The Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams conducted their joint practice on Tuesday. These training camp scrimmages offer teams a rare glimpse into how they’ll look against real competition. With Dallas unlikely to play its starters in preseason games, joint practice is as close to live bullets as they’ll get before Week 1.
It’s a good thing they weren’t keeping score.
Dallas got pushed around in the trenches on both sides of the ball. The defensive front struggled to stop the run, and the secondary looked overmatched against a talented Rams skill group, even with Matthew Stafford sidelined. Offensively, the run game looked just as ineffective as last year, especially without Tyler Smith in the mix. Meanwhile, Rams defenders were flying around and putting Cowboys players on the turf—and there wasn’t much of a response.
It’s only practice. But it exposed the same soft spots that haunted this team last year. Here are the major takeaways from the Cowboys and Rams’ joint practice.
Cowboys V. Rams Joint Practice: Familiar Problems Persist
The Rams’ Physicality Was Noticeable
The Rams just looked tougher. For a Cowboys team that’s spent the offseason preaching culture, competition, and physicality, getting manhandled by one of the NFCs true contenders isn’t a great sign.
This wasn’t just a handful of bad reps either. For the roughly 90 minutes of team drills, the Rams brought the energy and violence. They dominated at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Rams defenders were the aggressors—particularly Jared Verse, who lived in the Cowboys’ backfield and blew up plays left and right.
Cowboys players hit the turf often—linebacker Damone Clark got blown up by Rams running back Kyren Williams during red zone drills, with very little pushback. It didn’t look like two physical teams going toe-to-toe. It looked like one team itching for a fight, and another trying to avoid one.
This wasn’t a real game, and there’s only so much to glean from a glorified exhibition. But if physicality is supposed to be a core identity for Dallas in 2025, they’ve got work to do before the season opener at Philadelphia.
Do The Dallas Cowboys Already Have An Identity Crisis?
Head coach Brian Schottenheimer has made one thing clear this offseason. He wants to run the ball, control the line of scrimmage, and be the more physical team. But during Tuesday’s joint practice, it took all of a few series for that vision to blur.
“It wasn’t a great day for us running the football,” he admitted. “We didn’t play with great eyes…we had too many unaccounted for hats in the hole for the backs to deal with.”
The Cowboys came out intent on establishing the run, and the Rams were ready for it. They clogged the A and B gaps and let their attacking linebackers fill holes with speed and violence. Nearly every early run got stuffed at or behind the line of scrimmage.
For a team that’s spent months selling balance and physicality, it didn’t take much adversity to scrap the plan and lean on the passing game. The Cowboys fell back on what they’ve done best the past few years: throw the ball.
And to their credit, it worked. (More on that shortly.)
Call yourself a run-first team all you want. But ultimately, you have to adapt to your personnel. If you can’t run to set up the pass, you’re going to end up doing what Dallas did on Tuesday—airing it out.
What We Knew Would Work, Still Works
Once Dallas pivoted to the pass, the offense looked noticeably sharper. Dak Prescott settled in and did what he’s done better than most over the past few seasons. Command the pocket and distribute the football.
Newsflash: nobody can cover CeeDee Lamb. It doesn’t matter how complex or simple the scheme, he’s beating whoever’s across from him. After missing training camp last year, it’s clear he and Prescott have reestablished the connection that made the pair so dangerous in 2023.
George Pickens got in on the action too, and showed that he’s more than just a 9-route guy. He worked the underneath, was deadly on crossers, and continues to develop chemistry with Dak. If they stay healthy, he and Lamb have the potential to be one of the league’s most dangerous receiving duos.
Jalen Tolbert and KaVontae Turpin continue to solidify themselves as reliable third options. Tolbert has developed real trust with Prescott, who hit him for three consecutive plays during the two-minute drill. And Dallas continues to find creative ways to get Turpin the ball, who’s a threat to score every time he touches it.
There’s still a ways to go before Week 1. But if Tuesday’s joint practice confirmed anything, it’s that the passing game is still the lifeblood of the Cowboys offense. And if the run game doesn’t come along, they may need to ride it more than ever.
Some Answers, A Lot More Questions
The Cowboys and Rams’ joint practice offered Dallas the one real opportunity to match up against someone else’s starters before Week 1. And in a lot of ways, it wasn’t a great start.
The physicality they’ve spent months preaching didn’t really show up. The run game looked like last year (that’s not a good thing). The offensive line looked unsettled. And the defense struggled against both the run and pass—even with Jimmy Garoppolo at the helm.
Schottenheimer tried to downplay some of the struggles.
“Don’t read too much into it guys,” he said. “We kept all of our clubs in the bag. It’s like we were out there playing with a 7 iron. We’re going to be playing with a 7 iron most of the preseason.”
That’s understood—no team is showing anything in early August, and the Rams weren’t either. With both sides going vanilla, it’s not scheme, it’s about who wants it more.
On Tuesday, the Rams looked like they wanted it more.
But one thing did work, and it’s the thing that was never in question: Prescott and the Cowboys’ passing attack. As long as No. 4 is upright, and Lamb and Pickens are on the field, this offense will move the ball.
Still, that might not be enough. Dallas wants to be tougher, and they’ll need to be if they want to do anything in January.
Based on what we saw Tuesday, they’ve still got a long way to go.
Main Image: Kirby Lee – Imagn Images
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