Cowboys rookie Mazi Smith: 'I don't even like football, I like hitting people'
Dallas Cowboys rookie first-rounder Mazi Smith hit the field on Monday like it was Christmas morning. Monday was the first day of padded practice for the Cowboys in Oxnard and it was Smith’s first opportunity to really hit someone, which, according to him, is the best part of the game.
Reporters asked the former Michigan star after practice whether they’ll hear him talking trash to his teammates, to which he confidently replied, “Nah.”
“I don’t do no talking. Nah, I’m trying to hit you,” Smith said. “Nah, I don’t got nothing to say. It’s what I do, I hit people. I don’t even like football. I like hitting people.”
Cowboys fans have been eager to see Smith matched up against All-Pro left tackle Tyron Smith all offseason long. The two appeared to have some healthy battles on the first day with pads. The rookie walked away satisfied with the work and said he felt back at home.
“It felt good, felt like home,” Smith said. “We’ve got a month, stay on track, peak at the right moment.”
Over three seasons with Michigan, Smith finished with 89 tackles. In his final campaign, he posted his best statistical finish with 49 tackles overall with a sack and forced fumble. That was enough for Dallas to decide to draft the former four-star and Top-100 recruit out of Grand Rapids with the 26th overall pick.
Smith’s time to shine arrives at Cowboys training camp
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy has been extremely anxious to see what his new first-rounder would look like with pads on.
The 6-foot-3, 337-pound defensive tackle is everything McCarthy thought he’d be so far, but admitted during OTAs that it would be hard to tell before camp.
“No doubt (meeting expectations),” McCarthy said. “For a guy like Mazi, you can’t wait to see him in pads. He’s ready to show everybody.
“We said this during the evaluation process. We feel there’s a lot more pass rush potential than he showed in his college career. He’s off to a really good start.”
Dallas returns almost every piece of the 2022 starting defensive unit and veteran Johnathan Hankins believes the room has only gotten better.
“That D-line room is nasty,” Hankins said at minicamp. “Every time I talk about it, I’m just so excited and not just to talk about it, but to be a part of it. We’re working hard, getting each other better and we’re some bad (MFers). That’s just the way we do things, and that’s what our motto is.”