ARLINGTON, Texas – After the Cowboys embarrassing loss 27-3 to the Cardinals in preseason week 3, coach Garrett and the players in the locker-room spoke to the media and addressed the shutout.
Garrett stated “Obviously we were depleted on the offensive line and that is one of the reasons Cooper got the opportunity to play. They were playing front drive guys so we knew it would be tough sledding. That is a great opportunity to evaluate a guy to see how he handles that adversity. Unfortunately for him (Rush) he turned the ball over a couple of times. That hurt us and to have 8 turnovers in the ball game; I have never been apart of a game like that.”
The Cowboys took out several of their first teamers to guard against injury including Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, and Zack Martin. Cooper Rush had command of the o-line during the first half of the game and did not execute well. Lance Lenoir muffed a catch in the end zone resulting in the Cardinals recovery of the ball and a touchdown. Two plays later, Rush threw an interception in the red zone. Rush finished the game 11 of 17 for 93 yards, 2 interceptions, and 0 touchdowns. The Cowboys did not make it on the scoreboard until Maher’s 45-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. Dallas will need to do some revaluating and come up with a different game plan for the second and third teams on offense, heading into Thursday’s final preseason matchup against the Houston Texans. Not just for Cooper Rush, but looking at the performance of the combination of players who surrounded him on the field.
The good news from the game came on the defensive side of the football. Randy Gregory had a sack on Sam Bradford right out of the gate on the third play after the defense stepped on the field, on third down causing the Cardinals to punt. Linebacker Joe Thomas had an incredible game with several clean strong tackles on key plays. These two made the effort on the field that the Cowboys desperately needed as the offense struggled.
Garrett remarked, “Our defense played well. Defended the run well and rushed the passer well. They were competitive and showed poise. I thought we did a good job slowing down their offense but we kept giving them the ball. It is hard to overcome those plays in the ball game.”
The other positive, safety Kavon Frazier’s left shoulder injury was not serious. He stated “ the X-ray came back clean…During the regular season I would have been right back in but the trainers wanted to be cautious because it was preseason.”
A player fell on his shoulder and it popped out. Thankfully not a serious injury and the Cowboys will not lose another player from the defensive backfield.
The Cowboys will have a lot to figure out before Thursday and there is no better way to sum up the game than in Sean Lee’s own words “We have no excuses. We have the right type of guys.” The battle will be the right placement and utilization of each individual’s strengths moving forward.
