Brian Schottenheimer did not hide from it on Thursday. The Dallas Cowboys are 2-4 after two straight losses, and their head coach and play caller opened his news conference at The Star by taking a share of the blame. “I think it comes with the territory,” he said when asked about the criticism of the last two weeks. “I think some of it is deserved. We got to play better, I got to coach better.”
He said growing up as the son of a longtime head coach taught him that this is part of the job. “I’ve got strong shoulders,” he said. “I know what this team is capable of and that’s what I focus on.”
The Cowboys play the 2-4 Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on Monday night, October 26, at 8:15 p.m. ET (03:15 Cairo on Tuesday).
Faith, former Navy SEALs and phone calls
Asked who he leans on, Schottenheimer said: “I talk to my pastor a lot. I talk to Dr. Tony Evans. You guys know my faith is so important and God is so good to me.” He also named a group that works with the team, whose leaders include former Navy SEALs. “They talked to me about staying consistent with your anchors in life, which is my faith and my family,” he said, adding that Bill Cowher is among the people in the league who have reached out. “This is a tough profession for tough people. And that’s why I know I’m built to handle it.”
Later he described what the job asks of a head coach. “Sometimes you feel like you’re a clinician, a psychologist,” he said. “Am I frustrated and pissed off? You’re damn right I am. But I’m gonna roll my sleeves up and I’m gonna go to work and I’m gonna solve it.”
“Too many negative runs”
On the running game, Schottenheimer said the fix starts with him. “I think it starts with calling more runs, which requires being in more, I keep using the word, normal close games where you’re not having to play from behind,” he said. “I will say early on in most of our games, we’ve not run it as well as we are capable of.” He added: “The negative runs, we gotta clean those up. There’s too many negative runs.”
Asked about a stretch in the loss at Green Bay when the Cowboys threw on almost every snap after falling behind, he said several runs had been called but the defense was “daring us to throw it” with extra players near the line, so the plays were changed. “No one wants to drop back and throw it, whatever, 39 out of 40 snaps. That was not the design,” he said. “There was probably another five to six runs-ish that were called.”
“That pisses me off”
The pass protection drew his strongest words. “At the end of the day, Dak got hit way too much in these last two games and that pisses me off,” he said. “It pisses us off because it shouldn’t happen and we got to keep him clean.” Asked why defenders have come in unblocked so often, he pointed to overload blitzes and to teams “knowing we have to throw it” and not wanting Dak Prescott to have time in the pocket.
He said there were “at least three” blitzes he could think of where better execution would probably have meant a touchdown. “You have heard the term, you live by the blitz, you die by the blitz,” he said. “Unfortunately, we haven’t executed in those situations to where we punish them.” Looking ahead to Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, he said: “I don’t think Vic Fangio’s gonna blitz us 50% of the time, but he might. He’s a really smart coach.”
He also said the lack of big plays is partly about defenses playing deep. “We say it this way, a shot called is not a shot taken,” he said, adding that Prescott has “done a really good job of being patient” against teams that “put an umbrella over the top of our elite weapons.”
George Pickens and the run game
Asked what George Pickens needs to do to get going, Schottenheimer said he does not see the receiver affected by whether he gets the ball, but wants more from him without it. “He needs to understand that he impacts us in the running game as well,” he said. “He’s got to do the same thing in the run game, picking up safeties and blocking corners, just like Javonte does picking up blitzes so he can catch balls. That’s part of the team-first mindset, and GP does understand that.”
Overshown back, no trade needed
On injuries, Schottenheimer said DeMarvion Overshown “will work back in today,” adding: “Excited to see how he does.” Two other players would not practice. “So getting healthier,” he said.
Asked about Jerry Jones’ comments that he would make a move before the trade deadline if it helped this season, Schottenheimer said: “Number one, Jerry’s never afraid to make moves. And number two, no. We’ve got a lot of football left, and we’re excited about winning a big game in Philadelphia on Monday.”
Scouting the Eagles
Schottenheimer said he expects to see Saquon Barkley on Monday and called linebacker Zack Baun “one of the best linebackers in football” and Cooper DeJean “outstanding.” On the Eagles’ quarterback, he said Tanner McKee “knows the system well” and has weapons in DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert. “Certainly not nearly the athlete that Jalen is, but he’s a talented passer that knows his strengths,” he said.
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