The Jacksonville Jaguars totaled 503 yards against the Cowboys last Sunday. A total of 311 through the air and 192 on the ground. It’s the most total yards allowed by Dallas since giving up 509 to the Las Vegas Raiders last year on Thanksgiving in a 36-33 overtime loss.
The Cowboys have held their opponent under 340 yards of offense 10 times this season. They are 9-1 in those games with the lone loss coming in Week 6 at the Philadelphia Eagles, the division rival they face Saturday at AT&T Stadium.
Advertisement
Cowboys safety Jayron Kearse expressed little interest in discussing what they need to do to stop the Eagles, owner of the NFL’s best record at 13-1. Philadelphia will be playing without starting QB Jalen Hurts, who has been ruled out with a throwing shoulder injury. Backup Gardner Minshew will be the starter. Sitting at his locker on Tuesday, Kearse answered questions for nearly 15 minutes about the recent issues with Dallas’ defense. And he believes none of it is because of their opponents.
“We haven’t played our brand of football on the defensive side of the ball,” Kearse said. “Things that were going on earlier in the year, if you would’ve told anybody that we would score 34 points, they would’ve assured that that was a Cowboys victory. We talk about being one of the best defenses in the league and the past two weeks we haven’t shown it at all. You are what you put on tape, and at this point, we haven’t gotten the job done at all. Speaking solely for the defense, we scored 34 points on Sunday, we should come out with the victory, and it should be a comfortable victory, if we claim to be the defense that we think we are.”
The Cowboys defeated the one-win Houston Texans two weeks ago, 27-23, but needed a defensive red zone stand and then an 11-play touchdown drive in the final minutes to get the come-from-behind win over the league’s worst team.
“Giving up 500 yards, no disrespect, but to that Jacksonville squad, shouldn’t have happened,” Kearse said. “We have the players to stop that but we didn’t get the job done. We have to figure some things out, especially at this point in the season where the road is not going to get easier.
“Just like we’re watching tape on other guys, they’re watching tape on us. I can assure you right now, they’re licking their chops.”
Through the first seven games of the season, Dallas’ defense allowed eight touchdowns. They’ve allowed eight in the last three games to the Jaguars, Texans and Colts. In the last seven games, the defense has really only played up to its standard once, the 40-3 win at Minnesota on Nov. 20.
Advertisement
“Fatigue is not an excuse, who we’re playing against is not an excuse,” Kearse said. “That’s for everybody to check themselves. You know if you’ve been giving it everything and you know if you’re not. That’s for specific individuals to answer, but I know as a defensive unit, collectively, we haven’t been getting the job done.
“We’re not too worried about who we play in the future. If we don’t play our game, it’s irrelevant who we’re playing. We’ve seen that against a Texans team that we’re better than, a Jacksonville team that we’re better than. As long as we play our brand of football, we can compete with anybody. If we don’t, the worst team in the league can compete with us.”
Outside cornerback. With Anthony Brown and Jourdan Lewis out for the season, the Cowboys desperately need to find a starting outside corner to play opposite of All-Pro CB Trevon Diggs. Kelvin Joseph (6-1, 192) was given that opportunity last week and ended up being benched in favor of Nahshon Wright (6-4, 185). Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said there would be an open competition for that spot this week in practice. That means it could be Joseph getting another opportunity or Wright.
It also could be rookie DaRon Bland (6-0, 197), who leads the team with four interceptions and is third on the team with six passes defended. Bland’s best spot is probably on the inside, but the Cowboys could decide to play him on the outside and go with a veteran like Mackensie Alexander (5-10, 192) on the inside in nickel and dime situations. The Cowboys also have veterans Kendall Sheffield (5-10, 212) and Trayvon Mullen (6-2, 200). Alexander has the most NFL experience of the group, having played in 84 games with 25 starts. Mullen is next with 45 games and 31 starts.
Another issue is that Diggs was added to the injury report Thursday because of an illness that has him questionable for Saturday.
Other injury updates. Speaking of health, Micah Parsons was dealing with an illness earlier this week that caused him to be away from The Star. He returned Thursday and is listed as questionable for Saturday, although he is expected to play. LB Leighton Vander Esch received positive news about his neck injury this week. He avoided a season-ending injury, however, he will not be available Saturday and it’s highly unlikely he will play the following Thursday night at Tennessee. A return in Week 18 at Washington is possible. It appears the Cowboys will have two of their top run defenders back in time for the playoffs in Vander Esch and DT Johnathan Hankins (pectoral muscle).
Advertisement
Dak Prescott. Since returning from his thumb injury, Prescott has played in eight games. The Cowboys have won six and were up by 14 entering the fourth quarter in one of the losses and up by 17 late in the third quarter in the other loss. Interceptions have been an issue. He has thrown 10 in the last seven games. All of them have not been Prescott’s fault, but he does lead the NFL in interceptions during that time period.
The most costly ones have come in the overtime losses to the Jaguars and Packers. Prescott threw four interceptions in those two games and all four were turned into touchdowns on either that play or the ensuing possession. In total, those 10 interceptions have been turned into five touchdowns, three field goals, a punt and a turnover on downs.
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy made it clear this week that he does not want Prescott to start playing cautiously.
“Most importantly, most importantly,” McCarthy repeated on Monday, “he needs to keep firing. He needs to keep going. So, let’s make that clear. Because we’re not slowing down.”
Dak Prescott: “I think everybody in the locker room is looking forward to this rematch…understanding the long history…understanding that they’re playing their asses off, having a hell of a season. … You just want to get another shot, make sure you put your best foot forward.” pic.twitter.com/oADezm9Xgl
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) December 21, 2022
“We can win with him playing like that, to be trite,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Tuesday on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas when asked for his assessment of Prescott’s play at Jacksonville. “I thought he played outstanding. As we see, he wasn’t playing against chopped liver out there. I thought he did really well. I thought he made good decisions. Overall, if he plays like that, we can win most games.”
Prescott was asked this week about how he avoids allowing the interceptions to become a mental block or something that impacts his game.
“Not to brag, but I’m pretty mentally tough,” Prescott said. “If I’m on the outside, I wouldn’t worry about that for one second with me. If I’m not, I’m for sure not hesitant or scared to say I’m struggling a little bit. So, when something like that’s happening, it’s about knowing who you are, continuing to double down on that, staying focused. Understanding that yes, some things are out of your control.
Advertisement
“But I’m in charge of my attitude, the work ethic I put in, the way that I respond. That’s all I’m doing each and every day when I wake up. I’m just trying to get better. When you’re in a rut, I guess you can call this, as I’ve talked about, one way or the other, the other team is getting their hands on the ball, I can’t allow that to change the way that I’m playing this game.”
GO DEEPER
Gauging the panic level, Eagles visit, key players down the stretch: Cowboys roundtable
Pro Bowl. The Cowboys had seven players named to the NFL’s all-star team this week — only the Eagles had more with eight. RG Zack Martin was selected for the eighth time, DE DeMarcus Lawrence for the third time, while Parsons (LB), Diggs (CB) and WR CeeDee Lamb each for their second time. RB Tony Pollard and KR/PR KaVontae Turpin both made it for the first time.
Turpin said he received the news via a phone call from Jerry Jones. At the beginning, Jones mentioned Turpin’s muffed punt against the Texans, which made him think Jones was calling to say he was being cut.
“In my head, I’m thinking this might be some bad news,” Turpin said. “It brought me to tears, because it’s been a long journey the way I came into the NFL. … Tears of joy, I was just so excited.”
What did Jones say to Pollard?
“He was just saying how proud he is of me,” Pollard said, “how it’s something I deserved, that I worked for, and how he’s looking forward to our future.”
Tyron Smith. For the first time since his rookie season in 2011, Smith lined up at right tackle last Sunday. He’s expected to start there again Saturday against the Eagles.
“It was fun playing next to my guy Zack (Martin),” Smith said. “It’s been a fun transition so far. … Anything that will help the team win. The switch is what was best for the team.”
Smith played 54 of Dallas’ 75 offensive snaps against the Jaguars. Jason Peters played the other 21 snaps. How did Smith think he performed?
Advertisement
“I’m pretty hard on myself, so I can perform way better than I did last week,” he said. “But I’m going to continue talking to Zack, getting on the same page with him, and kind of work through my technique so I can feel more comfortable with it.”
T.Y. Hilton. There was some belief that the 33-year-old wide receiver could make his Cowboys debut last week, however, that didn’t happen. He has a much better chance to play Saturday, considering he has now gone through two weeks of practice. His conditioning and ability to pick up the playbook have not been an issue.
“I can still run, so if you think you’re just going to come up there and play press man-to-man and not get ran by, then you’re crazy,” Hilton said this week. “I just need to show the teams we’re playing that you’re still going to have to account for me.”
(Top photo of Jayron Kearse and Trevor Lawrence: David Rosenblum / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
