2 key Cowboys players struggling early during NFL training camp

With the 2024 Dallas Cowboys football season comes news of injury concerns and contract headaches. And there’s also the issue of two Cowboys players who are struggling early during NFL training camp.

Included in the underwhelming mix is quarterback Trey Lance. Listen carefully to the chatter and Lance isn’t exactly lighting Jerry’s World on fire. Among the miscues for the fourth-year pro are floating passes, misreading coverage, and frustrating interceptions.

Also struggling and in danger of falling off the roster is running back Deuce Vaughn.

Is Cowboys QB Trey Lance the answer as a backup?

At least the Cowboys didn’t go “all in” on Lance, declining his fifth-year option for 2025. So if last year’s late summer trade with San Francisco doesn’t pan out, it’s not a big money bath. And the Cowboys still have Cooper Rush.

But the odd thing is the praise that came from Mike McCarthy earlier this year. He told sports.yahoo.com that things are coming together for Lance.

“He was on a learning curve, but now he is starting to get the timing,” McCarthy told reporters on Thursday. “He's close to being a master of the system. He has a really high understanding. … He just needs as many reps as he can.”

It looked like the Cowboys could part ways with Rush and turn to Lance as their No. 1 backup. But … maybe not after what has been happening in training camp. McCarthy told athlonsports.com that Rush is holding up quite well in the battle.

“Cooper's so steady,” McCarthy said. “I've always loved that about him; he's that personality wise is exactly how he plays, and I think it's a real credit when you see a veteran with that presence, that confident, quiet presence that he brings, and he steps in the huddle with the young guys. An ability to talk through with the young guys, spend the time with the young guys, super consistent, obviously extremely bright, knows the offense inside and out, but I think he's in a really good rhythm right now. And frankly, I think this is the best shape I've seen him in physically, so you're seeing all the extra work that he's putting in.”

What will the Cowboys do at QB beyond this season?

It’s interesting to note the Cowboys haven’t locked in on their future. Neither Dak Prescott nor Rush nor Lance have been signed for the 2025 season. It’s almost as if the Cowboys are hedging their future bets.

But of course, at the end of the day, they’ll lock Dak down. And when that happens, it means Rush or Lance will have to look elsewhere for a starting gig. Or they could remain in Dallas as played Dak’s second fiddle for the foreseeable future.

There are more issues this year than just completing passes. If Lance or Rush gets into a game, they will have to deal with a possibly declining offensive line. The Cowboys have boasted a top-five unit for many years, but Pro Football Focus has them ranked at No. 10 going into 2024.

The Cowboys let left tackle Tyron Smith and center Tyler Biadasz leave as free agents. And they will have a rookie left tackle in Tyler Guyton (although reports out of training camp sound good so far). Brock Hoffman will take over at center. Right tackle Terence Steele will try to bounce back from a disappointing 2023 season. The Cowboys still boast arguably the best guard duo in the league with Tyler Smith and Zack Martin.

Will the ground game support QB play?

Another thing that could make life more difficult for Dak, Rush or Lance is the running back room. Ezekiel Elliott returns, but what does the veteran have left in the tank? McCarthy told nfl.com he has plenty.

“I think he'll definitely play at the level that he's played, I know, in my time here,” McCarthy said. “I don't see any drop-off in the way he moves. He's in good shape. He's come in here and picked up right where he's left off.”

Still, the Cowboys plan to employ the old running-back-by-committee approach with Rico Dowdle and Royce Freeman in the mix.

“I think it's really the times that we're in,” …McCarthy said. “Seventeen games is a lot of football. That's a big role for those guys. Don't get me wrong, they'd all like to carry it like the old days and have those touches, but you want those guys fresh at the most important time of the year. So, that's all part of planning and how you look at projections of play time.”

But if the offensive line doesn’t hold up, and the running backs can’t break tackles and make it work, the quarterback room is going to be a tougher place to be. And that makes things much more difficult for a guy like Lance, who is still trying to prove he belongs in the NFL.

And Lance isn’t winning people over anyway. Bobby Belt of 105.3 The Fan, via thelandryhat.com, said on X that Lance “doesn’t look like a legitimate NFL QB right now.”

And John Mchota of The Athletic said at the end of July that Lance looks like a No. 3 guy.

“If the Cowboys were opening the season tomorrow, Lance would be third on the depth chart behind Prescott and Rush. Lance hasn’t pushed the ball down the field much. It’ll be interesting to see how that changes as camp goes along.”

Is Deuce Vaughn fading from the picture?

It shouldn’t be impossible for a solid NFL running back to crack the code of the Cowboys 2024 backfield. But it appears Vaughn has struggled to find it.

A problem for Vaughn is recent comments by McCarthy. Asked about the running back situation, McCarthy praised Royce Freeman, according to atozsports.com. And there’s likely no other avenue for Vaughn to make the team unless he beats Freeman out.

“Royce is just a vet that seems very very comfortable in our system has picked it up schematically and has a really good understanding particularly in the in the protection part,” McCarthy said. “He does everything well. We knew him as a runner but when you see running backs when the bullets are really flying and the pass protection part of it, the declaration, the adjustments, all that, I think it's been excellent.”

McCarthy also had glowing words for other parts of Freeman’s game.

“(He’s) got very good hands, has a very high understanding of the game and and also has a chance to be one of our primary players on special teams so um he's a really good fit for us,” McCarthy said.

And there you have it. Plus, Vaughn hasn’t received high grades for blocking. And he’s not a good bet to bring production to the special teams room. Hope isn’t gone for Vaughn, but he’s going to have to make up ground before camp ends.