Troy Aikman inserted himself into the Cowboys bye week headlines when he criticized CeeDee Lamb and the Dallas receivers for their performances so far this season.
Those criticisms have been met with responses from many within the Cowboys organization this week. Here’s a look at a few of them:
Jerry Jones
“Troy knows football. My goodness, he lives it. When he was here, he was one of the most astute and hard working people I’ve ever seen at evaluating tape or looking at how a team is playing. Troy’s credible, boy, and should be. And not only that, you can imagine, he’s not just interested in taking a whack at the Cowboys. He’s feels as much or more than anybody does about the Cowboys. He’s very professional. I think he’s very fair, and certainly you can look at what we’ve been doing. You can look at such things as the separation compared to other teams. That’s that analytics that you work with today. But fundamentally, I was talking with Mike [McCarthy], and our players need to work on when they’ve got tight coverage, they need to work on not pushing on through physical contact, pushing on through it. Now that’s just an example. That’s not the only thing, but I’m pretty confident that we’ve got the ability to coach and we’ve got some receivers that take the coaching and can improve. That’s the big thing – improve.” — weekly interview with 105.3 The Fan (KRLD-FM).
Micah Parsons
“During the bye week, we’re hearing a bunch of stuff. And you know, you hear guys like some of the OGs, Troy Aikman, saying, you know, the routes are terrible. You got everyone throwing their opinions out. ... But at the end of the day, the only opinion matters, and I was saying this before, is the people in the room. There’s not one person that’s going to change the score and outcomes of some of the games we’ve been seeing. It’s not one person we can grab, trade for, whatever that can change the outcome. It’s got to come within. It got to be the people in the room, our coaches, all our players, all our staff, to come together and say, ‘Hey, we got to turn this around.’
“ ... It’s tough, because obviously we all look up to Troy, and, you know, we all respect and validate, you know, people we look up to’s opinions. But you know, I just think I’d rather hear Troy, you know, tell the players that. Come around the facility more, be around. I understand you got your job and everything, but tell it to the players. Tell them how they can get better. ... Because I’m pretty sure if Troy has some advice, or gave some, you know, CeeDee some advice, he will, you know, take it full heartedly. When [DeMarcus Ware] text me and say, ‘Hey, you need to start doing this. You need to incorporate this in your game.’ I’m like, alright, bet. Obviously, he’s a Hall of Famer. He’s one of the great ones. I love getting that information, adding to my toolbox. I mean, at the end of the day, I don’t think all opinions are just, you know, to attack. It’s always to help, you know, make you better. I think Troy was coming from a good place, but I just think you know how the media is, they’re going to word it wrong. But I would just say it’s just, you know, give that feedback to the players. We all need it. We care, obviously, about what Troy has done for the Cowboys organization. He’s won Super Bowls. He’s a champion here. We would love to get that insight in the facility.” — The Edge with Micah Parsons, Bleacher Report.
Mike McCarthy
“For me to address those comments, I don’t because they don’t carry any weight with me because I watch all the tape,” McCarthy said. “I get to go to the meetings. I’m at practice. I’m part of the games.
“Troy’s statement, in particular, I don’t agree with the word selection. But there is definitely need for improvement in every position, not just one position that he commented on. So, I think you look at the whole picture. You break it down and that’s what coaches do. There’s a process to it. There’s always a plan. These guys bring great energy. Their work ethic is high.”
KaVontae Turpin
“Troy whatever he (may) think he know outside the building, that’s his opinion,” Turpin said. “But in this we all in here together, we just trying to be better and do what we do to get a win.
“I heard about it but at the same time, Troy Aikman, I don’t see him, I don’t really know him,” Turpin continued. “Whatever he say is not relevant to me, but at the same time I feel like we’re doing good with our routes.”
Jake Ferguson
“The only thing I worry about is the people in this room and what they say.”
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