he's a couple of years removed from a sensational rookie year with the Dallas Cowboys.At least that's the way tight end Geoff Swaim put it Youth Leighton Vander Esch Jersey , and he didn't mean it in a negative way. The star quarterback sure hopes so."I may be a little bit more vocal," Prescott said. "But when you say 'barking,' it's almost like at a negative tone. Like, you're going out at them hard. I'd say if anything, I'm trying to be more encouraging and bring more out of them."When you have a young team and different personalities, it's hard just to be negative and be critical the whole time. For me, it's a lot about coaching the guys up. And then the guys that I know I can be critical on, yeah, sure I am."The 2016 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, who opens the season Sunday at Carolina trying to get the Cowboys back to the playoffs after they missed during his less-than-stellar encore , just illustrated offensive coordinator Scott Linehan's take on leadership from Prescott.Sure, this 25-year-old with a master's degree in workforce education leadership from Mississippi State is the unquestioned commander of the offense — and that includes over running back Ezekiel Elliott, his fellow first-year standout from 2016.But it's not necessarily because of the retirement of Tony Romo, the quarterback he replaced with one of the best debuts for a quarterback in NFL history.Or because 15-year tight end Jason Witten joined Romo in the broadcast booth this year. Or because the Cowboys dumped boisterous receiver Dez Bryant, the franchise leader in touchdown catches, in a cost-cutting move.Since Prescott showed up as the forgotten third-teamer on Romo's team two years ago, he has shown the leadership qualities that suddenly became more pronounced. He was a natural to become the face of the franchise , and would be by himself if not for linebacker Sean Lee."He's always been a guy that, even as a rookie, he was not afraid to speak up and give his two cents on the field and encourage guys," Linehan said. "He's a natural when it comes to that."Prescott led the Cowboys to 11 straight wins after Romo injured his back in the preseason in 2016, when Dallas had an NFC-best 13 victories before losing to Green Bay in a divisional playoff.Elliott's six-game suspension marred their second season together, and Prescott felt the burden of the absence.The poor decisions he avoided as a rookie were more frequent, including an ill-advised throw that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown in a late-season loss to Seattle that finished off Dallas' playoff hopes in Elliott's first game back.The theme last season was whether Prescott could avoid a sophomore slump, a term he brushed off. Now it's whether he can have a bounce-back season, if there is such a thing for a young quarterback."You can call it whatever you call it," he said. "I'm excited for what we're going to have and the year we're going to have and I feel very Youth Taco Charlton Jersey , very confident in the players we have and the team we have and what we're going to do this season."There are questions, starting with a revamped receiving corps that lacks the star power brought by Witten and Bryant.The Cowboys say they'll attack the passing game with versatility, hoping to take advantage of one-on-one matchups with opponents focusing first on stopping Elliott, the league rushing leader when Prescott was voted the top offensive rookie.There are two new starters on Dallas' vaunted offensive line. Joe Looney is replacing Travis Frederick at center while the four-time Pro Bowler recovers from Guillain-Barre syndrome, an auto-immune disease that attacks nerves. He doesn't know when he will return. Rookie second-round pick Connor Williams is at left guard.Despite the questions, Prescott is determined not to try to do too much again."I know I'll be better," he said. "I just learned so much from last year, just moving forward, mature within the game, just learned a lot more that I didn't know last year that I wasn't as comfortable with. Just reads, my game on footwork, accuracy and consistency, everything."Learning isn't stopping him from coaching, as he put it."I think as a rookie it was more encouraging and that kind of thing," Swaim said. "This year, the barking, it's not like he's screaming and yelling. That's not his thing. It's more just, 'Hey, this is what you need to do here.' And it's good because it keeps everyone focused and in their role and doing their job."Prescott just wants you to know it's not negative. Visceral blowback to the NFL's updated rule that players can't lead with their helmets to make contact is straight out of tough-guy football 101. Hard-hitting defensive backs say the league is destroying the physical element of the game or lament that it's changing the sport entirely."Do they want us to play flag football?" Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard said. "It's crazy."Beyond the criticism from old-school players bristling at another rule change or point of emphasis is legitimate confusion as to how the enhanced regulations will actually be enforced. No longer can a player initiate contact with his head anywhere on an opponent's body, penalized 15 yards or possibly by ejection in egregious cases, and players and coaches — offensive guys, too — are bracing for how it will be applied."You just hope it's not called as frequently, because if they are going to call it on every single offensive and defensive lineman, the game is going to be played at a snail's pace," 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman said. "It seems like they are neglecting the impact it is going to have on the game, and I don't think they fully understand the scope and how huge it will be."Contact to a player's head and neck has been a penalty for some time now, but this rule was ramped up to take it a step further. A ball carrier or an offensive lineman can't lower his head into a defender http://www.cowboyscheapauthenticstore.com/antwaun-woods-jersey-cheap , and a defensive player can't make any part of his helmet the primary point of contact when attempting to tackle.It's similar to the NCAA rule that has been in place since 2013, though at the college level, "targeting" carries an automatic ejection, reviewable by replay. The league estimated that just two plays last season would've led to an ejection under the new rule that's forcing players to adjust their approaches."It's really hard to change the way you've been playing after 20 years," Cowboys safety Jeff Heath said. "You're not always thinking about where you're hitting somebody. You're just trying to get them down. As soon as you start thinking, and second-guessing yourself, I think that's when trouble happens. Hopefully it does the job in keeping players safe but doesn't result in a lot of ejections."As the NFL alters this rule and another to kickoffs in the name of safety, some players are willing to accept the reasons for changes. Denver's three-time All-Pro linebacker Von Miller said, "They've put in rules to take care of all the players, as well, so I'm good with all the rule changes."Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said he used to fight the evolution of football "like an old dog," but has come to accept changes in the name of doing the right thing for players. He expects there to be a wide application of the enhanced helmet rule and doesn't consider it such a bad thing."I think it's across the board because it can happen multiple times on any play, where guys use the top of their helmet," Carroll said. "We're just getting out of it. It's really about going back to really good shoulder-leverage play."That's how Josh Norman feels about it. The Washington Redskins cornerback knows he has accidentally made helmet contact with opponents, but as a player not known for those plays considers this a reminder about sound fundamentals."Head up, bowed neck, tackle with your facemask," Norman said. "It's not with the crown of your head. Obviously injuries come. People get paralyzed like that. Nobody should play like that."To get the message across, coaches Anthony Lynn of the Chargers, Doug Marrone of the Jaguars, Dan Quinn of the Falcons, Mike Vrabel of the Titans and Todd Bowles of the Jets each narrated a clip-by-clip video illustrating how the enhanced rule affects a different position group: running backs , offensive linemen , defensive linemen , linebackers and defensive backs . Hall of Fame running back Curtis Martin and linebackers Willie Lanier , also a Hall of Famer, and Willie McGinest taped minute-long videos explaining to players the importance of stance posture and technique to avoid unnecessary head contact.In the first test of the heightened emphasis on head contact Cheap Ezekiel Elliott Jersey , Baltimore linebackers Patrick Onwuasor and Kamalei Correa were each flagged for 15-yard penalties in the Hall of Fame game that opened the preseason. Watching that gave Denver coach Vance Joseph a glimpse of what effect the helmet rule will have, pointing out it's not just on players to adjust."Coaching that part, in my opinion, is going to be the tough part — not the defenders," Joseph said. "That's been taught and that's been coached for a long time, with the offensive guys using their stiff arm and putting the ball in the proper hand, using their shoulders versus their head. It's going to take teaching."It's going to take some trial and error in games for players and officials to realize how it will actually be called. Veteran Bills linebacker Lorenzo Alexander figures it could happen somewhere on the field on any play, so he and his teammates will try to toe the line between watching out for it and not thinking so much that it proves costly."You can't really change your mindset," Buffalo safety Micah Hyde said. "That's when you start playing passive, and you start giving up stuff. I don't know, it's kind of hard to explain, it's kind of when your ankle's hurt, you tape it, you're thinking about it, and then you might hurt something else. It's the same along those lines, you can't really think about it: Just go out there and play football."AP Pro Football Writers Schuyler Dixon, Josh Dubow, Arnie Stapleton and Teresa M. Walker, and Sports Writers Genaro C. Armas, Tim Booth, Dave Ginsburg, Dennis Waszak Jr., John Wawrow and Steven Wine contributed.