Having spent his illustrious NFL career with the Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers and Indianapolis Colts, the obvious thread lies in the fact he’s mostly operated on the eastern half of the country. That’s all changed now, however, as he suits up for a four-week stay in Southern California.
“It’s far, I’ve never really been on the West Coast, but this is a good setup,” he said. “Everything is right here, the weather is good so no complaints.”
And speaking of his aforementioned camp matchup with Cooks, well, let’s just say it was one to watch on Day 1.
Early in practice, Gilmore won the battle with a pass break up on a hook route wherein he stayed glued to Cooks’ hip. Later in the session, though, Cooks repaid him after a catch in space, followed by a juke being used on Gilmore that left him in a bit of a blender.
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It’s the beginning of what should be an electric head-to-head between two of the best players in the league at their respective position, and the Cowboys will ultimately be the beneficiary of it.
The two have a longstanding friendship from their time spent together with the Patriots in 2017, and their reunion in Dallas is off to a great start.
“It was fun, I’ve been competing with him for years,” said Gilmore of Cooks. “Anytime you can have good competition across the ball from you, it brings out the best of you. I think we’re gonna have a lot of battles throughout training camp.”
Speaking of friendships, Gilmore and Trevon Diggs have a budding one of their own.
It goes back to the latter sending the former game film with the aim of receiving feedback that could improve Diggs’ game; so when the two became teammates, it teetered on the fulcrum of destiny, and now that Diggs has secured a five-year extension worth upwards of $100 million, Gilmore (having been the beneficiary of a five-year extension of his own (in 2017 with the Patriots).
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“I just told him congrats and he can take a deep breath now, but I told him to just stay focused,” said Gilmore. “Try to build off of that and have a great year. It’s always good to get that extension but you gotta play good ball and keep it going. They pay you because you’ve been playing good football, so just keep doing what you’re doing.”
All in all, the battle in camp against Cooks and the complementary relationship with Diggs can only help elevate the Cowboys on all fronts, and especially in the secondary.
“It’s gonna be fun,” Gilmore said while wearing his signature smile. “They gotta throw it somewhere. One of us is gonna get tested. We just have to be ready for wherever they throw it.
“I’m looking forward to it. We have to be ready for each and every snap because, at the end of the day, they’re gonna throw the ball and somebody’s gotta make the play.”
Jordan Raanan, ESPN Staff WriterNov 28, 2024, 12:25 PM ET
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Jordan Raanan is a reporter for NFL Nation at ESPN. Raanan covers the New York Giants. You can follow him via Twitter @JordanRaanan.
New York Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito is expected to be out for Thursday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys because of his forearm injury and Drew Lock is expected to start in his place, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Jordan Raanan.
DeVito is listed as questionable for the Thanksgiving Day game, but a source told ESPN on Wednesday that DeVito was considered a long shot to play.
He did not travel with the team to Dallas on Wednesday as he was undergoing further evaluation, the Giants said. The team, however, said it expected him to travel to Dallas later Wednesday.
DeVito took several big hits in Sunday’s 30-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was making his first start of the season after the Giants released former starter Daniel Jones late last week.
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The Giants turn to Lock after bypassing him following the benching of Jones for DeVito. Lock spent the first 10 weeks as the backup, with DeVito as the third string/emergency quarterback.
Lock has a short week and no real practices to get ready for the matchup of NFC East rivals. He also will be playing behind an offensive line without its starting tackles. Andrew Thomas (foot) is on injured reserve and Jermaine Eluemunor (quad) was ruled out Wednesday.
Colorado Avalanche (13-10, in the Central Division) vs. Dallas Stars (13-8, in the Central Division)
Dallas; Friday, 9 p.m. EST
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BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Stars -140, Avalanche +116; over/under is 6.5
BOTTOM LINE: The Dallas Stars host the Colorado Avalanche after the Avalanche took down the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 in a shootout.
Dallas is 13-8 overall and 4-2-0 against the Central Division. The Stars have a 4-2-0 record in games they score at least one power-play goal.
Colorado is 13-10 overall and 2-3-0 against the Central Division. The Avalanche have a 2-5-0 record in games their opponents serve fewer penalty minutes.
The teams meet Friday for the first time this season.
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TOP PERFORMERS: Matt Duchene has 12 goals and 14 assists for the Stars. Mason Marchment has five goals and seven assists over the last 10 games.
Cale Makar has eight goals and 22 assists for the Avalanche. Mikko Rantanen has eight goals and seven assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Stars: 6-4-0, averaging 3.7 goals, 6.4 assists, 3.1 penalties and 8.2 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game.
Avalanche: 7-3-0, averaging three goals, 4.8 assists, 2.6 penalties and 5.2 penalty minutes while giving up 2.9 goals per game.
INJURIES: Stars: None listed.
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Avalanche: None listed.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Dallas Mavericks’ bad injury and availability luck this season continued into Wednesday evening, as Dallas will be without Daniel Gafford, Klay Thompson, Dante Exum, and Luka Doncic against the New York Knicks tonight.
While no one expected Doncic and Exum to play as they are both out with wrist injuries, both Thompson and Gafford had a chance at playing. Thompson will be out for the second straight game with left foot plantar fascia, and Gafford is out with an illness.
This illness has been no joke for Dallas, as both Quentin Grimes and Dereck Lively II were listed on the injury report, but both are available against the Knicks.
The Mavs have found a way to win two of the three games that Doncic has missed due to this sprained wrist that he unexpectedly suffered against the New Orleans Pelicans last Tuesday, and Mavs head coach Jason Kidd gave the first update on Doncic’s status when it comes to the wrist injury on Wednesday night.
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“He looks good,” Kidd said at his pregame media availability. “Everything that has come back that he looks good and is getting closer to coming back.”
Jason Kidd’s injury update on Luka Doncic who has missed the last three games with a wrist sprain:
“He looks good…Everything that has come back that he looks good and is getting closer to coming back…”
Kidd then continued to talk about how Doncic has been going through “individual workouts,” and everything that he has “heard or seen is trending in the right direction.” He went through a pregame workout at the American Airlines Center with his wrist taped despite being out, and this is a good sign.
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It’s typical for Kidd and the Mavericks to limit what they tell the media when it comes to players’ injuries, but the fact that Doncic is going through workouts and responding well is a good sign. Doncic has not been able to catch a break this season, as he has dealt with a calf contusion, knee contusion, and this wrist sprain over the last two months, and this week-plus off should help get him back to being 100 percent.
He didn’t even seem to be 100 percent with his knee when he injured his wrist against New Orleans, and him getting this time of rest could be huge for him in returning to playing at an MVP level. This wrist injury happened so suddenly against the Pelicans, and even Doncic didn’t know the exact moment it happened. He said that the pain started early on in the game, and it got worse as the game went on. Doncic dubbed his wrist injury as “nothing serious” in his postgame press conference from last Tuesday night, but his availability lately says otherwise.
This season for Dallas, Doncic is averaging 28.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 7.6 assists per game while shooting 43.5 percent from the field and 32.4 percent from downtown, and while his numbers are down, Kidd remains confident in his superstar. Kidd emphasized that Doncic is still “human” last week when asked about his slow start to the season, and even though Dallas is finding ways to win without him, his return is going to help take this team to another level.
His teammates miss having him on the floor with them, and the Mavs are a completely different team when Doncic is fully healthy and cooking with gas. It has been a while since Mavs fans saw Doncic fully healthy considering the downpour of injuries that slowed him down during the playoffs, and he and Kyrie Irving will have the chance to help push this team back to the top of the Western Conference once he returns from this wrist injury.
