Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer canceled the final minicamp practice and instead conducted the mandatory meetings. The team is officially off the clock now, and can take the extra time to cool themselves down. A special someone attending this session got the honor to mark the official end of minicamp.

“Rick Burkhead, a lead security representative for the NFL in North Texas taking part in the meetings, hit a free throw today in one of the meetings to officially cancel today’s walkthrough,” Fortworth Star-Telegram’s Nick Harris wrote on X. “The former FBI agent father of Rex Burkhead got a lot of cheers on his way out.”

“I honestly didn’t think that Rick Burkhead would make the shot,” Schottenheimer said at the press conference on June 18.

Rex Burkhead played running back in the league, and was with the Cincinnati Bengals, New England Patriots, and the Houston Texans. His father, Rick, used to coach him when he was a child, and was managing his FBI career even when Rex was playing in the NFL. Rick lives in Texas.

The Cowboys chose to send players off early like a few other teams. The Denver Broncos, Tampa Bay Buccaneers have also called off their lasr practice sessions on the minicamp schedule. The Los Angeles Rams skipped minicamp entirely. Everyone wants to be better rested by the time the training camp comes around.

Schottenheimer, however, was “happy” with how these past few weeks have transpired for the Cowboys.

“I think we got a lot of really good things done,” he said. “I’ve done more seven-on-seven than I ever want to do again in my life  in my life, but it’s kind of what we need to do.”

The Cowboys should have that spirit, because boy, do they need it. Schottenheimer cannot afford a result like last year, with the defense tanking the whole campaign. The top brass have orchestrated an overhaul, and are building something exciting with new defensive coordinator Christian Parker and the other additions. When the team rejoins in training camp, they’ll appreciate mincamp ending early.

Per Schottenheimer, padded practices will see an uptick. The weekly routines will be differentiated on a light, medium, and heavy basis. And there will be joint practices with the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints. Following the training camp, the NFL world gets to see the new-look Dallas Cowboys for the first time in the preseason games.

They’ll first face off against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field in Week 1 (August 15, 2026). Next, they’ll take on the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium on August 22. And in Week 3, the Cowboys will compete against the New Orleans Saints at home. That will help them build up the mass for the regular season game against the New York Giants on September 13.