You hope the last two days for the Dallas Cowboys in this new virtual world of the NFL draft comes off better on Thursday night when they're on the clock.
Tuesday afternoon, the mandatory news conference NFL teams must have with the media to discuss draft plans, was late by at least 30 minutes. At first, Jerry Jones, the Cowboys owner and general manager was sitting there in his living room waiting as reporters just watched him watch a screen.
Then the head coach, Mike McCarthy showed up, sitting in front of a slate-like wall at his apartment.
Stephen Jones, the executive vice president, was missing from the video conference call. He was finishing a radio interview but he arrived to the party later, sitting somewhere in his home.
Once the call started, a few reporters couldn't get their questions heard during the nearly 60-minute virtual news conference.
Jerry Jones noted the wifi connection was better when conducting team and league business than it was on Tuesday.
Of course those technical problems are with the media.
On Monday there was a dress rehearsal, a mock draft for all 32 teams to work out any technical issues. The Cowboys, picking at No. 17, offered a trade to the Bengals, selecting No. 1 overall. The Cowboys have made 70 trades in the Jerry Jones era so why not start a mock draft with a trade as the participants are sitting in their living rooms, dining rooms and kitchens.
"When we had glitches, one of the keys to me was to have backups, backups and backups to execute trades or to execute the business of the draft," Jones said. "We had that. We exercised that. We used backups. We handled circumstances that could possibly happen during the draft, on the draft board. I thought that was handled very well."
There appeared to be a communication issue between the Cowboys and Bengals in this virtual mock draft, but it was solved quickly.
"As it turns out, we had one that happened right in the middle of our selection," Jones said. "We were in the middle of a trade. So the bottom line is we've rehearsed that. I'm very comfortable that the capability is very much here to have an exciting, if you will, not only an efficient and not only one that has complete fairness in it. I think it will also allow, if you will, for the creativeness of trades."
Whatever issues the Cowboys encountered the previous 48 hours should be cleared by Thursday. Team officials stressed everything has gone well in this new virtual meeting world.
When it comes to the bottom line, however the Cowboys get their pick in on Thursday night, by flip phone, smart phone, landline or dial up, the owner of the team is comfortable.
"I like our 17th hole," he said. "I like the spot we're in at 17. There's quality without a question at very, very creative to the Dallas Cowboys. There's quality players there and should be there in each round."
The Cowboys have needs and the men on the video conference call wouldn't get into specifics about what they are. Yet it's clear the organization can go in different directions.
Jones expressed if the Cowboys wanted to trade up to get a player of tremendous value that's possible. The draft experts believe defense is an issue for the Cowboys especially along the defensive line and secondary.
"I just think it all depends on the board," Stephen Jones said. "We try to, every year, in free agency do what we need to do to feel good about our team regardless of what we pick in the draft. I think we've done a good job of that."
This virtual world, where video conferencing takes the place for offseason meetings with veteran players and coaches and talking to draft picks might hit a snag or two.
The wifi could go down. Power lines for a team picking ahead of the Cowboys might delay everything. So many what ifs, more so than who the Cowboys select Thursday night.
Thursday night will be interesting television.
"We're all in our homes," McCarthy said. "We spend a lot of times going through each and every prospect, so it's given us a chance to take a couple of laps through the draft board, especially for the first time going through it with Jerry and Stephen and the personnel staff. It's been very organized. I've been very impressed."
