Cowboys Training Camp: Schottenheimer’s Approach to Drills and Player Matchups
OXNARD, Calif. — Let it be known that Brian Schottenheimer isn’t a fan of seven-on-seven drills. Personal experience taught him that long before he became the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. He admitted that he wasn’t the best college quarterback — a claim that his 38 career passes would back up. But when it came to seven-on-seven? That he excelled in.
“It’s such an easy drill,” Schottenheimer said. “You’re like, ‘Oh, he’s open, he’s open, nobody’s open, but nobody’s rushing.’ It’s just not realistic. It’s not the way the game is played.”
Which is why Schottenheimer would rather stick to team drills when it comes to practice. He’s backed that up in the first seven team practices. On Thursday, for the eighth practice, he unveiled a new wrinkle. Because as much as he dislikes non-team drills, he loves competition, and one-on-ones supply plenty of it.
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Bombers, injuries and standout snags: Photos from Cowboys’ Thursday training camp practice
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One-on-One Drills: A New Approach
Not only did the Cowboys do one-on-ones on Thursday, but they scripted the matchups specifically so they could see how each player responds to being matched up with another. Down with the lineman, rookie Tyler Booker got matched up with veteran defensive lineman Solomon Thomas, while rookie edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku took on veteran Terence Steele. Elsewhere, George Pickens faced off against Kaiir Elam while CeeDee Lamb took on DaRon Bland in a battle of the team’s best receiver vs. the team’s best available corner. Lamb won that one with a nifty over-the-shoulder grab.
First three matchups of #Cowboys 1v1s:
– CeeDee Lamb vs. DaRon Bland (vertical)
– George Pickens vs. Kaiir Elam (slant)
– Kemon Hall vs. KaVontae Turpin (comeback)
All three were catches. pic.twitter.com/ZUGry6ARVZ
— Joseph Hoyt (@JoeJHoyt) July 31, 2025
Standout Performers
The receivers, for the most part, did well against the corners. Jonathan Mingo, acquired from the Panthers last year for a fourth-round pick, was a standout. He had a deep contested catch so good that he celebrated by picking the football up and throwing it left-handed over 50 yards in the other direction.
Prescott said he didn’t know Mingo could throw like that. One thing he did know, however, was Mingo’s strength at the point of the catch. Prescott was very complimentary after practice of the work Mingo has done to get to this point.
Another standout in one-on-ones was corner Isreal Mukuamu, who had a pass breakup in coverage of Jalen Tolbert and forced rookie Traeshon Holden out of bounds on a catch — even if the offensive side didn’t agree with the call.
Schottenheimer’s Approach
Schottenheimer was looking for something specifically with the one-on-ones.
“We want to see certain guys against certain guys,” Schottenheimer said. “Why? Because there’s going to be a winner and a loser.”
And lessons learned from both sides.
Injuries and Other Notes
The depth of the Cowboys’ offensive line — a perceived strength heading into training camp — is surely getting tested. Cowboys left guard Tyler Smith left practice during team drills. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Smith was dealing with tendinitis.
That meant that Brock Hoffman, as he did last season, had to step into a starting guard spot. This time on the left side. He also had to miss at least one play after he got into a scuffle with a Cowboys defender. That meant that T.J. Bass had to slide in and play with the starters next to left tackle Nate Thomas, who is in place of Tyler Guyton.
One good injury note: Terence Steele said that his ankle is fine after he missed a couple of practices earlier in camp with a sprain.
Emerging Rookie
Cowboys defensive lineman Jay Toia, a seventh-round pick out of UCLA, is making a strong impression early. So much so that he’s started working with the starting defense extensively. Schottenheimer talked about the pad level Toia has displayed early on and the difficulty he’s provided center Cooper Beebe with his strength.
With Toia moving up, that means there’s been less snaps with the starters for former first-round pick Mazi Smith, who played often with the second team defense on Thursday. The Cowboys want to have a rotation on the defensive line. Right now, it looks like Toia is playing himself into a bigger chunk of it.
Quarterback Performance
I thought Thursday was the best day for both of the Cowboys’ quarterbacks. Dak Prescott had multiple red zone touchdown connections with George Pickens. Joe Milton threw three touchdown passes in the same period in the back of the end zone: two to Jalen Cropper and one to undrafted rookie Traeshon Holden, who has had back-to-back good practices. Perhaps the best thing we saw from Prescott: the race he had with CeeDee Lamb. Prescott said on Thursday that he wants to run more now so that he doesn’t have to worry about starting to run in the middle of the season, as he did last season.
Other Notes
Miles Sanders missed practice with a knee bruise. It took a while, but rookie Jaydon Blue received snaps with the starting offense for the second straight practice. Early on, it was mostly Javonte Williams and Hunter Luepke playing running
