Time after time during individual drills Sunday, Dak Prescott kept throwing deep.
A straight go route. A stop-and-go. A slant-and-go. An out-and-up. Any variation of the deep ball, Prescott kept firing it to his wide receivers. First it was Terrance Williams. Then Tavon Austin. Then Lance Lenoir. Williams again. Austin again.
Most of the time the passes were in good spots, leading the receivers into a position to make a play, but not the defensive backs.nfl nike jerseys cheap china
Prescott’s best delivery came on an out-and-up to Lenoir, who turned cornerback Anthony Brown around, but Lenoir couldn’t hang on to the pass as it came down from the sky.
“We’ve got some guys that can really stretch the field,” Prescott said. “We knew that coming into the offseason and then going into training camp that was part of our game we needed to strengthen and we needed to get better. And with having some guys that can stretch the field, it’s important that we all get on the same key there.”
The go route will not be a staple of the Dallas Cowboys’ offense in 2018, but Prescott knows it has to be a part of it if the unit wants to be successful.
Everybody knows the Cowboys will want to give the ball to Ezekiel Elliott often. They will make their living on how well they run the ball. In Elliott’s first two seasons, the Cowboys have run the ball extremely well. He led the NFL in rushing as a rookie and averaged 98 yards per game in the 10 contests he played in 2017.
“Sometimes you’ve got to throw it and make the defense back up,” Prescott said. “It’s not a live-or-die thing, but we’ve got to take advantage of the opportunities when they give it to us because if not, they’re just going to sit on underneath routes. So we’ve got to let them know we can beat them over the top and let them know otherwise.”
Early in training camp, Prescott and the receivers struggled on deep balls. Passes were either too long or a little too short. The receivers did not do a good job of giving Prescott an avenue to get the ball to the outside, sticking too close to the sidelines.cheap nike nfl jerseys from china
But on the first drive of the first preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers, Prescott connected with rookie receiver Michael Gallup on a 30-yard touchdown.