At the start of training camp, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said his expectations in Oxnard are for the team to have "physical a-- practices."

He's gotten that and them some. 

The number of fist fights that have broken out in practice has caught the attention, or one can say ire, of Schottenheimer. 

"Here's the deal, I love the intensity," Schottenheimer said. "I love the way they're practicing, but Ii went too far. I had warned them before, and I've made it very clear. We are not throwing punches. If you throw a punch, there's going to be consequences, just like in a game, and you're out of practice."

That said, his franchise quarterback, Dak Prescott, thinks differently.

"I think it's a good thing," Prescott said. "It's football. It's high emotions. You got guys out here practicing and competing for their life… competing for their job. You've got to have that edge. They're being taught and told to compete every day. Some guys compete in different ways. You're going to have those disagreements, but they've been doing a good job of, for the most part, hyping each other up. I think there's a fine line, and we're flirting with it. I think that's healthy."

Prescott knows first-hand what it means to compete for a starting job.

As a fourth-round selection in the 2016 NFL Draft, Prescott was placed behind Tony Romo and Kellen Moore in the depth chart in his first trip to Oxnard.

It took Moore breaking his right fibula and Romo suffering a vertebral compression fracture in a preseason game for Prescott to get his opportunity.

The rest is history.

Now, as a 10-year NFL veteran, he's stayed consistent with that high-intensity approach years later.

"The very first one, I was just trying to get a job," Prescott said when asked about what his mentality was for his first camp. "As guys got injured, it was about showing that I can do it and showing that I belonged. I think if anyone knows me and spent some time with me outside of this base, you understand that I want to get better each and every day in every way that I can. I can't say that's changed from 24-year-old Dak in his second year to now."

Since Schottenheimer was named head coach, Prescott has been one of the players who has emulated his head coach's contagious energy the most. 

The 3x pro-bowler is often spotted enthusiastically leading the first team drill to get his teammates' blood flowing.

"I think that's who I am as much as anything," Prescott said. "Honestly, I was told not to do those drills just from health. I'm not about to sit there, cross my arms and watch them. The whole point of the drill is to get some juice going. If I've got to be the hype man, that's what I'm going to do. It's probably why I'm losing my voice."

Prescott is coming off a season-ending hamstring injury that cost him the final nine games of the 2024 season. 

Now that he is fully healthy, Prescott is embracing the challenge of taking the Cowboys to their first Super Bowl in 30 years.

"Schotty said it on day one, 'If you don't want to win a Super Bowl, or don't think we can win a Super Bowl, then don't come to Oxnard,'" Prescott said. "We know the standard when you wear the star. We know the expectations. I credit Schotty from not shying from it. You've got to take the steps each and every day with that in the forefront of your mind. We don't need to peak right now, but we do need to make sure we are getting better.

• NFL
• Dak Prescott
• Dallas Cowboys