Code word for Cowboys’ second week of camp: Survival

by Aug 3, 2025

Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Brian Schottenheimer is definitely establishing a new tone and culture in Dallas. You have to look no further than the 2025 training camp for proof of that.

This year’s camp is certainly much more physical than camp has been in years. Maybe even as far back as the Bill Parcells days.

But that’s coming at a cost.

Check out this MASH report just two weeks into camp:

This new mentality will pay off in the long run. The Cowboys should be a much more physical team, maybe even rivaling the Jimmy Johnson Cowboys of the early 1990s.

They just have to survive this camp to get a chance to prove it.

So You Want To Fight?

Another welcome sight was Schottenheimer cracking down on the fights during practice. On the third fight of the day on Wednesday, Schottenheimer called a halt to practice.

He promptly chewed the entire team out and lined them up to run from sideline to sideline until they’d run all the fight out.

That’s some old school coaching that has been missing from Dallas since the Johnson days.

All that is needed to fully summon the 90s Dynasty vibe would be for Schottenheimer to send someone to the asthma field. Johnson’s approach to offseason training and camp sent Randy White into retirement.

If Schottenheimer can instill some of the old Johnson magic into this team, this could be a very good year.

As long as the players fully buy into it, of course.

Tip Of The Cap

Trevon Diggs may, or may not, be engaging in a low-key social media war with the Cowboys front office these days.

Diggs posted this cryptic post consisting of one single emoji:

The general consensus is that Diggs may have been calling out Stephen Jones’ recent remarks regarding salary issues. Seems like docking a guy half a million in salary doesn’t sit well with him.

Hey, We Knew That Guy

The Los Angeles Chargers started quarterback Trey Lance on Thursday night for the annual Hall of Fame Game.

Trey Lance's failed test puts Cowboys in a deep QB hole

The former Cowboys back-up quarterback played most of the game in the Chargers’ 34-7 victory over the Detroit Lions in Canton, Ohio on Thursday night.

Lance was 13-for-20 for 120 yards and two touchdowns. He added eight yards on three carries.

More importantly, for Lance and Los Angeles, he looked like a very solid back-up quarterback for Justin Herbert.

Amazing, isn’t it, when a quarterback is playing for a coach that knows how to get the most out of his players.

Not to mention playing in an innovative offense.

Richard Paolinelli

Richard Paolinelli

Richard Paolinelli is a sports journalist and author. In addition to his work at InsideTheStar.com, he has a Substack -- Dispatches From A SciFi Scribe – where he discusses numerous topics, including sports in general. He started his newspaper career in 1991 with the Gallup (NM) Independent before going to the Modesto (CA) Bee, Gustine (CA) Press-Standard, and Turlock (CA) Journal -- where he won the 2001 Best Sports Story, in the annual California Newspaper Publishers Association’s Better Newspapers Contest. He then moved to the Merced (CA) Sun-Star, Tracy (CA) Press, Patch and finished his career in 2011 with the San Francisco (CA) Examiner. He has written two Non-Fiction sports books, 11 novels, and has over 30 published short stories.

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