Brandin Cooks Exits Training Camp

Dallas Cowboys receiver Brandin Cooks has served as mentor he has been to the younger players in the room at this training camp in Oxnard.

He's also served as the top target for QB Dak Prescott during No. 1 wideout CeeDee Lamb's contract holdout.

But Brandin Cooks, the teacher and the player, is going to be absent from this week's final work.

Last season, Cooks developed into one of Prescott's most trusted weapons as he hauled in eight touchdowns, and now, in his second season with the Cowboys, he's looking to be even more consistently threatening to defenses.

Head coach Mike McCarthy made sure to mention that Cooks has consistently turned heads in Oxnard with his play-making ability.

“The fact of the matter is he's having a hell of a camp,” McCarthy said recently “I mean, we had a statistic last week to put up that two out of every three catches that he's made in the team work has been either a touchdown or a big play. So yeah, he's had a great offseason, he's always in peak condition, he has been an outstanding mentor, but I really think just in my time with him, he's at the top of his game.”

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But on Tuesday, a new angle:

McCarthy announced that Cooks is departing camp and won't return to Oxnard, with the plan instead to rejoin the team back in Texas.

"Everything is good," McCarthy said of the needed personal time, suggesting that the exit is not due to a nagging knee issue or anything else serious. "It's a good thing. But he won't practice today or tomorrow."

Dallas will be missing something during these days - a little thin at receiver with no Lamb and no Cooks.

Hopefully both of those issues get resolved in a timely manner.