{"id":93039,"date":"2025-05-31T10:55:16","date_gmt":"2025-05-31T10:55:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/93039\/"},"modified":"2025-05-31T10:55:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-31T10:55:16","slug":"joe-milton-embracing-adjustment-period-as-cowboys-latest-development-project-at-qb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/93039\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Milton embracing adjustment period as Cowboys\u2019 latest development project at QB"},"content":{"rendered":"

FRISCO \u2014 The Cowboys<\/a> are again working with a young quarterback they hope develops into a future starter or a reliable No. 2.<\/p>\n

After they traded for Trey Lance in 2023<\/a>, it left the franchise with two unfulfilled seasons. So the Cowboys let Lance enter free agency without an offer for a contract extension. This offseason, Dallas traded for Joe Milton III. <\/a>He\u2019s one of two backup quarterbacks to Dak Prescott who are developing.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe is a guy, we obviously know about the talent, but the system that he came from in Tennessee, created some challenges in terms of what he has to learn and things like that,\u201d coach Brian Schottenheimer<\/a> said. \u201cThe minute these quarterbacks think they\u2019ve figured it all out that\u2019s when it\u2019s probably time for them to do something different. The way defenses attack in this league it makes it almost impossible to relax.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related:Who is Joe Milton? 10 things to know about the newest Dallas Cowboys quarterback<\/a><\/p>\n

Cowboys<\/p>\n

Be the smartest Cowboys fan. Get the latest news.<\/p>\n

In the final game of the 2024 season, Milton led the New England Patriots to a victory over the Buffalo Bills.<\/a> The win snapped a six-game losing streak, cost the Patriots the No. 1 overall pick, and Patriots coach Jerod Mayo was eventually fired.<\/p>\n

But Milton was feeling good. He completed 22 of 29 passes for 241 yards with a touchdown after coming in the second series for starter Drake Maye. Milton, a sixth-round pick, felt some security behind Maye.<\/p>\n

In the offseason, multiple teams inquired about Milton. He was traded to the Cowboys less than three months after the regular-season finale. The Cowboys gave up a fifth-round pick for Milton, 25.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the Buffalo game, I was like, it\u2019s fun,\u201d Milton said. \u201cI feel like I can keep doing this. I feel like there\u2019s more that I need to let out as far as that Buffalo game. Other than that, I was just having fun, probably one of the best days of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Milton is still having fun adjusting to life in Texas, over sitting behind Maye. He will compete for the backup gig with Will Grier <\/a>on the Cowboys.<\/p>\n

During OTA practices, Milton got second-team reps. It doesn\u2019t mean he\u2019s got the No. 2 job secured, but it allows the Cowboys an early look into what Milton can do.<\/p>\n

\u201cCompetition creates attention,\u201d Milton said. \u201cThat\u2019s always going to be in the back of my head, that\u2019s always going to be on my chest no matter who I\u2019m competing with. But my thing is, challenging myself to be the best person I can every day and the best quarterback I can every day and doing whatever I can to make Dak better. That\u2019s my role. I\u2019m going to compete whenever I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Milton has shown fans on social media his arm strength, throwing a football 80 yards, five more yards than he did in high school. Milton said he\u2019ll keep the secret on how he gains arm strength between him and his trainer.<\/p>\n

Milton did let on how he\u2019s learning the Cowboys\u2019 offense: poker chips and his girlfriend.<\/p>\n

Milton said he\u2019ll learn the concepts of the offense first, the formations, followed by run plays and pass plays. His girlfriend reads the call sheets and Milton lays out the poker chips as the players. He said it\u2019s easier to use poker chips over a whiteboard because he doesn\u2019t have to erase anything. <\/p>\n

Milton said he\u2019ll go to the poker chips and girlfriend during downtimes of the offseason to review the offensive playbook.<\/p>\n

\"DallasDallas Cowboys quarterback Joe Milton III (10) hands the ball to running back Hunter Luepke (40) during an OTA practice at The Star, Thursday, May 29, 2025, in Frisco.(El\u00edas Valverde II \/ Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n

The regular-season finale was just an example of how his study habits worked for him. Yet, he was surprised the Patriots traded him. He also understood why it happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cCompetition creates distinction,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like that was just one of those moments where we compete, [Maye] gets drafted higher than I did and I go in the sixth round and things don\u2019t go how it\u2019s supposed to. I\u2019m thankful for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Developing quarterbacks is something the Cowboys have always tried, whether behind starters Tony Romo or Prescott.<\/p>\n

The trade for Lance, just before the start of the 2023 season, stunned some outside the organization and some players because the team cut Grier, a popular player,<\/a> to make room for Lance. It was another reminder of what NFL teams do: find talent.<\/p>\n

Schottenheimer said Milton is in the development stage of his career and noted Grier and Prescott are in the same lane. <\/p>\n

With Prescott, a man with 122 starts on his r\u00e9sum\u00e9, it\u2019s about improving the little things. This offseason it\u2019s working on cadence, which is changing from past years. Every quarterback makes tweaks in their game to improve.<\/p>\n

Prescott is no different.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Dak is in the developmental phase,\u201d Schottenheimer said. \u201cThat sounds crazy for a guy who has played that much. There are things that we are tweaking with Dak. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s just for Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the Cowboys moving forward in their offseason programs, Schottenheimer, in his first year as head coach, is seeing his philosophy regarding quarterbacks form.<\/p>\n

Related:Brian Schottenheimer took Cowboys on unusual field trip: \u2018The guys were going crazy\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cOngoing. It never stops,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve had young starters and veteran backups. I\u2019ve had veteran starters and young backups. The quarterback position is a position that gets so much scrutiny that you\u2019re always trying to place an emphasis on. Are they getting better? Are they getting consistent? Are they doing the things they need to do? You try to piece that room together, maybe different than other rooms.\u201d<\/p>\n

This summer in training camp, Grier and Milton get their chance to showcase their skills for the backup role. <\/p>\n

Milton thought he\u2019d go in the second round and was surprised he went so late in the draft. It\u2019s just motivated him. <\/p>\n

\u201cMore mad that I had to go that late,\u201d he said. \u201cIt just added fuel to the fire for sure. I feel like the chip on my shoulder got bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRISCO \u2014 The Cowboys are again working with a young quarterback they hope develops into a future starter…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93040,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2066],"tags":[1101,2886,230,1370,229,257,2461,7,6,9,20584],"class_list":{"0":"post-93039","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-cowboys","8":"tag-article","9":"tag-brian-schottenheimer","10":"tag-cowboys","11":"tag-dak-prescott","12":"tag-dallas","13":"tag-dallas-cowboys","14":"tag-dallascowboys","15":"tag-football","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-the-star-in-frisco"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114602083909982896","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}