As far as mistakes go, looks like the Dallas Cowboys have topped the list. It wasn’t simply a play gone wrong, or a pass gone haywire. In the team’s 30-23 Christmas Day win over the Washington Commanders, head coach Brian Schottenheimer was met with a rude awakening when he realized linebacker Logan Wilson was missing on the gridiron. The head coach later explained what went wrong.

“We take that as a coaching staff,” Schottenheimer said. “We only had 21 snaps on defense in the first half. We kind of messed the rotation in the second half. It’s not the first time it has happened. It won’t be the last time. It happens with receivers. It happens with defensive linemen. It shouldn’t happen.

“We do keep track of snap counts. Occasionally, you look at the numbers and they don’t make sense. This one certainly didn’t make sense. We have to do better as a coaching staff with that. Logan is a pro. We knew what we were getting with him when we traded for him. Again, we make mistakes, players make mistakes. You communicate. That’s where the accountability just gets stronger.”

Unfortunately, despite the win, Wilson’s absence came on a day when the team was already struggling.

The Cowboys’ defense was on the field for just 44 snaps and still gave up 326 yards to Josh Johnson, a third-string quarterback pressed into action. Dallas nearly let a 21-3 second-quarter lead slip away. Washington running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt, meanwhile, ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns, including a 72-yarder in the third quarter.

In fact, despite having only 41 plays, the Commanders were able to average eight yards per play and 8.6 yards per carry. That, too, against an opponent that is already allowing 29.8 points per game on average, the most in the league.

When Wilson arrived in Dallas via a mid-season trade from the Cincinnati Bengals, the expectation was that he’d play, maybe not every snap, but regularly. Given the state of the unit, many assumed he’d be starting right away.

That hasn’t really materialized. Wilson has appeared in six games (one start) this season with the Cowboys, and has totaled 17 tackles, including 12 solo and five assists. While the Cowboys will have the offseason to sort out what Wilson’s role is supposed to be going forward, a healthy veteran linebacker not getting on the field is still concerning. Cowboys co-owner, executive vice president, CEO, and director of player personnel Stephen Jones also thought so.

“That was unfortunate with Logan,” he said. “They didn’t have many snaps throughout the game, much less obviously in the first half. I will say it was, I wouldn’t call it a mistake, but some confusion in terms of how that rotation was supposed to go with LBs coach Dave Borgonzi. It certainly wasn’t the intent for him not to play a snap, but sometimes the game with not many snaps on one particular side of the ball, things can not go according to plan. I’m sure Schotty will address that as well.”

Wilson himself, though, didn’t appear all that concerned with his absence or his future role.

“It’s up to them to figure out how they want to use us,” that player said. “I just worry about trying to execute when I’m out there.”

But with the way owner Jerry Jones speaks about him, there’s still more to come from Wilson.

Jerry Jones is clearly a fan of Logan Wilson

Whatever the outside view is of Logan Wilson’s role in this defense, one thing is clear: Jerry Jones wants him on the field. And when Wilson didn’t play a single snap on Christmas Day, the Cowboys owner sounded genuinely confused by it.

“I don’t have an explanation for you for why Wilson wasn’t in there,” the team owner said. “We planned to have him in there. He needs to be in there. He has good instincts. The reason we got him was because he reads the play quick and can basically be in his lane of responsibility and react quick. It’s critical that a linebacker have quick reacting (ability). He’s able to do that. That’s why we got him.”

Top Stories

Cowboys Fire Defensive Coordinator Matt Eberflus: Contract, Salary, NFL Earnings & More

Russell Wilson Announces Retirement Stance as Giants QB Shares Hidden Injury News

Dolphins Reportedly Indecisive About Mike McDaniel as GM Search Kicks Off

Joe Flacco Makes Retirement Decision Clear as Bengals QB’s Final Gesture for Ja’Marr Chase Draws Attention

Brian Schottenheimer Calls Out Controversial Jaxson Dart Incident as Cowboys Star Awaits NFL Punishment

Listening to Jones talk, it doesn’t sound like someone is ready to move on. If anything, it sounds like an owner who still believes in the player and expects him to be part of the plan. Wilson, of course, is still playing on the four-year, $36 million contract he originally signed with the Bengals. But there is some flexibility.

According to Spotrac, there’s an out in Wilson’s deal after the 2025 season. If the Cowboys choose that route, they can walk away with no dead money on the cap.

If Wilson stays on the deal into 2026, he’d carry a $6.55 million cap hit and would be owed another $7.215 million in 2027. That’s a significant commitment for a linebacker who, at least right now, isn’t consistently seeing the field. So it really all comes down to how much Jerry Jones believes in Wilson.