Brian Schottenheimer: The Journey Doesn’t Stop | Dallas Cowboys 2025

Brian Schottenheimer: The Journey Doesn’t Stop | Dallas Cowboys 2025

Big laugh. I like that. Oh, big laugh, Brad. I like it, man. How’s everybody doing? Good. Think you should go outside today in the wind. What do you guys think? I think Yeah, maybe a little seven on seven and uh do some kicks and stuff like that. 40 mph winds open on Sunday. Yeah. Yeah, maybe. Yeah, we’ll see. Golf. Uh I’m I’m game. Let’s go. Calvin Watkins, Dallas Morning News. Uh your safety situation. Uh how much do you think Donovan will will go today or Ronnie? Is he feeling better? Yeah. Uh again, both guys are trending. Uh I don’t know how much they’ll do today. We do have the extra day this week, but like I always say, each day there’s information that’s given and um I would say that both guys are doing everything they need to to get back, but we’ll see kind of where today, tomorrow, and uh next couple days look, but definitely a little thin right now. Cooper, how’s he think that was on target? Yeah. Yep, for sure. Trade deadline next week. How much do you talk to your guys about blocking out the noise of what goes on around here in terms of making a trade or that kind of thing? Yeah, I I you know, I don’t really talk a whole lot about that. I mean, I just focus on, you know, us trusting the process and there’s always going to be noise and these guys can’t control the noise any less or more than than we can. And there’s always going to be noise and there’s always going to be speculation and things like that. But our focus is really truly just on one day at a time, get ready for Arizona. And um so I don’t go too much into that. Brian Todd with the ESPN. Uh CD had a besides the Chicago game had his lowest plate time of the season and I maybe some that’s due to the end of the game. He brought in the backups for last drive but even before that he was going in and out of the lineup. What was wrong with Yeah, I don’t think there’s anything wrong. I think you know again he’s you know there’s different personnel tags. We certainly don’t have many that take him out of the game, but there are a few things that we will put somebody else in to do certain jobs. I won’t tell you all the jobs that those guys do, but um yeah, I think it was more of a deal. We knew it was going to be a long game playing, you know, in Denver and playing a good team and I I really don’t think it was anything, you know, concerning. No, absolutely not. No, he’s he’s feeling good. And then as everything with this season comes back to Micah and the trade and all that stuff, did you guys underestimate in any way what he does for guys around him or overestimate what you guys had remaining after the train. No, you know, Todd, I think, you know, Mike is certainly a great player. Um, you know, and we all know that. No one will ever point to the fact that Mike is not a credible player. Um, but, you know, defense is about more than just one guy. I mean, like, some of our defensive struggles have not been because of one guy not doing the right thing. And it’s not been, you know, one assignment. And it hasn’t been one defense, whether it’s man, zone, whatever. It’s been, you know, what team defense is about. I saw a crazy stat. Miles Garrett, somebody said had five sacks last game and they lost. I mean, like, you know, this is the ultimate team game. and defense, you know, and the more I spend time over there, you realize, I guess, as the offensive guy just kind of always took it for granted because we had our own issues, but like if you’re not aligned perfectly in terms of your fits and things like that, it makes it really really difficult. And so, um, again, I I all respect to Micah, what a great player. But, you know, team defense is what we need to play better. And do you have enough guys to play that? Have they have the guys you’ve had not played to the potential that you guys thought it would? No, I think you know we none of us have done good enough, you know. I mean, coaches, players, uh, head coach, none of us have done good enough. That’s that’s real. I mean, our our scorecard is what it is, you know. Uh, and that’s not just, you know, defensively, that’s offensively, you know, we’re a football team that’s 34 and one. You can take the stats on offense and far as I am concerned, I mean, is what it is. if we want to win, you know, and people talk about, hey, MVP and this and that. Dak Prescott doesn’t want to win MVP, you know, he wants to win a Super Bowl and that’s what we want to win. And we’re not there yet. We’ve not played that consistently well enough to certainly be in that discussion, but doesn’t mean the journey stops. It certainly doesn’t stop. It just you get more focused. You get more intentional and uh we got to do it together. John Mashota with the Athletic Arizona lost five in a row, but every one of those games are all like three, four, two-point games. What have you seen from them? What stands out about them? good football team. Uh, you know, they’ve, you know, had, you know, missed Kyler for a few games. He’s obviously a dynamic player and, um, you know, they’re they’ve been a little bit beat up, you know, like a lot of teams in the league, but I see a team that’s that’s that’s that’s hungry. Uh, they play you hard. They have lost some close games. I know on defense, you know, they went out, they spent quite a bit of money on adding guys like, you know, Kus Campbell and good players like that. Buddha Baker shoot. I mean, this guy, you know, he just doesn’t get enough credit for what a great football player he is. I I saw him in a game, literally in a game um when I was in Seattle, literally take out two of our running backs. I mean, he just he plays the game the right way and not enough people talk about what an elite player he is. And uh you know, they want to run the football. They want to get the ball obviously to McBride. He’s a really good good weapon. And um you know, I just think that they’re like everybody, they’re aggressive defensively. They’re very multiple. They do a lot. You know, Nick Rice is a is a is a really uh sharp defensive coordinator. puts his guys in good positions and um they’re a good football team. Don’t let the the record fool you. And then with Kyler Murray, um it’ll be a big story this week. Obviously, he’s 9 and0 at AT&T Stadium going back to high school. Uh do you think any of that stuff even matters? Is that even something that you even would talk or mention to your team? No, I don’t think so. Hopefully, it means he’s due to lose one. Kyler, you know, if you want to help. Um, but no, I think, you know, obviously you can’t speak about Kyler Murray without talking about what an incredible player he was at Allen and in high school and, you know, one of maybe the greatest high school quarterbacks of all time. He’s in that discussion. But, um, you know, I’m sure he’ll be excited to come back here and very comfortable playing here. But again, you know, whether you play at AT&T Stadium, you play out in Arizona, you play in a neutral site, he’s still a damn good football player. They’re a good football team and we’re going to have to play well to beat them. Nick Harris for Sarelliger. a little bit more on Kyler in high school that 2015 year with Georgia. Did you evaluate him at all or look at his high school tape from from that context? I don’t think so. Um I remember know I’ve known the name for a long time, you know, because you couldn’t open up an article or I guess the internet was rolling back then, but you know, you’d hear you’d hear his name, his kid from Allen, Texas. and um you know the more you study them and you jump into it which you know I did um a little bit you know you always see the crossover tape but when you study them like you kind of do this week and like we’ve done this week you know sitting in some of the meetings you just see the uh incredible speed and quickness and agility but the the passer is is is pretty elite too. So, um, presents a lot of problems for you defensively. And, uh, it’s, uh, one of those situations that, uh, again, you can get pressure on him, but he’s hard to get down. He doesn’t get sacked very often. You know, Nick, he gets out in space. And then, you know, you have the perfect contain plan, but he’s so quick and so fast. He’s able to avoid it and get outside. And that’s why we got to do a really good job, not just uh, up to the 2.3, but beyond with our coverage responsibility. You guys are opening the window for Perry on Winry today. What do you hope to see from him this week? Yeah, again just looking to get uh depth. You know, here’s a guy that again uh has good flexibility for us. Can play inside, can play outside. Uh love his play style. You know, I mean, that’s a big part of what we’re looking for. All 11 guys, you know, just playing hard, playing to the whistle, playing on the edge without going over the edge. And that’s all he knows. And so, I know he’s uh worked really hard to get back and feels great and he’s excited. And then where is Josh Butler in his recovery right now? Yeah, again, I think Josh is doing everything that he’s supposed to. I think he’s another guy that at any moment we probably could, you know, lean on, but um right now he’s he’s doing an awesome job with Brett and those guys and he’s chomping at the bit. I have kind of a line of people at my door every couple days of guys that want to get back out there and help us. And that’s how you know you have the right chemistry in the locker room, the right culture because, you know, these guys see us struggling in some areas and they want to help and uh and I love that. Tommy Tommy Cowboys.com was talking about yesterday how changes defensively be this week coaches spending some more time in the linebacker room specifically. Has that been the case? Have you been in there? And if so, what what do you say to them? And what do you kind of try to tell them in terms of how to get the the shift back on track? Well, like I said the other day, I think Monday somebody asked me about I mean the linebackers obviously they get everything started and you know they’re the ones making the call number one, you know, with the green dot with K9 and then they got to set the front you know based on how we want to go whether it’s close right, close left and the biggest thing for us is the focus of making sure that we can kind of like I said see less you know right now we’re seeing too much and so therefore our fits aren’t exactly right. Is it them every time? No. But it’s more of an emphasis of, hey, you know, these guys have some some indicators and things that we want to be on top of. And so, uh, it’s just a big, you know, push for myself and Flu and guys like that to, u make sure that, you know, these guys are doing the things they need to do to see less. And, uh, because a lot of times your defense will go how your linebackers play because of, uh, the the proximity to where they are to the ball. You were talking about Arizona, how they’ve had some close losses. you have as well this year and there’s no textbook answer for finishing close games, but what do you feel like in your mind gives teams the best chance to finish and win on in those close one possession games when it comes down to the line? Yeah, I’m probably old school on that, Tommy. I mean, I think it comes down to confidence. You know, I think when you’ve done it before or multiple times, you know, you watch some some teams that that, you know, they’ve they find a way to win a lot of games, it it carries over to the next time you’re in that situation. Most of these games in this league are going to come down to, you know, close games. And, you know, we we know we’ve got a quarterback that knows how to win. We know we’ve got talented players on both sides of the ball. We know we’ve got a kicker that can kick it from, you know, Midland through the uprights. I mean, we just we we we have those things. and but you know you draw back on the experience of the close games and and finding a way to battle back against the the the the Giants and things like that. So, um I think it comes down to confidence. Skyler Skyler Dixon with the AAP Monday night game by week Monday night game. You’ve been other places, you’ve been here a few years. Is is it real that the Cowboys schedule is courtier than most just because of the profile and stuff? Uh, it’s a good question, Skyler. Um, uh, I mean, this year certainly it is. I mean, you can’t say it’s not. I mean, the the multiple th Thursday night games in this schedule, but, uh, I don’t think they’re doing that to penalize us. I think, you know, people love to, uh, love or hate the Cowboys, and that’s part of why we play, how we play, where we play, and whatnot. But, again, it’s it really doesn’t matter. These guys would go and play anybody, anytime, anywhere. But, uh, I I I can’t say that it’s not something that, um, is definitely noticeable when you look at the schedule and, um, the Thursday, Thursdays, and things like that are a little different. And the the extra day this week obviously, and then the extra day coming out of buy, what difference does that make? Does that help in terms of recovery and all those kinds of things or mini buys, however you want to look at it? Yeah. Well, like this week, for example, we’re going to work normal today and tomorrow and then uh, Friday will be kind of a we’re calling it a bonus day. gets a chance to kind of look back on our first, second, and third down plan to tighten up some things there. Uh we won’t really do anything on the field of in a mock kind of a walk tempo because we really don’t want these guys having to run four days in a row and then Friday, Saturday of the not the week, but of the so Saturday, Sunday, we’ll get back to our normal routine. But uh you use that and we need that for mental reps. We need that for communication. We need that to tighten up some of the things that again going back to Tommy’s question, what we’re seeing. and um great chance to dive into more film and let them see Arizona, you know, and what they’re doing offensively, what they’re doing defensively because they do create problems defensively with some of their alignments and the multiple fronts that they play and the different personnel. They got three safeties and they do things like that. So, I think the extra day will be big for their bodies. Talking about our players, uh, but also for them to see more and more game film because you’d be surprised how much game film you really don’t get to watch, you know, because you’re watching more cutups and things like that based on the situation of the day. Babe, Babe Lmer, 1053, the fan, Cowboys radio. Uh Brian, so you talked about Kamurby being out last couple of games, but with Purs, they’ve been better every statistical category across the board, yards, third downs, uh throwing for 100 more yards a game. So what do you see when you look at those two games compared to what they were doing previously? Why have they been Well, someone I’m a huge Aobe Brassette fan. I had him in Indianapolis, babe, and he’s one of my favorite guys ever. I think maybe it’s because after, you know, we were surprised that Andrew couldn’t come back. Talking about Andrew Luck, of course, we traded for Jacobe during the buy before the first game and um you know, I think there’s something about Jacobe. You know, I’ll brag on him for a minute, just the type of leader he is and things like that. Um his arm talent’s incredible, but they do play a little different. You know, they they played more from under center than they do with Kyler. And you know, with Kyler, they’re in the gun more and they do a little bit more pistol and things like that. Jacob’s not going to run a whole lot. He’s not going to run some of the counter read schemes that they do with Kyler, so that certainly looks different, but um again, I think they’re they’re very comfortable with both quarterbacks and certainly Kyler’s our starter, but I’m not surprised that they played well with Jacobe. He’s a he’s a incredible competitor and incredible young man. you been in a situation as the offensive coordinator or whatnot where you start doing some things differently because you have to because of the personnel, but then all of a sudden you say, “Hey, maybe we should do a little more of this.” I mean, do you expect some of that? Yeah. Uh, I mean, potentially. Uh, again, I think that ultimately you need to do what your players do well, and you’re certainly going to start with what your quarterback does well. So, um, you know, there’s plenty of games from Kyler’s history to look at, but, um, you know, Jacobe did exactly what a good backup’s supposed to do. He went in and gave him a chance, and, you know, they didn’t they didn’t get the wins on a couple of games, but he’s done what he’s had to do, and he’s performed well. Garrett Garrett Podell, CBS Sports. Brian, you were on the Cowboy staff when Jonathan Ganon was with the Eagles. What are your thoughts on going against him as a play caller, both he and Josh Sweat? Um, you know, really like Jonathan a lot. Uh, good guy, damn good football coach. Uh, you saw it when you played Philadelphia, the intense, the style that they played with, that his defense has played with. You see that with this Arizona team, they’re tough. Talked about Buddha Baker, uh, you know, Kas Campbell, but, uh, yeah, Josh is still playing at a very high level. He leads the team in sacks. Um, he’s really playing on both sides. They’re moving around, playing him some in the boundary. Um the the positive thing for going up against a great player like Josh is we have some awareness of him. We’ve we’ve played him a number of times and um but uh yeah they uh again they’ve they’ve got good pieces and um again when you when you look at this team and the way they’re built you can see you know Jonathan’s personality. Joe Joe White Dallas Morning News. Jaden Blue had the most carries of his young career so far had 140 runs also had a fumble. What do you make of his performance on Sunday and how important is it with as the season goes on with Javvante to try and identify someone who can spell him pretty consistently? Yeah, again I think you know you hit it best. I mean Jaden was inconsistent in the game. He did some really good things and there were some other things that he’s got to do at a higher level. You know the fumble was a good hit. You know he needs to hold on to the ball and actually our combination block was supposed to come off to it and it didn’t. So again that’s a blocking issue. Um, again, he can continue to play and emphasize playing more physical with and without the ball. That’s real. That’s a young back learning the speed of the game, the physicality of the game. But to me, I’m always going to go back to the consistency. You know, you can’t put the ball on the ground. You have to, you know, be on top of your blitz pickups. You have to do those things. And, um, the big thing I’ve told him about is like, you’ve got the perfect guy sitting right to your left in Javvante to learn from. who was you a couple years ago as a young rookie trying to figure it out and you know lean on him. You know, Javvante does everything right. And so, um, Jaden’s doing that, but again, I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about, you know, Malik Davis and the job he’s doing for us. And we’re all about creating competition. It’s not just creating competition on the defensive side of the ball for jobs and who’s going to play, it’s on offense as well. And, um, that would be another battle to watch. We talked last game about how the Broncos defended play action, the legs, kind of tight end, you know, outlets and stuff like that. Is it simple as when it comes to the effectiveness of that, just, hey, if you’re having a good running game that that will be a little bit more mysterious or how do you kind of defend against? It helps. Yeah, I mean, it definitely helps if you got them worried about, you know, fitting their gaps and running the ball. And if they look the same, we talk marriage all the time, right? They have to look the same. And if they’re not concerned about the run game, then certainly they’re going to be a little less apt to pursue and flow to the football, which makes it easier to handle those things. The other thing that I would say is if you’re not winning first down and you’re dealing with second and seven or second and eight, a play pass would not be as effective as it would be on first and 10 or second and three, second and four because they’re not as concerned about the the run. Uh Jeff Jeff Cole with Fox 4. Coach, you mentioned spending more time with the defense each week. When you think back to week one preparing for Philly to now, like how much more time do you feel like you’re spending and how much more are you trying to put your fingerprints on the decision making? Yeah. Um, you know, it’s a significant amount more. Um, and again, that’s that’s to help. It’s it’s not to get in the way. It’s to, you know, offer my expertise on what I see and how I would attack them and things like that. And um it’s been awesome. I mean, it’s been really good conversations. And I’ll give Flu a ton of credit, you know, having been a coordinator and having had head coaches come and sit in my meetings and stuff. You don’t like it, you know, and you kind of take it a little bit uh um myself personally, I took it personal like, “Why are you in my meeting? I want Hey, Pete, get out of my meeting. I don’t want you in my meeting, Pete. Why you Hey, Rex, why are you in my meeting? Get out.” You know, Feluc has not been like that at all. and um he’s been very open to some of the thoughts uh and again he’s leaning on the staff and again it’s a good plan like I said there will be changes um you know and there’ll be you know some bigger than others and um but the change is not necessarily what makes this thing go what makes it go is going to be the execution and that’s what I want everybody to understand and um but uh yeah I would say it’s um it’s it’s it’s been it’s been good because I’m able to you know, look at this thing from the offensive perspective and maybe clear up some things that they look at opposite of how the offense looks at it. Cool. Good. Thanks, guys.

Head coach Brian Schottenheimer speaks with media before Wednesday’s practice to provide injury updates at Safety, his evaluation of the Arizona Cardinals, expectations of DT Perrion Winfrey as he returns to practice this week, and more.

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