Mick Shots: The Maz busting out of his shell

FRISCO, Texas – The Maz is starting to emerge out of Mazi Smith’s shell.

​Saw him smile the other day in the locker room. Saw and listened to him speak to the media on Monday after the Cowboys’ 20-15 victory over the New York Giants on Thursday night. Even hung back for a little one-on-one with a couple of us.

Seemed relaxed, more at ease with himself, sort of resembling the guy when he first arrived at The Star more than a year ago as the Cowboys’ 2023 first-round draft choice out of Michigan. The expectations were high that he would instantly become the missing anchor on a defensive line in need of massive help, and that word has a two-way meaning: Massive as in size but also need.

Why, the defensive tackle at Michigan once bench-pressed 325 pounds 22 times. Seriously. But when he arrived, smiling, he didn’t seem like some monster from another world.

His mom, Kenya, described Mazi as “as a jokester,” pointing out “laughter makes life easier.”

Well, life was not easy for Mazi in his rookie season. His weight dropped. So did his play. So did the smiles. Then there was the shoulder injury. Offseason surgery and rehab. Never looked like he was having any fun.

But four games into this season we are seeing a metamorphous taking place. The once again 328-pounder has started all four games at nose tackle. Has played 128 snaps, 47.9 percent of the defensive snaps, second most among the defensive tackles, behind only veteran Osa Odighizuwa.

Suddenly, they are calling his name. Mazi, having nicknamed him last year “The Maz,” has eight tackles in four games, seven of those in the past two games, three against the Ravens and four more this past Sunday night against the Giants. That puts him on pace for 38 tackles over 17 games, health willing. He also has one sack and four QB pressures, compared to last year’s totals of 15 tackles, one sack, two TFLs and five QB pressures.

“I think Mazi has a lot more confidence right now,” defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer said after the Giants game. “When we got to training camp, I’m not sure he had that kind of confidence, but I think it’s continued to grow. The more times you catch him doing things right, the better he does things. Hopefully, he’s walking around with his head high and his chest out this week.”

Think he was. That was Mazi in the locker room on Monday. Not as hesitant to answer questions. More at ease. Creased a smile. Shook hands at the end.

“I want to pull my weight,” Mazi said after the media horde had their fill. “I don’t want to be dead weight.”

The Cowboys can only hope these last couple of games were not a, uh, shot in the dark. That The Maz continues to throw that “weight” around.

• When It Rains: Bad enough the Cowboys will be without Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence for at least the Pittsburgh game, and Lawrence on IR for at least the mandatory four weeks with the Lisfranc foot injury, but now they also will be missing wide receiver Brandin Cooks for at the very least this game with a leg infection after receiving platelet knee injections following the Giants game in New York. And in this case, yep, it’s next men up. That means, in all likelihood, Jalen Tolbert moves up to the No. 2 receiver behind CeeDee Lamb, and after that, it’s KaVontae Turpin, Jalen Brooks and most likely rookie Ryan Flournoy rotating in as the third and fourth receivers. Boy, would like to see Turpin getting more snaps to unleash that speed on the Steelers, causing them to maybe limit the double-teams on Lamb. Cowboys will also still be without starting corner DaRon Bland, probably targeting a post-bye return, but at least his replacement, Caelen Carson, who missed the Giants game with a shoulder issue, returned to practice Wednesday on a limited basis.
• Cowboys Welcome: Certainly recently signed defensive end K.J. (Keith Jeramiah) Henry must have been startled during his first practice with the Cowboys to see owner Jerry Jones’ helicopter land out here at The Star, causing him to ask a teammate, “Is this an everyday thing?” The Cowboys poached the second-year defensive end off the Bengals practice squad, which guarantees him a minimum of at least three weeks on the 53-man roster. Got here on Tuesday yet says he’s ready to go. “Helps that me and Z worked together last year in Washington.” That is in reference to Cowboys defensive line coach Jeff Zgonina, last year with the Commanders who drafted Henry in the fifth round. He played in 10 games for Washington, starting three. Was released on the final cuts this summer, picked up by Cincinnati, where he played the first two games before being released and re-signed to the practice squad.
• Of All things: With daily questions being asked about why the Cowboys haven’t elevated practice squad running back Dalvin Cook yet to appear in a game, bet sirens went off at the start of practice Wednesday when media members didn’t see No. 20 on the practice field. Settle down. Cook was out with an illness, and wasn’t going to be activated anyway for this Pittsburgh game. The Cowboys know they will elevate defensive end Carl Lawson for the third and final time off the practice squad, and a good chance, after the way he played against the Giants, also cornerback Amani Oruwariye again. No one, though, seems to have anything bad to say about Cook. Jets head coach Robert Saleh said after letting him go toward the end of last season, “It didn’t work out.” Then there was Ravens head coach John Harbaugh saying after bringing him in for the playoffs, “He’s in great shape, he’s in football shape. He’s been playing football. I think he’s going to be a valuable part of our team and in the playoffs here.” Yet Cook played just nine snaps in the Ravens’ first playoff game, six of his eight carries (23 yards) with the Ravens salting away the victory over Houston, and then didn’t play in the AFC title game against Kansas City.
• Pitt Stops: The Steelers aren’t without injury issues themselves, having to place starting right guard James Daniels (Achilles) on injured reserve. Outside linebacker Alex Highsmith likely will be out with a groin issue causing him to miss practice on Wednesday … Seems even though with quarterback Russell Wilson at least practicing on a limited basis Wednesday, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is going to stick with Justin Fields, who started the first four games of the season. Tomlin said recently when asked what Fields needs to do to keep his starting job, “Play well, win. That’s our business.” … The Steelers seem a bit concerned about their wide receiver position, because after No. 1 George Pickens, who has 20 catches for 316 yards, their next three guys – Van Jefferson, Calvin Austin and Scotty Mills – have combined for 14 catches and 192 yards, 95 of those yards coming on one Austin catch … Looks as though Bland might be starting his 21-day ramp-up period to come off injured reserve (fractured fifth metatarsal) soon, seen on the field working on the resistance cords with associate trainer Britt Brown … Though Rico Dowdle has started the past three games at running back, Ezekiel Elliott needs just 15 rushing yards to reach 9,000 for his career and needs only three more TDs to tie Tony Dorsett for 72 career touchdowns, second most in franchise history to, of course, Emmitt Smith’s leading 153.

Let’s go to Cowboys offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer for this week’s last word, talking about fullback Hunter Luepke, who has been receiving increased snaps of late, lining up all over the various formations. He has turned his only two rushing attempts (eight yards) into first downs. He also has six catches for 73 yards, and his snaps have increased in the past two games to career highs of 30 and 29. And he did pick up three first downs in the game against the Giants.

“We have a ton of confidence in Hunter,” Schottenheimer said. “We put some of the third down stuff in there with him (against the Giants). We ended up going fast on the one run that he got. But yeah, this guy is just a confident football player. He can do so many cool things. Again, it’s what you saw, honestly, it’s what you saw of him coming out of college. You saw him play one-back by himself. You saw him play tight end. We saw him play fullback, saw him play special teams, and I think that was the most plays he’s played this year.

“But Dak [Prescott] has gone to him in some tough third-down situations, some really tough window throws, some of those tight windows, and Hunter has made a ton of plays. The boot to the left, it was unbelievable against the Ravens. And then there’s a third-down mid-range, third down where he stuck it in and he actually took a hit, Dak took a hit. I can’t remember, (Brian) Burns got him, but Dak stuck it in a tight window (to Luepke).
“So Hunter’s a guy that we just see continue to ascend, and there’s nothing that really, we don’t feel that there’s really a lot that he can’t do. We’re still scratching the surface of how he’s going to help us win our games.”

Bet they scratch a little more on Sunday in Pittsburgh.