Getty Tom Brady will go up against his old team in October.
As if Tom Brady — the greatest quarterback of all-time — needed more motivation to take down the Dallas Cowboys in next Thursday’s regular-season opener at Tampa Bay …
“He’s not very mobile,” Cowboys rookie defensive lineman Osa Odighizuwa uttered Thursday, via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “I mean, you know, he’s been playing for 21 years. The dude is a little older, not too mobile. I’d say that’s probably what it is.
“Get him off the spot and his passer rating goes down by a lot. So our role is super important this week as far as getting after him.”
While that might be true (of any quarterback), Odighizuwa realized the consequential enormity of Week 1 bulletin-board material and backtracked as soon as it left his lips. Welcome to the NFL, rook.
“I feel like he’s not a guy who’s too worried about what I’m saying,” Odighizuwa said, per the Star-Telegram. “He’s obviously going to be aware of it, but he’s been doing this for awhile. People have been saying this, that and a third. He’s been doing his thing.”
Brady’s “thing” includes vanquishing the Cowboys, against whom the 44-year-old is undefeated — a perfect 5-0 mark dating back to his time in New England.
If Brady moves to 6-0, Dallas could have Odighizuwa to thank.
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Jerry: Need ‘A Lot of Prayer’ to Beat Bucs
As of this writing, the Cowboys are massive (7.5-point) road underdogs to the defending Super Bowl champs returning all 22 starters from last season — most importantly a healthy Brady, who earned his seventh ring while gutting through a torn knee ligament.
“We’re going to have a lot of prayer, so we could get the courage to show up,” Dallas owner/general manager Jerry Jones joked in July, per NFL.com. “Let me tell you this: world-champion Tom Brady, Tampa, great atmosphere — what a better opportunity to step up there and be David against Goliath.”
On record, Jones was careful to toe the line between humility and confidence; inwardly he likely envisions (if not expects) Dallas springing the upset. Veteran players, like quarterback Dak Prescott, know to follow suit with a matchup of this magnitude.
“I love night games. Love playing on primetime. I think it’s just set for the perfect stage,” Prescott told reporters on Friday, via the Dallas Morning News. “Them coming off of the Super Bowl title and us, having fans back to full capacity, I think this is what the NFL and the world needs.”
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Micah Gets It
Take note, Osa. Your fellow rookie defensive mate exemplified how to navigate around the media’s perpetual thirst for a headline-grabbing sound bite. The lesson in optics comes courtesy of first-round linebacker Micah Parsons:
“Not too many people stopped (Tom Brady),” Parsons wisely noted Thursday, per The Athletic. “I would say just slow him down. They got a lot of weapons. We’re just gonna have to go weapon on weapon and see who outlasts the other weapon … Put some pressure on him, hopefully we come up with a turnover off a mistake.”
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Follow Zack Kelberman on Twitter: @KelbermanNFL