Mike McCarthy cancels camp and sends Cowboys golfing for team bonding

The Dallas Cowboys were scheduled to have mandatory minicamp Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this week. Wednesday’s practice was cancelled by head coach Mike McCarthy for the players to go and have a bonding event. The next morning, Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News reported that the final session on Thursday was being cancelled as well.

This means the next time the Cowboys will be together as a team is mid-July for training camp in Oxnard. Some fans were upset that the staff chose to cancel programming given how the team’s season ended last year. However, this certainly isn’t the first time this has happened. The franchise has cancelled minicamp practices several times in recent years.

McCarthy felt that having the players do a fun, bonding activity would be a better usage of time. That activity, as it turns out, was a team outing to Top Golf. As you can see in the video from Cowboys fullback Nick Ralston in the video below, it certainly looks like everyone was having a good time. The head coach certainly saw the benefit.

"“We had a blast. I know the players really enjoyed it and just the way we coordinated everything and the interaction. But it was a good day. It’s clearly one of the better ones I’ve been a part of.”"

Ralston’s Instagram reel shows top players like Dak Prescott, Micah Parsons, Tyron Smith, Trevon Diggs, and more displaying their best golf shots.

Why did Mike McCarthy cancel the Dallas Cowboys final two days of mandatory minicamp?

This is the first offseason in a while where the Cowboys have been able to have their quarterback fully healthy and not deal with Covid safety measures holding them back from in-person runthroughs. Those factors likely weighed heavily into McCarthy’s choice to cut camp early.

Here’s the exact verbiage that the head coach told ESPN’s Todd Archer:

"“I think the biggest thing is you have a starting line and finish line and I just felt like we crossed the finish line, particularly with the veterans and really today’s focus was just really spending a final time with the rookies.”"

To put things into perspective, several other teams have also canceled part of their camp programming. The 49ers, Broncos, and Patriots all chose to do without at least one day of their practices. Plus, McCarthy did this same thing last year when he canceled the last day of camp for a bonding activity.

It’s also worth noting that exposing players to potential injury when the staff feels they have seen what they need to see just doesn’t seem worth it. We’ve already seen several players sit out with minor injuries, and linebacker Devante Bond even sustained a season-ending knee injury during OTAs. Why expose players to risk at this point in the offseason?

Now, the next time the Cowboys will be all together as a team is in just a bit over five weeks for the official start of training camp. Until then, McCarthy has advised his players to be safe and smart during their much needed R&R time.