How much does the Dallas Cowboys offense miss All-Pro center Travis Frederick?

Is Travis Frederick’s absence at the core of what’s wrong with the Dallas Cowboys’ offense?

The All-Pro center who has been out since training camp with Guillain-Barré syndrome was an obvious blow to what many considered one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. There is no timetable for Frederick’s return, although he has slowly improved. Even after he’s cleared to start practicing again, it might take him several weeks before he’s playing in a game.

But should one player cause a domino effect of problems for the offense?

“You’re not going to replace a guy like Travis,” Guard Zack Martin said. “I think Joe [Looney] has done a great job. He’s stepped into a role not knowing he was going to be in that role at the beginning of the season. I think he’s done a really good job handling that. Everyone knows what Travis brings.”

No matter how solid Looney might be blocking, it’s nearly impossible for him (or any other player) to come in and provide the kind of on-the-fly assessment of the different looks defenses are showing on each play the way Frederick does. Coach Jason Garrett mentioned an early snap against Seattle in which the rest of the line was late reacting which led to a sack.

But to Martin’s point, it’s not as if Looney is playing poorly and consistently getting beat. Looney has an average grade through three weeks from Pro Football Focus. But instead of coming off the bench for depth at guard, Frederick’s illness forced Looney to the middle. Thus, the noticeable, if small, domino effect.

“Travis is a great player and great leader and all of that. Luckily, he’s been around every single day still providing that presence, which has been big for us,” Martin said. “Joe has done a great job but from Day 1 no one said ‘losing Travis is not going to hurt a little bit.’”

Martin said the most frustrating part of the offensive struggles is their belief that they have the right players and talent to be effective.

“Across the board as an offense I think we’re frustrated because we know how good we can be,” he said. “We know we have all the pieces to be a really high-powered offense. For whatever reason, we haven’t been firing on all cylinders.”

Quarterback Dak Prescott, Martin said, is really good about keeping a positive attitude despite the offensive issues. Most importantly, he said, you can’t dwell on the previous week in the NFL.

“By no means does he let it affect him, but as an offense it is frustrating,” he said. “We need to go back to executing simple plays and looks and that’s going to help us turn the corner. The worst thing you can do in this league is dwell on the past. After that 24 hours you really have to move on. If you keep going back it’s going to snowball into worse things. We have to keep working on putting it behind us and get ready for Detroit.”

Prescott has been sacked 11 times, tied for fifth-most in the league. Martin didn’t try to paint a prettier picture.

“Obviously, through the first three weeks we haven’t done a great job. It’s been one of our biggest problems I think,” he said. “We just have to play better. We know it starts with us up front. It’s hard to get anything going if we’re not doing our jobs. We watch the tape together. We have to go out and do our job better.”

This story was originally published September 25, 2018 at 4:39 PM.