Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman did not mince words when addressing the root cause of the team’s struggles this year.
Through the first six weeks of the season, the Cowboys have failed to find much – if any – success at home, suffering three gut-wrenching losses at AT&T Stadium. During Dallas’ latest defeat – a 47-9 beatdown courtesy of the Detroit Lions – quarterback Dak Prescott and the offense looked to be completely out of sorts, routinely appearing to not be on the same page.
While making an appearance on 96.7 The Ticket in Dallas, Aikman was asked if the Cowboys’ offensive woes could be attributed to the absence of star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb over the offseason. The 25-year-old missed all of preseason and training camp while holding out for a monster payday, which he received in the form of a four-year, $136 million contract extension.
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Instead of placing the blame squarely on Lamb’s shoulders, however, Aikman took aim at the Cowboys entire wide receiver room. “I think the routes are terrible. I think they run terrible routes,” he said. “And I’ve thought that beyond this year. I think CeeDee [Lamb] has got to improve in his route running.
“As a quarterback, if you’re not certain where guys are going to be consistently, it’s hard to play the position. That’s what I see. I see guys lazy coming off the line of scrimmage. Sometimes they run, usually if they do, it’s because they’re anticipating they’re going to get the football on that play, but if they’re not, they don’t. And it all ties together. I’m not impressed with that part of it.”
Aikman then turned his attention to other teams across the NFL whose wideouts do a far better job. “I just finished watching the Baltimore Ravens because I have them this week,” he continued. “You put on film of theirs and watch their receivers run routes and they come off the football, so does San Francisco’s and Green Bay’s and others.
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Troy Aikman believes that CeeDee Lamb needs to improve his route running (
Getty Images)
“But it’s hard to play the [quarterback] position if you’re not certain how guys are going to run routes or where they’re going to be. And I’m not speaking for Dak [Prescott]. Dak may say, ‘Hey, I think [their routes] are amazing.’ But as a former quarterback watching it, it’s gotta get a lot better.”
Barring Lamb, no other Cowboys wideout has amassed over 300 receiving yards this season. Jalen Tolbert ranks second on the list with 290 yards, with tight end Jake Ferguson looming close behind with 240.
Despite the underwhelming start to the season, Prescott asserted that he his teammates were doing all they could to fix the costly mistakes that’ve plagued them thus far. “It was a tough day, in that sense,” Prescott said of the misfires to Lamb.
“I mean, it wasn’t just about me and CeeDee, [though] Yeah ,sure, there was one throw here, a route there – he would tell you – or a protection that wasn’t great on one. If I had an answer, I promise you, we’d be a lot better and, as I mentioned, the same in the run game. It’s a great time for us to figure it out and how to get better.”
