The Cowboys got a useful look Tuesday in a joint scrimmage with the Rams, and even with the usual wall of secrecy around these workouts, the early read was encouraging for Dallas.
Because the session took place at the Rams’ facility, their rules governed what could and couldn’t be seen. That left most of the reporting to the local beat, with only a few scraps of video making it out. Still, the picture that emerged was pretty clear: the Cowboys held their own against a team widely viewed as a Super Bowl favorite.
There were a few notable absences in the mix. Myles Garrett was not in action for the Rams, and Jaishawn Barham was among the Cowboys players sidelined.
On the field, Rashan Gary made his presence felt early, though it wasn’t enough to completely tilt things. The Cowboys also got a strong outing from Tyler Guyton, while Terence Steele had a rougher time. Steele’s struggles reportedly came while going up against Byron Young.
Dallas’ defense made several of the loudest plays. Justin Barron picked off a Matthew Stafford pass, then came up with a Stetson Bennett throw as well before grabbing a third interception later in the day. The mothership also managed to capture a few videos, giving at least a partial look at the action.
The offense had its own issues, especially on the ground, where it reportedly stalled at times. Dak Prescott also had a day that was not entirely clean.
There were a couple of other bright spots for Dallas. Dee Winters, who had not really popped before that point, apparently made more of an impact as the day went on. The mothership also caught a video of George Pickens.
Guyton did have his elbow looked at, but he was ultimately fine.
With so little footage available, the full story of the scrimmage is harder to pin down than usual. Even so, the major themes were easy enough to read: Shavon Revel and Justin Barron looked like winners, Terence Steele has some work ahead of him, and the biggest takeaway may be that the Cowboys matched up well with the Rams.
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