Dallas, TX
Cowboys news: The battle at safety is one to watch
Cowboys training camp battle at safety will be fierce – Mario Herrera Jr., Inside the Star
Safety first. The Cowboys competition in the deep defensive backfield is one of the hottest position battles on the roster.
Donovan Wilson
When Dan Quinn arrived for the 2021 season, Wilson instantly became a better player. Quinn’s defensive scheme featuring three safeties on the field played to all of Wilson’s strengths. He is a player who likes to play near the line of scrimmage. He’s excellent at run support, and is adept at pass rushing, evidenced by his 8.5 career sacks.
Wilson is not so great in coverage, though. How his traits fit into Mike Zimmer’s scheme is yet to be seen. He should be a lock for this roster, but even if he isn’t, I wouldn’t expect him to be released. The Cowboys will keep him on the roster or attempt to trade him, since releasing him would result in a dead cap hit over $10 million.
Malik Hooker
Malik Hooker might actually be the safest bet to make the roster because of his skills in coverage. Dallas doesn’t really have anyone else that has proven to be on his level as a single-high safety. Hooker, a former 1st round pick of the Indianapolis Colts in 2017, has something that none of the other safeties have: blue chip draft status. The rest of the safeties on the roster weren’t drafted in the top five rounds, and most were undrafted.
The Ohio State product has had a solid three years in Dallas after arriving with Quinn in 2021. Hooker hasn’t been spectacular, but he has been the best free safety to start for Dallas in several years. In his three seasons, he has recorded 156 tackles, eight passes defensed, two fumble recoveries, and five interceptions. I fully expect him to make the roster and remain the starting free safety.
3 things we learned from Cowboys camp Saturday: WRs look strong, injury updates and more – Staff, DMN
Lots of highlight-worthy moments from the wide receivers at Saturday’s practice.
(…) a few wide receivers have enjoyed strong camp outings this summer. While [Jalen] Tolbert and Jalen Brooks have stepped their game up in Oxnard, another receiver has proven to be a name to watch as camp rolls on.
Looking to stick on the Cowboys’ roster, Tyron Billy-Johnson is embracing newfound stability in Dallas.
“He’s having a great camp, he really is,” offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said.
“Yeah, I mean the guy loves the game, first and foremost, and he loves his teammates,” quarterback Dak Prescott said. “You talk about a guy that has energy, natural energy, natural excitement, joy, and it jumps out and it’s contagious. It can start with a guy like that.”
Mike McCarthy said Israel Mukuamu will miss some time with an undisclosed injury. Luke Schoonmaker will miss practice today and could return Monday. Eric Kendricks (back) also will need some more time, maybe Monday.
— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) August 3, 2024
Who has caught the eye of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones through the first two weeks of camp? – Clarence Hill, Star-Telegram
Some early standouts.
[…] one name has consistently come out of the mouths of the team decision makers when asked who has stood out through the first two weeks of camp: former Texas linebacker DeMarvion Overshown.
Overshown has been as advertised so far in camp with his size, athleticism, ability to fill the hole and run to the football.
“[DeMarvion] Overshown is gonna get you excited. Excited for him, excited for us,” Jones said. McCarthy also mentioned Overshown as a player that has stood out. Other players who have stood for McCarthy include tight end Noah Fant, who is being cross trained at fullback, receivers Jalen Tolbert and Jalen Brooks, cornerbacks Daron Bland and Jourdan Lewis, as well as fullback Hunter Luepke, who is being cross trained at tight end.
Jones also mentioned receiver KaVontae Turpin and Luepke. “Really like the work that our fullback [Hunter Luepke] is doing. He’s very instrumental, and of course he’s going to be a big part of this offense and he’s earning it,” Jones said.
Latest updates from NFL training camp: Micah Parsons has most active practice yet – Todd Archer, ESPN
Parsons had quite a day.
Micah Parsons’ elbow soreness did not seem to be an issue Saturday. The linebacker did not do one-on-one pass rush drills but was a menace in team drills, working mostly on the line of scrimmage.
It was his most active practice of training camp and was similar to last year, when he wrecked a number of practices for the offense. He had at least three would-be sacks, including one where he was unblocked because of the look the defense gave the offensive line. He was in quarterback Dak Prescott’s face a lot.
Liufau ‘playing faster’, starting to shine in camp – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com
Could the linebacker unit turn from a weakness to a strength?
A key to the Dallas Cowboys potentially ending their longstanding Super Bowl drought will be the quality of their linebacker play, and that’s one reason Marist Liufau got the nod as the team’s third-round picks in the 2024 NFL Draft, and he’s quickly beginning to show them why they made the right call.
As it goes for any rookie in the NFL, but especially those who play a position as cerebral as linebacker, Liufau will run into his share of hiccups and growing pains, but it’s also true that he’s off to a solid start in his first-ever Cowboys’ training camp and, in the team’s fourth-padded practice, he delivered his best day thus far.
Liufau’s elite football IQ is one of his main attractions and it’s what caused Zimmer and head coach Mike McCarthy to pound the table, so to speak, to get him on the roster during the draft and, seeing as it’s helped get him this far, it will likely also help in propelling him much further.
“It gets a little bit easier [when pads come on] because you get your reps in, you learn the playbook more and things start to slow down,” he said. “And the more I study, I begin to think faster. … I feel like I’m getting more comfortable and I’m playing faster — also building confidence.”
Cowboys New, old Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer talks softer but the edge remains – Clarence Hill, Star Telegram
Zimmer likes what he see in Dallas, Cowboys fans may like what they’ll see from Zimmer in return.
“I got the same bite,” Zimmer said. “I hadn’t had to use it much. But I probably got the same bite. But now. I’m trying to be very specific about what we want and make sure they understand exactly what we want.”
“I’ve been impressed with this group, I really have. I heard all this stuff when I came here, this and that, but I just go by what I see and what I see has been good.”
Zimmer’s scheme is targeted to help the Cowboys be better against the run. But it starts with being disciplined, fundamentally sound, and doing your job. No more freelancing. And that goes for the best players, including All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons.
Zimmer has new wrinkles for Parsons and will line him [up] all over the field. He will do more disguising on defense and his blitz packages are already freaky. But the foundation remains. Discipline, fundamentals, and accountability.
“Just putting guys in a lot of different positions. And not just letting us fly around and vision break,” safety Donovan Wilson said when asked about what Zimmer brings to the defense. “It’s been a lot of like disguises and stuff. But yea Zim brings the extra juice to the whole defense and keeps guys accountable.”
It’s the only way he knows how.
Brock Hoffman making the most out of big opportunity – Nick Harris, DallasCowboys.com
The Cowboys may have hit on yet another undrafted free agent.
The offseason work that Hoffman has put in has been evident. He’s more technical. He’s stronger and better put together physically. Most importantly, he’s more communicative and more confident – two qualities that are required to man down the middle of a talented Cowboys offensive line.
“Brock’s the man,” quarterback Dak Prescott said. “It’s in his intensity. It’s in his focus, and then that allows the communication to be easier. He’s a guy that gets up there, knows his job responsibility, knows the calls and then from there, he’s gonna jump on them. And if I want to change something, he makes sure it’s echoed and communicated to the rest of the guys but there’s just no hesitation in it.”
Going into year two of Mike McCarthy’s offensive system, Hoffman’s background as a son of a college coach and the knowledge of the game that it comes with has paid off. For him, it’s about perfecting it in order to be as prepared as possible for his Pro Bowl quarterback.
“I feel like in terms of my mental speed, I feel like I’ve really grown playbook-wise,” Hoffman said. “In terms of the game, it has slowed down and in terms of being able to see safety rotations, different defensive looks, our defense has given us a different variety of looks and the center has to be ready for that for the quarterback.”
Looking at a potential trade destination for Dallas Cowboys QB Trey Lance – RJ Ochoa, Blogging the Boys
Ochoa talks to Michael Peterson from Bolts From The Blue, the Chargers SB Nation site.
BTB: On a scale of 1-10 how worried are you about Justin Herbert’s health for the start of the season?
On a scale of 1-10, I’m probably at a 5. I’m not that worried overall but any injury on this team makes me hold my breath due to all the times the team said it wasn’t a serious injury only for a player to miss half the year because the issue won’t go away.
BTB: Who are the other quarterbacks on the depth chart?
The backup quarterbacks are Easton Stick (four starts in 2023), 2023 seventh-round pick Max Duggan, and 2024 UDFA Casey Bauman. Stick played “fine” to end last season but he’s far from an efficient passer. He’s much better as a gamer who can utilize his legs to extend drives. Duggan led TCU to the 2023 CFP title game but got walloped by Georgia. He had a rough pre-draft process which led to him being a dart throw by the Chargers despite being a Heisman runner-up. He has a matching skillset to Stick in that he’s not the best passer but he can improvise and extend plays with his athleticism. Lastly, Bauman is a tall 6’7 passer who went from FCS Montana State to Division II Augustana. Injuries limited his career to a degree but he’s yet another dual-threat player. Just a camp arm, though.
BTB: Hypothetically would you (as in you, not the team) have interest in Trey Lance as a potential option for let’s say something like the first month of the season while Herbert got fully healthy if things came down to that?
I would not have any interest in making a trade for Lance as the team can make do with Stick in the meantime. If this was more of a “make-or-break” season, I’d entertain the idea more but this is year essentially a re-tooling where the Chargers should be very happy if they manage to finish with a record above .500. If they’re a 9-8 team and miss the playoffs with Herbert, going 6-11 and earning a better draft pick because Stick dropped a few games doesn’t sound too bad.
While the Dallas Mavericks don’t intend to trade Daniel Gafford, according to recent reports, his name has been thrown into the rumblings of trade rumors. The club acquired him at the trade deadline a season ago, and he was essential in their run to the NBA Finals.
With his name being hot in trade rumors, Gafford made a statement on Monday. With a full slate of games being played all day, the Mavericks had an early contest against the Charlotte Hornets.
Dallas suffered a brutal 110-105 loss as the return of Luka Doncic can not come soon enough. Still, Gafford made a loud statement, scoring a career-high.
In 34 minutes played, Gafford scored 31 points on 12-of-15 shooting while pulling down 15 rebounds and blocking seven shots.
Simply put — the Mavericks center made a statement. He proved his value by posting a career-high in points scored, even if the team took a brutal loss.
Given the injury history of second-year center Dereck Lively, having a backup like Gafford capable of coming into the starting lineup and making such a massive impact would certainly have to make the Mavericks front office think twice about a trade.
For the time being — don’t expect a Gafford trade. His impact proved even further that it could be a mistake from the club, too.
However, given how much success the team has had with in-season moves in years past might lend a hand that they could be making a move.
READ MORE: Despite Loss to Hornets, Mavs Made Right Decision Letting Former First-Round Pick Go
Stick with MavericksGameday for more coverage of the Dallas Mavericks throughout the NBA offseason.
Follow Kade Kimble on Twitter.
The Blue Fish, a sushi restaurant that eventually grew to one of Dallas-Fort Worth’s biggest homegrown Japanese chains, has closed on Greenville Avenue in Dallas.
The restaurant opened at that spot in 1998, then as a sake bar modeled after the cool-kids spots from Los Angeles, The Dallas Morning News’ critic wrote a few months after its debut. Founders Julie Lee and her brother Alex Lee helped introduce Dallas audiences to sake — both the cloudy, unfiltered alcoholic drink as well as the hot, cheap stuff. (The Lees suggested drinking it cold, as experts still do, but a $1 deal on carafes of hot sake quickly made Blue Fish on Greenville Avenue a happy hour hot spot.)
The restaurant opened relatively early in Dallas’s relationship with raw-fish restaurants, and The Blue Fish served a mix of uncooked fish as well as hot dishes like edamame, teriyaki-sauced chicken breast and a shareable 2-pound fried catfish.
“The Blue Fish is quite a catch,” the late critic Dotty Griffith wrote in 1998.
The “hip Lower Greenville setting” earned The Blue Fish a spot on The News’ list of best new restaurants of 1998. A few others on that list remain open and are now stalwarts: Tei Tei Robata Bar, The Mercury and Al Biernat’s. Seems 1998 was quite a year in Dallas food.
The Blue Fish grew in North Texas, with restaurants on Greenville Avenue, on the Dallas North Tollway near Frankford Road, and in Irving, Carrollton and Allen. When I visited Breckenridge, Colorado, a few weeks ago, skiers wearing puffy coats and gloves made a steady entry into the Blue Fish there, a few blocks off of Main Street.
Today, two Blue Fish restaurants remain: in Allen and in Breckenridge. Those are owned by founder Julie Lee Osborn, who got married since she opened the original.
The other locations were sold in 2019, she confirmed.
For decades, Blue Fish had an iconic stainless steel interior and neon lights, a look called “techno-razzle” in a 2004 review. That was the era of tuna towers and raw yellowtail spiced with jalapeños.
By the 2020s, Japanese food in Dallas had changed dramatically. Omakase restaurants, or those with $165+ price tags and a fixed menu of a dozen courses or more, were starting to pop up. Case in point: By late 2024, just one restaurant in Dallas earned a Michelin star, and it was unaffiliated Japanese spot Tatsu.
The Blue Fish’s franchise owners opened a higher-end Japanese restaurant, Blue Maki in Carrollton, in 2023. The restaurant sells temaki, or handrolls, in addition to sashimi, crudo and rolls.
The Blue Fish, on the other hand, seemed emptier on Greenville Avenue in the past few years.
Representatives from the franchise company did not return an immediate request for comment on why the Greenville Avenue restaurant closed. The phone has been disconnected.
Founder Julie Lee Osborn said she has no relationship with the franchisees of the restaurant she started, but she has interest in taking over the lease from her original Blue Fish on Greenville Avenue. More to come on that.
The Blue Fish was at 3519 Greenville Ave., Dallas.
For more food news, follow Sarah Blaskovich on X at @sblaskovich.
DALLAS — The Detroit Red Wings came up short on the road for the second time in as many nights, taking a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Sunday.
“That’s a good team over there,” J.T. Compher said. “I thought they had good intensity to start the game, and we made a few mistakes that gave them a little bit of life. Stuff that we talked about before the game that we knew we needed to take care of, and in the second and third periods we did take care of it. But against good teams like that, when they make you pay, they get some confidence. It’s kind of hard to build your way back into the game.”
Goalie Alex Lyon made 22 saves for Red Wings (21-21-4; 46 points), while netminder Jake Oettinger turned away 33 shots for the Stars (29-16-1; 59 points).
“From our perspective, we looked at it from the defensive side and what we gave up,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said. “Some real egregious errors by individuals again, and the whole group pays the price for them.”
Dallas lit the lamp first, going up 1-0 at 5:26 of the opening frame. Justin Hryckowian’s shot from in front was stopped by Lyon, but Matej Blumel crashed to the paint and finished the rebound from the low slot.
The Stars struck twice more within a 1:13 span a few minutes after the halfway point of the first period to jump ahead 3-0. Jason Robertson scooped up a rebound at the edge of the crease before sending it into the back of the net for a power-play goal at 13:05, then Mavrik Bourque backhanded Ilya Lyubushkin’s pass from the bottom of the left face-off circle at 14:18.
“The tough thing for me is the start [of Sunday’s game] wasn’t that bad except for some individual errors,” McLellan said. “First goal, we’ve got the puck on our tape and, not even really getting forechecked, we turn it over. The second one, we’re on the penalty kill and the puck is bouncing, but boy it’d be hard to do that over again. Third one, a poor backcheck sort of.”
Detroit doubled up Dallas in shots, 14-7, in the scoreless second period.
Scoring Detroit’s lone goal of the night, Marco Kasper deflected a shot in the slot from Simon Edvinsson to make it 3-1 at 12:01 of the third period. Captain Dylan Larkin also received an assist on Kasper’s sixth goal of the season.
In his last six games, Kasper has recorded seven points (four goals, three assists).
“We’re getting a lot of shots,” Compher said. “We do that more, and [our shots are] going to turn into better opportunities and better chances to score.”
Wyatt Johnston found one more goal for the Stars at 14:09 of the third period, lifting a backhand past Lyon to make it 4-1.
“It’s difficult when you spot them a few,” Lyon said. “Honestly, I think we have the right mindset though, where we come out in the second and we just try to wipe away the first and keep going. The third, just try to get better as well. We just got to keep that moment-by-moment mentality and continue to try to improve.”
NEXT UP: The Red Wings will drop the puck against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday night.
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