Week 1 is nearly here, and Miller is edging closer to his full Cowboys debut at MetLife Stadium.
FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys are edging closer to their season opener against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium, and that is looming as Von Miller's debut.
Signed a couple of weeks ago to his one-year, $5.5 million contract, the iconic pass-rusher Miller has been ramping up as he gets acclimated to football activities again. We have seen him on the practice field, looking very mobile at age 37 while also helping coach up some of the young edge rushers new coordinator Christian Parker - who is three years younger than Miller - has at his disposal.
Cowboys Nation does have some questions for Miller regarding Week 1 at the Giants. ...
Will he be a pure third-down pass rusher? Or are there going to be times when he can pick up extra snaps? What percentage of the snaps will be scheduled for? Is there a "Miller package'' that will feature him as a self-titled "sack daddy''?
"No, I don't have any plan," Miller said. "But this is my 16th year in the National Football League, I like to think that I'm a coach's dream. I just try to make everybody's job easy, whether it's coaches, players around me, whatever I can do to help contribute to wins.
"That's why I'm here. Whether that's in the locker room, out there on the football field. I'm still a sack daddy, too. So, I have my opportunity to go out there and rush the quarterback as well and contribute to wins.
"But whatever I can do to just contribute to wins, that's what I'm all about."
There will at some point this week, we're quite sure, be a specific plan for Miller's participation, and that will likely vary from week to week.
But a big thread to pull here is that the hometown guy (who grew up in DeSoto and played at Texas A&M) is ready to do whatever it takes to help "America's Team'' succeed.
We know that his signing can be as much about what he can do off the field as a locker-room presence as on it - but at the same time, his nine sacks last season for the Washington Commanders (while playing just 37 percent of the snaps) indicate he's still got gas in his tank.
So it'll be about pressures and hurries and sacks for Miller's team, not just for Miller. Rashan Gary and Donovan Ezeiruaku will start as the EDGE/outside linebackers, and rookies Malachi Lawrence and LT Overton could and others will be taking steps in their development throughout the season.
The Miller plan will eventually be more detailed ... but serving as a multi-pronged helper seems like a great place to start.
