Biggest Takeaways From Hard Knocks Episode: 1
Hard Knocks is back!!! That means that football is coming back, thank god. In the 16th season of the hit series Hard Knocks, the team featured is “America’s Team,” the Dallas Cowboys. The episode opens up with quarterback Dak Prescott talking about his rough year in 2020, which included losing his brother to suicide as well as a season-ending ankle injury. He opens up to crew members interviewing him that he had to have two surgeries to repair his ankle. The Cowboys proved they believe in their quarterback despite the injury by signing him to a new massive deal.
More bad news would come from the Cowboys’ quarterback as Dak Prescott would suffer a shoulder strain in his throwing shoulder while warming up. He would immediately have trainers look at his shoulder. The injury does not look bad right now, but if rushed back, it could turn out a whole lot worse. Jones’s plans of returning to the Super bowl heavily rely on the shoulders of Dak. Jerry Jones referred to his aspirations of how bad he just wanted to return to the Super Bowl in this episode, not even to win it, which was a weird comment.
Micah Parsons, the first-round pick for the Dallas Cowboys in the 2021 draft, is the early star of the show. Parsons has a huge personality and skillset that perfectly fits Hard Knocks. The corny coach theme came out early, as always they do in the series. Head Coach Mike McCarthy showed the team the film “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me,” using the term “mojo,” which is commonly used in the film, to motivate his players. The whole team yells “Mojo moment,” which has become somewhat of a staple for the team, as the film’s theme plays in the background.
First Pre-Season Game
The Hall of Fame Game is the inaugural first game of the pre-season. All Hall of Fame inductee’s come to Canton, Ohio, to watch the first game before ceremonies that weekend. There were smiles all around from Cowboys players as they were ready for their first game of the 2021 season. Rookie Micah Parsons, already doing the play-calling in his first game, would recover a fumble on the Cowboys’ first defensive drive. He showed flashes that he could be the ball-hawk multi versatile player that they expect him to be. He would pout to defensive coordinator Dan Quinn when he was pulled from the game. The Cowboys would lose the game to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Expect much more in the second episode as there will be more storylines and hard hits in Hard Knocks.
