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Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer points to his staff during Organized Team Activities at The Star in Frisco, Texas, June 4, 2026.<\/p>\n
Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
The Cowboys\u00a0conducted their first organized team activity<\/a> on June 1. They finished up the voluntary practice sessions on Tuesday. Now comes the mandatory three-day mini-camp scheduled for June 16. Before we get there, we tell you 10 things we learned from the Cowboys from their last OTA practice session.<\/p>\n Decobie\/Cobie Durant and the slot<\/p>\n When you enter the Cowboys\u2019 locker room and see the nameplate\u00a0Decobie Durant on one of the lockers, you begin to ask questions. Cowboys cornerback Cobie Durant<\/a> says his first name is pronounced De-cobie. Growing up, his parents called him Cobie, and that stuck into adulthood. Now when it comes to playing the game of football, Durant is one of several players being viewed for the slot position in the nickel defense. The Cowboys have been searching for a full-time slot corner since Jourdan Lewis left for Jacksonville in free agency.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a challenge,\u201d Durant said of playing the slot. \u201cEach time you line up in the slot you got more field to worry about. But different types of defenses will put you in positions to win. Knowing your leverage, you can\u2019t lose from your leverage. If you got help [or] don\u2019t got help. It\u2019s a lot that goes on that nickel and you also got to play in the run game.\u201d<\/p>\n First-round pick on special teams<\/p>\n During an OTA practice on Tuesday, first-round safety Caleb Downs<\/a> was getting work on special teams. He was fielding punts and was also a punt personal protector. All of this is just creating depth at those positions. KaVontae Turpin is the main punt returner, but after the departures of\u00a0C.J. Goodwin and Juanyeh Thomas, players who\u2019ve worked at personal protector over the years, that\u2019s a position that needs filling.<\/p>\n Downs fielded punts at Ohio State but has never been a personal protector.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s completely new, but shout out Nate Ebner,\u201d said Downs, referring to the Ohio State quality control special teams coach, who played for two NFL teams on special teams. \u201cHe told me I was going to be doing that when I was at Ohio State. So that\u2019s how he made his way in the league, playing special teams and he was a leader on punt, being the PP. So he gave me some nuggets when I was at O-State a couple months back, so it\u2019s been good.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Dinners and relationships<\/p>\n Coach Brian\u00a0Schottenheimer<\/a> has spent the offseason having dinners with his players. The goal is to have dinner with everyone on the roster. It\u2019s just another extension of Schottenheimer building relationships with players.<\/p>\n \u201cMy hope would be that these guys know I love them and care about them, and my door is always open,\u201d he said. \u201cI remember last year, at different points throughout the season, a guy or two would pop in and close the door. We\u2019d sit down and talk about things outside of football, anything messy in their world that they need help with. I was humbled and honored that they trusted me enough to come and sit there. I am always upfront and honest with those guys about my story, my journey, my scars. I think that\u2019s what gives you the ability to have them trust you, love you, care about you, you love and care about them back and then at the same time we’re able to have hard conversations and tell them things they don\u2019t necessarily want to hear.\u201d<\/p>\n More of a CEO<\/p>\n Schottenheimer was not only the head coach but the offensive play-caller last year. That\u2019s not changing in 2026. However, he\u2019s spending more time in defensive and special teams meetings. \u00a0Both of those units struggled badly in 2025. Schottenheimer trusts the coordinators for those units, but plans on being around to lend his voice in meetings.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n But he\u2019s also doing other things.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing really the head coach and in charge of all three phases and having a handle of that,\u201d\u00a0Schottenheimer said. \u201cI think the personnel side of it has been good for me to dive back into the 3-4 world and then shoot, practice schedules, meetings. I\u2019m a big guy on don\u2019t rinse and repeat. Try to change things up. But we\u2019ll make some adjustments to some of the practice schedule we do for training camp and things like that and some of our daily schedule and even the way we practice during the season. All those things have come from be doing after action reports on myself but also talking to some of my peers, asking them how they do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Dak Prescott,\u00a0George Pickens throwing sessions<\/p>\n A lot is made of the\u00a0Dak Prescott-George Pickens throwing sessions<\/a> away from The Star. Pickens hasn\u2019t attended the offseason voluntary workouts<\/a> for an undisclosed reason. Several players have missed some of the voluntary sessions for a variety of reasons. Yet Pickens missing time with Prescott at The Star is notable because a quarterback needs to continue building chemistry with his receivers. Pickens and Prescott have held throwing sessions. The question is just how many?<\/p>\n \u201cA few,\u201d\u00a0Prescott said. \u201cTwo to three, something like that, yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Prescott wasn\u2019t clear on when those throwing session occurred, saying \u201cprobably March. Maybe even in April, maybe early April.\u201d Schottenheimer said he hopes and expects Pickens to attend the mandatory practices. Prescott said he hasn\u2019t talked to Pickens about his attendance.<\/p>\n The center position<\/p>\n The starting center is Cooper\u00a0Beebe, but the backup is open for interpretation. Matt Hennessy suffered a neck injury during OTAs and will be out for an undetermined length of time. That\u2019s pushed T.J. Bass to backup center. Bass took snaps with the first and second team offense during OTA practices. The Cowboys have 15 offensive linemen on the roster with an open roster spot available where adding another lineman is a possibility.<\/p>\n Turnover focus<\/p>\n Last season, the Cowboys finished tied for 30th in turnover ratio at -9. The team had just six interceptions and six recovered fumbles. During practices, the Cowboys have worked on creating turnovers, whether it\u2019s from swiping the ball in drills to making sure defensive backs make plays on the ball. The Cowboys also lost nine fumbles, so ball security drills are also stressed, which isn\u2019t anything new.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIf you’re not going to let me say what I wanted to say, I’m going to start with: if you don’t give it up, then you’re not going to lose the turnover battle, right?\u201d Schottenheimer said. \u201cIf you don’t turn the ball over, it’s going to be zeroes. I would say that, and again, we proved it last year that we could go four-straight games without a turnover. And there were too many multiple-turnover games on offense. We were sloppy and we were careless with the ball, mostly as ball carriers.\u201d<\/p>\n Backup running backs<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
It\u2019s fair to say Pickens missing the voluntary portions of work isn\u2019t a big deal. It also raises questions about Pickens being comfortable playing the 2026 season under the franchise tag. Next week, the Cowboys have a three-day mandatory minicamp, the last time the group will get together in an organized setting before training camp.<\/p>\n