{"id":406256,"date":"2026-08-14T07:26:41","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T07:26:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/406256\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T07:26:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T07:26:41","slug":"dallas-cowboys-head-coach-reveals-preseason-plan-for-caleb-downs-and-drops-telling-nugget-about-tight-roster-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/406256\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas Cowboys head coach reveals preseason plan for Caleb Downs and drops telling nugget about tight roster battle"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDallas Cowboys<\/a><\/p>\n

Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer provided multiple important updates ahead of his team\u2019s preseason opener against the Seattle Seahawks.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Aug
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAug 11, 2026; Woodland Hills, CA, USA; Dallas Cowboys safety Caleb Downs (13) defends against Los Angeles Rams tight end Tyler Higbee (89) during a joint practice at the Rams Practice Facility.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The Dallas Cowboys are a couple of days away from their preseason opener against the Seattle Seahawks, and head coach Brian Schottenheimer dropped several revealing nuggets during his Thursday press conference.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From Caleb Downs\u2019 preseason availability to a notable shift in offensive coaching responsibilities, there\u2019s plenty to unpack. Let\u2019s break it down.<\/p>\n

Cowboys are playing Caleb Downs and Malachi Lawrence in preseason<\/p>\n

One of the biggest questions lingering over Cowboys training camp just got answered. Schottenheimer confirmed Thursday that rookie safety Caleb Downs will play in the preseason, and so will edge rusher Malachi Lawrence.<\/p>\n

The question now shifts to how much and when. Schottenheimer said Downs and Lawrence are going to \u201cplay a little bit of football,\u201d though the coaching staff hasn\u2019t finalized snap counts yet. <\/p>\n

Earlier in camp, Schottenheimer explained Dallas divides its players into four groups<\/a> for preseason workload. If the Cowboys were ever considering keeping Downs out entirely, my guess is he\u2019d fall into the group with the fewest snaps. Back when training camp opened, Schottenheimer offered a range of roughly 10 to 15 snaps for that tier, so don\u2019t expect much more than one or two defensive drives.<\/p>\n

The logic here makes sense. Dallas is treating Downs like a cornerstone piece of its defense. But the sooner he gets live reps, the better. If he picks up a minor injury, at least there\u2019s a full month to recover before Week 1. My expectation is that Downs plays Saturday night against Seattle. Be ready for it.<\/p>\n

Lawrence should see more action than Downs because he isn\u2019t projected as a starter. He needs the reps, plain and simple.<\/p>\n

Klayton Adams takes on expanded offensive responsibilities<\/p>\n

This one is noteworthy, and you can make of it what you will. Schottenheimer revealed Thursday that offensive coordinator Klayton Adams has more responsibility this season. Specifically, Adams is now installing the passes.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a significant development. Adams earned his reputation as a run game specialist last season, credited by Schottenheimer himself for overhauling the Cowboys\u2019 ground attack. Now he\u2019s going a step beyond that.<\/p>\n

A clarification for those who might worry about this shift: Schottenheimer said Adams is installing the passes, not designing them. That means teaching players how to execute the plays on game day. In turn, that frees Schottenheimer to focus on the creative side of the offense. He said Thursday that it will get his \u201ccreative juices going,\u201d which suggests the Cowboys\u2019 passing game could evolve more freely this season. More time on the drawing board for Schottenheimer is a good thing.<\/p>\n

Adams will even call some plays during the preseason while Schottenheimer handles the bulk. It\u2019s a positive development for Adams personally, too. The experience only strengthens his coaching r\u00e9sum\u00e9 and could make him a stronger head coaching candidate down the road.<\/p>\n

Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah in a \u2018tight battle\u2019 for RB2<\/p>\n

Schottenheimer confirmed some things about the running back room Thursday. He said Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah are \u201cin a tight battle\u201d for the backup spot behind Javonte Williams.<\/p>\n

We knew both players were in the mix, but this is the first time Schottenheimer separated the two from the rest of the pack. He did mention Malik Davis and Israel Abanikanda, because that\u2019s what Schottenheimer does in press conferences. If you listen to enough of his pressers, you realize he goes out of his way to mention every player in a position group. That\u2019s admirable from a leadership standpoint, but it doesn\u2019t change the fact that he singled out Blue and Mafah.<\/p>\n

This lines up with what Cowboys insider Mike Fisher and I discussed<\/a> in a recent video. Blue is likely the one-two complement alongside Williams, but Mafah appears to be the better candidate to replace Williams if the starter goes down. Blue is a good complement, not a substitute.<\/p>\n

To me, this felt like confirmation. The Cowboys\u2019 running back room will include Williams, Blue, and Mafah, plus fullback Hunter Luepke. Whether a fifth player tags along remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

Cowboys\u2019 surprise rookie nearing return from groin injury<\/p>\n

Third-round rookie linebacker Jaishawn Barham is close to returning from a groin injury that kept him out of practice last weekend. Schottenheimer said Thursday Barham\u2019s status remains to be determined for Saturday\u2019s game against Seattle.<\/p>\n

Barham has been one of the standout performers of training camp, someone who could even start for the Cowboys defense. If the coaching staff opts to hold him out and save him for another week, that would be telling. It would signal the Cowboys have serious plans for him and don\u2019t want to risk aggravating anything.<\/p>\n

\"Play<\/a><\/p>\n

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Dallas Cowboys News<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Dallas Cowboys preseason should finally give us some answers on the most mysterious roster battle going on\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

We know enough about the top-end of the Dallas Cowboys wide receiver room. But the preseason will help us figure out what things look like at the bottom of the depth chart, which remains a huge mystery up to this point. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Home \/ NFL \/ Dallas Cowboys Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer provided multiple important updates ahead of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[153,7581,34582,102,113,104,103,47829,20430,14399],"class_list":["post-406256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-american-football","tag-brian-schottenheimer","tag-caleb-downs","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-jaishawn-barham","tag-jaydon-blue","tag-klayton-adams"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}