Cowboys news: Jake Ferguson says ‘not even scratching my surface’

Notable Dallas Cowboys headlines heading into Friday.

Cowboys’ Jake Ferguson ‘not even scratching my surface’ – Todd Archer, ESPN

Tight end Jake Ferguson believes he can take another leap in his third season.

Now, as Ferguson enters his third season, he is without a doubt the Cowboys’ top tight end. In 2023, he caught 71 passes for 761 yards and five touchdowns and was named to the Pro Bowl.

“To me, I think I’m not even scratching my surface,” Ferguson said. “There’s so many things that I want to get better at and I know I can get better at. We watch film every day of different games, even the practices we’re doing now and I’m like, ‘OK, I can get a lot better still.’”

Tight ends coach Lunda Wells tells his players to shoot for perfection and achieve excellence. Ferguson has taken part in the Tight End University program led by Greg Olsen, George Kittle and Travis Kelce. Wells mentioned 1,000 receiving yards and improving his blocking as goals for Ferguson.

“The great ones play consistently on a high level every year throughout their careers,” Wells said. “The [Jason] Wittens of the world. The Kelces of the world, so you want to be able to chase that consistency and play great every year. I think that might be one of the things he’s focusing on, ‘Hey, anybody can do it one year, but can I do it every year?’”

Cowboys 2024 schedule release: Preview, key notes – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com

Take a deep dive into the Cowboys 2024 schedule and all of the pros and cons that come with it.

In breaking down the 17-game slate, there are some items that immediately jump to the forefront for consideration, from the number of prime time games to the assessment of miles traveled between games, with everything tidbit carrying some weight either for or against the Cowboys.

Notable schedule quirks:

9 home games

6 prime time games

Back-to-back prime time: Week 4, Week 5

No three-game homestand

No three-game road trip

Coast-to-coast travel: Week 8, Week 9

Mini-bye week post-Thanksgiving

6 of the final 9 games are home games

All told, this will be one of the most pivotal seasons in the Cowboys’ history, in a lot of ways, and they’re hoping to finally get over the postseason hurdle that’s existed since they won hoisted their fifth Lombardi trophy back in the mid-1990s — when gasoline was still roughly a dollar a gallon.

Changes Mike Zimmer is making to Cowboys defense, his plan for All-Pro Micah Parsons – Jon Machota, The Athletic

Mike Zimmer discusses the changes he anticipates for this defense in 2024 and what that may look like for Micah Parsons.

Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy is very familiar with Zimmer from McCarthy’s time coaching the Green Bay Packers against Zimmer and the rival Vikings. McCarthy says the two biggest changes with Zimmer taking over for Dan Quinn, who is now head coach of the Washington Commanders, will be the language of the scheme and technique changes along the defensive line. The team is adjusting to using Zimmer’s language. When McCarthy took over offensive play calling last year, he adapted to the offensive language that was already in place.

One other change: Zimmer will be on the sideline during games. Quinn preferred being in the coaching booth.

“Well, I’ve always been on the sideline, No. 1,” Zimmer said. “No. 2, I want to catch them when they come off so I can talk to them. If there are adjustments that need to be made, then I want to be able to sit down and do it with them. Lot of times I tell them if they mess up, go on the other end, don’t come by me.”…

… On next steps for All-Pro DE/LB Micah Parsons: “He doesn’t have to take many steps. He’s such a dynamic player that, I said this the other day, offenses are always going to know where he’s at. They’re going to turn protections to him, have the back help chip no matter what it is. In a lot of the games he played last year that I watched, the offenses had a good scheme where they had two tight ends on him and all those things. So, we’re going to obviously move him around, do different things with him. But we’re going to use him some ways where we’re getting the protection turned the way we want it turned and able to win on the other side. And sometimes, we’re going to try to overload a protection where he gets a one-on-one.”

Cowboys OC: WR CeeDee Lamb’s spring absence ‘doesn’t matter right now’ – Michael Gehlken, Dallas Morning News

CeeDee Lamb has been spending time away from the team with his contract extension looming.

“It doesn’t matter right now,” Schottenheimer said Tuesday. “CeeDee’s a pro. He’s going to know what to do. I know Dak [Prescott] and the guys have some communication with him. We know he’s taking care of business, and when he gets back here, we’ll certainly be able to find ways to get him the ball.”

Last year, Lamb broke Michael Irvin’s franchise records when totaling 135 catches and 1,749 yards. He added 12 touchdown receptions.

It figures to matter a bit if Lamb is unsigned by the start of training camp and chooses to skip team activities in Oxnard, Calif. He would become the second training camp holdout in as many years after right guard Zack Martin held out last year, successfully waiting out a pay hike.

Ellis candid about Zimmer, journey back to Cowboys – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com

Greg Ellis opens up about his journey from a being player on the Dallas Cowboys to now coaching for the team and all of the hard work it took to get there.

“When people say, ‘He’s only here because he played for the Cowboys,’ I’m like nah, nah, I had to go through some stuff to get here; and I’m glad I did,” said Ellis. “I came in[to coaching] at ground level, driving two hours everyday to get to football practice from Southlake to Tyler — doing the [team’s] laundry, all that kinda stuff I went through.”

“I did all those things. A lot of work went into getting here.”

And now that he’s [back] here in Dallas, Ellis is looking to rekindle the success he had with Zimmer in yesteryear, but in a much different way this time around.

“The biggest change with him is me being a coach, and me not playing for him,” he said of Zimmer. “I have a tremendous respect for him from when I played for him, because he’s a tremendous teacher of the game. He taught me a lot about the game. To be on the other side of it with him is different for me.”

It’s also different in that Zimmer isn’t yelling at him on a rep-to-rep basis.

“You said it, I didn’t, but I agree with you,” Ellis quipped, semi-jokingly. “He holds coaches to be responsible. I’ve been around him long enough to know that whatever you tell him you’re going to do, he’s going to hold you to it. He’s not gonna forget it. And that’s the good thing about him and what makes him a good coach.

“I really can’t think of a better coach for me to be under — than him.”