Focus Is Best Served in the Moment | Dallas Cowboys 2025

Focus Is Best Served in the Moment | Dallas Cowboys 2025

You had to get some sleep. No. Me neither. Took a red eye. Anybody else? You did? Huh? Did you fly back with Jerry? No. No. Calvin Watkins, Dallas Morning News. Um, when you look at the the trade acquisitions and the guys who are coming back from the health issues, do you look at the next seven weeks or so as this might be a new season for us and maybe we can make a push on a couple of things? Well, I mean, I’m excited about the acquisitions and the guys were getting healthy, but you know me, I’m going to look at it each and every week and truly take it one step at a time. Each championship opportunity is different and uh but watching the game last night, there were a lot of things certainly to be excited about. You know, the way the defense, you know, played, the just general play style, the way they affected the quarterback. Uh it was great to get some snaps for Von. Thought Kaylin Carson played terrific. Um really, you know, proud of him and his journey and what he’s had to do. And uh it’s good to see Demo out there running around. And then of course, you know, what Quinnon adds to the inside of the the pocket, but also from a leadership standpoint, just the type of man he is is uh is very exciting of the the Jets win in this one with with kind of blowouts. Would you say this was a more of a complete game than that one? Um yeah, I think, you know, there’s things you take from both games, you know, that were um highlights and things. Again, I think the the time of possession in this game was important. It’s something we wanted to do. We wanted to possess the ball and uh you know, defense created some really good three and outs. I thought the fourth quarter was was a fun quarter because, you know, we were able to, you know, get the safety and then run a bunch of time off the clock to kind of put the game away. I thought that was really really good. But um all in all, I thought uh it was uh you really complimentary football what it should be. Couple of questions. Clarence Hill with D, the LLS Cowboys. And how you doing? I was Well, I was confused cuz I I thought you weren’t going to say who you were, but you’re good. Yeah. Go. How you doing? I’m doing I’m doing I’m doing great. I’m doing great. I’m a little I’m a little tired. I’m a little tired, but it’s okay. Okay. We’re all tired together. So, that’s right. Speaking of tired eyes. Oh, tired eyes. Speaking of tired eyes. Yeah. A few media members, fans, it seemed like the players didn’t know what the hell was going on on that onside kick punt. Was there confusion on the sideline as well? There was. Yeah, there was. Uh that’s one of the things we actually talked about this morning. We got to clean up. Uh just uh it’s uh it took us a minute. I was begging Brad Allen for a little bit more time. I was like, “Hey, Brad, they just told us this.” And uh but I I I got to say, I’ve never seen that. And uh so we’re uh getting comfortable with it. But it’s uh something that definitely was it caught us off guard a little bit just in how it transpired. Could they have caught the ball even though it didn’t go 10 yards because Pickkins caught a fair catch but let it bounce? I mean, how I mean, because they have really just caught it as unsighted. Yeah, again, it’s a unique thing. I think the best thing there is for us to call the the fair catch and catch it in the air. Uh, and I haven’t talked to GP about it, but yeah, that’s that’s the best way to handle it, but literally it was right in front of me and literally I got caught looking at it. It was like I didn’t think it was ever going to come down. U, but that’s that’s the way it it uh was supposed to play out. Uh but uh we need to definitely make some adjustments to make sure we’re we’re ready for that in the future. Let it bounce in. It’s anybody’s ball. Yeah. So it doesn’t matter how far it goes. Correct. At that point. Um is there anything too there are people that are [Music] not beating a team with a winning record? Is that do you is that important? You have a stretch now three game with teams with winning records. Really want to build on what you have. You have to jump over a hurdle you haven’t jumped this year. Yeah. Uh, I mean, I think all teams in this league are good. I think, you know, you look at, you know, Vegas and, um, you know, uh, they they’ve had teams on the ropes and, you know, they’re a good football team and, um, again, I think each team is different. Each game is different and, you know, there’s injuries factor into different things, but, you know, I don’t get caught up in records just because, again, you can’t predict how things are going to going to play. And if you would have told me Kansas City was sitting with the record that they have, does that mean they’re not a good football team? No. Uh, does that mean that, you know, Vegas isn’t a good football team? No. It means they haven’t found a way to win. And so, we found a way to win yesterday, which is great. And that’s what we have to continue to do. And the only way to do that is to win. And that’s why I think that uh getting that victory coming off the the twoe layoff was uh important for us. Brian Todd with ESPN. Physically, how do you get your guys ready for this stretch of three games in such a time, small time? Yeah, you know, we we’ll do all the different things that we do, you know, with the, you know, you know, getting these guys back healthy, the things, you know, where they’re using the, you know, hot tub, cold tub therapies, you know, massages, all that stuff. You know, we’ve got a bunch of protocols in place for that. Uh, we’ll do a lot of walkthroughs. You know, there’ll be some full speed running, but not a lot, not as much as you normally do. So, the meetings have to be really, really good. the walkthroughs have to be really really good because right now we’re in a position that we have to get their bodies back, but we also have to get our mental um you know, our minds right to play the game and to play well. And uh I talked a little bit last night and through the week about I thought we did a good job of having a very tight plan. Uh we know Philadelphia pretty well. They know us pretty well. Um so we’ll have a tight plan, but you know, maybe a few more wrinkles just because we know them. uh whereas Vegas, it was the first time we were playing them and you know didn’t have a great feel for exactly what they wanted to be necessarily on defense um against our offense. So um biggest thing is just maximize everything we do. I was real big last week on take one thing at a time. There was a lot of distractions, a lot of things going on and I want our guys to focus on the next meeting, the next workout, the next practice, the next meeting. Um and I thought they did a good job of that. a young team. Does it take a certain amount of maturity to be able to realize you might not get all the onfield stuff you would normally get and make sure you’re still doing everything and be ready for Sunday? Yeah, and I do think, you know, Todd, that’s where a lot of the veteran leadership guys, I mean, you know, anyone in this locker room that’s been here knows what this schedule kind of feels like. It’s what we’re used to in terms of, you know, you play a game and not necessarily a Monday game into, you know, Sunday, then a Thursday, and then another Thursday. That’s a little bit unique. Uh but again the veteran leaderships and the guys that have been here are instrumental in also carrying that message to the young guys. One of the things Parcels used to say his job was to provide perspective to his team um and where they are and where they need to be. Do you take an overarching view yet of where things are in the division as you start playing these guys a second time as well as looking at the rest of the conference yet? Yeah, I mean I do. Uh I I focus again during the course of the week. I talk about what it’s going to take to play well that week and to give yourself the best chance to win. Um, strange things happen. You know, we all play each other down the line, you know, meaning division games. We play, you know, Minnesota, we play teams that are going to be potentially in the race for the playoffs. And, um, you know, but again, I don’t get caught up in, hey, guys, hey, we we have to win and we have to get this many wins or that many wins. I just don’t believe in that. I think you kind of take your eye off the prize. And um my belief, not saying I’m right, is that you know your focus is best served in the moment. And um that’s uh that’s what I believe and and that’s how we’ll move forward. Nick Harris for starting. Dak was talking yesterday about Ryan Floyen and how consistent he’s been since he’s entered the building and it’s why he’s had these opportunities. Just from your perspective of Ryan Fenoy just continuing to ascend on the depth chart. How has he continued to impress you, Ed? Yeah, you know, Ry is a uh small school guy that, you know, we we saw the um the talent, we saw the strength, the body control, the ability to run after the catch. Uh but again, Nick, it’s his work ethic, man. I mean, this guy’s learned every position. You could put him at X, F, Y, Z, doesn’t matter. Uh he can play them all. Play them all at a high level. That’s a lot of confidence that that gives Dak and and the coaching staff when we’re putting together the plan and different personnel groupings and how we want to use people. Um, but again, I think he’s proven to himself that he belongs at this level. Sometimes it takes guys from a small school to actually go out there and to play well and to do it. But, um, he’s playing with a ton of confidence right now and you you you saw it on the on the touchdown. It was an excellent route and he’s just so strong, man. People don’t realize if you haven’t been up around, you know, Flo, just how how strong he’s built, you know, just his size and that’s why he’s a tough match for a lot of these corners. And for Ste and George after that first drive, how have you seen them really embrace the accountability aspect, not just in the game, but in the facility today, just being able to take that on on the chin? Yeah, I mean, the bottom line was, you know, look, I I talked to our guys all about accountability, not just, you know, those two. And um again, we had great conversations and real conversations and um I think I said last night, you know, at the end of the day, you know, I love those guys and the energy that they brought is real, but um you know, they’re not the only ones that we’re going to hold accountable. I’m going to hold myself accountable when when I make mistakes and uh hold people accountable when they do great things, you know, and that’s just kind of the culture that we’ve built here. And so, um, I think, you know, those guys have have have have shown how much they love this team, how much they love playing the game, and, uh, how much fun they have doing it and doing it at a very, very high level. And, uh, that speaks volumes about them. Tommy, stcowboys.com. Those last couple games going into the five, Dak was getting hit a lot. Last night, only sacked once. I think he’s only hit four times. How’d you evaluate the way your offensive line played? Yeah, very good. Uh, you know, they threw a lot of different things at us. Uh, you know, I talked a little bit last night, someone asked me about Max Crosby and what a great player he is, but I thought the offensive line played very good. Uh, point Terrence Steel out. Thought he played very, very, very well. Um, but I thought in general it was one of our better games up front from a run protection or a run game, pass protection standpoint. Uh, and we always want to try to keep Dak, you know, clean and upright and I think that helps all quarterbacks. But u again I do think that we did a good job on both sides of the ball last night of owning the line of scrimmage. And then on the defensive side, Donovan Ezra was a huge sacks production guy Boston College and the what he’s been able to do against the run has kind of been for more this year than the sacks have. What what did you see out of him back at his college tape as a run defender and how have you seen that aspect of his game grow at the professional level? Yeah, Tommy, the ability to set the edge, number one, he’s got great length, you know, so he uses length, which is great. And then he’s got great ability to disengage. So, if he sets the edge based on where the ball is going to go, he’s got the ability to disengage to go into the C gap or hold the edge, uh, he uses length really well. He’s really strong through his lower body, which allows him to control blocks against, you know, tight ends and tackles sometimes on the edge. and um he’s very very very football smart and very good feel for understanding the game. Football instincts I think are top-notch and that that showed in the interview process with him being around him. U but I’m not surprised how well he’s playing really on on all three downs. Scott Dixon with the AP. Dak’s made it clear that the numbers aren’t a big thing to him but you’re probably aware that there’s all kinds of milestones kind of floating around with them. There’s a big one this week potentially with career passing yards. Tony’s the franchise leader. He could take that. I just wondered your view on numbers like that. Are they do they be celebrated, commemorated, or are they just kind of something that doesn’t matter when you compare it to wins? Um, well, as the head coach, I think you definitely have to, you know, focus on the wins. I mean, I honestly did not even know that he was in position to break a record, you said this week. That shows you that I don’t get caught up in the records. He’s obviously not walking around talking to me about it. uh because his focus is his football team and um again if we do what we’re capable of doing I believe he will you know uh achieve that milestone but again I know what he really wants and it’s not uh his name individually in record books it’s his name you know collectively with this group of young men uh his teammates his brothers um doing something much much better than just having individual accolades and having been around him a few years with him in the midst of those how do you kind look at where he is in this franchise, how important he’s been to the franchise and just more than him just as a player, just as a guy for this franchise. Yeah, I think he’s invaluable in so many ways that he just, you know, what value he adds to this team from leadership, from uh accountability, from he he holds himself more accountable than maybe anybody. You know, he’s the first to say, “I messed that up. I screwed this up. Hey, I got to be better.” uh you love that about you know your leader and one of your best players. Um the confidence he exudes, the way he’s you know teaching and leading some of these young guys. A great example would be Ryan Florenoy. What he’s done investing in flow uh I think is is really cool because they work a lot together after practice. They they’re always constantly talking. He’s kind of built that with CD and George, but he realizes, okay, hey, Flo’s a very talented young man, but he’s still young and he’s still learning the game. And Dak goes out of his way. And, you know, we’ve had a few more player le meetings uh the past two weeks. Just kind of want these guys to be able to talk football a lot. Sometimes it’s good for the coaches to get the hell out of the way and let these guys that have to go step in between the white lines and do things together, um, you know, do that. We’ve done that both on offense and defense and um Dak certainly is very involved running that. But um I’m not in there. I stay out of there. But my feedback from talking to the guys who have been in there is it’s great feedback and they work out the kinks on certain things which I think is invaluable for us um in this game and moving forward. Joe, Joe White, Dallas Morning News. Um you talked about Caitlin Carson’s journey. He was the only guy that played 100% of snaps on defense last night. obviously comes in as rookie, starts a season over, injuries, weights his turn this year. How difficult is that for a young corner and then what did you see from him in terms of being able to step right in and kind of have that role? Well, I think it’s it’s it’s very difficult when you listen listen to all the different things he’s had to go through. I mean, even this year coming back, you know, he had issues and things he was dealing with. But, um, you know, we’ve been tough on Kalin in a good way because we’ve seen that we’ve seen the talent. We’ve seen the upside. We’ve talked to him about his urgency and hey, you know, let’s let’s pick up the urgency in the meetings and let’s, you know, the command of what we’re trying to do and we got to see that out there on the field and and he’s done that, Joe. I mean, he’s been awesome. And so this has been building for a couple weeks now to where we were like, okay, we see the light kind of turning on and uh I was not surprised at all with the way he played last night and the competitiveness and the way he challenged the ball. I thought the play right before the end of the first half when they kicked the field goal against Bowers, tough matchup, right? Really, you know, talented tight end size-wise played a perfect look back at the ball and um did not, you know, commit a foul. And um I think when you’re talking about young players like that, when they go out and they play well, they have to stack it right and they have to go and they have to do it again. But don’t forget, which he won’t, don’t forget what got you to play well. It was the urgency. It was the things that we were challenging him on that uh he’s taken ownership of and um I think that’s really cool. We’ve talked with Jerry a lot about George Pickins, you know, his potential future here and he’s shown interest in potentially paying two receivers like that elite money. Just from your perspective, what do you think about George Pickings as a potential long-term guy here now that you’ve had him for 10 games? Yeah, sign me up. I mean, I mean, what do you say? Those two guys, I I just I love their relationship, man. I love the firepower that they give us, you know? I mean, that’s, you know, one of those games where, you know, you never know which one it’s going to be. Some games it’s both of them, some games it’s one of them. Um, and uh, again, like I said, I just uh, you know, I I I pinch myself at times because it’s like you’re talking about when you’re Dak or you’re the play caller myself, you’re like, “Okay, well, if we do this, well, which way do I throw it to?” I like that match up. Wow, that one’s pretty good, too. Like, that’s real, you know? And so, um, you know, uh, I’m very in favor of George having a long-term future with us here in Dallas. Brad Brad Sham Cowboys radio 1053 the fan Brian given barring unforeseen complications dangerous thing to say. Um how many more guys who are either on IR or the practice squad do you think you would like to find a way to get on the 53? Yeah. Um I think we’re at six right now that we’ve done of our eight. So we have to be very selective of what we’ve done. Um, but again, there’s a lot of really good names out there and again, you said it best. It’s going to all depend on how these next couple weeks go and hopefully we stay healthy, but if somebody breaks the chin strap and they’re going to miss a little bit of time, you have to obviously make decisions to bolster your roster in that regard. But, um, there’s quite a few really good football players, uh, in that area and, uh, we’re watching them do their rehab and they’re busting their butts with with Brit and trying to get back and get ready and, um, you know, we, uh, we’ll be ready to make those moves if we need to. Garrett Garrett Bodell, CBS Sports. Hey, Brian. Uh, Dak, after last night’s game said, you know, if we play like the way we played last night, we have the confidence that we could come out on top in any of these games. uh what do you feel like uh you guys have to do to kind of replicate that um going forward and what do you feel like clicked last night to allow you to play with that kind of overarching complimentary football that yeah you know again I think you watch us we you know we go three and out um they kind of move the ball on us a little bit but I think last night was probably the most poised I’ve seen our team in general in terms of just you know it’s just go play man 60 minutes like they played played free. You know, we’ve talked about that, Garrett, for a while. Like, I truly want these guys to go out there and play free and not get caught up in the score, whether we’re up 173 or whether we’re down 21 to nothing, whatever it is. And um, you know, these games, you know, they when games get away or out of hand, you know, a little bit like last night did late. It’s not that way till late in the game. it kind of happens, you know, but like these games are built to be close and there’s parody and that’s what the league wants and that’s why the game is so popular. But um I think we just again we stay in the moment. We take one play at a time, one drive at a time. We realize that yeah, we’re going to score points and then we’re going to get stopped and the defense is going to allow some plays and hopefully they’re going to get stopped which they did last night. But um I think there’s a confidence that we have in in one another. There’s a confidence we have that we can find ways to win games. But the biggest thing that we did last night is I thought we played our most consistent football game as a all three phases. Offense, defense, special teams. Was it perfect? Nope. Absolutely not. A lot of things we looked at, we’re like, “Yeah, I got to clean that up. Got to tighten that up.” But I use the word a lot in here because it’s real. We were the most consistent probably game that we’ve played um all season long. Nick, Tyler Gen uh was not credited with the pressure for the first time in his career. How have you seen him really stack games over the course of the last few weeks? Yeah. um trusting his technique, you know, really doing a good job with his hands, his feet. Um you know, it’s a tough position to play, especially for a young player. Uh and I think, uh you’re seeing Tyler right now have a lot of confidence in and um the fact that he can dictate the tempo of his sets to take control of rushers and things like that. Um but he’s also doing a really good job in the run game of getting movement at the point of attack. And um I think, you know, the more he and um you know, Tyler Smith play together, the better that will be. But again, I see him him growing in his approach to practice. You know, I would say if you talk to me about, you know, Tyler, certainly late last year, maybe even early this year, the practice tempo was good. That’s good. But was it where it should be at elite level? And I’d say probably if you would asked me that early in the season, I probably would have said no. Um, he’s he’s figuring it out. And it takes these guys sometimes uh a while to figure it out, but that’s what I know I’ll be pushing with him is look at how confident you’re playing because you’re practicing well. So in your mind, you go up into game day and you’re like, “Yeah, I’ve done this all week. I’ve had a good week of prep.” Um instead of, “Oh, hey, hey, you know, I didn’t have a great week of prep.” And I think that’s important. Young guys, who are the best practicers, who are the best young practicers? Wow. Um Donovan Ezrau jumps out at me as a really good practicer. Uh Brevin Spawn forward. uh is a really good practice player. Um there’s a lot more. Those are the first two that came to my mind. Again, I’m going to mention Kayn Carson again. You know, I think he’s learning the urgency that it takes. Uh Vaughn, um you know, you saw that yesterday. You know, he plays the right way. He wants the matchup against George and CD and things like that. And um you know, but uh as a whole, again, I I say it all the time. you know, practice is what has to separate us from the rest of the league. And um we have more and more guys, I think, that are buying into that. Got it. Would you say this stretch that you got coming up next the three and the 15 days that however you handle it, that’ll tell you a little bit about whether or not you could achieve your goals? Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Starting with this one, you know, we’re playing, you know, really good football team in Philly and uh you know, defending champs and um you know, one of the teams I really respect. I respect the way they play and um you know, they’re very talented. They’re well coached and so um you know, we look forward to this matchup and then you know, play that one and then play another team, the team that was matched up against them, you know, last year in February. And uh again, we’ll find out a lot about ourselves, but I’m the I’m the guy that wants to play the good teams. You know, I want to play the good teams and find out where we truly are. And I do think that it’s fair. The question’s fair. We’ll know a little bit more in the next whatever it is, 12 days, 11 days, kind of where we stack up uh in the league. And uh I think we’ll answer that question in a uh in a very positive way. Think I can get an award? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I mean, I I kind of do. I I I don’t know if he is. I I’d give him the award. I mean, it was a pretty good uh pretty good acting job, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don’t know. Maybe in the competition who’s going to, you know, try to unseat them for the Yeah. I Hey, I don’t know. I don’t know anything about that stuff, man. I I’m on the sidelines. They’re in between the white lines, man. I just I I just call the plays. Let them execute it. Todd, uh how to oversh You got 31 snaps. Was that kind of the plan going in or was it related to how the game played out where you guys didn’t have to play him as much? No, that was kind of the number. We were right in the range and uh I think uh he did a good job. He uh he was moving fast out there. Uh had bad eyes on a couple plays, but uh the speed and athleticism makes up for a lot of things and it was just great to see him out there running around having fun and tracking guys down on the sidelines was so cool to see. But uh uh he did fine and uh but that was the plan and uh we were right in that sweet spot of 30 to 35 reps. Do you see a rotation between those four guys? I mean know you don’t play your base a bunch but yeah uh we’re going to roll guys through. You know again we’re all about competition but uh again you know because you know Demo was on a pitch count that gave us a chance to see some more of those guys. And um again I think it’ll get solidified here just these next couple weeks as we get going and Demo comes off the pitch count. But, uh, uh, yeah, I mean, I think we want to rotate guys and get guys experienced. I mean, Shamar James, another guy that, you know, played well yesterday, had a bunch of tackles and, um, talented young player that we’re excited about. Patrick. Hey, coach. Patrick Walcows.com. looked like you guys parted ways with Deone Clark, but obviously you guys acquired Logan Wilson who, you know, acquitted himself very well yesterday, his debut, but can you talk about just what you’re seeing with younger guys like Shamar James and Maris Lee a foul that makes you confident to be able to make a move like that? Yeah, well, first of all, I want to, you know, just really emphasize how much, you know, De Mo means to me. Uh, what an incredible young man he is. Um, you know, in my conversations with Deone, I told him, I said, “Hey, man, your career is just getting started.” You know, and sometimes change is good. I really do believe that that’s not That’s what I truly believe, you know, and um but uh again, I think you have to handle things the right way and this, you know, gives, you know, Moan a chance to, you know, find a home and and and get excited. But um you know, we’ve we we’ve put a lot of resources into the linebacker room. You know, obviously K9 and Logan and then drafting Shamar and Justin Baron’s another guy that we that we really feel good about. Um but I love the youth of our football team, you know. I really do. I love the youth of our football team and I love not just their talent but how hungry they are to learn from the veterans and to lean in the Javian Clownies of the world and the CDs of the world and the Jake Fergusonss of the world. I think that shows you that these guys are the right type of guys. They’re humble. They don’t come in thinking they have all the answers. They want to learn from the guys that have been there and done that. and that hopefully will help them speed up their their process into becoming um you know winning starters at at our level. Quick follow up to that. Now that you guys do have an available seat on the 53 uh where is Perry on Winfrey in his recovery? Yeah, doing really good. Yeah, doing really well and um again we’ll see how um things go but I think that could be where you see that spot coming from. Good. Everybody all right? Thanks guys. [Music]

Head coach Brian Schottenheimer speaks with media about the win against the Las Vegas Raiders, confusion about the onside kick, not getting caught up in records, veteran leadership going into a short week, player accountability and more.

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