The roster culls will be coming thick and fast, but Brian Schottenheimer has revealed how players on the roster bubble can avoid being cut.
The Dallas Cowboys are moving through their offseason, and with two preseason games down and just one to go, the time to impress the staff is dwindling.
With roster cuts looming - the deadline to get down to 53 is Sunday, August 30, at 5 p.m. CT - the sense of urgency for players who are on the roster bubble is now at an all-time high.
There isn't much time left to make your case to be part of coach Brian Schottenheimer's team.
That means for the likes of Marist Liufau, Jonathan Mingo, Camden Brown, Julius Wood, Marques Valdez-Scantling, Michael Trigg, Israel Abanikanda just to name a few, they have to produce in a big (or bigger) way soon.
Perhaps the good thing about this offseason is that the level of competition among the roster is such that some people's fan favorites are likely going to be part of the cull.
And for Schottenheimer, he's revealed how players who are fighting for their NFL lives can survive the roster cull.
"The easy answer is special teams," Schottenheimer said. "When you get into really roster spot 45 through 53, those are usually guys that are not starters or premium players. So, you have to find guys that have the versatility to play special teams. Then, quite honestly, when you're going to game-day activations and inactives, that's the other thing. Make no mistakes."
Special teams and mistakes were a constant theme last year for coordinator Nick Sorensen, and that even continued into Dallas' first preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks.
Big returns called back, plus other penalties, the special-teams unit was a shell of what it needs to be.
And Schottenheimer knows it.
Plus, he also delivered a message to those who want/need to make sure they are doing everything right in their attempts to make the team.
"We were not good enough on special teams last year," he added. "We know that. We realize that. It's been a big emphasis. Last week wasn't great. Seattle, I'm talking about. "So, if you want to help yourself, you spend a lot of time with (coaches) Nick Sorensen and Carlos Polk, and you dive into the details of being a part of the big four (kickoffs, kickoff returns, punts, and punt returns)."
So, Schottenheimer has just given those on the roster bubble the ideal cheat sheet to survive the coming roster cuts.
Be a good special-teamer.
