Mailbag

Is it safe to say that after this loss to Carolina, trading any draft capital in the attempt to improve this defense is a bad decision? This is not a one player fix. Your thoughts? 

I'm curious what you think about Dak Prescott and his "championship window." Meaning, how long do the Cowboys have to ride Prescott while he's still playing at an elite level? He's 32 and has had several major injuries. I'm concerned that his decline will be coming sooner rather than later, and the Cowboys will once again have wasted the prime of an elite player. 

Having seen improvements on defense the last two weeks, the question becomes, is this a "pick your poison” situation? Defend the pass or stop the run?

 With CeeDee Lamb currently out and Dak Prescott getting a lot of game reps with George Pickens, you can only assume this will increase the trust and timing between these two. When Lamb returns (and that's hopefully soon) how will this impact the passing game? Will we see two genuine WR1s in terms of production and go-to mentality from Dak?

Sure, Dallas beat a winless team, but the Jets had three one-score losses (Steelers, Dolphins, Buccaneers) and could have easily been 3-1 when the Cowboys came to town. They have a star wide receiver (Garrett Wilson), a star defensive tackle (Quinnen Williams), an up-and-coming pass rusher (Will McDonald) and a heck of a cornerback (Sauce Gardener). Why do people seem to discredit wins?

It seems to me the Cowboys teams of the past didn’t have the continuous injury issues we are now seeing. Bob Lilly, Jethro Pugh and George Andrie seemed to play each week without injuries. Do I have a faulty memory? Why are we so plagued with injuries now?

Now that it’s October and the Cowboys have four games under their belt, do you think we may finally see what this team can do?

I know Jake Ferguson’s 34 catches through four games are the most in NFL history by a tight end, but his 6.6 yards per catch is the lowest average among league tight ends with at least five receptions. Do you like how they’re utilizing him? Is there a way to increase his yardage?

I thought Nate Thomas did well against the Packers while seeing time at both left and right tackle. Was there a reason for rotating him in? And could we (or should we) see more of him in the future, perhaps even as a starter? 

Pro Football Focus lists the Cowboys as having 43 missed tackles. That's nearly 11 per game! And missed tackles seemed to be a big problem against the Packers on Sunday night. So how does Dallas go about fixing this problem? 

We saw in the past how Micah Parsons sometimes struggled in run defense, so my hope is the Cowboys go right at him on Sunday. What do you think? Will they attack him or try to avoid him? 

When RB1 and RB2 are running effectively, why risk injury to WR1 and WR3? CeeDee Lamb is one of the best receivers in the league, but he's not particularly large, physically. And Kavonte Turpin has now proven that he should be WR3, but he weighs all of 155 pounds. Not to mention what he means to the return teams. So why risk wide receivers unnecessarily in the running game? 

Dak Prescott is off to a great start this season, and when he’s healthy I think he’s proven he can be a top-10 quarterback. But is knowing he and the offense have to be near perfect and score 30 points a game going to add additional strain and pressure? And in turn could that lead to more risk-taking and mistakes? 

With a first-time head coach and a new coaching staff, I feel like maybe we should have seen these early season struggles coming as the players adapt to new schemes and leaders. What do you think?

How will the Cowboys make adjustments when we play a team with a running quarterback, like Caleb Williams this Sunday? Jalen Hurts ran for more than 60 yards and two touchdowns, and Russell Wilson averaged 7.7 yards on his scrambles. What is the plan to fix this?

In the first two weeks, the Dallas defense has played mostly zone. Is there a reason for this? Do the Cowboys not trust their secondary to cover in man? Is this a calling card of defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus? As fans, should we get use to zone coverage all year long? 

While I like the signing of Jadeveon Clowney, are you worried his presence will hamper the growth of some of our young defensive ends? 

I'm all for getting KaVontae Turpin more touches, but do you think those touches will take away from some of his return abilities? I'm a little concerned we might tire him out. 

This game against the Giants will be regular-season game No. 1,000 for the Cowboys. What moment or moments from the team's regular-season history would you most like to see repeated on Sunday afternoon? For me, I'd like to see Jaydon Blue's rendition of Tony Dorsett's 99-yard touchdown run.

I really thought we would see more production from George Pickens and Jake Ferguson during the opening game. CeeDee Lamb is a great player, but they seemed to go his way too often. Do you think that's because of scheme design, Dak Prescott's confidence in CeeDee, or was CeeDee the only open player?