At this point in training camp, players have grown tired of lining up against their own teammates. The prospect of cranking up the intensity against guys in different-colored uniforms is always a welcome novelty.
Tuesday saw the Cowboys take a little trip eastbound on US-101, leaving behind their summer homebase in Oxnard for a joint practice with the Los Angeles Rams in Woodland Hills, Calif. And while the host team elected not to allow any fans to be present or cellphone video to be taken of anything other than individual drills and stretching, the assembled media provided followers with minute-by-minute reports on social media of how things went down once it went to offense-versus-defense on two adjoining fields.
Both Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer and Rams head coach Sean McVay had hinted they'd be playing things close to the vest in this practice session, especially since the two teams will face each other for real in Week 15 of the season. That means fairly vanilla playcalling and somewhat limited previews of things like personnel groupings and formations.
But the day nevertheless saw several Cowboys step up and make an impression, and the overall verdict on the team as a whole- especially Christian Parker's new-look defense- is that the 2026 Cowboys look much improved over the unit that got bullied by the Rams in a joint practice last summer.
Here's a taste of how the workout went, as told by the reporters on the ground.
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys defense shines in joint practice with Rams; big day for Revel, Overshown, Barron