Dallas Cowboys

Key Cowboys storylines in second preseason game include gunslinger QB

Updated Aug. 21, 2022 6:48 p.m. ET

By David Helman
FOX Sports Dallas Cowboys Writer

LOS ANGELES — Hopefully the second go-around will be a little more fun.

Even by preseason standards, last weekend's 17-7 slog in Denver was a bummer for the Cowboys. Expectations for clean football should always be low when the backups are playing, but 17 penalties and one touchdown is a miserable night of football by any objective measure.

It can't get any worse this weekend — right?

Expect a similar game plan for playing time when the Cowboys face the Chargers in Los Angeles on Saturday at 10 p.m. ET. Dallas' starters got a heavy workload in two joint practices against the Chargers this week, so it's a good bet most of them will stay on the sideline during the game. This will be another big opportunity for the younger members of the roster to make a statement.

Why Cowboys' discipline and WR core are concerning

Former NFL safety Barry Church joins Colin Cowherd to discuss the Cowboys' main issues, including the team committing 17 penalties, with 11 on offense, in the first preseason game.

Here are five players and storylines I'll be watching this weekend at SoFi Stadium.

QB Will Grier

Let's have some fun, y'all!

Grier developed a bit of a gunslinger reputation during the first two weeks of training camp. He was never hesitant to let the ball rip downfield and made plenty of impressive connections with the Cowboys' young wideouts. Grier was on pace to get plenty of playing time last week against Denver, but a groin injury held him out of the action.

The former third-round draft pick returned to practice on Thursday, so hopefully that's a sign he's healthy enough to play in the game. If that's the case, this will be his first real opportunity to state his case to the Cowboys in a game setting. Grier joined the team after the preseason last year, so he never appeared in an exhibition game.

Incumbent backup Cooper Rush didn't set the world on fire against the Broncos, so Grier could shake things up quite a bit if he plays well on Saturday. For the sake of this game's entertainment factor, hopefully he gets in and zings the ball around a bit.

CB DaRon Bland

Don't look now, but the rookie corner is making his case as the camp's best newcomer.

It was easy to overlook Bland at the start of the summer. He's a fifth-round pick playing a position that's stacked with other talented options. But he has continued to flash as camp has drawn on, turning plenty of heads with a strong performance against the Broncos last week.

He has built on that success this week in Orange County. Bland finished Thursday's practice with an end zone interception of Chase Daniel, and he just barely missed picking off Justin Herbert on the first snap of the day. In the past week alone, Bland has racked up five or six pass breakups to go with his pick.

The other interesting wrinkle is that Jourdan Lewis is now unavailable with a hamstring injury. Bland helped replace Lewis by spending time as the defense's first-team nickel back in practice.

This is merely an educated guess, but it won't be surprising if Bland is a starter on Saturday. If so, it would be another big opportunity for Bland to build on his success so far.

DT combinations

To be blunt, the Cowboys' rotation at defensive tackle was one of the most surprising things about the Denver game. Osa Odighizuwa didn't suit up, which wasn't surprising, but Neville Gallimore playing into the third quarter was.

It's also time to shout out Quinton Bohanna, who has been eating up snaps with the Cowboys' starters throughout the joint practices. Bohanna made four tackles in the Denver game, and on Thursday he recorded a sack. It shouldn't feel like a stretch at this point to suggest that he's pushing for starter snaps.

Other DTs to keep an eye on this weekend include Trysten Hill, who has had a nice camp entering his fourth season, and 2021 starter Carlos Watkins. There should be plenty of second-half snaps for rookie John Ridgeway as well.

The competition here looks intense, and it'll be interesting to see who stands out Saturday, as well as the snap counts for everyone involved.

Show us the kickers

Are the Cowboys aware there's still a kicker competition?

It hasn't felt that way since Brett Maher joined the team last week. The Denver game didn't present many opportunities for kicks, given the Cowboys' offensive struggles. Lirim Hajrullahu missed a field-goal attempt from 56 yards, and the only other opportunity was Maher's extra point after the lone Dallas touchdown.

Fast-forward to joint practices, and we just haven't seen a ton of special-teams action. The work against the Chargers was much more focused on competitive situations between offense and defense, and it just feels like the kicking situation has been left on the back burner.

Skip Bayless breaks down Cowboys' kicking situation

Skip Bayless explains why he thinks that kicker Brett Maher could ultimately cost the Cowboys at least three to four games in the regular season.

Maybe that will change in a game environment. It's hard to predict the specifics of a live game, but it would be nice to see both Hajrullahu and Maher get a few opportunities to boot the ball. Obviously, a lot of that hinges on the offense improving its performance from a week ago. But we can hope.

Cleaning it up

Fair or not, this will be the storyline the NFL world will be watching.

Yes, even in a preseason setting, every news outlet will have an eye on how cleanly the Cowboys play this game. That's what happens when the most penalized team in the league in 2021 opens the 2022 preseason with 17 penalties.

Holding has been a problem for a year at this point, and Ezekiel Elliott even noted that the Cowboys' ground game left 20 to 30 yards on the field last weekend. There were also several disciplinary issues, from untimely offside penalties to unnecessary roughness calls.

The Cowboys need to be better across the board. And if they can't clean it up after such a dismal showing last weekend, expect to hear about it. Often.

David Helman covers the Dallas Cowboys for FOX Sports, providing insight and analysis on the NFL’s most visible franchise. Prior to joining FOX, David spent nine seasons covering the Cowboys for the team’s official website, DallasCowboys.com. In 2018, he won a regional Emmy for his role in producing "Dak Prescott: A Family Reunion" about the quarterback’s time at Mississippi State.