FRISCO, Texas — Sam Howell said Wednesday that the Dallas Cowboys have not started looking at the New Orleans Saints and will begin Thursday, two days before the preseason finale.
Preseason opponents run simpler and do things they would not do in the regular season, Howell said, so the film only tells him so much.
“We’ve been focusing on our training camp here against each other. We haven’t really started looking at the Saints yet. We’ll start on that tomorrow,” Howell said. “I’m sure we’ll look at the practice and see what we did and see if there’s some things we could use for the game. But preseason, you never know what you’re going to get. Teams are usually more simple, and they try to do things that they don’t usually do in the season. So we’ll see how it goes. But we’ll definitely have some type of plan for sure.”
Sam Howell On Competing With Joe Milton III
Howell and Joe Milton III have spent camp pushing each other, and Howell said he has a ton of respect for him.
“It’s been fun. I feel like we’ve made each other better,” Howell said. “I think that’s the main thing is we’ve been trying to push each other. Joe’s a great guy. He’s a great player. I have a ton of respect for him. We’ve been trying to make each other better this whole camp, and I feel like we’ve done that.”
Nothing is left on Howell’s list for Friday beyond playing well.
“I wouldn’t say there’s one specific thing,” Howell explained. “I feel like I put together a good camp, and I feel like I’m playing some good ball. Just got to go out there on Friday, one more opportunity, and put my best foot forward.”
Where The Competition Stands
Howell started the preseason opener at Seattle on Aug. 15. Across two games, he has completed 15 of 22 passes for 159 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Milton started at Arizona on Aug. 22. His two-game line is 21-of-28 for 286 yards with three touchdowns, plus a rushing score.
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Wednesday that no decision has been made on Friday’s starter and that both quarterbacks will play.
Dallas signed Howell in March. Washington took him 144th overall in the fifth round in 2022, out of North Carolina. He has completed 404 of 645 passes for 4,139 yards across four seasons, with 22 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. He started 17 games for Washington in 2023.
This is Howell’s first camp with Dallas. The Cowboys spent three weeks at River Ridge Playing Fields in Oxnard, California, and returned to The Star on Aug. 24 for two night practices open to fans.
Howell has played for four teams since Washington drafted him, with stops in Seattle, Minnesota, and Philadelphia before Dallas. Milton took 51 offensive snaps for the Cowboys in 2025, 4.30% of the team’s total, behind Dak Prescott. Prescott played 95.70% of them and finished 404 of 600 for 4,552 yards with 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Dallas is 2-0 this preseason after winning 17-7 in Seattle and 34-13 in Arizona, and sat 29 players in the second of those. The Cowboys have to move 37 players off the 90-man roster.
Friday’s finale kicks off at 7 p.m. CT at AT&T Stadium and airs on CBS locally. Rosters must be at 53 players by 5 p.m. CT Sunday, Aug. 30. Dallas opens the regular season Sunday, Sept. 13, at the New York Giants at 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC.
