Just days after suffering the worst loss in the 35-year ownership tenure of Jerry Jones in a 47-9 humiliation at AT&T Stadium at the hands of the Detroit Lions, the Dallas Cowboys are going back to the drawing board during their scheduled bye this week
In a game where the Cowboys were outmatched in every facet, the physicality and toughness of the team have been put under the microscope after a six-game stretch that saw Dallas mostly get overwhelmed by physical styles of play.
It’s not something that can just flip overnight, and the leadership of the team agrees, as focus is being put on how the team can reposition its approach to practice during the week. In his postgame availability, quarterback Dak Prescott called out how the team only tries to turn it on one day of the week and how that translates to the field.
“We’ve got to practice harder, simple as that,” Prescott said. “You can’t turn it on, on Sundays. I know I’ve said that before to the guys. We’ve just got to reiterate that every day at practice, in our preparation. We’ve got to practice harder, prepare harder and come out here and play harder. That’s a choice.”
In response to those comments made by his quarterback, head coach Mike McCarthy coincided with Prescott in implying issues with how the team practices during the week while also still giving credit for the work put in during the week.
“I’ve done this a long time, this team practices hard,” McCarthy said. “There’s a difference between practicing hard and practicing well. They practice hard. We’re not practicing well enough.”
Backing up his point about the team practicing hard is GPS data that tracks player movement and exertion during any given practice or game with a microchip installed in their shoulder pad or around their torso.
“If you look at comparables from the way the team practices on a GPS scale, this team is better conditioned than 2022 and 2023, as far as workload capacity,” McCarthy said. “That’s what the numbers tell you, but the efficiency and productivity in the areas of fundamentals and technique, we are not where we were at this time last year. That’s very evident to me as far as how I evaluate the practice every day.”
Prescott also challenged his teammates and himself in the approach they are taking outside of the team facility during the week to prepare for practices and games.
“We want to win,” Prescott said. “We want to play physical. We want to be great. So, it takes everyone looking in the mirror and saying how can I [get better]?…It starts with our preparation. It starts with being on the field and then the time away from the facility, what are you doing? How are you spending your time? Are you studying the game? Are you putting yourself in every situation and position to be ready for and to be great in those moments? We’ve got a lot of guys, myself included, that have to answer those questions and be better. Period.”
The Cowboys will have their longest break of the season to determine how exactly they can fix an apparent issue around how the team prepares and practices during the week leading up to a game. Without a solution, the team could be continuing to look in the face of an underwhelming season that could fly off the tracks sooner rather than later.
With a solution, things could get back on track ahead of a tough stretch of games in the next five weeks.
“We got to keep working,” McCarthy said. “That’s the answer. And we’re going to keep working.”
