Dak Prescott threw two interceptions just a few plays apart in a training camp practice
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Those picks, and the decisions that go with them, are under more scrutiny after the Dallas Cowboys' quarterback followed his remarkable rookie season with a somewhat pedestrian encore. And Prescott is among those doing the scrutinizing 鈥?each night at camp in the film room.
"When I go back, I'm being super-critical of myself, of the throws, of the placement, of where I should have went with the ball," Prescott said Sunday. "I'm tough on myself. So when I go back tonight, all of that was OK, it's got to better and this is why it's got to better. And I take my notes and I move forward."
With the release of three-time Pro Bowl receiver Dez Bryant and the retirement of 15-year tight end Jason Witten , Prescott is working with a revamped group of receivers and unproven batch of tight ends.
The resulting rough patches for the passing game after a week and a half in California aren't surprising, but notable nonetheless considering how the offense usually appears to be ahead of the defense with the Cowboys this time of year.
"The best teams I've been on are where it's back and forth all day and everybody is just competing and battling and no one really dominates the whole day," coach Jason Garrett said. "The other side competes back and challenges back and fights back. That's what we've had really throughout training camp."
There's a reality facing Prescott, though.
Two years ago, he set an NFL rookie record for passer rating and was voted the league's offensive rookie of the year for a team that finished with an NFC-best 13 wins. In 2017
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Some will point to running back Ezekiel Elliott's six-game suspension over domestic violence allegations, which started halfway through the season just as Prescott and the Cowboys were looking good enough for another playoff trip.
Others will remind of injuries that sidelined left tackle Tyron Smith for three games, a big reason the offensive line didn't live up to its reputation as one of the best in the league.
Regardless, the onus will be on Prescott to keep defenses honest with the Cowboys making no secret of building their offense around Elliott, Prescott's fellow rookie star who led the NFL in rushing that season.
"We have a lot of knew kinks here and there that is going to help everything else," Prescott said. "It's going to help our running game. It's going to help our play-action game out. As long as we've all bought into the offensive system, it is going to pay off."
Of the two key free agents Dallas signed at receiver, Allen Hurns has missed some time with leg discomfort and Deonte Thompson hasn't practiced at all because of Achilles heel soreness.
Terrance Williams, the second-longest tenured Dallas receiver behind Cole Beasley, is working back slowly from offseason surgery for a broken foot.
Rookie Michael Gallup, a third-rounder who was the team's first draft choice at receiver after dumping Bryant, has shown promise in camp. That's a sampling of the collection the Cowboys hope to use to replace Bryant 鈥?and develop a rapport with Prescott.
"It's challenging, but it's not tough," Prescott said. "That is what you want. Those guys are going to be rotating in the game. So we have to go ahead and get in out here ... so I can gain chemistry with all of them and figure out who is a guy I can call on in that time."
The Cowboys have to decide how much time to give Prescott and his new receivers in the preseason
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Last year, with Prescott coming off his sparkling debut, he played just two exhibition games. If the Cowboys follow the same plan, Prescott will skip the 49ers game. But it would be easy to argue that the Dallas passing game needs the work.
"It is important for those guys to play together," Garrett said. "You want to be a careful of putting them in the situation where it's ultimately not going to be productive for your team. So you want to find your spots in practice and preseason games to get them quality work."
The quality has been lacking at times in camp.
At age 36, James Shields is not in the picture of the future for the rebuilding Chicago White Sox.
Still, he remains a big part of the present.
Jose Abreu and Avisail Garcia homered and Shields limited Minnesota to four hits over seven innings, leading the White Sox to a 6-1 victory over the Twins on Wednesday night.
Shields (3-9) struck out five and walked just two in his only scoreless start of the season. The veteran right-hander lasted just 4 2/3 innings in a loss to Oakland on Friday. Before that, he had worked at least six innings in 11 straight turns and has gone at least seven innings five times. After struggling through the last two years following his arrival in a trade with San Diego, Shields has begun to settle in.
”He’s a guy that kind of balances out our rotation,” White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. ”He shows these guys how to grind through an inning, get through certain situations, remain calm, understand that no matter how much havoc occurs around you, the best thing is to try to execute pitches.”
Tim Anderson and Charlie Tilson each had two hits and an RBI for Chicago
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”The pitching and the defense were really good,” Shields said, ”and the hitting was phenomenal.”
Ehire Adrianza had four hits and an RBI for Minnesota, which has dropped two straight games and five of six. Twins starter Kyle Gibson (2-6) allowed five runs on 11 hits in seven innings.
The White Sox took a 3-0 lead in the fourth. Abreu and Garcia led off with singles. One out later, Leury Garcia doubled to drive in Abreu. Anderson followed with a run-scoring single, and Omar Narvaez drove in a run with a ground out. Abreu’s solo homer in the fifth stretched the lead to 4-0.
Avisail Garcia’s solo homer in the eighth made it 6-0. The Twins tacked on a run in the ninth, but they fell to 34-42 to match their season high of eight games below the .500 mark after another night of chasing too many pitches out of the strike zone.
”Lefties had a hard time laying off the slider, especially down and in,” manager Paul Molitor said. ”We really didn’t hit too many balls hard.”
BALK TALK
With two outs in the sixth, Eddie Rosario walked and Brian Dozier singled to put runners on first and third and give Minnesota a chance to close the gap. But then the game took a bizarre turn. With Max Kepler stepping to the plate, Twins third base coach Gene Glynn suddenly was ejected by third base umpire Gerry Davis.
”He had wanted a balk the inning before,” Davis said to a pool reporter. ”I explained to him it was not a balk, told him I wasn’t sure he knew the definition of what a balk was for a stop. The next half inning he came out, brought it up again … and I ejected him.”
BALK TALK II
Later in the at-bat, Shields faked a pickoff throw to first and then spun around to throw to third baseman Yolmer Sanchez. Shields was called for a balk
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Renteria argued, claiming Shields stepped off before faking to first, which is within the rules. After huddling, the umpires overturned the balk, sending the runners back. Molitor came out to protest and was quickly ejected.
”It was suspicious in the fact that we couldn’t tell if he disengaged with the rubber at all,” Molitor said. ”There’s a lot of things about the move that are suspect to me.”
Shields then struck out Kepler looking on a 71-mph curveball to end the inning.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Twins CF Byron Buxton (broken left big toe) is scheduled to play both games of a doubleheader with Triple-A Rochester on Thursday. He’ll DH one game and play the field in the other.
UP NEXT
RHP Jake Odorizzi (3-5, 4.97 ERA) pitches the final game of the three-game series for the Twins, looking to bounce back a rough outing. He gave up for six runs on six hits in 1 2/3 innings against Texas on Saturday.
RHP Lucas Giolito (5-7, 7.01 ERA) takes the mound for the White Sox, aiming to win a second straight start.
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