After the disappointing opening loss to the New York Giants comes the finger-pointing at the Dallas Cowboys, and at the moment much of that is directed at linebacker Jaishawn Barham, who didn’t appear to give maximum effort on several plays.
He may be starting Sunday, Sept. 20, against Washington and may even be wearing the green dot, so toning down the finger-pointing seemed to be the goal of new and suddenly under-fire defensive coordinator Christian Parker when he addressed the media.
Dak Prescott seemed happy to deflect attention by declaring the upcoming game against the Washington Commanders a “must win,” while Dallas continued casting about at backup running back.
Here is how the Cowboys are going into the weekend with a “must-win game”
looming.
Christian Parker on Jaishawn Barham: ‘It wasn't a fairy tale’
One of the images that made the rounds on social media after the Dallas Cowboys’ loss to the New York Giants was rookie linebacker Barham walking away visibly upset from Parker after Parker tried to console him.
That came at the end of a game where Barham did not have a good night and, in fact, had his effort questioned, particularly when he seemed to give up on a Giants’ touchdown.
All of that followed a camp where Barham, a third-round pick out of Michigan was a sensation.
Parker addressed all this to the media on Thursday, Sept. 17, and, predictably, downplayed it all.
"He was frustrated. It's his first NFL game, and things weren't perfect," Parker said. "It wasn't a fairy tale, at all.
”Jaishawn cares as much as anybody in that locker room about us winning, No. 1 but No. 2, also our defensive performance. He was frustrated with himself and frustrated with [the way] we played. I don't think anybody in our building has any doubt of what he's gonna do, coming real soon.
"We don't have any reservations about his mentality. We welcome that passion."
As for the overall defensive performance, Parker said his team is taking the right approach to improve against the Commanders in Week 2.
"We were watching film, and these are fixable mistakes," Parker said. "This is what they did versus this is what we did: losing leverage, eyes in the wrong place, block destruction, all those types of things. Those are things that we can handle internally. We have a lot of confidence in our ability to do so.
"I think in the meetings, everybody was accountable, including me. I showed them the plays that I was referencing, that I didn't feel great about. Then, we showed the good and the bad throughout the game, and how we can build upon that, and correct those."
Dak Prescott: ‘We’ve got to go win’
Prescott began putting the pressure on his team in August when he outlined his Super Bowl or bust mentality, then in the aftermath of the disappointing loss to the New York Giants, he doubled down on how much Dallas’ second game at home against the Washington Commanders is.
"There's definitely must wins in this league,” Prescott told DallasCowboys.com. “I know you don't want to say it, and at the end of the day, if it didn't happen there's still time, there's a lot of opportunity. But just from a team, this team, all the changes, all the excitement, yeah, we've got to go win. What a great opportunity to do it against a division opponent that we know pretty well.
“Obviously, they've made a number of changes on their side. But yeah, we're looking forward, feel great about our game plan. We've got to start fast. Looking back at last week, especially on our offensive side. We start fast, that's a different game. It's about starting fast, being our best version just through the discipline, through the little things and allowing our playmakers to take over."
Dallas Cowboys juggle RB spots
After the first idea at RB2, Malik Davis, was lost for the season to injury in the final practice before the opener against the New York Giants, Dallas continues to juggle the roster around.
A day after signing Tyler Goodson to the 53-man roster and releasing Israel Abanikanda, Dallas turned around and signed Abanikanda to the practice squad. Dallas’ running back stable is now Javonte Williams as the starter, Emari Demercado and Tyler Goodson as the backup platoon, Hunter Luepke as the fullback and the practice squadder Abanikanda.
Here is Dallas’ transactions since cutdown day and the ensuing stocking of the practice squad.
When is the Dallas Cowboys next game?
Dallas returns to action Sunday, Sept. 20, at AT&T Stadium for its home opener against the Washington Commanders. The 2:25 p.m. MT/3:25 p.m. CT game will be televised on FOX.
Dallas Cowboys tickets 2026
Seat Geek is the official partner of the Dallas Cowboys, so this is where to get official tickets. The Cowboys are also offering packages for the Week 3 game in Rio de Janeiro against the Ravens, ranging from $1,200 to $5,750. That doesn't include airfare and the cheap rate doesn't include hotel.
Other places to buy tickets, which will be more expensive but with a much larger selection than the official tickets, include StubHub, TicketMasterand Vivid Seats. Those sites also offer tickets for away games.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached, bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Jaishawn Barham scrutiny, Dak Prescott urgency raise stakes for Cowboys
