The Cowboys trailed the Ravens 28-6 in the fourth quarter before a furious rally fell just short in a 28-25 loss. Tempers flared on the sideline as the offense failed to score a touchdown on its first eight possessions, and the defense allowed 274 rushing yards for the game.
Receiver CeeDee Lamb, who had four catches for 67 yards and lost a fumble, was visibly upset and, at one point, was caught yelling at quarterback Dak Prescott and right guard Zack Martin on the sideline. Lamb skipped his media obligation after the game, but Prescott downplayed it afterward.
“Reading body language, I’m not really into it. I’m just into making sure that he doesn’t get down on himself,” Prescott said. “The body language, whether it’s good or it’s bad, it’s irrelevant. It’s where his mind is. And so, you are going to be disappointed when you’re passionate, and when you expect a lot from yourself. You’re going to be that way. So for me, it’s about just letting him know, ‘Hey, next play; wipe it clean.’”
Edge rushers DeMarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons also had a passionate exchange on the sideline.
“It’s definitely frustration,” Parsons said. “D-Law has always been a big brother to me. We’re losing. It was something simple. We didn’t mess up. We came off a three-and-out. It’s the simple fact like: First to be the best, our best players always have to do the right things, right? Coach is like, ‘Go make a play.’ I said, ‘Coach I’m playing within the framework of the defense. I need to get these guys behind me to trust me first.’ I don’t want to make those plays by myself. It’s going to slow them down, right? I need everyone to do that. Not just me. Not just D-Law. Everyone. I’m just going to stay in my gap. The person behind me has to trust I’m going to do my job right, and right now that trust is not there.”
Lawrence used the words “frustrating” and “frustration” several times in answers laced with expletives, honest in his assessment of where the defense is at the moment. The Cowboys gave up 190 rushing yards to Alvin Kamara and the Saints in a 44-19 home loss last week before Derrick Henry and the Ravens ran over them this week.
“Not having our stuff together on defense, where we’re playing 11-man football,” Lawrence said. “You know, it’s all frustrating. You know, having a game plan but not following the game plan. It’s just small things, so once we get out of playing Little League football and get back to playing pro football, we’ll be all right.”
