PHILADELPHIA – Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said he spits a lot on game day, a habit he admits he should not have. When he spat before the first offensive play in the first quarter of Thursday night’s regular-season opener against the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field, it set off a chain of events that led to Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter being ejected in the Cowboys’ 24-20 loss.
Video from the NBC broadcast showed Prescott spitting in the vicinity of the Eagles huddle as trainers were attending to a knee injury suffered by Eagles fullback Ben VanSumeren on the opening kickoff. After he spat, he grinned. The two walked closer to each other, and Carter subsequently spat back at Prescott, which was seen by a nearby official who immediately threw a penalty flag. Carter was ejected before playing a snap.
After the game, Prescott said he was not aiming his spit at the Eagles and that he was defending one of his rookie offensive linemen.
“He was trolling,” Prescott said. “I guess you could say he was trying to mess with (right guard) Tyler Booker. I was just looking at him. I was right here by the two linemen, and I guess I needed to spit, and I wasn’t going to spit on my lineman. I just spit ahead. He goes, ‘Are you trying to spit on me?’ At that point, I felt like he was insulting me, like I was really going to spit on somebody. I’m damn sure not trying to spit on you and we’re about to play a game. I’m wondering why you’re trying to mess with the rookie.”
Prescott said that after he asked Carter why he would spit on him, Carter hawked his saliva at him, which hit his jersey collar and not his skin.
“He just spit on me in that moment, and it was more of a surprise than anything,” Prescott said. “The refs obviously saw it through the flag. I was like, ‘Hell yeah. We get 15 yards to start the game off.’ I didn’t realize he was getting ejected.”
Carter’s ejection changed how the offense attacked the Eagles’ defense. Prescott said they made adjustments to their game plan and blocking assignments because Carter was the focal point of their scheme. Dallas rushed for 121 yards and averaged 5.8 yards per carry through three quarters. The Eagles’ defense ultimately held up in the fourth quarter, not allowing any points despite the Cowboys being able to move the ball.
When asked if he would like to see Carter suspended for spitting at him, Prescott avoided taking a stance, saying it was not his call but rather the league’s to determine any discipline. Prescott, who finished the game completing 21 of his 34 passes for 188 yards, no touchdowns, and no interceptions, said he was not pushing to have Carter removed from the game.
“I don’t wish for anybody to get out of the game,” Prescott said. “I’m sure he probably regrets that to some extent. I’m pretty sure he knows I didn’t try to spit on him or wasn’t even aiming to spit on him. It’s something that’s probably going to get a lot of coverage and a lot of attention that I feel sorry for. I know how excited each and every one of us are to kick off the season and be the season opener, and a hell of a player like that doesn’t even get a chance on the first play. Those were unfortunate circumstances.”
Carter’s absence significantly impacted the Eagles’ defensive line depth. According to Next Gen Stats, defensive tackles Moro Ojomo and Jordan Davis each played 50 defensive snaps, which amounted to 89% of the Eagles’ defensive play time. This marked the first time since Next Gen Stats began in 2016 that the Eagles had two defensive tackles play more than 85% of snaps in a game.
“(Carter’s) a great player,” said Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer, who did not see the incident unfold. “When you lose a great player on either side of the ball, it affects them and they’re a little bit thin when you do that. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to sustain the ball enough. They were down a defensive lineman and a great defensive lineman at that. But we’ll look into it and see what happened.”
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Chris Franklin may be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com.
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