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Tuesday night’s episode “Hard Knocks” starring the Dallas Cowboys – the first in HBO’s new season – opens with a photo of a gnarly scar on Dak Prescott’s ankle.
The Cowboys quarterback reveals in the opening clip that he has had two surgeries to repair the open fracture he suffered last October during a game against the New York Giants.
Prescott admits he has a lot of scars. One is on his face. Others are emotional. Before his season-ending injury, he lost his brother, Jace Prescott, to suicide.
At Cowboys Camp in Oxnard, Calif., He says this year will be different: a season of “triumph”.
Despite this optimism, the episode is largely characterized by Prescott’s frustration as he returns to football after his injury.
Coaches remove him from a workout when they feel he has reached his threshold for the day. The magic number for Prescott’s activity limit is a GPS measurement of 575. While chatting with his teammates on the sidelines, Prescott said, “I sat down enough last year.” Another day he craned his shoulder as he pitched, so the coaches sidelined him again.
Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, Prescott’s best friend, lights up his mood days later with a thoughtful birthday present: dark blue luggage. It looks expensive.
Elliott wrapped it himself. In one scene, the running back watches a YouTube video on the best way to wrap the gift before deciding to fly it.
A bright yellow birthday cake also brings a smile to Prescott’s face before the team heads to Canton, Ohio for the Hall of Fame preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The quarterback is not making the trip, so he cannot use this new baggage yet.
Prescott isn’t the only one with frustrations in the episode. Rookie linebacker Micah Parsons wants more playing time after making good plays in the first half of the Hall of Game game. He’s fast and strong. He can strike and he gets a fumble. But Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn tells him over the phone that he’ll be playing in the other preseason games.
“I was just starting to feel comfortable,” Parsons told a teammate on the sidelines.
Parsons’ youth shows throughout. Hungry in the middle of a practice, the rookie mentions that snacks were always available for players while he was at Penn State.
At half-time in the preseason, he checks to see if there are any oranges left before the camera leans in to show him indulging in citrus. Parsons’ mother suddenly says that she thinks he will win Rookie of the Year.
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy also has big aspirations for the season. “It’s about winning,” he tells the team in a clip. McCarthy points out that this is a year of the Super Bowl or bust genre.
He motivates the team with an “Austin Powers” reference to having a “mojo” to keep players’ momentum in games. A group of players seem to agree with the use of the benchmark.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is equally desperate for a championship 26 years after his last Lombardi Trophy. He told reporters in one scene he would do “whatever man knows to get into a Super Bowl.” Jones even cries a little.
The franchise owner is also still very involved in the operations of the team. In one clip, he eats a breakfast sandwich while on the phone with a sports trainer. They discuss Prescott’s health.
Of course, the episode isn’t entirely serious. The narrator says everyone at Oxnard has a great time relaxing and riding their bikes, but players are still worried about getting cut.
This is the perfect set-up (and pun) for the next scene which features Special Teams Coordinator John “Bones” Fassel talking about having a vasectomy in front of a group of laughing players. . It is reminiscent of the scene from the “Dinner Party” episode of “The Office”.
The friendship between Elliott and Prescott also highlights the episode. Parsons’ energy makes him a charming character. And wide receiver CeeDee Lamb is a big hype man. He tells Parsons in a clip that he has to buy new cleats because of his big plays in the preseason game. The rookie linebacker responds and says he’ll call Nike.
Prescott, however, was the main draw of the first episode of “Hard Knocks”. He seems all set for the new season as long as his body allows it.
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