Cowboys Camp: Biadasz Q-&-A - On McCarthy's First Message

Dallas Cowboys Camp: Rookie Center Tyler Biadasz Q-&-A - On Coach McCarthy's First Message

FRISCO - Dallas Cowboys rookie center Tyler Biadasz on Wednesday became the first member of the team to speak from the club's training camp at The Star ... and emphasized the first thing new coach Mike McCarthy said to the group.

"Be responsible and stay safe in this environment,'' Biadasz relayed to the DFW media via a noontime conference call. "Safety first. ...We're facing more than just football, we're facing COVID-19."

Eventually, Wisconsin center Tyler Biadasz - taken in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft after a Cowboys trade-up - will turn his attention to competing for a starting job. Surely he'll be groomed to take the place of another Badger following Travis Frederick's retirement.

Photo courtesy of DallasCowboys.com / Jeremiah Jhass

But for now, Biadasz says he's just "really focusing on where do I fit and what piece I am to the whole puzzle''  as he makes an adjustment to the NFL - and to a different sort of football life.

Biadasz, who spent summers working on his grandfather's 1,000-acre farm, was fortunate to be in Wisconsin in the spring. Regulations, and the proximity of a gym, helped him rehab and workout. 

"I'm good to go,'' he said of recovering from minor shoulder surgery. "I'm going out competing at my best and putting my best foot forward for this team."

Biadasz is used to winning competitions. In 2019 he was the Rimington Trophy winner (given to the college game's best center, an Outland Trophy finalist, a unanimous first-team All-American (AFCA, AP, FWAA, Sporting News, Walter Camp), a first-team All-Big Ten (consensus) and an Academic All-Big Ten.

With Frederick's retirement, Joe Looney could be the likely immediate replacement for Frederick in 2020, though Connor Williams (the starting left guard) and Connor McGovern could also be in the mix. But again, for the moment, it's rookies at The Star, living at the adjoining Omni hotel and dealing with constant testing and temperature-taking and a device each player wears that electronically reminds them - a red light flashes - when they are too close to being within six feet of a teammate.

It's all part of a new reality in an environment that is surely culture shock for NFL rookies. McCarthy, though, has given them their first guide post.

"He told us to be accountable and be respectful to everyone on the team,'' Biadasz said. "So, we're doing our part."