-
Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer
FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys might be on a short week heading into Thursday night’s game against the New York Giants, but there has been a lot to unpack over the past few days with back-to-back defeats.
All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb did not talk to reporters after Sunday’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens, a game in which he lost a fumble and dropped a pass and had what looked to be a sideline spat with quarterback Dak Prescott.
On Tuesday, he was apologetic for his performance and how he handled himself on the sideline, saying he played “a big part” in Sunday’s loss and acknowledging his body language and attitude didn’t “help the situation or the outcome of the game.”
“Just being a professional about this whole situation. Understanding it’s a long game,” said Lamb, who had four catches for 67 yards in the loss. “But as for me and my performance, I expect a lot out of myself, more than anyone could put on me. And, quite honestly, I failed myself. And obviously, I failed the team just as far as producing and being that game-breaker player for the team and obviously the guy that they can lean on.
“And, yeah, I kind of let the game get to my head a little bit. But in the same sense, I know what I can do. I know what I bring to the table and I know what I can do on that field. So, with that being said, going forward, there shall be a difference.”
Lamb did not put Sunday’s effort on missing training camp with a contract holdout.
“Ain’t no excuse for that,” he said. “I played football my whole life. I know better.”
As for Prescott, he said their relationship is as good as ever. Prescott, however, did not speak to the media Tuesday, which might have been a first in his time as the starter.
“Our relationship, if anything, [has] gotten stronger,” Lamb said. “Don’t let what’s out there fool you. We’re brothers to the end. We know that we all we got, and I tip my hat off to him. I got the utmost respect for him, and I look at him as a brother. So with that being said, everything is gonna come out: the energy, the passion, the love, the fight. You going to make up in the end.”
Against the San Francisco 49ers last year, Lamb kept to himself mostly during a 42-10 loss. After that, he had seven 100-yard receiving games and six games with at least 11 catches en route to setting team records in the final 11 games.
“I plan on doing it again,” Lamb said.
Defensively, the Cowboys plan to not allow the Giants to run all over them, like the New Orleans Saints (190 yards) and Ravens (274 yards) did in the past two games.
Asked if the defense has received the message of playing fundamentally sound, All-Pro edge player Micah Parsons said, “I mean, everyone says it, but then again we’ve got to see what happens.”
“I feel like as a competitor, at some point you got to be prideful enough to say, ‘Hey, like I’m not going to allow this to happen to me,'” Parsons said. “Like I just feel like some people are just allowing them to keep getting smacked in the face. When are you going to stand up?”
At 1-2, the Cowboys already seem to be at a key juncture of their season.
“I’d rather get knocked in the head now, because when you fail, what do you do?” Parsons said. “You got to get back up, and I think that’s going to create a great locker room environment, great team environment, right?
“[If] we fail, we fail. OK. We know what that feels like. You can only get up. We only up from here, right? So when I said we’re low, what do you go from when you’re at the bottom? You climb, but you got to be willing to climb.”