The Dallas Cowboys first-round pick grades his debut performance against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Fast forward to a little more than four months since hearing his name called, Booker took the field last Thursday night against the Eagles for his NFL debut as the starting right guard on the offensive line.
While it was far from his best showing, in his own words, there were still positives to take away from his debut that saw him allow only two quarterback pressures.
“I feel like I have a lot of room for improvement,” Booker said. “I have a lot that I need to get better at. I’m not going to sit here and say that it was my worst performance ever. But at the same time, to be where I want to be and who I want to be, I have to play a lot better than I did on Thursday.”
In his introductory press conference, Booker said that the player he was most looking forward to going up against was Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter. Booker, of course, didn’t get that opportunity in the opener after Carter was ejected before the first play for spitting on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
While the case could be made that the Eagles lost their best defensive player for the night in that incident, it didn’t change much for Booker who felt that the offensive line was going to play efficiently anyway.
“I felt that way regardless of the situation,” Booker said. “I was a firm believer in our ability to play effectively…I was just focused on the first play of the game. I was focused on controlling the controllables.”
Seven takeaways from Jerry Jones’ weekly 105.3 The Fan interview – Tommy Yarrish, DallasCowboys.com
The Cowboys owner and general manager had a lot to say during his first radio interview of the season.
Overall thoughts on Cowboys’ 24-20 loss to the Eagles
The word that Jones used the most to describe Dallas’ 2025 season opener was “pleased.” Evidently, he takes no consolation in losing the game, but was happy with some of the things that came from it.
“I thought that in particular, I thought that Dak had one of the best games that I’ve seen him play…” Jones said. “I felt really, really, really good about the way our offensive line played. I think that bodes well for as we start down this season.”
Later on, Jones would say that Prescott and new defensive tackle Kenny Clark graded out as the team’s highest rated players based on their internal grading system from Thursday night.
What stood out from Brian Schottenheimer’s debut?
It’s not easy to handle both offensive play calling and head coaching duties. A lot of times, coaches simply just aren’t cut out for it. In Brian Schottenheimer’s debut, that did not seem to be the case, and Jones liked how his team fared under him.
“I thought he had the team ready, prepared. We didn’t see anything there that got us disjointed as a team. I thought he gave us a chance, the plan, the preparation gave us a chance to win that game. That’s what we asked for, be in it at the end and get a chance to win it at the end. I thought he did a great job.”
The next step of course is not to be in it at the end, but to be ahead when the clock runs out. That said, Schottenheimer got “an A” from Jones with how he called the offense and managed the game.
CeeDee Lamb’s crucial drops down the stretch
As the Cowboys made a push in the second half to get down field and ahead on the scoreboard, All-Pro wide receiver had three crucial drops that could have put Dallas into scoring position. Jones isn’t worried about there being any sort of lingering effect from it on Lamb.
“I just look at each play on its own rather than look at a group of plays because nothing in his background or any place suggests that he can’t catch the football,” Jones said. “And so I just look at each one of them and, without getting any way here, they just haven’t ever made a receiver that doesn’t have a drop.”
“He just got two or three there at the wrong time and succession there. So that doesn’t concern me generally about whether CeeDee Lamb can catch the ball.”
That said, Jones did recognize what things could have looked like on offense had Lamb made some of those catches, which he deemed “unfortunate.”
Deuce Vaughn landing with Sean Payton felt like it would happen after he was released from Dallas.
Denver signed running back Deuce Vaughn to the practice squad, the team announced Tuesday.
A 2023 sixth-round pick, Vaughn has appeared in 14 games in his NFL career. He carried the ball 40 times for 110 yards in regular-season action, all of which came for the Cowboys.
He rushed 17 times for 64 yards in preseason action in 2025 for Dallas.
Vaughn rushed for more than 1,400 yards in back-to-back years to cap his collegiate year at Kansas State. He also scored 34 total touchdowns during that stretch.
The 5-foot-6, 176-pound player is the lone running back on the Broncos’ practice squad. Denver had an open spot on its practice squad and is not required to make a corresponding move.
NFL Announces Final Decision in Cowboys’ Dak Prescott Spitting Incident – Anne Erickson, Heavy on Cowboys
The NFL made its decision on the penalty Eagles Jalen Carter will receive for spitting on Dak Prescott.
This punishment could be seen as not strong enough, because the NFL’s penalty for Carter wasn’t a suspension. Instead, it was a $57,000 fine, which may sound like a lot of bags, but it’s pocket change to NFL stars. The NFL did make the good point that because Carter was ejected right at the beginning of the Cowboys and Eagles game, that, in essence, was a one-game suspension.
As for the incident itself, following Eagles fullback Ben VanSumeren sitting on the grass with an injury after the opening drive, Carter walked up to Prescott and spit on Prescott. Carter was ejected from the game, which really hurt the Eagles’ defense, since they depend on him. Cameras also showed Prescott spitting towards Carter, but at the ground, so it certainly wasn’t the same thing.
Carter has been a superstar ever since the Eagles drafted him No. 9 overall in the 2023 NFL draft. Last season, he notched NFL All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors. Next up, the Eagles take on the Kansas City Chiefs in on Sunday, September 14, and the Cowboys go up against the Giants the same day.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter broke the news about Carter’s penalty on his X account. “NFL is fining Eagles DT Jalen Carter $57,222 for spitting on Dak Prescott,” he said. “The league also says the game he was ejected for will serve as a one-game suspension. ‘After talking to the Eagles, the NFL and the NFLPA, Jalen has decided not to appeal and focus on the Chiefs game,’ said Carter’s agent Drew Rosenhaus.”
Followers were quick to comment about the news. “A game without pay and a 50k fine. That is more than an adequate fine. That is than enough,” one person on X commented about the news. “He got off easy tbh,” another stated.
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