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(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)

With a limit of 16 padded practices in training camp, do you think that's enough for teams to be able to confidently assemble a roster?听鈥�听David Suits/*Kendall Park*, NJ

Kurt: If you ask the players, I'm sure they would tell you a limit of 16 padded practices is just fine, thank you. But while you would think the coaches would prefer at least that many, that's not necessarily the case.

The maximum of 16 was only instituted with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2020. Beginning in 2011, teams could run 28 padded workouts in training camp, which now seems like a lot, but prior to that, coaches could do whatever they wanted.

Nate Newton has often talked on our Hangin' with the Boys podcast about how Jimmy Johnson would have them in pads twice a day every day. And Darren Woodson once said something along the lines of he was in his best shape of the season at the start of training camp and in his worst shape by the end. That seems a bit counterproductive, doesn't it?

Back then, Johnson would start practice with the middle drill, which required the offense to run the ball straight up the gut against the defense. It was full-speed contact, over and over. Even Emmitt Smith wasn't spared. Said Nate, "We were beating each other to death."

Nowadays, teams often don't even use the full 16 allowed, and the padded practices that do take place are done so with the players' health in mind. There are no hard hits, no tackles to the ground. Brian Schottenheimer has been quoted as saying, "I like the rule," also adding, "I do think, talking with our sports sciences people, that there's a different way to really build some callouses during training camp."

So while some may wish practices would be more physical, in this day and age, with players bigger and faster than ever, it just doesn't make much sense. Now, as far as playing in preseason games 鈥� well, that's a Mailbag for another day.

Nick: I don't think there's not enough padded practices to fully evaluate a football team before the season - but then again, that's what every team has to deal with. Since it's the same for everyone, then you have to chalk it up as the way it is, and just hope teams can get adjusted by the start of the season.

Ask the players, and they'll say it's more than enough. The coaches would love for that number to be around 30 or 40 - and in some cases, that's the way it used to be.

I can't help but think back to my first training camps I covered in Wichita Falls where they always practiced in the 90s ... for the morning practice. By noon, it was over 100 and I can't even imagine how they managed to get through those 3:00 practices around 110 degrees - especially after having another practice in the morning.

That's the way it was. I bet the players are fresher now than ever before, and probably healthier ... just not as prepared. There's always a trade-off and this one benefits the players.

Nick:听No, it's probably not enough to assemble a roster - but then again, that's what the rest of the league has to deal with as well. Every coach in the NFL, college, high school and so on would want more practices. That's just the way it works in today's league.

I think it puts even more emphasis on the preseason games and even the scrimmages with other teams, as the Cowboys will do twice this year against the Rams and Saints.