What’s Cowboys Plan at Browns? 3 Problems, 10 Takes: VIDEO

FRISCO - Remember the otherwise-very-good 2023 Dallas Cowboys when faced with a particular trio of circumstances?

Those three bugaboos are back for the 2024 edition of "America's Team,'' and because Week 1 is at Cleveland ... they are wasting no time threatening to get in Dallas way.

Fish's Top 10 Takes as we get ready to roll into Sunday ...

1 - CeeDee Lamb says he's "locked and loaded.'' He's ended his holdout, he's got his four-year, $136 million contract extension with Dallas, and on Thursday he was in pads and in the gameplan.

The "ramp-up'' is all ramped up.

2 - Not to be overlooked ... If Cowboys receiver Brandin Cooks can find a way to get to 1,000 yards this year, he will become the first player in NFL history to record 1,000 receiving yards in a season with five different teams (New Orleans, New England, the Rams and Houston, so far.)

The Cowboys insist they want to run the football. Their talent insists they may be slinging it around the yard ... and Cooks could join Lamb as a big-time beneficiary of that.

3 - Cowboys injury update: Backup tight end John Stephens (hamstring) did not participate on Wednesday or Thursday. No biggie. But now rookie cornerback Caelen Carson (knee) pops up on the list. But ... he was still listed as a full participant in practice.

The foot injury to DaRon Bland means Carson will start on Sunday. ... with Amari Cooper and Jerry Jeudy coming right at him.

4 - Browns injury update: Their problems are in the O-line. Jedrick Wills Jr. (coming back from a knee injury) has said he's not starting. So who plays left tackle?

Said Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson: “It could be James (Hudson), it could be Jack (Conklin). I have trust in both of those guys and whoever else is in that rotation.”

Related: Cowboys' 'Assassin' Micah 'More Than Ready!' For Browns Test

Conklin is capable. Hudson is less so. Watson talking of an O-line "rotation'' doesn't sound great ... except maybe to Micah Parsons.

5 - Speaking of blocking ... rookie left tackle Tyler Guyton vs. Myles Garrett is a spotlight matchup. Guyton has termed Garrett a "genetic freak,'' and knows he'll be tested by the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.

Related: Can Tyler Guyton 'Do My Job' vs. Myles Garrett?

In terms of the Dallas gameplan? Last year, about one-third of the time NFL foes double-teamed Garrett (as they did Parsons). Guyton - promising though the first-rounder is - might need help more often than that.

6 - Trivia! Browns defensive back Grant Delpit and Lamb were best friends as kids, the two best players on a team of middle school-aged kids on Texas' "Fort Bend Express,'' an elite travel team that boasts three unbeaten, state championships seasons in a row from 2010-12.

7 - Deshaun Watson will play his first game since suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in November. He sure is talking confidently for a guy who hasn't done much of anything for a loooong time.

Will he shake off the rust? Or will the Cowboys shake up his confidence?

Related: Dak From The Heart: Wants Super Bowl 'Here' With Cowboys

Dak Prescott has a lot to wrap his head around right now. But so does Deshaun.

8 - OK, here's that Troublesome Trio: Last year, Dallas was a crummy 4-5 on the road. What came up to bite them? In short, when the Cowboys a) played on the road and b) played on grass and c) faced a quality team ... Dallas lost.

Cleveland, meanwhile, was 8-1 at home. Meaning ... this Cowboys game will be played on the road, on the grass, against a good team. Problem. Problem. Problem.

9 - Dallas history lesson: This franchise is 40-23-1 (.633) all-time in season openers, the second-highest winning percentage in the league in that category behind Denver (40-22-1, .645).

Is there a reason for that? Who knows? But coach Mike McCarthy might want to add that to his "ROOTED'' team-theme push.

10 - Prediction? We'll do it on Friday night at Fish at 6 ... but for now, we will note that Dallas is a 2.5-point underdog vs. the Browns - and that that's too much.

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