The Dallas Cowboys lost to the Arizona Cardinals 27-17 on Monday at AT&T Stadium.
Quarterback Dak Prescott completed 24 of 39 passes for 250 yards and one touchdown with an interception. He also ran four times for 34 yards.
Here’s everything he said to the media after the game, including talking about playing on the anniversary of his mother’s death in 2013:
On his feelings after two subpar performances
“Disappointing and very frustrating. Knowing that you’re better than that and going out there and not putting up a performance close to your standard or even the expectations or what you thought you could do and expected to do against this team. Credit to those guys. That’s the beauty of the NFL. Games, plays, stats, none of that is done on paper. You’ve got to go out, and you’ve got to earn it that night with everything taken into account. They kicked our ass on both sides of the ball. They limited the possessions early. We don’t score on the first drive. We don’t score in the red zone. The next drive, we went three- or four-and-out. Then, we fumble when we were going to get a field goal. Then we try to kick a 70-yard field goal to even get points before half. That makes it tough. Then trying to make adjustments in the second half, but when you’re down like that in an NFL game, we still had a chance. We didn’t take advantage of the opportunities and the moments we had in the second half. Very frustrating.”
On why he thinks they’ve struggled
“If I had that answer, we wouldn’t be struggling to be honest with you. Not to leave it at that, but that’s what’s this bye week’s for. We’ve got to figure it out. We’ve got to figure out how we need to improve in all phases of the game. I mean, special teams did a hell of a job tonight getting us a touchdown. That was the only spark I think in the game for the most part, especially in the first half. That’s what this bye week is going to be all about. Me personally, hope everybody on this team individually, and I know for sure as staff and an organization, it’s going to be about how can we improve and fix these last two weeks that are no where close to anything that we want to be.”
On how’s he’s feeling physically
“I’m fine. A little ankle roll at the end of the first half, but that’s fine going into a bye week. It will be more than great. I finished the game, and I was fine on it, so it’s not even anything to have concerns about. With the extra time, I’m fine. Body’s great.”
On the Arizona pressure
“I know they had a plan watching the film that they didn’t send anything they haven’t before this season. Obviously, they heated us up more than they have other opponents. But that just plays in how they want to play us with their junky coverages, making me wait another half-second. That was crucial, right, while they got to their spots and that half a second me having to get off the spot, the pressure getting home forcing missed throws and some plays that we normally make whether it be me or the receivers. We weren’t able to capitalize on that, so they got us there.”
On if he was forced to hold it too long on the fourth down
“If it held it any longer, I would have been completely sacked. So, I think that was one of those you know you’re playing against the pass rush. I knew I was going to take a hit, sat there, let it go and tried to anticipate it. It’s one of those plays and routes, not to point a finger or blame anybody, you kind of give a guy a little freedom on his depth and how he can take the defender a little bit further. Unfortunately, it was fourth down. I had to throw it a little early. I got up asking what happened, honestly. I probably left a little air on it, I guess. At the end of the day, we just didn’t make the play.”
On if he thinks the game would have been different had they scored on the first drive
“It’s easy to say that when you get the first score of the game. You would hope they would start playing different or calling the game different. That’s kind of the whole deal while some people accept the ball versus deferring. You feel like if you score first that the other team plays and calls their plays differently. So, if we have seven points there maybe they do, and I think that would shape the game differently. But then again, it’s a long game, a very long game. That didn’t necessarily mean we’re going to win the game. But we’ve got to convert on that. We’re too good of an offense to have these red zone struggles or just to not come away with touchdowns, to be honest with you. We know we’ve got a field goal in the bag, but when we’re that close within the 5, we’ve got to score touchdowns.”
On his plans for the bye week
“Get healthy, working at the same time, making sure the conditioning is at the peak and hanging with the family, spending time with my fiancee and my girls. So, I’m looking forward to it.”
On what needs to be worked on during the bye
“Red zone, for one. I think that’s probably A-number-one for me and the offense. We’ve got to score in the red zone. We’ve got to score touchdowns, not just field goals. However that looks, whether it’s getting a certain play or looking around the league figuring out what plays are trending, and, you know, can we take this or take that, finding ways to get out the ball more simpler. I don’t know. But that’s probably number one. After that, it’s just about how to win games.”
On if they can take anything from 2023’s bye week or is it a year-by-year basis
“It’s definitely a year-by-year basis. I just think that was a great week of figuring out what your issues were and having answers to solve them. Being very solution-oriented, that’s something [head coach Brian Schottenheimer] just spoke about in the locker room. He was a huge part of that, so I have no doubt that that’s something we can do again.”
On if the bye week comes at a good time
“I don’t know if they come at a good time, a bad time. I’d say it’s a bad time now because we lost. Having to spend a week, like I said, just getting in shape, hanging out with the girls, I’m probably not [going to] be quite as jolly as I could have been. But I will definitely be, and that’s the balance that they give me. It’s a good time in a sense that we have some things that we need to fix. And some guys getting healthy would help us. So, I think it’s coming at a good time.”
On a potential trade
“Yeah, especially if it’s a big-value guy who’s going to come in and make a difference and be an impact, you can do so much good. I’ve been a part of one of those, I don’t know how many years ago it was, but it was Amari Cooper. Signing him on the bye week or going into the bye week, and we were able to get something going a few weeks later. I know we lost the first week we had him on Monday night, but we ended up getting it back rolling and put together a streak together, and that’s what this league’s about: creating streaks. Win streaks and getting hot and putting yourself in a better position than you were at this moment. That’s still in front of us. A lot of games left to be played, and we can still get a streak going. Obviously, that would help, but I think as important as that, as anything, is us getting some answers to these issues that we have and getting healthy.”
On playing on the anniversary of his mother’s death
“Heavy hearts today. This game’s hard, but when you deal with a day like today, you realize life’s hard. Blessed to be able to do what I do. Thankful for in so many ways that I don’t even know if I can even explain how thankful I am for the time I had with her. To have as great a mother as I did, selfless mother. Everything that you see me do and I am is because of her. This loss is nothing compared to life, and that’s why I don’t have any concerns about what I’ll be able to do, this team will be able to do and the way that we can respond. But it was a tough day. It was a tough day, and it was a day that you damn sure want to win. I thought this morning about a lot of the Monday night games that we watched together and wanted to get a win and I didn’t. But I know that doesn’t take how proud she is away. Doesn’t take anything away from who I am and just keep pushing for her.”
On loss being discouraging
“It’s not discouraging about the other team’s stats. Hell, to be honest with you, I didn’t know they were 2-5 and had the streak. It’s the NFL. I don’t care to even look at those things because you do, and you might walk in here thinking, ‘Oh this is gonna be a cakewalk and this is gonna be easy.’ So I couldn’t even honestly have told you that. It’s frustrating that we didn’t go out there and do what we’re capable of and play to who we are and our standard. Defense did well on first and second down. They just weren’t able to get off the field. And for us, we had some plays here and there and made some good plays but wasn’t anything ever consistent in the game. It’s frustrating. It’s hard to say discouraging. It’s not a word that I like to use. It’s not something that I ever really feel to be honest with you. It’s frustrating, but as I was just saying, we’ll respond. I know I’ll respond. It’s not just about me, though. Making sure these other leaders and guys on the team hold everybody else accountable, and we can respond.”
On accepting inconsistency as the team’s identity
“It would be so opposite of who I am. I understand your question, what you’re asking, but to say that, that’s why this is frustrating. That’s why it’s so frustrating, ‘cause I’m not just gonna accept that. ‘Oh this team is inconsistent. This team is just up and down.’ We’re going to be as long as we ride the wave of the media, going from one game to the next — and not putting the blame on you guys. But we win a game and we feel really good about ourselves, and you think you’re just gonna go in the next week and smack that opponent and you don’t. Then you feel a little upset, and you look in the mirror and you come back and you give a better performance. That’s what’s been happening this year other than tonight. So when you’ve put two bad games or two ugly losses back to back, you have to find answers. You have to find answers, and so to your point, that’s why the bye week’s at a good time is we’ve got time now to find answers without having another opponent. But we have to find the solutions.”
On describing this season
“Inconsistent. Tough. Inconsistent and tough, but fun. This game’s fun. You’ve got to love it even being down. You have to have that belief that you’re gonna come back and do it. That’s what all the hard work’s for, what the sacrifice, everything that you put into this game individually to get here. When you’re down in games, I don’t think of it any different as when people said I’d never be here. I’m gonna answer. We’re gonna answer. We’re going to come back and win. So, tough but fun. The inconsistent is the part that’s not rewarding, but when we find these solutions, when we get some, dial into it, the detail of where we can and need to get better, and the obvious part of getting better, and hopefully we get these answers.”
On the sense of urgency halfway through the season
“You just said it. It does. It does, and that’s why the bye week and us having this time to get the answers to feel confident about when we come out of this bye week that it will be now. But every game’s a must win going forward, and I know you say that, you feel that in the NFL and you should feel that. But when you put yourself in a position or behind like we have, it’s even more so that case. We’re fortunate right now that the league, there’s a lot of teams with multiple losses, two losses is the best team in the NFC at least, AFC as well. Only being three, I guess 3.5, behind that and having all those games left to play. You can catch a hot streak and be right there in the mix. That’s great, but you have to get a streak going. If you don’t get a streak going, you’re putting yourself more and more behind the eight-ball, so it’s now or never.”