Everything coach Brian Schottenheimer said after Cowboys’ tie with Packers
The Dallas Cowboys played to a 40-40 tie with the Green Bay Packers on Sunday at AT&T Stadium.
Here’s everything head coach Brian Schottenheimer said afterward:
On if this is the craziest game he’s been involved with in the NFL
“Lot of games for me in the NFL. It’s definitely one that I will remember, and I think I’ll remember it because I’m just, I’m so proud of our guys’ fight, but golly I wanted them to get that win. And so, I think that’s what I’ll take away from it. I mean, to come in and play that team, that’s a damn good football team we just played, and our guys just battled for 70 minutes, and the ebbs and flows. And so, I told them how proud I was of them. You know, it’s a tie, and I really don’t know what to say about that. But yeah, I’ll remember it for a while.”
On if the tie is unfulfilling
“Look, we’ve got to learn how to win. You know, this is year one of our program. But when you have the fight that these guys do, when they’re willing to battle and just fight for 70 minutes, two weeks really in a row at home. You know, we’re building something special here, and no one in that locker room is happy. No one in that locker room is fulfilled. We didn’t win, and there’s definitely things to clean up. But I would be remiss if I didn’t say how proud I was of them in their fight, and I wanted that for them. But, man, NFL football is hard.”
On the teaching point for linebacker Jack Sanborn on the final play
“Yeah, he’s the carry player trying to run down the middle of the field, it’s tough. They’re trying to get speed on there, and, man, I wish it would have bounced around for another half a second or so. But yeah, it’s hard because you have to match speed with a guy that’s faster than you, and it’s hard to play defense with your back turned. But again, I think you know, this is going to be a lot of really good things for us to take, and there’s going to be a ton of corrections on both sides and special teams. I think the discipline and the penalties bounce back. We have to be better with that. That starts with me as the head coach. Goes on next to the coaches and the players, and you just can’t shoot yourself in the foot. But I say it every week, man, the process stays the same, and it’s almost midnight right now, right? So, I’ve only got a few more minutes before I have to move on to the Jets.”
On the young guys who played today
“Yeah, I think the depth of this football team is something we’re really proud of. I think it’s next man up mentality is real. Everybody uses that as a saying. But I mean, you go into this game and you’re down Cooper Beebe and Tyler Booker and guys like T.J. Bass go in there and battle, and then CeeDee Lamb is down next thing you know Ryan Flournoy and Jalen Tolbert and guys like that are making plays. Shemar James is finally playing some football man. That gets you excited and these guys need to play. Nate Thomas, I mean, then we lose Tyler Guyton late going into overtime. It’s like OK, next man up. You go in there against a really good defense and an excellent defensive line. I mean, these guys I thought just competed their asses off. And that’s the sour thing for it for me, because I wanted to win for them.”
On how the secondary played overall
“I need to look at it. I mean, I really do. I think, plagued by some of the same things. We got to limit people to field goals in the red zone. Got to get off the field on third down. We did some good things. Finally won the turnover battle. James Houston, incredible rush, right? That was huge. And the sudden change things. We talk complementary football. I think that was a big part of it. And, I mean, the blocked field goal or the extra point was huge. I mean, that’s where the momentum swung. I mean, you guys felt it, you know, because we were kind of struggling a little bit on offense, trying to find our way. And then that was a huge play. And that kind of jump-started us, man. And next thing you know, you go from a defensive battle to a shootout. We can win any game, any way, any style that we have to, but we just got to find a way to win. And that’s what we’re going to be teaching these guys. Show them where we can be better. Show them, hey man, if we do this, this and this, you know, we do win that game. If we cut back on a couple of penalties, or if we tackle a little bit better, or if we don’t give up the third down conversions and things like that, then we will find a way to win. And I do believe this. I think once it all comes together, I think we’re going to win in bunches, and they’re going to come in multiple weeks.”
On not starting Trevon Diggs tonight
“Yeah, again, you know, we’re talented. He’s been banged up a little bit. I’ve been a little tough on Trevon, just in terms of the consistency and things like that. But, man, I thought he played really well tonight. I’m proud of him. And, you know, again, it’s a similar type thing with other guys. I mean, it wasn’t just us picking on Trevon. And Trevon is a hell of a player. Trevon is a huge part of what we’re trying to do. And, you know, I think at the end of the day, you know, we talked about the guys that stepped up in this game. And again, I can’t tell you how proud I am of those guys for answering the call the way that they did. And when you do that, guys, you’re going to find a way to win, and that’s coming.”
On Jadeveon Clowney’s performance
“Yeah, again, I talked to JD after the game, and he was hard on himself. He said, ‘I’m knocking the rust off, Schotty. I’ll be better.’ If that’s knocking the rust off man, I’ll take two of those. But, you know, he’s fitting in great. He really is. And, like, I’ve talked about I love veterans with experience that are willing to talk and teach the young guys, because we need that.”
On if there is a common denominator with the penalties
“I’d have to look at them. I think too many presnaps. They called a lot of penalties. It was that type of game. The facemask on Sam [Williams]. I mean, that was a great rush by Sam. I mean, that was a great rush, and [quarterback Jordan Love] goes to escape, and he’s trying to make a play. But the presnap ones are the ones that we have to look at. I think we were off on the cadence a couple times, and those are the ones that you got to nip in the butt.”
On if he’s a patient man
“Depends on the day.”
On the rationale to go for it on fourth down
“What was it a … I think it was a four-point lead. They had a four-point lead. So, you go for it there, because if you don’t make it, you know, and you can hold them to a field goal, you’re still down seven. I really like the play call. I like the way Dak was playing. I mean, if there’s a better quarterback playing right now than Dak Prescott in the league, I’d love to see him. But, just a lot of confidence in our offense. It’s great when you have the trust in those guys, and then they reward you with some of those decisions. But we knew if we could get to really, we were talking about four or less, or three or less of that situation ... we were going to go for it.”
On what did they do to plan for Micah Parsons
“Yeah, I’m not gonna share with you our Micah plan. What a great player. I hate I didn’t see him. Micah, if you’re listening, I know you probably are, I love you brother. What a great player, man. But yeah, I’m not gonna. We’ve got other Micah’s, and I hope to see Micah again. I hope we see him down the line here again in January.”
On how receiver George Pickens stepped up without CeeDee Lamb
“Yeah, he had that type of week of practice. I told you guys last week I had shared with you guys, I think GP was a little bit, when CeeDee went out last week, I think it kind of like, whoa, where’s my guy. You know, where’s my buddy, the Mario brothers, right? And, man, he just had a great week of practice, and they didn’t have an answer for him. And it’s rare for that defense, because that defense, Jeff Hafley does a great job, [head coach Matt] LaFleur does a great job, it was a well-coached team. But when he’s one-on-one or even two-on-one, he’s got the ability to catch the football and make plays in space and I’m proud. I really am proud of him.”
On receivers Jalen Tolbert and KaVontae Turpin making big plays when the Cowboys needed them
“That’s what we want. That’s what we’re trying to build. I mean, that’s why you have training camp and practices, and you do routes on air every day, and every day you throw certain routes, and Dak throws to everybody, and they have to make those plays. And what we talked about a little bit earlier ... just the number of guys that stepped up. It just shows you Dak’s just reading progressions. It’s not trying to force the ball to CeeDee or George, he’s just going through his progressions. And I thought both [Ryan Flournoy] and JT had huge plays for us, and [tight end Jake Ferguson] did Fergie things. When your young guys are making plays, that’s very exciting. We had a lot of young guys play very meaningful snaps, and that’s how you develop them, and they get confidence. Nate Thomas, he’ll come out of this game, we’ll see how many plays he had, but he’ll come out of there with a lot of confidence. [Linebacker] Marist [Liufau] on defense. I mean, wow. That hit on special teams, it was Marist, right? I think it was Marist. I mean, I heard that one. But the fight in this team is special, and we’re not satisfied at all because we didn’t win, and winning is the only thing that matters to us. But I’ll go to war with those guys any day of the week.”
On what gives the defense energy
“Yeah, that’s good question. I think, there’s a lot of things. There’s big hits, there’s sacks, there’s turnovers, there’s three-and-outs. All of those things, you feed off of that. And, I felt that at times, I really did. I felt that at times, I thought the James Houston play was a huge, huge thing in this game. They feed off one another. That’s the other thing. Like I thought there’s a couple of plays that Kenny Clark made that the guys were excited. I saw one play where Osa [Odighizuwa] made a great play. And the other thing you got to love about this team, I mean, look at K9 [Kenneth Murray]. I mean, K9 goes down, and the next thing you know, he’s back. So tell me that guy doesn’t have grit. Tell me that guy’s not wired the right way. Here he is limping around, and he’s like, nope, I’m going back out there for my teammates. And again, I’ll go to battle with him any day.”
This story was originally published September 29, 2025 at 2:20 AM.
