Jerry Jones took one for his team this week, three actually. First, he explained that the Cowboys couldn’t afford Derrick Henry this past offseason, then admirably accepted blame for the Cowboys’ 1-2 start. And on Tuesday, the owner stopped short of calling Dallas’ primetime game at New York a must-win situation.
His former quarterback, however, believes a Dallas victory is crucial.
Hall of Famer Troy Aikman said Wednesday on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption with Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon that the Cowboys’ assignment against the Giants (1-2) on Thursday Night Football (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video) is as close to must-win as possible in Week 4.
“I think it’s really important and it goes beyond what the record would be if they were to lose,” said Aikman. “I just sense that there’s some uneasiness within the locker room, whatever that might entail. It just feels like there’s some rumblings and another loss could just create more issues internally; forget whatever they have to answer to externally.”
Some of those internal issues boiled over for an external audience in last week’s 28-25 loss to Baltimore. Cameras caught wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, after losing an early fumble in the red zone, having an animated sideline conversation with quarterback Dak Prescott. On Tuesday, Lamb apologized for his behavior and body language.
Aikman told Kornheiser and Wilbon that winning is the ultimate deodorant and Dallas should lean on its past success with Prescott, who’s 12-2 in 14 career starts against New York. His 3,694 career passing yards and 27 touchdown passes in those games are his most against any opponent.
“They definitely need a win with what looked to be a game that they would win, against the Giants,” Aikman said. “They’ve historically had a lot of success against the Giants, here with Dak Prescott. Doesn’t look so easy right now.”
“It’ll be interesting to see how they respond to that, with a short week after a tough loss, going to New York, division rival coming off a win and feeling better about themselves right now.”