Dak Prescott and starters will remain in for Cowboys even if playoff hopes die – Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The Cowboys won’t pull their main players no matter the outcome for the remainder of the season.
As the Dallas Cowboys cling to the smallest of playoff hopes (less than one-percent odds after Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings), head coach Brian Schottenheimer is not planning on making any major changes to the lineup with three games left in the season.
While some teams tend to lean into personnel changes to evaluate the full roster when already eliminated from playoff contention, Schottenheimer said doing so would deviate from the team mantra all season: compete every day. Even though losing games would benefit draft positioning, Schottenheimer wants to do everything possible to win the team’s final three games.
“It doesn’t change,” Schottenheimer said on Wednesday. “We get judged on winning and losing, and we haven’t won enough games. Doesn’t mean there aren’t going to be things when we look back that we’re like, ‘Hey, we’ve built this and this is great. We really upgraded this position.’”
“I’m going to stay in the moment. I’m going to be all about the Chargers. After we go and play the Chargers, and hopefully win, I’m going to be all about the Commanders and then the Giants and see what happens. We’ll take a broader, bigger picture at that point.”
Cowboys WR George Pickens on recent criticism: ‘It’s starting to get kinda old’ – Jon Machota, The Athletic
George Pickens fires back at recent comments concerning his effort.
FRISCO, Texas — George Pickens didn’t talk with reporters last week leading into the Dallas Cowboys’ Sunday night game against the Minnesota Vikings. The star wide receiver didn’t talk after the game, either.
Pickens did speak outside of the locker room after Wednesday’s practice at The Star.
The criticism he received for his lack of effort in Dallas’ Week 14 loss at Detroit is something he is trying to move past.
“I’m kind of more focused on the Chargers, honestly,” he said of the team’s Sunday opponent. “Everybody has a job to do. Some people’s job is to do that, tear down character, see how many clicks they can get. I’m just here to play football and help the team.”
But while responding to a follow-up question, Pickens added: “It’s starting to get kinda old, honestly.”
Pickens averaged 95 receiving yards per game and scored eight touchdowns over the first 12 games of the season. During the last two, he has no touchdowns and averaged 35 yards per game. Pickens said that drop-off in production can be attributed to him seeing more double coverage.
“Just keeping a guy inside and keeping a guy outside,” he explained, “or keeping a guy over the top and having a guy underneath, just on one side of the field, which is a huge product of CeeDee (Lamb) is going crazy, (Ryan Flournoy) is going crazy. I’m super proud of them guys.”
Pickens is playing in the final year of his rookie contract, but the Cowboys have no plans of letting him leave. They will either work out a long-term deal or use the franchise tag.
The Cowboys are pretty banged up heading into Week 16.
FRISCO — The Cowboys had a lengthy injury report for Wednesday’s practice that included two significant new additions.
Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb missed practice due to illness, while cornerback DaRon Bland missed practice with a foot injury, according to the team report.
There were two expected absences, as well. Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and fullback Hunter Luepke are still in concussion protocol.
Cowboys left tackle Tyler Guyton also missed practice as he continues to work back from an ankle injury he suffered on Nov. 23 in the win over the Philadelphia Eagles. He’s missed each of the last three games.
Second-year tackle Nate Thomas has started in place of Guyton, though he didn’t play the full game in Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Thomas suffered a shoulder injury, forcing veteran Hakeem Adeniji into action. Thomas was a full participant in Wednesday’s padded practice.
Cowboys corner Trevon Diggs was a limited participant due to a knee injury designation which was one of the reasons he was originally placed on injured reserve. There’s a lot of attention on Diggs, a former All-Pro corner for the Cowboys, as the deadline for him to be activated this season nears. If Diggs isn’t activated by Saturday he’ll revert back to injured reserve for the rest of the season.
6 players Cowboys must evaluate in final 3 games including playmaking QB, RB – K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire
Dallas should take the last several weeks to get some good film on some of their younger players.
QB Joe Milton
The Cowboys have one of the game’s best quarterbacks in Dak Prescott. The issue is that Prescott hasn’t been able to stay healthy for two seasons in a row since the 2018 and 2019 seasons. When he plays, he’s one of the best in the league, flirting with MVP consideration. When he doesn’t, the team tanks. This past offseason, Dallas traded a late-round pick in hopes of finding a young, athletic backup when they acquired second-year man Joe Milton from the New England Patriots.
He didn’t look good initially in the preseason, but Joe Milton’s stock went up based on the final 2025 preseason performance.
It’s time to let Milton play and find out what they have in him. Chances are, the backup is going to be called upon for several games next season, and the staff needs to know what they have in the former Tennessee Volunteer. Milton has appeared in two blowout losses, first to Chicago in Week 3 and then to Denver in Week 8, and has completed 6 of 9 passes for 99 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Give him some extended action over the next three games so that offseason plans can be made accordingly.
The Cowboys’ fifth-round selection had run afoul of the coaching staff since the summer. Rumors ran rampant about whether he was taking his opportunity seriously and his work ethic was questioned. He’s appeared in just four games this season, rushing only 22 times, while being a healthy scratch more often than not.
It’s clear that the coaching staff is not enamored with him, and at a position like running back where a player is the last line of protection for the $60 million quarterback, incompetence and unprofessionalism cannot stand. So while Dak Prescott is under center, the team cannot trot Blue out there.
However, when the team plays the more mobile Milton, they need to have Blue out there the majority of the snaps so that they can see whether he’s one of those guys who practices horribly, but plays at a high level. Perhaps the second chance inspires him to hit the offseason hard and work on the things that were issues this season.
The Cowboys are about to enter what is probably going to be contentious negotiations with WR1A George Pickens and his representative, David Mulugheta. The thinking is that there won’t be bad blood between the organization and the very professional agent of Micah Parsons, who Jerry Jones publicly insulted during those failed negotiations. Good luck with that.
The Cowboys need to know that if Pickens balks, and they have to either tag-and-trade him come March, or let him hit free agency all together, whether or not Flournoy is what he appears to be, a true WR2 solely in need of more opportunity.
Twice this season Flournoy has stepped up in a big way, with 100-yard receiving games during CeeDee Lamb’s absences. The former sixth-round pick hasn’t been asked to do much outside of those two games, only seeing more than three targets four times all season. Feed him the rock. At worst, the Cowboys will know whether or not they have a three-headed monster for 2026.
Butler, Mafah among three return to practice for Cowboys – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com
There was some good injury news as some 21-day practice windows opened up.
FRISCO, Texas — With just three games remaining in the 2025 regular season, the Dallas Cowboys are giving three players a chance to potentially be activated from injured reserve ahead of the looming matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers.
The 21-day practice window has officially been opened on running back Phil Mafah, defensive end Payton Turner and cornerback Josh Butler — neither of whom have practiced at any point this season.
“It’s just a chance to get them on the grass and see the guys compete,” said head coach Brian Schottenheimer. “ … I know they’re excited to get out there and play the game that they love.”
Butler’s journey has been the most arduous of the three. The young defensive back suffered a season-ending knee injury in late November 2024, and he’s been working to recover from that for roughly a year. And though Butler professed his readiness to return to action a few weeks back, the Cowboys erred on the side of caution.
The injury cut short one of the better Cinderella stories of 2024, Butler having a breakout game against the Washington Commanders before suffering the aforementioned knee injury only four days later against the New York Giants.
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