OXNARD, Calif. — Tuesday’s joint practice between the Dallas Cowboys and the New Orleans Saints came close to being called off. Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer and Saints coach Kellen Moore agreed on the field that another incident or two would end the session early.
Donovan Ezeiruaku was thrown out for throwing a punch. It was the second time this month that Ezeiruaku has been removed from a practice for fighting, after he was pulled from the Aug. 6 session in Oxnard.
More than one player threw a punch, Schottenheimer said, and the rest of them are on the tape.
“When you’re playing head coach and you’re on both fields, you don’t see everything,” Schottenheimer said. “So it was reported back to me that Donovan threw a punch. And so that’s what made us enforce the issue.”
Dallas took Ezeiruaku in the second round in 2025 with the 44th overall pick. He moved into a full-time starting role in Week 9 and finished his rookie season with 40 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, and 2 sacks. In Week 18 at the New York Giants, he was ejected for pulling an offensive lineman’s helmet off during a skirmish. He switched to No. 6 for this season.
Brian Schottenheimer Was Disappointed In The Work
The chippiness ran both ways from early on, and the session settled down before it finished.
“It’s unfortunate,” Schottenheimer said. “Honestly, I got to go look at the film because I was playing referee the whole time. And the one thing I have learned is I don’t get in the fights. I stay back. But our football team needs this work. And overall I was disappointed in the work today because I didn’t think we got enough good work. I thought there were too many bodies on the ground, and it just felt sloppy to me. So it is what it is.”
Tuesday was the second joint session of camp. The Los Angeles Rams came to Oxnard on Aug. 11, and the Cowboys played their preseason opener four days later, a 17-7 win at the Seattle Seahawks with the starters held out. For the players who are not dressing in August, the joint practices are the only full contact against another roster they get before Week 1.
Dallas and New Orleans practice different ways, Schottenheimer said, and either way he counted too many players on the ground.
“Kel and I talked about a couple different things, and we decided once it settled down, we kind of had agreed that if a couple other things happened, we would cancel it,” Schottenheimer explained. “But they worked through it. They settled into it. But there’s a discipline element to playing this football game, and unfortunately we didn’t handle that very well today. But I don’t think [we] were the only culprits.”
Brian Schottenheimer On Playing On The Edge In 2026
Schottenheimer said the practice has been addressed with the team already and will be addressed again. Dallas huddled at length on the field afterward.
“It was more about mindset, mentality, ability to refocus when bad stuff happens,” Schottenheimer said. “And we’re going to play on the edge. And we’re not going to take [it] from anybody. But at the same time, I don’t think that they were the only ones stirring up the [expletive]. I think we might have been stirring it up as well. But it was a sloppy practice all in all, and it’s got to get better.”
Open practices in Oxnard close with Tuesday’s session. The Cowboys play at the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday at 9 p.m. CT, then finish the preseason against the Saints on Aug. 28 at AT&T Stadium.
