FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Tuesday the staff has held concepts back through the preseason and will not open the New York Giants game plan until Monday.
Dallas practiced early Tuesday to get the players into the heat and closed the session with conditioning. Schottenheimer said the team will practice in pads Wednesday at about the same time.
“The biggest thing that I want to emphasize is this week is, there’s things that you hold, Todd. Like there’s a scheme that you hold until your roster is a little bit more put together. It’s never finalized. This thing changes fast,” Schottenheimer said. “But there’s some concepts and things that we’ve held that we haven’t shown because we know teams are going to be, players are going to be moving all over. So when I talk about taking care of yourself and the self-scout and primary, secondary, game plan specific, slots for all of your scheme, that’s first. And then you begin the process of looking at the Giants. Last night I looked at a little bit of Tennessee film, Tennessee Titan film and Denard Wilson’s defense. But I’m not diving in.”
“We’ll have a Monday practice where it’s all carded and we begin our process into the Giants, but then the players get Tuesday off. It’s all part of the league-mandated break these guys get,” Schottenheimer continued. “So the cadence that we hope for is that we get a little bit ahead this week but without going overboard because we don’t want to waste time next week. We’ll get some work Monday, try some things maybe that we like but don’t have a ton of history in and see if those make it to the final cut. And then once Tuesday hits, we’re into a normal game plan, game in season mode.”
The Dallas Cowboys’ Practice Week
Players are off Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. They return Monday and then take Tuesday off under the league-mandated break.
Monday’s session was a lighter phase two day after the players were off Saturday and Sunday.
“They come off the two days off, so they were off Saturday and Sunday. Yesterday we did a little bit of work. It’s more of a phase two day. I wanted to get them moving and have reps for today to get their bodies back to it,” Schottenheimer said. “But then they get Friday, Saturday, Sunday off. They’re back Monday and off Tuesday. So we’re grinders, we’re workers, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Rio de Janeiro, Houston, And A Thursday Night
Dallas opens at the Giants on Sunday, Sept. 13. Kickoff at MetLife Stadium is set for 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC.
The Cowboys host the Washington Commanders in the home opener on Sept. 20 at 3:25 p.m. CT on FOX. Dan Quinn enters his third season as Washington’s head coach.
Week 3 sends Dallas to Rio de Janeiro. The Cowboys are the designated home team against the Baltimore Ravens at Maracanã Stadium on Sept. 27 at 3:25 p.m. CT on CBS. It is the first NFL regular season game played in Rio and the first Cowboys game outside the United States since 2014, when they beat Jacksonville at Wembley Stadium in London. Dallas gave up a date at AT&T Stadium to take it.
Maracanã holds more than 70,000. The venue hosted the 1950 and 2014 World Cup finals and the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympics.
The Cowboys play at the Houston Texans on Oct. 4 at noon CT, then host Tampa Bay on a Thursday night on Oct. 8 at 7:15 p.m. CT.
“You come out of training camp and each one is looked at separately. We’ve got an idea of how we want to do it,” Schottenheimer said. “When you come back from Rio, it’s a long trip. And so you talk about, do you give them a day off, two days off, Monday, Tuesday, getting ready to go to Houston, play a physical opponent. Then you come off of Houston, you got a short week with Tampa Bay.”
“What I love about this group, Todd, is they work. They trust us. Today, it was pretty hot. It was getting hot, but we wanted to do a little bit of running. It’s what was scripted, and so we did the 620s,” Schottenheimer continued. “The sports science is important, and it’s a tricky little start to the season, but one that you need to be able to handle through the gauntlet that is an NFL regular season.”
The Dallas Cowboys’ 2026 Travel And Bye
Dallas will travel roughly 27,980 miles this season, among the heaviest loads in the league. The bye falls in Week 14 after 13 straight games, the latest bye the club has had since 1990.
Dallas finished 7-9-1 last season. Christian Parker replaced Matt Eberflus as defensive coordinator, and Klayton Adams returns as offensive coordinator.
