David Irving raises his fist, notches two sacks, wears a fox scarf

All eyes were on Dallas Cowboys defensive end David Irving before the game as he continued his practice of raising his fist after the national anthem.

He forced the attention his way during the game with two sacks, a partial tip of a blocked field goal and a tipped pass that led to a game-sealing interception by safety Byron Jones.

Irving then stole the spotlight after the game with a scarf made out of fox fur with the head and claws still attached.

“It’s a rare colored fox,” Irving said. “His name is Chester.”

Irving wouldn’t say where he got the fox, but he may be getting a call from PETA.

What he doesn’t have to worry about is a call from owner Jerry Jones over his anthem behavior. For the third straight game, Irving raised his fist at the conclusion of the national anthem.

Jones has threatened to bench any of player who disrespects the flag by protesting during the anthem. Jones has not had a problem with Irving raising his fist after the anthem and expressed pride in his team when asked about his anthem threat following the game.

“I’m so proud of our team and I’m very, very excited about what we are doing,” Jones said. “What I would say is I am proud of our team.”

It’s hard to complain about Irving, considering his outstanding play the last three games after missing the first four with an NFL suspension.

His two sacks on Sunday gave him five in three games this season. His career high for a season was four, set last year.

He also had a pass deflection that turned into an interception and a partial tip on the blocked field goal that was officially credited to Tyrone Crawford, who hit it first. Crawford also had a sack in the game.

Irving has paired with DeMarcus Lawrence, who has 9.5 sacks this season, to give the Cowboys a lethal pass-rushing combo.

“He’s blessed. He’s going after the quarterback,” Lawrence said. “We’re having a feast out there. He helps me, I help him, everybody helps each other. It’s just a blessing to be on an unselfish group. We’re a bunch of wild animals going in as a pack and feasting on one thing. We’re feasting on that quarterback.

“You hit a quarterback enough times, they start to look at you and wait on you to hit them like a deer in the headlights.”

Lawrence said Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins was the deer on Sunday.

But it was Irving who wore the fox.

This story was originally published October 29, 2017 at 9:55 PM with the headline "David Irving raises his fist, notches two sacks, wears a fox scarf."