Today, the Cowboys officially opened training camp, and, as is tradition, Jerry and the HC took some questions. Much of this is the typical lip service you’ll hear at the start of any training camp, but there were some interesting thoughts regardless. Surprisingly, Jerry was relatively quiet. Still, he’s always good for a solid a quote or three. Also, it’s worth mentioning that they weren’t allowed to discussed anything specific as far as cuts and signings.

Jerryisms —

On the new CBA labor agreement:

“I want to congratulate our commissioner and Dee Smith. We took this into the perfect storm and got the boat back.”

On an off-season of player inactivity:

“I believe they have improved because of that. I think our players are fresher than they normally are when they come into camp.”

On the mayhem that has ensued since the CBA was approved:

“There were no surprises here. We’ve been preparing for months and months and months.”

In response to Dale Henson:

“Would you admit, Dale, that things have changed since Coach Landry coached?”

Jason Garrett —

On how he will prepare the team under the new practice rules:

“Coaches prepared their teams in different ways….If you look at the specifics of the rules…there is a tremendous amount of flexibility to prepare your team within those parameters.”

“You’re allowed to practice in full pads and we feel like that it’s important this time of year….And we will do that.”

“Now we just have to structure the practices differently.”

On whether the veterans will play more in the pre-season:

“We lost a lot of reps in the off-season. We have to adjust accordingly and that will impact how we play these pre-season games.”

On how they’ll make up for an off-season of inactivity:

“Yeah, there is a certain way were are going to do things. The message is the same… We’re going to hit the ground running.”

On player conditioning:

“This year, having not seen our players in a while, it will be particularly interesting to see where our players are.”

On player led off-season work-outs:

“I think a lot of good things happen in football when coaches walk off the field and the players work on things themselves.”

On where the Cowboys need to improve from last year:

“We have to do everything better.”

“In general, last year is last year. We are moving forward. There are a lot of things we can learn from that…..but, obviously, we are moving forward.”

On Romo:

“Anytime you’re a player and you have an opportunity to play, particularly the quarterback position…and then you get that taken away…You have to put the brakes on a little bit…When your perspective changes a little maybe you can get re-energized, get refocused…I think he gained from it…A lot of good things can happen when players get away from coaches….Anytime you are a leader and you have grasp more the of the leadership role….That’s a good thing.”

On Dez:

“The fact that Dez Bryant made such an impact last year gives me confident that he can take over that role this year.”