Tag: postgame quotes

Parsons makes waves with remarks interpreted as shot at McCarthy’s Cowboys future

From @ToddBrock24f7: Parsons had some harsh words when asked about his head coach’s future with the team, but his answer was more about his veteran teammates.

Though there have been more lopsided final scores through the years, the Cowboys’ humiliating 34-6 loss on Sunday ranks as one of the most thorough and demoralizing defeats in the franchise’s history.

Emotions within Cowboys Nation are raw. The same goes for inside the locker room, too, where coaches and players can expect another difficult week of doom-and-gloom queries about the current state of the team amid a 3-6 season that shows no sign whatsoever of improving.

The more outspoken members of the organization will no doubt have things to say, and in a year when so much has not gone as planned, many of the comments and remarks to come out of Dallas over the coming days and weeks will also land in ways that no one saw coming.

Micah Parsons has already kicked off the headline-making soundbite frenzy with his reply to a question about his head coach’s future with the team.

Longtime Cowboys writer Jori Epstein of Yahoo Sports asked the edge rusher about the feeling inside the locker room regarding whether Mike McCarthy- on the final year of his contract- will return to the role in 2025.

“That’s above my pay grade about if Mike is coaching again next year,” Parsons prefaced. But what he went on to say next will stir up all kinds of chatter with the team’s media, fans, and outside observers.

“All coaching aside, Mike can leave and go wherever he wants, but guys I kind of feel bad for is guys like Zack Martin and guys who might be on their last year, on their way out, because that’s who I want to go hold the trophy for. You want to win games and do great things with those type of legends who put in more time and work than Mike McCarthy ever did. Those are the kind of guys that I have so much sympathy and hurt for.”

There are two primary ways the outspoken 25-year-old’s comments are being interpreted by a fanbase helplessly watching their season roll off the edge of a cliff in dramatic slow-motion.

Reading No. 1 focuses on the two times Parsons references his coach by name. This translation seems to almost assume that McCarthy will be somewhere else next season and that Parsons won’t lose much sleep over it, because he doesn’t feel the coach has put in the same kind of investment that Parsons and some of his his teammates have.

Reading No. 2 suggests that Parsons is really zeroing in on the team’s veteran players, like Martin. He views the wasted 2024 season as an unfortunate way to end either a long Cowboys stint or a star-studded pro career and feels like he and his younger teammates are letting down their mentors who deserve one last chance at a ring.

There’s truth to both interpretations.

The hot-take sports-talk shows will hammer home “McCarthy can leave” as a shouting point and turn Parsons’s reference to how little “time and work” the coach supposedly devoted into some sort of out-loud coded admission that McCarthy has lost the locker room.

But Parsons is correct on everything he said, even if the tone and context were unnecessarily harsh toward his head coach.

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The frustrating reality is that the window is closing for seasoned Cowboys players like Martin (or DeMarcus Lawrence or Dak Prescott or Ezekiel Elliott or Jourdan Lewis). And while there will be Pro Bowl honors and All-Pro nods and individual statistics and personal accolades to carry them into their post-gridiron lives, there may not be more than a smattering of playoff-game appearances, and no postseason success whatsoever past the divisional round.

Parsons can likely already see himself in their stories: great players sacrificing themselves daily but stuck on teams that could never get themselves collectively over the hump to true football glory.

Ten years of weight rooms and trainer’s tables; giving blood, sweat, and tears to the game. A decade of destroying their bodies in exchange for temporary hero status, and then it’s all over. Maybe the lucky select few get a radio or TV gig to give the token ex-player’s perspective.

For a coach, however, even if it ends disastrously, there’s usually a different-colored cap to put on and another clipboard to hold next season.

To a competitor like Parsons, that has to be beyond maddening. And when he’s asked about it in the moments after another embarrassing no-show by the entire roster, what’s going to come out won’t be the typical, politically-correct, boring, safe, vanilla, cliched answers to a reporter’s question.

But now, whether he meant to or not, Parsons has thrown McCarthy right out into traffic. Both will be asked about the comments this week. McCarthy will likely brush it off. Other Cowboys players will be asked about it, too. So will Jerry Jones.

Parsons has already clapped back, posting Monday on social media:

“Loll damn yeah ima just eat the fine for now on! Because the way yall twist words and flip them around for content is nasty work!”

He’ll no doubt have even more to say on the subject in this week’s episode of his podcast.

And a season already going up in flames will produce a new hotspot off to the side that will get everyone’s attention, at least until next Monday night’s meeting with Houston, when Parsons, McCarthy, and the Cowboys will get their next opportunity to alter the 2024 narrative before a nationwide primetime audience.

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What everyone said after the Commanders’ loss to Steelers

A collection of quotes from Commanders, Steelers and analysts following Sunday’s game.

Though the Commanders led by ten points in the second half, they lost 28-27 to the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday at Northwest Stadium.

Here is a collection of post-game quotes from players, analysts, coaches and media personalities.

Jayden Daniels

“Yeah, it’s not, it’s not all on him (Newton). That’s what everybody’s gonna see, just that one big play. But it’s not all on him, and we’re all together. No matter what people outside the building are saying, are thinking, man, it doesn’t matter. What matters is what’s in the building and how we love each other, how we support each other. We have each other’s backs.”

“I mean, I don’t like losing, so I don’t want to feel like this, this feeling. I don’t want to have losses, you know, competitive. I want to win in everything I step foot in and I put my mind to so I wouldn’t say it’s any motivation. Just like, ‘man, how can I go back to work and kind of get this feeling in my system.’ When I win, I want to keep winning. When we lose, I don’t want to lose. I want to win again.”

Mitchell Tischler

“It’s ok to be frustrated by the play but the personal attacks at BSJ are uncalled for, he’s been nothing less than respectable and accountable and while wins and losses matter, how you handle it matters too.”

“Veteran QB > Rookie D-Linemen … pretty emblematic of a mistake-filled game for the Commanders.”

“Zach Ertz has been in this league for too long to not run that route to the first down line … looks super close, hope review overturns it.”

Benjamin St-Juste

“Sometimes I get caught up in trying to make the play so much that I try to guard everything. In those situations, you’ve got to pick and choose, and you’ve got to pick the right option.”

John Keim

“According to TruMedia, Pittsburgh sent five or more rushers on 19 snaps, a season high. The previous high was 11 vs. the Giants last week. Daniels was 7-16 in those situations. Three sacks.”

“An absolute dime from Wilson to Williams. Yes, Washington could have used Lattimore today.”

“Washington proved it can hang, but man they left too much out there. Some definite missed chances on O. The miss to McCaffrey was huge.”

“No magical ending. No moral victories. But this team is right there. And reinforcements soon.”

Dan Quinn

“The missed opportunities sting the most.”

“I said that this is a 24 hour rule and so we got 24 hours. By the time we get in for tomorrow afternoon, we’ve got to clear it and we’ve got to go. And so we hadn’t talked a lot about next week the previous week. They know what’s ahead and we’ll be prepared for that.”

“I said I love what they stand for, for one another. And I don’t know if I learned that, but it was confirmed again, and so I was hurting for them. That locker room’s hurting, but there’s also these lessons that we have to apply to know that we do have to learn from them and go on and this just happens to be that lesson comes back quickly, as we get into our next game.”

“I would hope that the missed opportunities are the lesson to apply because I thought it was just maybe a little uncharacteristic. I thought maybe a few drops, maybe a few plays that weren’t quite like us. I love that we are in this kind of fight. These are the kind of ones that you need to build some resilience and some resolve, but we are establishing that kind of toughness and identity that we want to be about.”

Sam Cosmi

“I have so much faith in this team…There’s nothing more that I want to do than to beat Philly,[anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”dW5kZWZpbmVk”][/anyclip-media] so they’re going to have a pretty pissed team on their hands.”

Craig Hoffman

“That play is why you trade for Lattimore. In a must-have man-to-man situation, they know they needed better guys in coverage. Unfortunately he’s not ready yet. Mike Williams, PIT’s addition, was.”

Mike Tomlin

“Man, be real slow comparing people to Lamar Jackson. That’s a multi-time MVP. That’s Mr. Jackson. We’ll see Mr. Jackson in a few days.”

‘Something I’ve never felt’: Cowboys’ Prescott details Week 9 hamstring injury

From @ToddBrock24f7: The Cowboys QB missed the 4th quarter with a hamstring injury, but he also took a blow to his throwing hand in the 27-21 loss to Atlanta.

When the Cowboys lost Dak Prescott at the end of the third quarter of Sunday’s game versus Atlanta, a hamstring injury was the official reason given.

But it may not be the only costly hit the quarterback took in the 27-21 loss.

TV viewers saw the team’s training staff tending to Prescott’s throwing hand on the sideline as the fourth quarter got underway, with blood visible around the knuckle where the right pinkie meets the hand bones. Within minutes, Prescott was announced out of the game… but with a hamstring issue.

Prescott himself told reporters about a sensation he felt while trying to evade a sack by Falcons linebacker Kaden Elliss on the final drive of the third quarter.

“I felt it when I was getting it up from the run,” Prescott said in his postgame press conference. “I can’t even say that I felt it running. Maybe the tackle, maybe something on the tackle, I don’t know. But standing up from that, I felt something, but actually, I didn’t think it was much.”

Prescott seemed to realize otherwise, however, on the very next play. As he stepped through a throw to the far sideline- a 10-yard completion to Jalen Brooks- he pulled up noticeably. Replays show Prescott’s face contorted in pain.

“I felt a pull, felt something I’ve never felt,” he explained.

He dumped out of a pass on the next snap, a third-down play, and looked rather gimpy doing it.

“Tough to walk on it at that point,” Prescott would say later. “Saw the medical team and asked, ‘Could I make it worse?’ At that point, they said I wouldn’t be able to protect myself, and they made the call to hold me out.”

The quarterback had been under fire for weeks for not using his rushing and scrambling skills more often. Prior to the injury on Sunday, he was credited with three runs for 30 yards, his highest ground total since Week 6 of last season.

Prescott was scheduled for an MRI on Monday to determine the severity of the leg injury, but the apparent harm done to his throwing hand is worth following up on as well.

Prescott was not asked about his hand during his Sunday afternoon presser, nor did he bring it up. But the few images broadcast from the sideline seemed to show a very swollen right hand. The passer missed five games in 2022 after breaking the thumb on that same hand in a Week 1 game versus Tampa Bay.

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The bigger worry is that hamstring. Owner Jerry Jones told reporters, “I am concerned about that. It concerned me when I saw the play, or saw him have a reaction to any weakness there.”

Backup Cooper Rush came on in relief and went 13-for-25 passing, compiling 115 yards and a touchdown in a comeback effort that fell short and sent the Cowboys to 3-5.

Rush has a 5-1 career record as the Cowboys starter. His only loss came in his most recent start, 2022’s Week 6 visit to Philadelphia, the last game that Prescott’s thumb injury caused him to miss.

The Cowboys are set to host the Eagles next Sunday. No matter what Monday’s tests reveal about Prescott hamstring and hand, Rush will almost certainly be taking extra snaps as a precaution.

Prescott, for his part, hopes to be able to suit up without missing any time at all.

“I would say that I’ll be out there next week. I’ve got to see. Luckily, I can say I’ve healed fast, I’ve progressed fast on injuries and things, so I’m thankful for that,” Prescott said.

“It’ll take a lot for me not to be out there, I’ll tell you personally.”

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Cowboys’ Prescott takes blame for interceptions in loss: ‘I’ve got to clean that up’

From @ToddBrock24f7: Dak tossed 2 more picks in Week 8. One was a bad throw caused by pressure; one was a bad decision that both the QB and head coach owned.

On a night when so many things went wrong for the Cowboys, it’s easy (maybe even “lazy,” to recycle a recent buzzword from around these parts) to pin the team’s 30-24 loss in San Francisco on the two interceptions thrown by quarterback Dak Prescott.

The league’s highest-paid player now has eight picks through seven games, a figure currently topped by only three passers. That’s one less than Prescott threw all of last season, and it puts him ahead of his career-worst 2022 pace, when he had seven picks in his first seven games en route to a league-leading 15 total.

Perhaps most troubling, though: Week 8 marked the third straight game in which Prescott has tossed multiple picks, the first time in his career he’s had a stretch that long.

Prescott was quick to take personal responsibility for the miscues.

“I don’t have to be perfect,” he said in his postgame press conference, “but I damn sure can’t be having the turnovers.”

Winning the turnover battle was a “huge, blinking light” for head coach Mike McCarthy during the team’s bye week; Dallas came into Sunday night’s contest with a minus-six differential in the category. After Prescott’s two giveaways in Santa Clara, the Cowboys are minus-eight; only the Raiders and Titans (three combined wins this season) are worse.

Good teams simply aren’t bad in that stat.

“[We] put ourselves behind in the turnover battle, and that’s on me,” Prescott said. “Can’t have that if we plan to win games, and I’ve got to clean that up, period.”

But McCarthy pointed out that the breakdown was bigger than just his passer, especially on the first-quarter deep ball attempt.

“When you look at interceptions, you can grade them, put them in buckets and categories,” McCarthy told reporters Sunday night. “The first one, he had pressure in the B-gap, hits his feet, which took him late, the safety got a jump on the ball, so he wasn’t able to get it to the back pylon.”

Prescott also hinted that the pressure from 49ers edge rusher Nick Bosa forced a bad throw in what might have otherwise been an ideal matchup downfield between speedy wideout KaVontae Turpin and San Francisco rookie cornerback Renardo Green.

“He was singled up. Obviously, the safety just got over there because I got hit as I was throwing the ball and left the ball hanging from the hit,” Prescott explained.

“That’s a potential of a big play right there. It just swings completely the other way… Thought I was going to be able to get it off with full strength on the throw. I wasn’t.”

McCarthy told media members that the Cowboys’ challenges with pass protection factored into his offensive plan as the game went on, citing “a little bit of my angst in play-calling because of [the 49ers’] ability to get pass rush with four rushers.”

San Francisco’s defense logged two sacks and two QB hits, plus numerous pressures on the night.

“A lot of conversation,” McCarthy said, “as far as our pass game was protection.”

Prescott has been sacked 18 times already this season and is under pressure on nearly one out of every four dropbacks, currently the highest rate since his rookie season.

With sketchy offensive line play and a mostly ensemble cast of third-tier receivers, Prescott was pressed once again to try to do too much as things started to slip away in the second half. That led to No. 4 forcing the ball to his only dependable target as he looked to provide a spark.

The result? A terrible decision that instead poured gasoline on a third-quarter fire that saw the 49ers go on a 21-point run.

“The second one was as boneheaded an interception as I feel like I’ve had,” Prescott claimed. “Trying to make a play. Too much confidence in myself in that moment right there. I obviously should have just thrown it away. Wish I’d have put a little more heat on it; it would have been CeeDee or out of bounds. That one hurt.”

Once again, McCarthy tried to share some of the blame for the play choice, deliberately putting his quarterback on the move to counter his O-line’s struggles.

“I called it too early,” the coach admitted. “What was it, 3rd-and-5? That’s a better 3rd-and-4-to-3rd-and-3 call. [Ed. note: It actually was 3rd-and-4.] So the leverage wasn’t there, and he’s trying to make a play. We’ve got to throw that ball away there, but I wish I had that play call back.”

Prescott similarly expressed regret over the part that his errant throws made in the team’s latest meltdown by the Bay.

“I’ve got to make throws, pressure or not. I’m capable of doing it, so I’ve got to do it,” he said.

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But he knows that it also comes down to making better decisions, even when the chips are down.

“I’ve just got to burn that ball or eat the sack and just play it play-by-play. A lot of times, big plays come from just taking something underneath, guys blocking in the secondary, and the guys going and breaking tackles. Big plays come from there, so we can’t necessarily chase them. We’ve got to stick to it, one play at a time. We’ll keep our heads up and do that.”

And so the dilemma continues for Prescott: whether to take command of the situation and play like the NFL’s first $60 million man on a squad that truly needs a hero… or just keep chipping away with the next right little decision and the next right little decision after that, trusting that something big will eventually break loose.

The reality is, the job requires both. But which moment calls for which mindset… that’s the whole key.

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What everyone said after the Commanders’ Week 5 win vs. Browns

What everyone said after the Commanders’ win over the Browns.

On Sunday, the Washington Commanders easily defeated the Cleveland Browns, 34-13, to improve to 4-1. Here is a collection of postgame quotes from players, former players/analysts, and coaches.

“I was pleased to see the big guys inside in the run game to stay square and plan blocks. And what it does is it creates advantages, then when you have to call a third down, we have some longer ones. That was a big deal. And this is a quarterback that has mobility, can get outside the pocket, and they present their own challenge when the second play begins. So, it was really cool to see them finishing on that.”  Dan Quinn on the play of the DL

“This style of winning is unusual. They are winning in this demonstrative way. They are putting an exclamation point on every single game…it’s great to see them stack big wins, forceful wins, declarative wins. And I think that is what makes this so special.”  Logan Paulsen

“Had they gotten one more score (but they obviously shut things down with 12 minutes to go) had they gotten to 35 points, it would have been the first time since 1983 this franchise scored 35 points three games in a row. That is the rare air they are existing in.” Craig Hoffman

“I thought quite honestly, it was a grimy start for the offense. It didn’t go [well.] And I had told him (Jayden) inside, sometimes you learn as much from that start as you do from the 27-for-29 [passing] because different ways. But at the end what I can tell you is, he processes quickly.”  Dan Quinn on the offense’s slow start

“Yeah, and we knew there’d be some spaces, and I thought [WR] Dyami [Brown] especially would have some chances to run through some ones to go. And I felt his speed, his energy down the field, so to score at the end of the half and get on top of somebody and play in man-to-man, those are the times where you say you have to win in man-to-man.” Dan Quinn on Receivers filling in for Noah Brown

“On the first game, the narrative was too many runs and this. So yeah, he knew that but now that you’re going into finding different ways to do that, when to get out of bounds, when to slide, when to remain a passer to take your shots. And now the defenders can no longer come up, you’ve got to stay back in coverage because now there’s certainly a dual threat.” Dan Quinn

“I mean, no, not at all. I mean salute to the fans. I appreciate them but I haven’t even really paid attention to that but I love that the fans came out to show support.”  Jayden Daniels, on more fans wearing his No. 5.

“I ran out of bounds the play before and then kind of saw some of the defense, I had seen they were playing man coverage and I was turning back around and I said man let’s take a shot to [Offensive Coordinator] Kliff [Kingsbury] and he called the play and we did it.” Daniels on the Dyami Brown touchdown reception.

“Honestly, I’m just excited for those guys. For them to have this feeling. It’s an exciting time to get back and go to work and we’re on to the next week now.”  Daniels, on hearing vets saying this team is different

“Shout out to the defense. They played a hell of a game. Gave us an opportunities, even when we weren’t clicking at first to get back on the field and get back into a rhythm. Without them we would not be in this position today.” Jayden Daniels praises the defense

“It’s a long game you have to keep battling…Go out there and stay the course, don’t get too high or too low, everything’s going to work out.”  Daniels, on not scoring the first two possessions.

“We have to hold ourselves to a higher standard, take accountability. It just says that we’re going to fight. We’re going to be able to battle through adversity no matter wins or losses. We’re not going to give up or anything like that.” Jayden Daniels on the win

“There’s plays you want back but that doesn’t mean anything about last possession you can’t really dwell on that. You have a whole series of them to focus on.” Jayden Daniels regarding a tough play

“I mean honestly a lot of fun. I love playing football and it makes it even better when you’re winning football games but regardless I’m just blessed to go out there and be able to play football.” Daniels on this being fun.

“Yeah, he’s playing with a lot of confidence and making plays, being very professional and doing whatever he needs to do to help his team win and you have to give him props for that.”  Deshaun Watson on Jayden Daniels.

‘No bells and whistles’: Mazi Smith, Cowboys smother Giants’ run game with impressive showing to build on

From @ToddBrock24f7: The Cowboys put up the best numbers of any NFL run defense this season, and the first-round draft pick thought to be a bust led the way.

The Cowboys run defense finally put on the performance that everyone had been waiting for.

But the star of the show was someone nobody expected.

Dallas held the Giants to just 26 total rushing yards on in Thursday night’s 20-15 win. The 1.1 yard-per-carry average they allowed represented the lowest ever in Cowboys franchise history in games where the opponent had at least 20 rushing attempts.

And garnering universal praise for the effort is none other than defensive tackle Mazi Smith, the former first-round draft pick who many in Cowboys Nation had already written off as an all-time bust.

Smith ended the night with three tackles- one of them for a loss- and was PFF’s highest-graded player (88.4) from the game. He knows his interior position doesn’t exactly lend itself to monster stats, but the 23-year-old seemed immediately aware that his Week 4 outing was an important step in what was been, thus far, a rough start to an NFL career.

“I feel like I grew. I feel better,” Smith said from the visitors’ locker room after the win. “I want to keep growing, don’t want it to be a flash in the pan.”

But Smith was even more pleased with how the rest of the Dallas defense executed their game plan on the night. Taking away any semblance of a Giants’ ground attack was instrumental in helping the Cowboys snapping a two-game losing streak in which the run defense got torched for 464 yards on the ground by the Saints and Ravens combined.

On Thursday? The unit took real estate back from the Giants over the third and fourth quarters; New York’s rushing total after the halftime break was negative-three yards.

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“Everybody was doing their job. Everybody was doing what they’re supposed to. That’s really how you stop it,” Smith explained. “It ain’t no bells and whistles to stop a run game: everybody do their job, do what they’re supposed to do. That’s how you stop it.”

After back-to-back weeks of Cowboys team leaders complaining about some of their teammates playing “hero ball” or “trying to be Superman,” Smith and the rest of the Dallas defense seemed to more faithfully stick to their assignments at MetLife Stadium. As a result, they allowed the fewest team rushing yards in an NFL game so far this season.

And that- much more than the questions and skepticism swirling around the unit the past two weeks- is something Smith believes the group can actually put to use going forward.

“People be talking and chirping. Nobody’s worried about that. And if they are worried about it, they’re worried about the wrong thing,” he said. “Ain’t nobody getting out there playing the run for us or with us; don’t care what they’ve got to say.”

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What everyone said after the Commanders’ Week 3 win vs. Bengals

What everyone was saying after the Commanders’ win over the Bengals.

Monday, the Washington Commanders defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 38-33 in Cincinnati, as Jayden Daniels completed 91% of his passes.

Here are some selected postgame quotes regarding the Commanders’ exciting win.

“A lot of guys say things in the NFL. I don’t think we took it personal in the sense that we gotta go prove these guys wrong. You know, probably Kliff felt some type of way. I know DQ might have mentioned it a little bit. You want to have your coaches’ back. You want to have your teammates’ back.” Terry McLaurin on Cam Taylor-Britt’s “a nice college offense” comment last week.

“I don’t regret it,” Taylor-Britt said. “I didn’t mean anything malicious out of the comment. It was made bigger than it was. Yes, I can eat my words, most definitely. We did take an L today.”  Cam Taylor-Britt last said.

“For us to come out here and win a game that probably a lot of people didn’t have us winning, that says a lot about our resiliency and what we are building here.”  Terry McLaurin

“I advocated for the Chicago Bears to hire BOTH Dan Quinn and Kliff Kingsbury this past offseason. That’s what I’m pissed about.” Ryan Woodall, writer Bears Nation Chicago

“Listen to me. We have a quarterback. That young man can play, and we have a kicker too.” Brian Mitchell

“The guys came out here and fought hard. Monday Night Football, prime time, prime time players. Honestly, I’m ecstatic about the vibe, the feeling of seeing these guys come out here, I heard so many people doubting them. They got the W.”  Santana Moss

“He’s a really cool customer. There’s a real poise about him…His ability when to, when not to use his legs. We’ve seen a lot of this in practice. Now it’s carrying over into the games.”  Dan Quinn on Jayden Daniels

“I thought Kliff (Kingsbury) called a great game. All week, all the different looks we would have to go through, especially as we got down into the red zone. We knew the third down and red zone would be a really big part of this. He and the staff had a real clear understanding of what we would have to do.” Dan Quinn

“I think I probably got more sleep today than I have the last couple of months. I was feeling excited, locked and loaded.” Luke McCaffrey

“It’s awesome to see the maturity, the poise he has in the huddle, in the moment, in every single opportunity. He is just calm, ready, prepared. It is just awesome.” Luke McCaffrey on Jayden Daniels

“It was time for him (Terry McLaurin) to make those plays. It wasn’t happening for me, so you know 17 was going to step up and make a play. I am happy to see him get involved. Like I said, for me it was a ground and pound night. I am just happy to get the win.” Brian Robinson Jr.

“I went up during the timeout and to Kliff and said, ‘Give me a go route to the boundary for the game. I went up to Kliff and Jayden and said throw me this ball for the game. For them to have that kind of trust in me, I think that’s maybe one of the first times in my career, the game is on the line, I got to call the play and we executed it at a very high level.”  Terry McLaurin

“Terry said, trust me, and, that’s what we did, I trusted him.” Jayden Daniels

“We are going to face some adversity. It is not going to be smooth sailing from the jump. There are going to be ups and downs. But, stay even keel, keep working, keep improving.”  Jayden Daniels

‘Don’t dwell’: Prescott hopes to quickly lift Cowboys teammates, Lamb out of Week 3 funk

From @ToddBrock24f7: Lamb ditched the media after Sunday’s loss. Prescott used his moment to spread hope that their 4th-quarter rally can spark something bigger.

Dak Prescott didn’t play his best game in Week 3. But he hopes his refusal to lie down, even trailing by 22 points with 10 minutes to play, can serve as something for the Cowboys offense to build on moving forward.

He told his teammates as much in the middle of their furious comeback bid that saw them score 19 unanswered points and have a legitimate chance at stealing an unlikely win over a Ravens team that had dominated them for the previous three quarters-plus.

“I said, ‘Hey, we’ve got to get something going [in terms of] momentum,” the Cowboys quarterback told reporters after Sunday’s 28-25 loss. “I don’t care how this game ends. It’s about getting something going.”

Now it’s about keeping it going, using that late-game rally as a springboard to a more complete effort and- hopefully- a divisional win on Thursday night.

“The way that we finished on offense is vital for us to be able to build on, Prescott said, with the team headed to New York on a short prep week to face the Giants, fresh off their first win of the season.

“It’s a long-ass season,” Prescott said after closing out the game with three straight touchdown drives (two through the air, one with his legs). The Dallas offense netted 211 yards on those final three possessions, nearly equaling the 217 from their first eight drives. “It’s important to continue to roll that over into this short week.”

How Prescott’s teammates respond to Sunday’s letdown remain to be seen, but last year’s MVP runner-up remarked on a few things he hopes to see.

“Us as players, we’ve got to be more professional and understand our jobs, understand where we’re supposed to be, and do that time and time again, and keep our focus,” he explained.

Asked what he meant by being more professional, he elaborated.

“Knowing where you’re supposed to be, knowing your reads, knowing where you’re supposed to line up, knowing your routes, knowing your route adjustments versus certain coverages,” Prescott continued. “It’s doing your job and being prepared for every part of the job, however it may come. Time away from the building to being in the building, understanding that you can only get so many practice reps but you can watch the film, you can do all these other things that will help make up for it.”

Many have taken those comments to be directed largely at CeeDee Lamb.

The superstar receiver was credited with four receptions for 67 yards, but his afternoon was primarily marked by visible frustration after a red-zone fumble early in the second quarter. Cameras spotted Lamb having a heated exchange with teammates and coaches on the Cowboys sideline, and he was never much of a factor after his turnover.

Prescott downplayed the significance of Lamb’s physical cues while the game was in progress. But it was certainly reminiscent of last year’s meeting with the 49ers, when Lamb sulked away from the rest of his teammates during a humbling loss in which he was not at all in sync with his quarterback.

“Reading body language, I’m not really into it,” offered Prescott. “I’m just into making sure that he doesn’t get down on himself. The body language, whether it’s good [or] it’s bad, it’s irrelevant. It’s where his mind is.”

Lamb, notably, did not make himself available to the press following Sunday’s game.

He has 218 receiving yards through three games, good for 11th place leaguewide, but his completion percentage is just 54.1%- lower than any of the ten pass-catchers in front of him, and far below last year’s mark of 74.6%.

Prescott couldn’t say exactly why there’s been something of a disconnect between the two (“Not really sure. If I had an answer, we’d be in a rhythm.”), but he wasn’t shy about laying at least some of the blame on Lamb’s summer-long holdout over a new contract extension.

“Obviously, when you miss some time, you’re going to have that. You wish you didn’t, but you are.”

So for now, all Prescott can do is keep at it. He spoke repeatedly during his postgame press conference of sticking to the process.

But admittedly, the process will have to speed up exponentially this week. Prescott explained that by the time he hit the facility on Monday morning, it would actually be like a Thursday in the team’s normal game-prep schedule.

And he hopes he can convince his teammates to similarly leave Sunday’s latest embarrassment in the rearview and use their fourth-quarter success to plot a new way forward from here on.

“‘Don’t dwell. You don’t have time to dwell,'” Prescott added. “You look at the way that game ended, and I feel like if we don’t dwell in different places on offense, it’s a different game… Things happen fast in this league, and you always have an opportunity. You always have a chance.”

The Cowboys still have 14 chances, in fact, in the 2024 regular season. Plenty of time to, in Prescott’s words, get something going.

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‘This ain’t nothing yet’: Cowboys rookie CB promises bumpy ride for opposing QBs after Week 1 lockdown

From @ToddBrock24f7: Caelen Carson didn’t look like a rookie in his first NFL game; Trevon Diggs says the Cowboys D showed just a fraction of its calls Sunday.

No one knew what to expect, really. It was Week 1, playing an unfamiliar opponent, facing a quarterback capable of lighting it up any given week and a talented receiving corps that included a 1,000-yard threat who wanted to show up the team that once shipped him out of town.

It had the potential to be a wild and bumpy ride.

Good thing the Cowboys invested in a Seat Belt this offseason.

In his NFL debut, rookie cornerback Caelen Carson lived up to the nickname given to him at Wake Forest and was instrumental in restraining the Browns’ air attack in the Cowboys’ 33-17 opening day win. The dominant Dallas defense limited Cleveland’s Deshaun Watson to a meager 3.75 yards per attempt and a 51.1 passer rating on the day, looking nothing like a fifth-round DB making his first pro appearance.

“Honestly, I didn’t know how the first game was going to go,” Carson said after the win, “but I knew one thing: I wasn’t going to come in here scared.”

The 22-year-old more than held his own despite being matched up against five-time Pro Bowler Amari Cooper, with Carson holding the former Cowboy to just 16 yards and breaking up as many passes- two- as he let Cooper catch.

And he nearly came away with two interceptions.

“I didn’t capitalize on my opportunities today,” the rookie confessed. “I think I played okay, but I’ve got to capitalize on the opportunities. That’s the biggest thing with a Cowboys defense- turnovers.”

Fellow cornerback Trevon Diggs was quick to point out Carson’s near-misses, interrupting the youngster’s Q&A session with reporters with an announcement of his own:

“He owes, like, 70 push-ups!” Diggs reported with a laugh.

The fifth-year All-Pro had plenty to smile about on Sunday, making his return to the field after an ACL tear suffered in practice last September

“Tears of joy,” Diggs said at his locker. “Just thankful to be back. I’ve been gone for so long… I had a lot of emotions.”

And he made the most of it, nabbing his first pick in 357 days.

It was quite a performance, especially considering that neither of the Cowboys’ starting cornerbacks for the majority of the 2023 season were even on the field. DaRon Bland is out for several more weeks with a foot fracture; Stephon Gilmore was not re-signed by the team.

But Diggs showed no ill effects from his knee injury, and Carson showed no fear as a first-timer, and the result was a near-total lockdown of the Cleveland passing game.

“We pressured the quarterback a lot, so we got him off his game,” said Carson. “And then for the outside pieces- the receivers- the timing was off, everything was off. It helped us a lot. I think the back end played well, too. All phases of the defensed played well.”

But both men vowed that it’s just the beginning.

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“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” Carson predicted. “We’ve got a lot of improvement to do, get back in the film room. There’s going to be more to come.”

Diggs confirmed that the Cowboys defense, now under the command of coordinator Mike Zimmer, has plenty more that never even came out of the toolbox on Sunday.

“That was just a little sample,” he explained. “Man, we’ve got, like, 50 calls. We only ran probably three of them.”

Maybe it’s the Cowboys’ opponents who should be buckling up for a bumpy ride.

“I left a lot of plays out there. So, a lot more plays to come,” promised the talented youngster they call Seat Belt.

“A lot more to come. This ain’t nothing yet.”

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‘You start now’: Cowboys TE Jake Ferguson ready to use brutal loss as fuel

From @ToddBrock24f7: The 2nd-year TE was a rare bright spot on Sunday, turning in career-best numbers. But he’s ready to start the grind toward the ’24 playoffs.

It’s admittedly too soon for Dallas fans to care much about silver linings from Sunday’s black-cloud disaster of a day in the wild-card round of the playoffs. But tight end Jake Ferguson was one of the few Cowboys who seemed to be up for the moment, even if he was as stunned as everyone else at how the day ended.

“It’s a tough one,” Ferguson told reporters at his locker following the 48-32 loss. “I don’t really have any words.”

Ferguson’s ten receptions led the team and represented a new career-high for the second-year man. The tight end, who will turn 25 on Thursday, also logged new personal bests with 12 targets, 93 receiving yards, and three touchdowns.

None of it was enough, though, to bring the Cowboys’ high-octane offense to life in time to make a difference.

“This is the NFL,” Ferguson explained. “This is playoff football. You’ve got to have more than one spark. You’ve got to keep playing. You’ve got to play continuously good football.”

Most of Ferguson’s teammates, though, did not play continuously good football on Sunday, and just like that, another months-long grind and promising 12-win season has ended with disappointed players quietly cleaning out their lockers while other squads move on.

“This work’s been going since last year,” Ferguson said. “And I think we’ve just got to learn from it.”

And although Dallas’s latest postseason loss will sting for a while, Ferguson has already turned the page.

“For starters, you get your ass in the weight room. You get your ass on the playbook. You start now. The offseason starts now. The preparation for next year starts now,” he promised.

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“So whatever I look back [on] and say, ‘Hey, Ferg, I was off on this or I was off on that or I need to be better in the run game or blocking or whatever it may be,’ that starts now for me.”

Given his marked improvement over an already-impressive rookie season, the idea that Ferguson is still on an upward trajectory is a glimmer of hope in the otherwise gloomy skies over Cowboys Nation today.

The team may have plenty of other questions as they come to grips with the fact that their 2023 campaign is over sooner than expected, but Jake Ferguson is locked in. And he’s already on to 2024.

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