This Defense Looks Different

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Last year against the Rams in joint practice, Malik Hooker put it plainly: "We had a lot of big plays given up off communication errors. Our physicality didn't really show as much that day." Parker has spent all of camp drilling the opposite. His standard: every player on the field communicates on every play, from the front call to the coverage adjustment to the motion alert. Schottenheimer's read on it: "It's loud in a good way."

The Cowboys finished last in total defense, pass defense, opponent points, and turnover differential in 2025. Tuesday is the first external test of whether any of that has actually changed.

Saturday's shells practice had Schottenheimer calling the team up 20 minutes in because the energy wasn't there. The highlights:

Downs, the No. 11 overall pick, is learning the slot and safety roles simultaneously under Parker, who appears to want him at slot defender first. Dak explained why that matters: "If you don't have a guy that can travel with them, if you don't have a guy that can match up and play that, you're putting yourself in a bind." Malik Hooker on what he's seeing: "Every play he gets a chance to line up against him, he feels like he's going to win that rep, and that's the type of mentality we want on this defense."

Prescott and CeeDee were already talking about Tuesday morning. Dak's framing: "Call this probably the first of three meetings, I'd assume if everybody takes care of business." Dallas and LA also meet in Week 15. The Rams spent their Saturday practice getting suffocated by their own defense, with Myles Garrett back from lower-body soreness and causing chaos, closing practice with a pick-six off the edge.

Dallas scored touchdowns on 56.9 percent of red zone trips in 2025, 18th in the NFL, on 65 drives inside the 20. Prescott said the Cowboys built one of their biggest offseason studies around that number. "It's hard to fix a problem if you don't know the why behind it. And for us, we had a big study in the offseason. That was one of our biggest studies because we were bad in that area. And so we found that 'why' and then we're able to go and attack that starting in the spring to now."

Lamb had eight drops last season, tied for sixth-most in the league on 117 targets. "Every single drop has been always taking my eyes off the ball when the ball arrived because I'm automatically thinking I caught it," he told 105.3 The Fan. His fix: "Catch, tuck, then make your move." He's already catching passes from a JUGS machine while wearing a mesh net over his face to force concentration. His standard at practice: "As many times as I'm targeted, the ball should never hit the ground."

Rookie linebacker Jaishawn Barham had been one of the biggest stories of camp, drawing first-team reps alongside Dee Winters and earning praise from Schottenheimer: "He's all about ball, man. He loves football. He asks really good questions, but it's a job. It's a job for him." He left Thursday's practice early with an apparent groin injury and returned in street clothes to watch. He sat out Saturday as well.

Jalen Thompson returned to practice from a hip issue on Saturday. Also out Saturday: Zion Childress (hamstring), Devin Moore (groin), Jonathan Bullard (groin), and Malik Hooker for personal reasons.

Princeton Fant's torn ACL and partially torn MCL, suffered in the first padded practice, is now official. He's on injured reserve and surgery is scheduled within the next several days. To fill the spot, Dallas claimed tight end Zack Kuntz off waivers from the Las Vegas Raiders. Kuntz is a former seventh-round pick of the Jets in 2023 who also spent time with the Dolphins, and hasn't logged a stat in two NFL games yet, so this is a depth move.

Williams played seven games for Dallas after arriving midseason and put up a sack and a half, three tackles for loss and an interception. This is his first full offseason here. He has four Pro Bowls, has never reached the playoffs, and has never won more than seven games in a season across seven years with the Jets and Cowboys. Schottenheimer on him: "He's to the point in his career where it's not about money, it's not about sacks, it is about wins."

At Saturday's Blue and White Scrimmage broadcast, Stephen Jones said he'd bet the 90-man roster looks different in the coming weeks. He confirmed the Cowboys are actively talking to other teams and veteran free agents. When he named the positions with the most unsettled depth, he said cornerback and linebacker. Jerry Jones already signaled earlier in camp that he's willing to give up future picks to improve the defense now.

After Thursday's practice, a fan handed Prescott a custom hat. He didn't notice the detail until later, when he pulled it out with his daughters and saw his late brother Jace's face etched on it. "I took it out and saw my brother's face on it. It's awesome," he said, adding he wished he'd seen it in the moment so he could have thanked the fan properly. The video of the reunion, Dak telling the fan "Man, get in here, brother, for real" and pulling him into a hug, is worth 30 seconds of your time. Jace Prescott died in April 2020. Anyone struggling can reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.

Parsons told reporters that coming back from his ACL tear by Week 6 is "very realistic." Week 6 is the Cowboys at Lambeau. He tore it last December in his first season in Green Bay, after 12.5 sacks in 14 games, a Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro. Dallas traded him last August for two first-round picks and Kenny Clark. He already faced us once last season and had a sack, three quarterback hits and three tackles in the 40-40 tie at AT&T Stadium.

Joint Practice vs. Los Angeles Rams: Tuesday, Aug. 11, Woodland Hills, CA

Preseason Game 1: at Seattle Seahawks, Friday, Aug. 15, 7 p.m. CT, NFL Network

Joint Practice vs. New Orleans Saints: Monday, Aug. 18, Oxnard, CA

Preseason Game 2: at Arizona Cardinals, Saturday, Aug. 22

Preseason Game 3: vs. New Orleans Saints, Thursday, Aug. 28, AT&T Stadium

See you next week. ⭐