The La’el Collins saga continues. Just hours after the stunning revelation via ESPN that the tackle had tried to bribe testers in regard to his series of missed drug tests, sources close to the lineman came out with word that Collins is maintaining no wrongdoing. One Dallas news outlet shares the veteran’s surprising response to the allegations, saying a separate appeal to his five-game suspension has already been filed.
Meanwhile, the team moves on in its preparations for Monday night’s home opener. Linebacker Keanu Neal will sit, as he has tested positive for COVID. Terence Steele is set to go again in place of Collins on the offensive line. Amari Cooper talks about playing through his rib injury. And a returning defensive standout is expecting big things from rookie Micah Parsons. The Cowboys and Eagles will be playing for first place in the East following Week 3’s Sunday finals, Dallas won’t be printing up shirts to combat the ones being sold in Philadelphia, and get to know the man who kicks off every Cowboys home game on just the right note. Here are the News and Notes as Cowboys Nation gets ready for kickoff.
Mystery Solved: ESPN says Cowboys' Collins tried to bribe drug tester, reason for weird-length suspension :: Cowboys Wire
All along, something had seemed fishy about Collins’s five-game suspension. ESPN confirmed that Collins attempted to bribe a league drug test collector in regard to his seven (per some reports) missed tests. It appears that the NFLPA had successfully negotiated a shorter ban, but Collins insisted on an appeal; when the case was put in front of an arbitrator, he overruled the lightened sentence and re-instituted the five-game ban. The next game Collins will be eligible to play in is the October 31 meeting with Minnesota. The suspension voids Collins’s 2022 injury guarantee and costs him over $2 million in salary for five missed games in 2021.
Sources: Cowboys RT La’el Collins adamantly expresses innocence in face of bribery allegation :: Dallas Morning News
Collins is adamant he did nothing wrong, Dallas Morning News sources stress. “Why would he try to bribe someone when he hasn’t produced a positive test for marijuana? It makes no sense.” The sources say any comments made by Collins suggesting a bribe were “clearly intended as a joke and should be viewed that way.” Apparently, though, the league did not see it as a joking matter. A separate appeal has now been filed, but chances for a reversal appear unlikely.
Cowboys LB Keanu Neal positive for COVID, out for Week 3 :: Inside the Star
He entered COVID protocol as a close contact, but Neal has now tested positive for the virus. The Cowboys will miss him in Week 3; he’s played on over 74% of the team’s defensive snaps so far in 2021, the most of any linebacker or defensive lineman. Linebackers Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith can likely expect to see more time Monday night and perhaps next week.
Amari Cooper reveals Nick Saban lesson that still fuels him with Cowboys :: Fansided
When Cooper lines up at wideout for Dallas on Monday night despite a rib he thinks is “cracked,” Cowboys fans can thank Nick Saban. Cooper revealed this week that he credits his Alabama coach with teaching him to play through an injury. “Saban, he put another guy in front of me because I kept taking myself out of the game,” Cooper said, “and it just messed up the continuity of everything. So now I’d rather play hurt than to be switching with a guy in there.”
NFC East Round Up: Washington, Giants look inept while Cowboys watch in Week 3 :: Cowboys Wire
Dallas has a chance to take sole possession of the NFC East division lead with a win over Philadelphia Monday night. Thanks to a Washington spanking at the hands of the Buffalo Bills and a last-second loss by the Giants to the abysmal Atlanta Falcons, the Cowboys and Eagles head into their Week 3 meeting tied with 1-1 records.
Randy Gregory sees 10-sack potential in Parsons :: The Mothership
“I think I said it back in training camp,” Gregory said this week, “Micah can do whatever wants to do on the field.” In fact, the veteran fresh off a 10-day stint on the COVID list believes that Parsons could rack up double digits sacks this season. Gregory, the rookie linebacker, and the rest of the Dallas defense will get their chances against Philadelphia on Monday night. “I thought we had a good rush plan last week and we’re only going to get better,” he added. “I fully expect us to get after Hurts this week.”
Terence Steele is going to play a huge role for the Cowboys as he faces tough competition coming up :: Blogging the Boys
Whether it’s due to injury or COVID or suspension, the NFL is a “next-man-up” league. And Steele looks to be that man in the face of Collins’s absence along the offensive line. He turned Chargers superstar Joey Bosa into a non-factor last week; this week he will likely be squaring off against Josh Sweat, Derek Barnett, and Ryan Kerrigan with the Eagles. From there, Steele will be seeing guys like the Panthers’ Brian Burns in Week 4, the Giants’ Oshane Ximines in Week 5, and the Patriots’ Kyle Van Noy and Deatrich Wise Jr. in Week 6.
Flank, Flex, Trap, Cut: How Cowboys' Kellen Moore uses magic to keeps defenses guessing :: Cowboys Wire
Moore has espoused the virtues of versatility in his offensive players. Last week, the coordinator showed off some of his own in calling the plays. Rafael Vela goes to the tape to show how Moore put his personnel (tight ends and running backs, notably) to clever use, deviating from what he had shown the week prior in Tampa. He baited the Chargers into defending one way, then switched to something very different and ultimately, successful. What’s next against the Philadelphia Eagles? Only Moore knows.
Cowboys answer to Eagles’ ‘Beat Dallas’ garb: No shirts. No showiness. No silliness. :: Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The Cowboys coaches aren’t interested in getting into a wardrobe war with their Eagles counterparts. Head coach Mike McCarthy shot down any chance of “Beat Philly” shirts popping up in the team’s pro shop before Monday night’s tilt. “Nah, we’re good,” the coach said. “We’re focused on being the best that we can be. That would be a hell of a T-shirt, if anyone wants it, but we’re focused on what’s in front of us.”
'What more would I want?’ Dallas Cowboys trumpeter Freddy Jones on entertaining fans :: CBS DFW
In his seventh season, he hasn’t missed an appearance. But the man who leads the national anthem before every Cowboys home game never expected to be on the team: “I didn’t think I would get the gig, first of all. I was in there laughing.” But now when he plays prior to kickoff, he knows there could be “a million-plus people watching” him and his recognizable blue trumpet. Jones says it still hasn’t hit him that he is a genuine part of the legacy of America’s Team.
