Several Cowboys players said before the lockout began that they had been talking to new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan about the team’s new defense.
That has the Cowboys in trouble with the league office.
The Dallas Morning News reports that the Cowboys are in the group of five teams that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell fined for having contact with players during the “dead’’ period before the start of the league year.
The violation is not related to the current lockout and is related to longstanding rules that give players some guaranteed down time from supervised football activities. The Dolphins, Browns and 49ers, all teams that also had new head coaches or coordinators, are also believed to have violated the rule.