FRISCO, Texas — Just days away from the Dallas Cowboys’ Week 1 contest at the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb sounded like Spongebob Squarepants on his way to work at the Krusty Krab.
“Yeah, I’m ready,” Lamb said Thursday.
Lamb was held out of the Cowboys’ entire offseason program as a negotiating tactic that led to him signing a four-year, $136 million contract extension. As a result, the 25-year-old 2023 first-team All-Pro is still getting his body back to the rhythms of contact football after training on his own in the spring and summer. Dallas’ first padded practice of the 2024 regular season on Thursday served as a key crossing point for Lamb’s reintegration into football.
“Today was definitely one of those days,” Lamb said. “Again, shout out to the guys and coaches for really guiding me this whole week. Obviously, I knew that mentally, I was ready. Physically, it’s a little bit of a different story, but today prepared me and yeah, I’m all about it contact, packed practice Obviously, we competed against those.
CeeDee Lamb
WR
TAR181
REC135
REC YDs1749
REC TD12
FL2
Head coach Mike McCarthy was already impressed with Lamb’s progress earlier this week after just a few days back in the team facility, indicating he will be ready when Sunday rolls around.
“Where he needs to be, I’m impressed with where he is,” McCarthy said Monday. “I didn’t expect him not to be. CeeDee has always been on top of his game as far as conditioning. You can tell where his commitment has been this offseason. He’s bigger, stronger. We have a number every day that we want. hit He wanted go full in practice [last] Thursday, but we had him on a pitch count. … We feel like that will give us 5-6 practices to get him ready. I feel like we’ll be where we need to be by the end of the week.”
Quarterback Dak Prescott agreed with McCarthy and Lamb, declaring the 2023 NFL receiving manager (135) is good to go for 2024.
“Yeah, he’ll be fine,” Prescott said. “We’ve had two weeks now to get him back in, obviously he’s been in shape. But on the field, defenders on your back, trying to catch in a tight window. He’s ready. He’s an elite player. Just turn on the film. from last year and you’ll see that He’s gotten better Right now it’s about going out there and showing it for both of us.
Last year, Lamb not only led the NFL in catches (135), but he also ranked second in the league in receiving yards (1,749) and third in receiving touchdowns (120). His receptions and receiving yards broke Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Irvin’s single-season records set back in 1995, the last of the Cowboys. Super Bowl season In Lamb’s mind, there’s no reason why he can’t be one of the NFL’s top receivers again in 2024.
“I don’t think it would be much of a drop personally,” Lamb said. “I just want the team to win. Obviously contribute well, a lot. We’re going to win ballgames.”
Lamb and Prescott put in extra work after practice to be at their best to win games in addition to spending parts of the offseason working together.
“After practice, that’s when we get into it,” Lamb said. “If we miss something in practice because of time or because of one misstep by either party, then we get into it. Other than that, everything has been smooth sailing.”
Practice makes perfect as they say, and the Dallas duo has done plenty of that this year and in their four seasons together since 2020.
“Obviously I couldn’t be in camp, and I didn’t know it [the holdout] would be so long, to be honest,” Lamb said. “I will say for lost time, we got a lot of banked reps. We worked a lot, a lot, different routes, different situations, seeing different coverages, different attitudes. The list could go on and on. But, yeah, me and Dak, we’ve always been on the same page since I got here since we’ve been playing together. I don’t think there will be any (rust or disconnect).”
The reason for that is because whenever Lamb was in town, he took advantage of Prescott’s “Dakyard,” aka the full-sized football field in Prescott’s backyard at his house in Prosper, Texas, not too far down the road from The Star in Frisco . .
“Often. I would say quite often,” Lamb said when asked about the frequency of his offseason workouts with Prescott. “Every time I’m back in town, and he’s obviously back here, I beat him. It’s great to have a rich quarterback.”
“We locked and loaded,” Lamb said of Prescott and himself. “We’ve come to understand the offense. We’ve learned how to thrive together, and we’re going to do that.”
Now, Lamb is set to face off against Browns three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward and the Browns’ top-ranked total defense (270.2) from the 2023 season.
“They’re beautiful, man,” Lamb said. “They’re nice around the board. Edge rushers, they’ve got quick DBs. Very familiar with some of them. I know them on a personal level. So, it’s going to be fun out there. I’m ready to compete. .”
That air of confidence Lamb brings into the locker room is exactly what Dallas lacked during their holdout. Now, the Cowboys are whole and loaded for Week 1.
“He brings a certain kind of swagger,” Cowboys first-round left tackle Tyler Guyton said Wednesday of Lamb. “That’s what we needed.”
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