New England Patriots quarterback Joe Milton III arrives at practice at the New England Patriots rookie camp. Eric Canha-Imagn Images

Joe Milton's girlfriend helping new Dallas Cowboys QB study offense

Originally posted on Dallas Cowboys on SI
By Josh Sanchez | Last updated May 30, 2025 8:59 AM ET

The Dallas Cowboys made several trades during the offseason, adding talent at linebacker, cornerback, and, of course, wide receiver with George Pickens. The team also swung a deal with the New England Patriots for Joe Milton III, addressing their need for a backup quarterback.

Milton comes to Dallas with a lot of talent and potential, and he feels "blessed" for his fresh start with America's Team -- and the fact that there is warm weather.

With a new team, however, comes the task of learning a new offense, and Milton is deep in the weeds learning the new terminology under head coach Brian Schottenheimer.

Schottenheimer has praised Milton's work ethic and talent, but Milton also has a secret weapon helping him study the scheme.

An article from Jon Machota of The Athletic highlighted Milton's unique way of studying which involves some help from his girlfriend.

"Milton has a unique way he learns a new offense. The traditional dry-erase board doesn’t work for him. He prefers a piece of tape and poker chips. The tape is the line of scrimmage and the poker chips have letters written on them to symbolize the different skill position players. He prefers moving the chips over having to erase the board," Machota writes.

"His girlfriend has the script. She calls out a play. Milton repeats it back. He then goes to his chips and lines them up in the formation. The plan is to do that every day during the month between the end of minicamp and the start of training camp."

You can't learn and grow if you don't put in the work, and it's great to see Milton pulling out all of the stops to get a grasp of the offense and concepts. It shows why Schottenheimer has been impressed by the quarterback.

Dallas traded a 2025 fifth-round pick to the Patriots for Milton and a 2025 seventh-round pick, so it was a low-risk, high-reward move.

While we will have to see whether the move ultimately plays out for the Cowboys, it is clear that Milton is doing everything he can to make sure the risk was worth the reward.

This article first appeared on Dallas Cowboys on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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