Five of the Cowboys’ six OTAs sessions are in the books, with the final one on June 11th before mandatory minicamp from June 16-18. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer said Tuesday that WR George Pickens, who has not participated in voluntary OTAs after signing his franchise tag, has not committed to attending the team’s mandatory minicamp next week, but that he expects Pickens to be in attendance.
Prescott, who has been in Pickens’ shoes in the past when he’s been franchise tagged by the Cowboys, is hopeful that he’ll be in attendance and practices mindfully.
“I haven’t had any conversations, and to be honest, would love for him to be in, but even if he’s in, I doubt it’s a full, he’s going full go, jumping in the team,” Prescott said. “I would hope not to be honest, just being protected and being smart. Just hope he gets in just to see some of the new guys, meet some of the new guys. I’m sure he’ll be here.”
Pickens is seeking a long-term extension, which Schottenheimer and the Cowboys front office have made clear to him won’t happen this offseason.
While Pickens has not been in attendance during the Cowboys’ offseason workouts, he has participated in two or three throwing sessions with Prescott, which he estimated happened around March or April.
“They were great,” Prescott said of the throwing sessions with Pickens. “George is George. He’s great, he’s awesome. The personality, excitement, his energy was consistent, consistent as it’s been those times that I got to throw with him. Just even communicating with him through phone as we have these last couple of weeks, George is great. I’m excited about where he’s going to be. I’m excited about when he gets in and the work that we’re going to have to build off of. George is George, and he’s fine.”
When Pickens does return into the building and to practice, he too will have to share the experience of facing off against Christian Parker and the Cowboys’ new-look defense. Even through just a handful of practices, Prescott sees Dallas’ defense embodying what their new coordinator wants them to be.
“Excited about when we got him, but now having spent time with him, having to compete against him, just his leadership for one. You can feel it amongst each and every one of the position groups on defense. You can feel their intensity.” Prescott said.
As for what’s stuck out about the unit, Prescott pointed to their communication across the board, which was a problem at times last season for Dallas, especially in the secondary. In his eyes though, it’s a good problem to go up against and ends up making everyone better.
“When we motion or make moves or calls, they’re as loud as we are, they’re echoing,” Prescott said. “A defense that communicates a lot is usually a defense that’s sound, so just excited about that.”
“They’ve already made it hard on me. They’ve already made some of these practices very competitive. The trash talking, the energy has been high. Iron sharpens iron already. I can tell you, it’s only going to get better, camp’s going to be fun and we’re going to make it tough on each other best we can.”
