Are Cowboys Better Off With Mike Zimmer than With Dan Quinn? Commanders Tracker

AUG 8 DQ VS. ZIM Dan Quinn is trying to make a bad thing good.

Mike Zimmer is trying to make a good thing better.

What does that mean for those who try to compare two of the NFL's top defensive minds?

It means ... There is a difference between "different'' and "better.''

Dallas legend Darren Woodson believes that the hiring of Mike Zimmer to replace Dan Quinn as the Cowboys defensive coordinator is exactly "the shock this team needs.''

"He's going to coach hard,'' said Woodson, who played under Zimmer in the Cowboys' Super Bowl era of the 1990s. "He is tough. Hard-nosed. He is not going to be your best friend - he's just not. Some players will not want to play for him, because the expectations will be harder than in the last few years.''

Zimmer, Woodson said, "is the shock this team needs.''

Are the positive vibes a criticism of the work of predecessor Quinn, now the head coach in Washington? Not exactly. But "DQ's'' style? He was indeed a "best friend'' to his players.

That might just work with Washington ... Just like Zimmer's gruff approach might just work for the Cowboys.

Not "better.'' Just "different.''

JULY 22 GREEN SET Darrell Green is among Washington's greatest players in franchise history, with two Super Bowls and a jersey that ...

Will never be worn in Washington again.

"No. 28,'' a seven-time Pro Bowler, four-time All-Pro, member of the Commanders Ring of Fame and 1996 Walter Payton Man of the Year, will have his jersey retired in Week ... this year in a Week 7 game against visiting Carolina.

"I'm humbly grateful," Green said recently. "I feel like crying just thinking about it right now. This means a lot to me."

JULY 22 DALLAS DELAY The Commanders' arch-rival Dallas Cowboys will be opening training camp on time, with a first workout on Thursday in Oxnard.

But team owner Jerry Jones won't make it on time.

Oxnard, California, is normally the site for Jones' annual state-of-the-union press conference to kick off training camp. That was supposed to happen at mid-week.

But the opening press conference originally scheduled for Wednesday has been moved to Saturday. A Cowboys spokesman says the rescheduling is necessary because Jones will be in a Texarkana federal courthouse testifying as part of a paternity lawsuit.

JULY 21: BIDEN STEPPING DOWN President Joe Biden says in a Sunday statement on Twitter that he is voluntarily stepping down as a candidate in the 2024 election, adding that he will speak to the nation “later this week” about his decision.

Many Democrats have publicly urged the 81-year-old to step aside after his wobbly debate performance last month against Republican challenger Donald Trump, 78.

This is obviously a far-ranging decision, in so many ways and for so many reasons ... that extend well beyond sports. ... and well beyond the Beltline.

JULY 21 JAY SPEAKS Jay Gruden is an outspoken analyst, as Washington fans know. And he's got a couple of hotties as it relates to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers , which once employed the former Redskins head coach as an assistant.

On his Clean Pocket podcast, Gruden predicts ...

-That the Bucs will win this year's NFC South.

-That the Atlanta Falcons, in part, because tight end Kyle Pitts is the most overrated player in the division, will flop.

-And that Tampa Bay losing offensive coordinator Dave Canales is really no loss at all.

JULY 21 WHAT'S THE BEEF? Troy Aikman has his own beer - called, what else?, EIGHT.

Meanwhile, the Ravens' Lamar Jackson believes he is No. 8 - and he's filed a lawsuit in an attempt to prove it .

Jackson is challenging Aikman's use of their shared "No. 8'' in a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office complaint, according to federal records .

Lamar, legally, might have a leg to stand on. He does indeed, it seems, hold the patent on "No. 8.'' (Yes, such a thing is legal.)

It could be argued that Aikman's "EIGHT" is different that Lamar's "No. 8.'' It could also be argued that Lamar is wrong in charging that "EIGHT'' emblazoned on apparel and bags would be "likely to cause confusion, or cause mistake, or to deceive" the purchasing public as to whether they're buying products from Jackson or from Aikman company.

The Dallas Cowboys legend's classy and clever solution to the beef?

He's invited Lamar to meet up with him for a beer. EIGHT beer, of course.

JULY 18 PREZ OUT Jason Wright is no longer the president of the Commanders, the team announced on Thursday .

Wright will remain in a senior advisory role before leaving the organization - which is being overseen by new owner Josh Harris, who arrived here after Dan Snyder’s hiring of Wright - after the 2024 season.

Wright, 42, became the first Black team president in the history of the NFL when he took the job in August 2020 and he also became youngest team president in the league.