those other things, which is the same type of thing that we’re trying to do, but we’re trying to figure out how to to block and run and catch. Brad at center, do you find his arm problem? Uh, no. No, I don’t I don’t I don’t think that I I think probably the further you go interior on the offensive line. A little bit less of an issue that is. Um not that I mean there’s guys that have played that are really really excellent players that haven’t had really really long limbs, but just being a former center myself, I’ve always felt like the closer you are to the defense, uh the less issues there are with arm length. And the further you move to the outside and now there’s going to be a little bit more space. that ends up sometimes becoming more of an issue. So, I I think that it’s something that he can do. It’s just we just got to put him in that situation so he feels comfortable doing it. What’s that? Rams1 that they’re playing with right now. Oh, that’s awesome. Love it. What’s that? Oh, no. I just meant for them. Yeah. Yep.

Offensive coordinator Klayton Adams shares his thoughts on the Cowboys’ first preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams, evaluating of Joe Milton’s performance, the benefits of working in the booth during the game, and more.

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