Getty Cowboys OC Kellen Moore with QB Dak Prescott
The Dallas Cowboys will rest about 30 players for Sunday’s preseason finale against the Jaguars. And two coordinators.
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy announced Saturday that offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and Dan Quinn won’t participate in the team’s fourth exhibition affair.
Quarterbacks coach Doug Nussmeier and secondary coach Joe Whitt Jr. will replace Moore and Quinn, respectively.
Quinn, you may recall, was held out of last week’s contest against Houston, leaving AT&T Stadium before kickoff as a precautionary measure after feeling unwell. Experiencing mild symptoms of the virus, he was later moved to the reserve/COVID-19 list and remains in league protocol.
Moore, however, is perfectly healthy and available to coach. He instead was granted paid time off. Rather than gameplan for the Backup Bowl, McCarthy wants his wunderkind play-caller to apply maximum focus on the Sept. 9 regular-season opener at Tampa Bay.
“I just think it’s a great opportunity to give an assistant along the way to help prepare him for the next step,” McCarthy said, via the official team website. “I’ve called the fourth game a number of years, I’ve also given assistant coaches the opportunity to present in front of the whole team.”
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Sign up for the Heavy on Cowboys Newsletter!Background on Nussmeier
Nussmeier is entering his second season as QBs coach. A holdover from the Jason Garrett regime, he had previously served as Dallas’ tight ends coach, after defecting from the University of Florida where he served as OC and QBs coach.
The 50-year-old is a former signal-caller himself who played for the New Orleans Saints (1994-97), Indianapolis Colts (1998), and the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (2000) before swapping his helmet for a headset.
Nussmeier succeeded former Cowboys QBs coach Jon Kitna. Working in tandem with — and reportedly in opposition to — Moore, Kitna was key in helping coax a breakout year out of Dak Prescott, who threw for a career-high 4,902 passing yards, one shy of tying the team’s all-time single-season record held by Tony Romo.
“Working with the tight ends, like I said, those two years was enjoyable,” Nussmeier said in January 2020. “But obviously I’m excited to get back to the quarterbacks, that’s kind of been my natural position over time.”
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Quinn Issues Health Update
Ready to attack his first campaign as the Cowboys defensive boss, Quinn assured he’s “feeling fine now” after experiencing chest tightness that prompted a COVID-positive test. He must return two negative tests before being removed from NFL protocols.
“The training staff, they were on point, them and the team physician,” Quinn said Thursday. “I called my wife Stacey who was on her way to the game and I said, ‘Hey, pull on up, I’m riding back home with you.’ Her response, as you could imagine, was, ‘What?’
“I didn’t see any of the players or the coaches. I was able to call (head coach) Mike (McCarthy) on the phone. They were about to go on the field for pre-game and I said, ‘I’m heading out.'”