'Half-Assed': Broncos Crush Cowboys; 3 'Available' Rookies Can't Prove Jerry Jones Right

Jerry Jones said goodbye to three players - Cooper, Gregory and Collins - who didn't provide a manageable bang for buck. How would their rookie replacements do in their Cowboys debut at Denver?

DENVER - Even before the Dallas Cowboys made the understandable decision to not expose star players to this Saturday preseason opener at Denver, a trio of rookies were going to find themselves in the summer spotlight.

O-lineman Tyler Smith, pass-rusher Sam Williams and receiver Jalen Tolbert, Dallas' top three picks in the April NFL Draft, were naturally going to be featured here. But there is a reason for a doubly intense focus on the trio.

The reason: Amari Cooper, Randy Gregory and La'el Collins.

Broncos 17, Cowboys 7 isn't a forever-indictment of the Cowboys' opting to part with the veteran trio, a decision owner Jerry Jones swears was about him allowing them to leave, saying, "Those decisions were base more on availability than ability.''

Fine. And it can all work. Someday. But with contributions from Cooper, Gregory and Collins, the Cowboys went 12-5 and won the NFC East last season before a bitterly disappointing Wild Card loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Those guys are gone, and along with them, it was hoped, the much-bemoaned "lack of discipline'' that manifested itself in record-setting penalty problems.

But, no, the penalty problems are still here.

And no, Tyler, Sam and Jalen on Saturday did not even look close to being the rightful heirs to their predecessors.

Smith's presence meant that Connor McGovern worked at right guard, with Tyler Tyler on the left side. Result? A couple of early holding calls and a mistake that, to the layman, led to a Cooper Rush interception.

Tyler Smith doing Tyler Smith things. pic.twitter.com/3bp6LE7Hbu

— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) August 14, 2022

His physicality will help him win, as it sometimes did. But the flags were haunting.

How about Sam Williams? He played a bunch of snaps, but among his most impactful plays? A roughing-the-passer penalty. The Cowboys didn't like the call ... of course, the 2021 Cowboys didn't like a lot of those calls, either.

And finally, Jalen Tolbert? He has two catches for 10 yards, on seven targets. And he was credited (discredited?) with a drop. He did draw an interference penalty, so it was nice to see the Broncos make a mistake, too.

Mike McCarthy on the abundance of Cowboys penalties in the first half: " That's not good enough football."

Nailed it. pic.twitter.com/6J2XZrD2zF

— Joey Hayden (@_joeyhayden) August 14, 2022

Said coach Mike McCarthy, who'd vowed to fix last year's flag issue: "That's not very good football.''

Remember how Jerry explained the trio of transactions? "You're talking about top-10 money and you get around to half-ass availability,'' he said. "The No. 1 thing you've got to do as a player to help us win football games is availability."

Gregory suffered a calf injury late in the season and started 11 of Dallas' 17 games. Collins was suspended five games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. And Cooper, who was unvaccinated, missed two games late in the year with COVID-19 and his lack of effort in the team's playoff loss was "troubling" to team management.

The Cowboys released Collins and traded Cooper to the Cleveland Browns, while Gregory seemingly left them at the altar with a last-minute decision to accept a free-agent offer from the Denver Broncos.

None of this is to suggest that this debacle in Denver is the fault of the three new kids. With Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, Ezekiel Elliott and most of the offensive starters watching, the Cowboys QBs were bad and so were their weapons. With Trevon Diggs, Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence watching, the Cowboys cornerbacks were bad and so was most of everything else.

Maintained Jones recently, "I think we are in better shape to win a title this year than we were last year."

But based on Saturday? The team can still be good, but the "half-assed guys'' have not yet been matched. 

Only the penalty problem has.

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