FRISCO — The quarterback with the richest contract in NFL history said he’s been average through six weeks.
The star wide receiver, who held out for the second-highest contract for a player at his position in league history, was succinct in defending himself from criticism by Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman.
“Got to be better overall,” wide receiver CeeDee Lamb said Thursday afternoon when asked about Aikman saying he runs terrible routes.
Do you agree with that assessment? “Next question.”
Welcome to the end of the bye week where the Cowboys’ two best offensive weapons enter a grand stage on Sunday night at San Francisco.
The Cowboys have lost the last three meetings to the 49ers with none of the games appearing close in context. The last time the Cowboys won in the Bay Area was 2017.
If things are going to change, Lamb and Prescott need to find a chemistry that’s been missing too much this season. Lamb’s holdout, a necessary component of NFL business these days, curtailed valuable practice time with Prescott.
Jerry Jones, the team owner and general manager, was dismissive of such practice time during the holdout, believing the two would morph into beautiful music.
Instead, it’s been static.
“Yeah, I mean obviously you have to look at camp and you think about that,” Prescott said of the struggles with Lamb. “You can call it an excuse or whatever, but it just goes into, right, as I said, being consistent, whether it be my read or his route, then us — I say communication up front — but communication there. When you haven’t had that time in camp, you’ve got to be able to communicate through things, which obviously some of these meetings have been adjusted to make sure those happen.”
During the bye week, in between Prescott getting engaged and Lamb going out of the country to decompress, the two watched game tape and worked on some routes.
One of the biggest things is the attention Lamb commands. The man can play. Defenses double him with a corner and a safety deep. Corners jam him at the line of scrimmage. In zone coverages, defenders watch him.
It has nothing to do with the contract Lamb signed for, it’s more about his talent.
Last season, Lamb led the NFL in catches (135) and finished second in receiving yards (1,749) and total yards from scrimmage (1,862).
Now?
Well, Lamb is 10th in yards (467), which says something considering his struggles. But he’s tied for 20th in catches (32) and 24th in yards from scrimmage (504).
There’s this chess match going on with defenses trying to corner Lamb and take him out.
“It’s fun seeing different movements, being in different places seeing different alignments and assignments and seeing different guys guard me,” he said. “Just attracting as many eyes as I can obviously getting open in the process and running my routes.”
That’s been the problem, the routes.
Aikman used the word lazy when describing how Cowboys’ receivers get off the jam from a cornerback.
Jerry Jones didn’t dismiss Aikman’s description of his receivers, saying he has credibility.
“But whether he got personal, whether he went too far, once again the guy gets paid to do that and he’s doing a job,” Prescott said of Aikman’s comments. “Once again, a job he knows is going to create a ruckus, the last thing I’m allowed to do is create division inside this building.”
Outside of Lamb’s issues, there’s Prescott.
He’s completed 63.8% of his passes, below his career average of 66.8%. He also has eight touchdowns and six interceptions. He’s committed three turnovers from inside the opponent’s 20.
It seems the entire bye week reinforced one common theme for Prescott and Lamb: It’s time to play better before the season gets away .
“I’d say I’d play average and it isn’t good enough right now by any means,” he said. “It’s never been good enough for me. I can’t say that I’ve been happy or excited after any of these games that I’ve played. But understanding, there’s more plays out there for me to make, whether it’s in the design or not. I’m capable of it.”
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