Team news: Dallas Cowboys | Page 58

Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott continues to get plenty of work in practice, including as a pass-catcher. He's lined up in various spots, including split out wide. He's being asked to run more complex routes, he said.

"I think it's just opportunities to elevate my game, opportunities to show that I can do more," Elliott said. "I'm excited. I'm just here to do what the coaches ask me. Whatever they put on my plate, I'll do the best I can do go out there and execute."

The story was mostly about how you shouldn't expect to see much of Elliott in the preseason. He's only carried a total of 13 times in preseason games over his first two years and didn't play this past Thursday. Of course, it's interesting to read how Elliott looks like he could be used more in the passing game, which makes sense considering the loss of Dez Bryant and Jason Witten.

Lance Lenoir is likely fighting for one of the final available roster spots at receiver. The Cowboys signed Lenoir as an undrafted free agent out of Western Illinois in 2017. He spent last season on the practice squad, but was promoted to the active roster before the final game.

Lenoir made an impressive catch against the 49ers in preseason Week 1, but the story also added he has a rapport with Dak Prescott, so he's getting time with the first team offense in practice. Given the Cowboys are going with a committee at WR, Lenoir could be a name to keep an eye on.

The Giants have been coy about the plan for the other running backs, declining to discuss even the possibility of roles such as third-down back or short-yardage back. If Barkley is going to join the ranks of workhorses LeVeon Bell, Melvin Gordon, Todd Gurley and LeSean McCoy, it won't leave much opportunity for anyone else.

But Jonathan Stewart has been the clear No. 2 running back all training camp, not just filling in for short-yardage but spelling Barkley as needed. Shurmur didn't care much about resumes last year, when he played rookie Dalvin Cook and Jerick McKinnon over Latavius Murray with the Vikings.

Related players: Wayne Gallman, Jalen Simmons, Robert Martin

A few weeks ago, a beat reporter noted that Stewart hasn't looked great in the offseason, while Gallman has improved and seems like the better choice for the team's No. 2 RB. Looks like Simmons could also be battling for playing time, as the story said. However, this beat writer feels like Stewart may be able to negate some of Barkley's negative runs, a knock on the rookie to this point, especially around the end zone. Obviously, taking the ball out of Barkley's hands near the goal line will hurt his fantasy value if things do pan out that way.

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott tucked the ball under his arm and picked up a 12-yard run in this week’s preseason opener against the 49ers, and coach Jason Garrett liked what he saw.

Asked if he tells Prescott to take fewer risks of getting hit during the preseason, Garrett said Prescott is under no such orders.

“No, we don’t tell him that,” Garrett said. “We tell him to go play.”

The story said that's risky to do in a meaningless game, especially with guys like Derrius Guice and Deon Cain already lost for the season. But Prescott's fantasy value could get a boost—as long as it doesn't result in injury—if he ends up taking off running a lot this year.

Minnesota is five days away from opening preseason action against Denver, its first chance to test where the team stands and the areas that need honing in. While still early in the process with a new quarterback and offensive coordinator, elements of the install that once felt foreign are now starting to click.

“As far as learning the concepts we’ve been learning since minicamp and OTAs and going into training camp, it was a lot smoother because ... we have learned the concepts,” Stefon Diggs said. “So now we’re kind of like – you have a subject in class that you’ve been studying for a little while, you’re starting to get it and you’re starting to find the small nuances of it that you want (to make) little tweaks here and there and that kind of thing.”

Related players: Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook

There have been more good days lately, despite a hiccup now and then, which is to be expected with all the injuries on the offensive line, and including a new QB in Cousins. Diggs added the unit continues to work on timing.

The Cowboys have chosen to go with a committee approach at wide receiver and tight end, hoping quantity can make up for the quality of the work Dez Bryant and Jason Witten put together for so long. Somehow the group has to make up for the 132 receptions, 1,398 yards, and 11 touchdowns Bryant and Witten combined for in 2017.

Related players: Allen Hurns, Deonte Thompson, Terrance Williams, Tavon Austin, Blake Jarwin, Geoff Swaim, Dak Prescott

The story said seven padded practices into training camp is hardly enough time to make a conclusion, but the passing game so far has not had the juice it has had in the past with Bryant and Witten on the field. OC Scott Linehan admitted in the story it's a work in progress and the team is not where they want to be. Prescott was quoted as saying they are still trying to gain chemistry.

Ezekiel Elliott has the weight off him—literally and figuratively.

Having served a six-game suspension last season, the Cowboys running back can get back to football—and nothing but football—this season. He also has reported lighter than a year ago.

The story said Elliott was stressed last year at this time and wasn't quite his usual self and "looked big." Of course, Elliott is one of the top running backs to draft this season.

The Vikings will be wearing full pads for Monday’s practice and RB Dalvin Cook showed no reticence about what lies ahead when he was asked if he’s set to take a hit.

“I’m ready to deliver it,” Cook said, via Andrew Krammer of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “That’s what I’m ready to do. That’s my mind-set, man. I’m going to go out there and play and be me. I know my knee is fixed. I know I’m healed up. Put the time in, go out there and play.”

Cook was given the green light for full practice heading into camp, the story said, and he was feeling comfortable enough about his recovery from a torn ACL that he ditched his knee brace. The story added there hasn't been any details about the team's plan for Cook in preseason games but he appears set to play Aug. 11.

The Los Angeles Rams have signed Brandin Cooks to a five-year contract extension, the team announced Tuesday.

The deal is worth $80 million, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

"Brandin Cooks has shown himself to be a class act on and off the field since the first day he joined our team," HC Sean McVay said in a statement. "He's a proven professional in this league and signing him to a long-term contract was always our goal."

Acquired in an offseason trade with the New England Patriots, Cooks, 24, has yet to play a snap for the Rams, but coach Sean McVay liked what he saw from the receiver throughout the offseason program. Cooks said he knew he wanted to sign a long-term contract shortly after arriving at the team's training facility and observing the culture established by McVay, the story said.