4 winners (and 1 dud) from Cowboys' joint practice with Rams

The Dallas Cowboys will be back in action this Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams in their first preseason game. Before that, the two teams wisely engaged in a joint practice.

With fights breaking out across the league in joint practices, Mike McCarthy stressed that fighting doesn't measure toughness and is a lack of discipline. During McCarthy's tenure, the Cowboys have lacked discipline at times, so it's encouraging that he's enforced a zero-tolerance policy for fighting.

While there were some close calls, ultimately zero fights broke out on Thursday. That left plenty of room for team and individual drills. It's important not to overreact to a joint practice, but there were some players who stood out among their peers ... and others who did not.

Winner: WR Ryan Flournoy

It's unfortunate but Ryan Flournoy's stock has dropped significantly since the start of training camp. After standing out in OTAs and minicamp, Flournoy suffered a knee injury on the second day of camp and missed a handful of practices. His absence led to more reps for Tyron Billy-Johnson, Jalen Cropper and David Durden. All three receivers took advantage of the opportunity.

Hungry to prove himself, Flournoy made arguably the best catch of the practice with a beautiful comeback and snag. Trey Lance lofted the pass and left it a little behind Flournoy, but the rookie adjusted and climbed the ladder to haul it in.

It's not hard to notice Flournoy's athleticism. His upside and status as a sixth-round pick may ultimately give him the edge in a crowded WR room. With more plays like that, Flournoy will continue to ascend up the depth chart.

Winner: Caelen Carson

There has been a steady drumbeat of Carson making plays in training camp. That continued when Carson intercepted Jimmy Garoppolo in the red zone. What made the INT all the more impressive is that Carson was just subbed onto the field with the second-team offense.

Even better for Carson is that Nahshon Wright allowed a touchdown on a fade route a couple plays earlier and got a talking to from Mike Zimmer. The fourth round pick out of Wake Forest has been one of the Cowboys' top performers in camp and he's showing no signs of slowing down.

Dud: Ezekiel Elliott

Elliott broke loose for a big run on one of his first carries. His burst was better than expected. However, moments later Elliott coughed up the football amidst a swarm of Rams defenders (h/t Jon Machota for the highlight). He picked up a nice gain again but his ball protection was terrible.

It's tough to depict how Zeke lost the ball, but it looked as though a Rams defender executed a textbook strip tackle. It's not like Elliott got his bell rung. Players took safety precautions being that this it was only a training camp practice and yet the veteran back still couldn't protect the rock.

Elliott projects to lead the Cowboys backfield, but Rico Dowdle turned in an impressive practice on Thursday. One fumble won't cost Zeke the starting job, but his margin for error undoubtedly got smaller with this turnover.

Winner: TE John Stephens

Cowboys fans were eager to see how Stephens looked in his first action against an opposing team since he suffered a torn ACL last year in preseason. Mike McCarthy noted before the joint practice that he just wanted Stephens (and DeMarvion Overshown) to "cross the threshold" as far as testing their knees in a competitive setting.

Stephens, who tacked on some 15 pounds of lean muscle this offseason, looked more than comfortable. He came to a scrambling Dak Prescott's rescue for a touchdown in red zone drills and later caught touchdowns from Cooper Rush and Trey Lance.

Whether Dallas keeps three or four tight ends on the roster, Stephens has to be one of them. He was going to make the team last year before the injury and he looks to have rediscovered that form.

Winner: DT Mazi Smith

Mazi Smith has been subjected to some tough-love coaching during training camp as he looks to rebound from a rough rookie year. That seems to be paying off, as Smith had multiple wins in individual drills against the Rams' offensive line. He showed nice explosion off the ball and his snatch move was surprisingly lethal.

Smith will ultimately be judged by his contributions against the run, but he was utterly dominant in 1v1 pass-rush drills. It's not what anyone expected, but he does have the athleticism to be effective in both facets. The practice was a real sign for optimism with the 2023 first-round pick.

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