Is Taco Charlton engaging in social media war of words with Cowboys over his status?

Defensive end Taco Charlton appears to be in a social media war of words with the Dallas Cowboys.

Charlton, the team’s 2017 first-round pick, was inactive for Sunday’s 29-23 overtime victory against the Philadelphia Eagles.

He missed three previous games with a shoulder injury but was active and played three plays against the New Orleans Saints before being a seemingly healthy scratch for the Eagles game.

He practiced all week leading up to the game with no limitations.

In addition to responding to a follower on Twitter that he is not 100 percent, Charlton also tweeted a meme on Monday featuring Allen Iverson with the saying, “Every player needs that one coach to believe in him.”

It is what is known as a subtweet, in which you send a message without calling out anyone specifically.

Coach Jason Garrett and vice president Stephen Jones both said the Charlton needs to step his game up in practice to earn playing time

“He had been dealing with that shoulder for a few weeks and didn’t play many snaps last week,” Garrett said. “We want to make it competitive. We want to make sure guys earn their opportunity. Some of the other guys have done a good job in his absence. We’ll see how he practices this week and if he gets an opportunity to play in the game.”

DeMarcus Lawrence, Randy Gregory, Tyrone Crawford and rookie fourth-round pick Dorance Armstrong were the ends active against the Eagles.

That Charlton is behind Armstrong speaks volumes about how far the former first-round pick has fallen.

“All players deal with injuries in any given season and he’s just got to work to get better,” Jones said on his radio show 105.3 The Fan. “I think he’s been slow getting back and slow getting into the mix. Hopefully, this will be an eye-opener for him and he’ll respond well to it.

“No one questions how [defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli] motivates these guys. We’re supportive of him. Taco has all the skills and he’s been a productive player for us since he’s been here, but with the way this defense is playing right now, he’s just got to pick it up a little bit and get competitive and get in the mix and his time will come.”

It’s a disappointing situation for Charlton and the Cowboys who were hoping for a considerable progress in Year 2 after a rough rookie season. He has just 18 tackles and 1 sack in 2018 after just three sacks in 2017.

This story was originally published December 10, 2018 at 6:03 PM.