Why did CeeDee Lamb wear a net over his head at Cowboys camp for a difficult drill?

With NFL training camps fully ramped up and the preseason on the horizon, there is no shortage of various quick-hit highlight videos popping up on social media. This certainly stands true for the Dallas Cowboys, and one specific training camp drill done by CeeDee Lamb quickly grabbed the attention of fans league-wide.

Wide receivers, in particular, have been known to follow specific routines in their daily preparation for the season. Some may have a set number of balls they catch each day, while others utilize unique drills to help work on catching passes in coverage. But for Lamb, his drill included a large white net covering his entire face/helmet while catching passes, as Cowboys reporter Patrik Walker first revealed.

It was unquestionably a unique (and I’d go out on a limb and guess very rarely seen) approach to a pass-catching drill. It also sparked some questions and speculation about exactly why Lamb was using the net as part of his training.

While it hasn’t been confirmed, the popular theory is that Lamb took this approach to address the sunlight issue that’s been a topic of conversation in late-afternoon games at AT&T Stadium. That thought process makes sense, as the sun directly in players’ eyes has caused a few notable issues in previous seasons.

In a bit of positive news for Cowboys fans who have been bothered by this, owner Jerry Jones told Sam Gannon of KDFW Fox 4 that he’s giving “a thought” to tinting the windows, which would be a significant step toward addressing the sunlight issue during games.

While Lamb seemed to have adjusted to his new, off-the-wall training approach, it appears George Pickens wasn’t a fan, as Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News revealed. Pickens used the same white net over his helmet, and as Watkins described, “tried it and was done with it.”

Hey, different drills work for different players, but credit to Pickens for at least giving it a go.

Regardless, with Lamb, Pickens, and an offense almost entirely back from last season, expectations are high for the Cowboys in the 2026 NFL season. So much so that quarterback Dak Prescott hasn’t shied away from the Super Bowl talk. Fans being optimistic that it’s “their year” will always remain the case, but maybe, just maybe, 2026 could be the season Prescott and company break through.