OXNARD, California — On Thursday, Dak Prescott will jog onto the field for the Dallas Cowboys‘ first training camp practice of 2018 with optimism for what could happen over next five months.
But it is the work Prescott put in nearly five months ago that has him excited.
Before the official start of the Cowboys’ offseason program in April, Prescott worked out with 3DQB a few hours south of Oxnard, California, training with former NFL quarterback John Beck under the program designed by Tom House and Adam Dedeaux.
Prescott’s journey to 3DQB started out of necessity. In his first two NFL seasons, he worked with Tom Shaw, a noted trainer, but Shaw took a job with the Oakland Raiders and was no longer available.
Prescott did some research and saw the results 3DQB had not just with quarterbacks like Tom Brady and Drew Brees, but younger quarterbacks like Jared Goff and Blake Bortles.
“The reason Tom can play until he’s 45 or whenever he wants is that he uses all of his body in his throws,” Prescott said. “It’s not just his arm. Me being young, I can use my arm and get away with it. If you use the rest of your body, like the greats do, then you’ll see the benefits.”
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During the organized team activities and minicamp, Prescott’s mechanics did not look too different to the naked eye, but he could feel a difference.
“If you’re a quarterback and you study the position and you study the way the body moves, it’s putting force into the ground to get the ball the way you want to,” Prescott said. “It’s different for me than it is for Goff. We work different parts of it. To the naked eye, not so much is different but guys that do study that, they can see it and I can see it.”
House, a former Texas Rangers pitching coach, has been a mechanical guru for decades. The program focuses on biomechanics, functional strength, mental and emotional fitness, nutrition and sleep. Prescott dropped about 10 pounds in the offseason, looking leaner than he had his first two seasons.
“He’s a big guy. You really don’t realize it unless you stand by him and look at him,” offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said. “He’s naturally a big guy anyway. [The loss of weight] probably helps him, helps his mobility a little. … He’s always been a pocket guy, a pass-first quarterback. I think he just feels like there is no downside to being in the best shape you can [be in].”
When Prescott has gotten off kilter in his first two seasons, he has looked mostly at his footwork. His completion percentage dropped from 67.8 percent as a rookie to 62.9 percent in 2017. This offseason, he has studied Brady’s ability to keep his feet calm and keep the ball in position to release quickly. By remaining in a more ready position, the passes should be more accurate.
“Dak has a real confidence in his ability to just pull the ball and deliver it,” Linehan said. “The anticipation, getting the ball out, it’s just doing it a little quicker. We had a play in practice where the snap was low but he got the ball and got it loaded and thrown way quicker than he would’ve last year. He just got his feet in good position.”
At times, Prescott thought his feet got him into more trouble, especially last season when he was under more duress. But he wasn’t blaming the offensive line.
“Being an athlete I guess when I take a move sometimes it’s bigger than I necessarily need to,” Prescott said. “You watch guys that have been in this league a while, Brady is the best example. Sometimes he barely moves, and the defensive end or somebody flies by him. Being the athlete I am, sometimes it’s just toning that down and not necessarily moving a full yard, or it’s just barely scooting up here and there but keeping my feet in the same position. Footwork is definitely something I’m trying to get better at.”
Another focus was on the depth of his drops from center, which were too long and put his tackles in difficult spots because they were not expecting him to be so deep on his five- or seven-step drops. The goal is to have the same landmarks on each drop on each play.
“He’s got a long stride, so he’s really working at getting back there,” Linehan said. “So sometimes it’s perfect, but sometimes it may be a little deep. Maybe sometimes we’re overemphasizing it. Maybe he’s not deep enough. It’s things like that that you look at and work on and you kind of break yourself down and I think he’s really done a great job of doing that as well as focusing on his overall game.”
Linehan spoke with Beck on occasion in the offseason about Prescott’s work. Prescott made sure what he worked on was in line with what Linehan and quarterbacks coach Kellen Moore wanted. Linehan liked so much of what he heard and saw, his son, Matt, who played at Idaho, worked out at 3DQB.
“It really complements what we do,” Linehan said. “This kind of stuff works when you’re working together. We can’t work with our players like these guys. We aren’t allowed to work with them until we get into Phase 2 and Phase 3 and it’s really limited by time. These guys can spend eight hours with the guys and just work on his craft. We think it’s a benefit.”
Source : ESPN
