Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Jason Garrett addressed the media from inside The Star for the first time following his team's 27-7 week 10 loss at the Atlanta Falcons on Monday. The loss put the Cowboys at 5-4 on the season, as the NFC East leading Eagles saw their 8-1 record continue to provide a three game lead in the division during their bye week.
Listen to Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Jason Garrett's Monday Press Conference Here:
The Cowboys and Eagles will meet for the first time this season on Sunday Night Football, and it feels safe to say that the game will mean little for the Cowboys if they fail to move on from this most recent loss and put needed talent back on the field.
The poor play of Chaz Green was, obviously, a focal point for Jason Garrett to address in this press conference. With that, he provided updates on the status of LT Tyron Smith and LB Sean Lee – two players that were missed dearly in Atlanta, the Cowboys' first game without Ezekiel Elliott at RB as well.
Garrett says the #Cowboys will certainly not "rush" Sean Lee back onto the field, adding that the soft tissue injures can be difficult.
The Cowboys are in a critical November stretch of three games in eleven days, with the Eagles on Sunday and Chargers on Thanksgiving to cap off this run that began with a horrendous start yesterday afternoon. This seems to be effecting the Cowboys willingness to put Sean Lee back on the field before he is truly ready, as hamstring injuries always linger (see: Chidobe Awuzie) and the only other option at LB right now is Jaylon Smith.
With Smith still not ready to see the amount of snaps he's been forced to play in Lee's absences, protecting Sean Lee is as much about the overall health of numerous players on Rod Marinelli's defense – lost season or not.
Jason Garrett says Tyron Smith worked out this morning, and is "day by day". He anticipates that he will not practice on Wednesday.
The generic “day by day” tag that was applied to Lee by his head coach was also given to Tyron Smith, who the Cowboys do seem slightly more optimistic about. Garrett alluded to a plan the Cowboys would like to see Smith follow through practice this week, anticipating holding him out in the middle of the week Wednesday but hopefully working him back still before Sunday.
Garrett says the pass protection prevented the #Cowboys from having the balance they want on offense, didn't allow them to stay ahead of the chains.
As for the masses of Cowboys Nation blaming Garrett for the team's failures to adjust offensively given Chaz Green's struggles, the coach did address what caused Green's forgettable game along with the difficulty it causes in properly evaluating an offense that could not execute its game plan – especially with a quick passing game that was even still derailed by pressure on Prescott or solid coverage by the Falcons' secondary.
Garrett on the RB rotation against Atlanta: "We didn't have a lot of plays on offense, but when the game was in a normal flow it worked out the way we wanted to. Alfred did a nice job."
— Sean Martin ✭ (@SeanMartinNFL) November 13, 2017
The Cowboys will search for the positives from this game and learn from what went wrong as they attempt to save their season in prime time this week.
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Further updates on which players will be available to help Dallas compete against Philadelphia will be provided by Coach Garrett and the Cowboys leading up to Sunday, and Inside The Star will keep you updated.
