11 takeaways, highlights from fifth practice at Cowboys training camp

The obvious talk of the day was injury concerns when it came to the Dallas Cowboys. After a day off on Sunday, the club returned to the field Monday and donned pads for the first time in training camp. Putting on the shells allows the players to feel like they are actually doing their jobs, as battles in the trenches take on much more ferocity after everyone had a week to get their legs underneath the.

Unfortunately, legs gave out in multiple ways as James Washington broke a bone in his foot and safety Jayron Kearse rolled his.  The latter turned out not to be significant but the former will miss significant time.

Meanwhile on the field, a lot of action went down that fans were excited to see in Oxnard. Here’s a collection of other takeaways and highlights from Day 6, Practice 5 for the Cowboys in 2022.

Kicking Competition

The Cowboys released Greg Zuerlein in the offseason after two sporadic years and appeared to be all-in on UDFA Jonathan Garibay out of Texas Tech. The young leg has a powerful one, but it isn’t very accurate. As such, veteran Liam Hajrullahu is making it a competition.

After a really bad first kicking session on Saturday, going 4-for-8, Garibay went 6-for-8 on Monday. The issue was compounded when the two misses were during Mojo Moments, a contrived session designed by coach Mike McCarthy that adds some pressure to the situation.

Hajrullahu made seven of eight kicks for the second consecutive practice.

Tyler Smith in pads

Head coach Mike McCarthy had a lot to say about getting rookie left guard into pads on Monday.

““The biggest thing is, the discipline and the understanding the cadence, if you’re a young lineman and you’re playing in this offense we don’t lineup using the same cadence every snap. That’s the first part, and I’m not just saying it specifically for Tyler, it’s any young lineman if you don’t get over that threshold you’re not going to be able to play as fast, you’re not going to be able to anticipate, your awareness, you’re going to be a half step behind.”

“The second thing, he’s got to play it. He’s just like the rest of them he needs to play in pads, he needs to do combination blocks with Tyron. A combination block just ain’t a combination block, it’s your footwork paired with a guy next to him. It’s timing the anticipation all those things. I guess the biggest part of it, he just needs reps. We just can’t get enough of them for your young players, especially our young offensive lineman.”

Challenge accepted.

CeeDee Lamb returns to team drills after rest on Saturday

McCarthy said he wants to make sure he doesn’t overwork his players, and that includes his No. 1 WR. With Washington’s injury and Michael Gallup being sidelines, Lamb is the only active WR on the roster who has caught over 40 career catches (Noah Brown is only other WR with at least one catch) and the only receiver with any touchdowns scored.

Lamb rewarded McCarrthy with perhaps his best day of camp, reportedly catching everything that was thrown in his direction on Monday, according to The Athletic’s Jon Machota.

Team speed is a real thing

Watching Micah Parsons track down ball carriers will never get old, nor will watching Tony Pollard do his thing. In practice, we get to see the two speedsters in action, and it crystalizes just how vital team speed is in a game of physicality. There’s the ability to overpower your opponent, and then there’s the ability to dominate with quickness.

Elliott getting to the outside

Can Noah Brown finally emerge

The injury to Washington does open the door for veteran Noah Brown to get more playing time, and he already has been having a strong training camp. The fifth-year player has never had more than last year’s 16 receptions in a season, but he’s a really strong blocker and has come through when targeted.

That continued on Monday as Brown stepped up time and time again.

Dak Prescott's best day of training camp

Locked on Cowboys host Landon McCool noted what has been discussed several times in the past, that Prescott hasn’t always been the best practice player, more of a turn-it-on-for-gameday marvel. But apparently Prescott was lights out on Monday, which will be highly necessary with the limitations of the wide receiver position, unless the Cowboys go out and bring someone else in.

Is Nahshon Wright going to earn playing time?

The defense is always ahead of the offense early in training camp, but on the heels of best seasons ever out of Trevon Diggs, Anthony Brown and Jourdan Lewis bodes well for the group of corners as a whole as they were under new direction in 2021. A player who that coaching staff was excited enough to “overdraft” was Nahshon Wright, and he continues to make plays in 2022 training camp. He’s the longest of the Cowboys’ defenders, a favorite characteristic of Dan Quinn.

Osa Odighizuwa sees the writing on the wall, err tape

As a rookie, Odighizuwa shot out the gates in 2021 with a couple of sacks, but tapered off as the year went on. It was understandable, as rookies hit the wall normally and 2020 was a pandemic year and UCLA had a truncated schedule. Will he emerge in Year 2 as a bonafide all year factor? One interesting factoid that emerged on Monday was Odighizuwa’s messages to himself that he writes on his wrist tape before every practice.

The message changes based on what he wants to keep fresh in his head.

Matt Waletzko won't get the work he needs

Some folks were talking about Waletzko being the Cowboys’ swing tackle in 2022, but that never made much sense to this writer.

LB Damone Clark might actually play in 2022

After spinal fusion surgery, most non-rose-colored-glasses fans thought the draft pick spent on the LSU linebacker was a wise move to get ahead of drafting a LB in 2023. It felt far-fetched that Clark could see the field in any meaningful way this season.

While most might dismiss words from optimistic-as-ever owner Jerry Jones, Clark being here sooner rather than later should be exciting. The fact he was doing some of the same rehab drills as Michael Gallup… maybe. Just maybe.

Story originally appeared on Cowboys Wire