On off day, Cowboys’ CeeDee Lamb hits practice field by himself to rectify drops
In Thursday night’s season-opening 24-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, a handful of critical mistakes made the difference between the Dallas Cowboys starting the season with a loss or a statement win on the road.
Most of those mistakes were a career-high four drops for wide receiver CeeDee Lamb — including three in the fourth quarter — that stalled offensive opportunities in the second half.
Lamb immediately took accountability in the locker room postgame by saying he has to be better.
“No one felt worse than CeeDee did,” head coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “He took the accountability just like we all should.”
That shouldering of the blame continued into Friday afternoon. Despite the team landing back in Dallas at 4 a.m., Lamb was back in the facility in the early afternoon to rectify his drop issue from the night prior.
While players were given an off day on Friday, Lamb took the practice field by himself to catch footballs on the Jugs training machine, according to a Star-Telegram report. The report was confirmed later in the afternoon by Schottenheimer.
“Here’s what I love,” he said. “Today, around 1:30 in the afternoon, he was out here all by himself catching Jugs. Does that surprise me? Absolutely not. It’s that kind of stuff that gets me fired up, why he was voted a captain and why he’ll do great stuff for us the rest of this year.”
Despite the miscues, Lamb was the leading receiver for both teams in the NFL season opener with 110 yards. His seven receptions tied Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert for the most grabs in the contest.
It’s a big reason why Schottenheimer and Lamb’s teammates still have full belief in his ability to bounce back as soon as the next game Sept. 14 against the New York Giants.
“I did not lose one ounce of sleep about CeeDee Lamb’s ability to catch the football and make big plays for us moving forward,” Schottenheimer said.
Lamb’s first drop of the night came on a first-quarter hitch route that looked more like a miscommunication on the route between him and quarterback Dak Prescott. His second drop came on a crucial third-and-10 late in the fourth quarter that would have been enough for a first down.
The final two drops saw Lamb let a Prescott deep shot go right through his hands deep into Eagles territory just a few plays before a fourth down go-ball also fell through his leaping grasp. It would end up being the final offensive play for the Cowboys as the Eagles ran out the clock to win the game.
This story was originally published September 5, 2025 at 6:25 PM.
